Flaming Nora: Congratulations and celebrations

Friday, February 11, 2022

Congratulations and celebrations - my writing week

This week I finished writing my new saga novel set in 1919. All done and dusted... sort of. Going to let it sit for a week while I mull it all over before giving it one final edit and then off it goes to the publisher. And yes, I celebrated!

This week I was very happy to see my second fun, cosy crime novel set in Scarborough, Curtain Call at the Seaview Hotel previewed in this week's Bookseller magazine. It is published by Headline out in May 2021 in hardback, ebook and audiobook and in August in paperback. You can order it here.

The blurb for the book in the Bookseller doesn't say a lot, as it's limited by space. But let me tell you, murder mystery fans, that it's a rollercoaster of a ride. The stage is set for murder at Helen Dexter's Seaview Hotel in Scarborough when a troupe of actors arrive and take over the hotel for two weeks. The leading lady is a diva, the local theatre is reliant on their play to survive, and there's a lot at stake. So when one of the cast is murdered, the spotlight falls once again on Helen Dexter, her greyhound Suki and the staff at the Seaview Hotel. The novel is the second in The Seaview Hotel series, but you can read these books in any order as standalone books too. I hope you really enjoy it.

I've been invited to give an illustrated talk on my novels in the village they're set in, Ryhope on the northeast coast. Ryhope Heritage Society have invited me to speak on Tuesday June at 1.30pm. All welcome. Details below. If you'd like to see all of my talks and events, they're here.

WELL... this is very big news that I can finally announce. I've been invited to officially open this year's SUNDERLAND HISTORY FAIR in May and give the opening speech. Beyond honoured, beyond proud ... and just a tad nervous!

Honoured to announce I'll be speaking at this year's MORPETH BOOK FESTIVAL on Sunday 10 April at 3pm. All welcome, tickets available here.

And there's still time to order your Saint Valentine's day books and bouquets here.

I crafted another episode of my weekly soap opera Riverside for The People's Friend magazine. I've been writing Riverside weekly since 2016 and you can find out all about it here.