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Twixmas! Apparently this is the official/unofficial name for the wintery hinterland that lies between Christmas and New Year. Well, Happy Twixmas to everyone reading this blog!

Christmas for me was an enjoyable affair, though the enjoyment was slightly tempered by some personal/health-related issues that will hopefully resolve themselves not too long after we sing in the new year.

What news on the writing front I possibly hear you ask? Well, sadly there’s little to report. My psychological thriller (When Bad Things Happen) is still stuck somewhere in the sluggish quagmire known to writers far and wide* as “submission hell”. There has been some interest so far, but the world of publishing moves painfully slowly, so it may be some time before I can announce anything positive. I am currently working on another book, however, – possibly a standalone, possibly part of a series – provisionally titled Lammas Eve. What’s Lammas Eve and why is it in any way significant? Well, I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait until the book comes out until you can find out the answer to that one.

And finally, just a timely reminder to anyone who hasn’t yet read the Denning and Fisher novels: there are six books in total, and they can all be read as standalone books, or as part of a series. They are (in order): Know No Evil, Blood Family, The Darkness Within, Run for Cover, Shame the Devil and Truth Lies Dying. All are published by Hera Books, and all available to buy from your online retailer of choice, or you can order them from any local bookshop.

Here’s to 2026!

*probably not ‘celebrity’ authors, as I suspect they bypass this arduous process by the very fact of their celebrity.

We’re now just over halfway through the year, I’m celebrating having finally completed my first standalone novel. The book is around a year behind schedule: I wasn’t under contract to write this book, so the only deadline was one I imposed on myself. While this offers me the luxury of some flexibility, it does mean it can end up taking twice as long to write as is ideal The book is currently “under submission”, which means that what happens next is pretty much out of my hands. So, fingers crossed…

The book is provisionally titled When Bad Things Happen (though this may change between now and the book’s eventual publication). It’s about a successful author who has been receiving anonymous death threats, which she’s convinced have something to do with events from her dark past. She is further bothered by the arrival of Poppy Wallace a journalist who seems to have developed an unhealthy obsession with Emma. Could Poppy be behind the anonymous threats? Or does she have a sinister agenda of her own …? I hasten to add, the story isn’t in any way autobiographical.

At the time of writing, I have no information as to when the book will be coming out, but I will keep you informed via my (semi!) regular blogs, and my various social media accounts. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of summer!

Firstly, Happy New Year! 2025 already. I can’t believe how fast 2024 went by; I think I blinked and we were already in December. Perhaps this was because I’d fallen very behind with my new book (psychological thriller provisionally titled When Bad Things Happen…), which I had hoped to have completed by the end of the year. It’s now looking like the book won’t be out until 2026 at the earliest. On the positive side, I’ve been working on the novel alongside a fabulous editor called Helen Francis (via the excellent Jericho Writers), who has been giving me a lot of very positive encouragement with the book, and I feel like it’s really taking shape.

2024 did bring some exciting news: my publishers, Hera/Canelo, have been taken over by DK Publishing, who are part of the mighty Penguin publishing empire, so hopefully that will mean a boost in promotion and a subsequent boost in sales.

On a personal front, I’ve decided that 2025 is the year I will finally get around to tidying up our garden, which has been sadly neglected since we moved in to our current house over two years ago. We did manage to paint the walls last summer (it’s a courtyard garden surrounded by 8ft hight walls), but due to a lack of time and enthusiasm (mostly enthusiasm!) we didn’t make much progress with the garden itself. I’m certain with a bit of imagination and effort, this could be a really attractive space for sitting and reading on a summer’s day, although the attached photo showing its current state would suggest we still have some way to go before achieving that…

Garden in winter.

Well, here we are already over halfway through 2024. July marked five years since my first book – Know No Evil – was published by Hera Books, and now I’m currently working on the final draft my seventh book, a psychological thriller called When Bad Things Happen. The book should hopefully be out later next year, though I don’t have a confirmed publication date yet.

It’s been a dizzying time since my first book came out, and life as a published author has been a tangled mix of excitement and the odd moment of disappointment. However, I’ve certainly learned a lot about the process of writing during the past five years. A recent discussion with another writer concerned the idea of plotters versus pantsters, in other words writers who plot their books in advance (as I do) and writers who prefer wite with nothing more than an idea and a vague direction of where they want to go, in other words ‘flying by the seat of their pants’. We both agreed that writing is usually a combination of both – with plotters often changing bits of the story part of the way through a book, and sometimes characters end up dictating the direction of travel rather than going where the plot initially intended. Similarly, pantsters generally have an idea in their heads of how their story is going to pan out before they start writing. The rule seems to be to do whatever works for you as a writer.

Also this summer, I was also lucky enough to feature in a short film a neighbour of mine, Dan Crouch, has made as part of a project called Memory Tree 2024 (more details here). The film features local people who live in Hastings talking about their background and what has influenced them to do what they do. My section of the film can be seen below.

Incidentally, despite having resisted it for many years, I can now be found on Facebook, as well as Instagram and Threads.

As 2023 slowly eases itself into 2024, it’s a good time to look back on the past year (not that I believe too much in looking back – it’s always better to look forward). I published the sixth book in the Denning and Fisher crimes series. I started writing the first book in the series (Know No Evil) almost ten years ago, finally finding a publisher in 2019. Whilst it’s been a pleasure writing the series and getting to know the characters, I’m looking forward now to new challenges. With that in mind, I’m currently writing a standalone psychological thriller, which is taking my writing in a slightly different direction. I don’t – as yet – have a publisher for the book, but I’m keeping everything crossed for it.

However, we haven’t heard the last of Denning and Fisher. I’d still like to return to the series at a later date and do something different with the characters; perhaps a change of setting, or a change of career for one of the characters… I also have some ideas for two very different crime series, which I’d like to start on in 2024: one is a cosy crime series featuring two amateur sleuths, while the other is set in the early 1900s.

So, plenty happening in 2024. Please keep checking the website for more details. Or follow me on social media: threads, and instagram. Get in touch any time as I love chatting to readers and hearing your feedback.

In the meantime, all the very to everyone and here’s to a great 2024!

Hard to believe we’re halfway through September already. It’s been an eventful year: I attended a party thrown by my wonderful publishers Canelo/Hera back in the summer, and it was good fun to meet fellow authors as well as meeting the people who help bring my books into the world. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to take any photos and as I had to catch the last train back to Hastings, I wasn’t able to stay for as long as I would have liked.

What else have I been up to? Well, I’ve just sent the final draft of book 6 in the Denning and Fisher series off to the publishers, and am awaiting the first lot of edits back. The book, titled Truth Lies Dying is coming out in both ebook and paperback on 23 November.

This means I can now get back to writing my first standalone novel, which has slightly been on the back burner for most of this year. It’s provisionally titled When Bad Things Happen and features a successful novelist called Emma Beresford who has been receiving anonymous death threats. Could this be the work of a deranged fan? A stalker? Or could it have something to do with evens in her past? Events she is determined to keep hidden, especially from a determined journalist who is eager to find the truth about Emma’s past…? No details yet as to the book’s publication, but I will keep everyone informed via my website.

I also have plans to write a cosy crime series featuring two amateur detectives who meet through their local book group…

More details to follow.