Debbie Young's Blog, page 12

8 Ways to Read Books for Free

Or how to treat yourself to a free book for Christmas

It’s a well-known fact that when times are hard, people scale down their treats-to-self.

During the last recession, Leonard Lauder of the Estée Lauder cosmetics company coined the phrase the lipstick index to describe the phenomenon that when women can’t afford a new outfit, they’ll content themselves with a smaller luxury item such as a lipstick.

Thanks to Anastasia Anastasia for making this photo available on Unsplash

Lipsticks don’t do it for me. I’d rather buy a book any day.

We’re lucky that books are still a relatively affordable treat, in keeping with the vision of the visionary Allen Lane. In 1935, he spotted a gap in the market for quality fiction in paperback form, compact enough to fit in a jacket pocket and no more expensive than a packet of cigarettes.

Enter the Penguin, to be sold on railway stations alongside tobacco, chocolate and other comfort buys for travellers.

For a while, all three were also sold on the platforms in vending machines known as Penguincubators (more on those – with a picture – here).

Still today their prices are a close match. A tenner will buy you a paperback or a packet of 20 cigarettes (or indeed a lipstick).

But even in the hardest of times, an avid reader needn’t go without a book. How better to escape from the stresses of everyday life than through the pages of a good story?

So here are my top tips to keep you reading this winter, whether or not you’ve budgeted for books.

1) Revisit your bookshelves. I bet you’ll find books you haven’t yet read or which you’d enjoy rereading. Suddenly buying new books won’t seem to essential.

2) Read free samples online. Many ebook stores such as Amazon allow you to read the first 10% of any book for free. Find a book of short stories with more than ten tales, and you will probably find at least one whole story within that free sample.

3) Join the mailing lists of authors who offer free ebooks as welcome gifts. On my author website you can download a free 12,000-word novelette, The Pride of Peacocks. (Click here to join my Readers’ Club – the story is free exclusively to Readers’ Club members.)

4) Look out for Little Free Libraries (www.littlefreelibrary.org)– the heartwarming legacy of a son who founded this community bookswap programme in memory of his late mother, a former English teacher. Little Free Libraries are everywhere! Over 150,000 of them, in fact, in over 100 countries – and one of them is right here in Hawkesbury, on my front wall (pictured here with a Matilda scarecrow during a village Scarecrow Trail)We also have the Books on the Bus box at the bus stop. Down the hill in Horton, there’s a Little Free Library in a disused phone box. I suspect more phone boxes house bookswaps than telephones these days. (I’m currently writing a short mystery story about phone box libraries, to be published in a charity anthology in the spring – more news on that soon!) 

5) Click on the classics. Copyright expires 70 years after the author’s death, and there are organisations such as Project Gutenberg that publish free digital downloads of such books as an act of community. Help yourself to the Project Gutenberg free edition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol here.  

Hawkesbury’s Community Library opens in the Village Hall every other Friday

6) Use your public library. We’re spoiled for choice round here – we’ve the Community Library in the Village Hall, plus public libraries also nearby in all directions – Yate, Wotton, Nailsworth and Tetbury.

7) Download the Borrowbox app, which enables you to access your local public library resources from the comfort of your phone, downloading ebooks and audiobooks. 

8) Let’s end with a seasonal tip: send your wishlist of books in a letter to Father Christmas this year. They’re the easiest presents to wrap, and his elves will thank you for it. 

Wishing you a very merry Christmas, with lots of lovely books in your Christmas stocking.

This post was originally written for the December 2022 issue of Hawkesbury Parish News

Why I Like Writing About Christmas

It was only when I started planning the HULF Talk Christmas Special that I realised just how much I have written about Christmas over the years and wondering just why that was. In this post, I’m exploring why I like writing about Christmas and highlighting my short stories and novels that relate to the festive season.

Living in a small village in the Cotswold countryside, I’m very aware of the changing seasons – more so than I ever was when I lived in suburbia – and although I dislike the short cold days and long dark nights of winter, I enjoy celebrating every season as it comes around. That’s one reason I have made my two series of novels so seasonal, so that I can address seasonal traditions.

What makes Christmas especially interesting for a writer is that it is a time of interesting contrasts:

cold and dark versus warmth, kindness and lovedeath and decay in nature versus the promise of renewal and rebirth to follow in the springthe end of the old calendar year (in the northern hemisphere, anyway) versus the beginning of the newremorse and repentance versus redemption and resolve (whether through faith or via new year resolutions)the feeling that we can all relax because almost everyone will be on holiday versus the pressures to engineer the perfect Christmas for family and friends

It’s also a time when perhaps we are more aware of the sensory delights around us – the special sights, sounds, scents, tastes, and textures of Christmas celebrations. Of course, all of these will be quite different for people living south of the equator. Having only ever spent Christmas in the northern hemisphere, I think I’d find a southern Christmas, celebrated in high summer, perplexing, but I’m sure it brings its own charms.

I’ve written many short Christmas stories over the years, and I have two novels set in the run-up to Christmas.

My Short Christmas Stories

The first of these was inspired by mishearing a news report on BBC Radio 4 one December, while pottering about the kitchen: “The problem is that turkey does not have its own defence missile system.” It took me a moment to realise the journalist was talking about Turkey, the country, not turkey, the bird, but I couldn’t resist writing the back-story for what I thought I’d heard. The result was The Owl and the Turkey, or the Real Reason We Eat Turkey at Christmas, written in the style of a traditional folk tale. What started out as a bit of self-indulgent fun reached a wider audience when, to my delight, it was selected to appear behind the door of the Mumsnet Advent Calendar in 2014. This encouraged me to publish it as a tiny, slim paperback (6″ x 4″) as well as an ebook. You can buy it here.

My next Christmassy short story was set at the winter solstice, 21st December. This time the prompt came from author Helen Hollick, who was rallying fellow authors to post stories on the theme “Lighting Up the Darkness” for an event hosted on her blog on the shortest day. I always look forward to the winter solstice as the first step towards the return of spring, so I was really pleased to participate. My story was partly inspired by an incident when I was taking an old girl on a tour of Westonbirt School, where I used to work. As we approached a large mirror at the end of a shady passage, she jumped, startled. “Oh my goodness, I thought that was my aunt coming towards me,” she cried.

Lighting Up Time explores a young woman’s fear of darkness and of death following the loss of a much-loved great aunt. It is a quasi-ghost story with a heartwarming happy ending. I realise now that the relationship between Emma, the central character, and her Great Aunt Sophie was the forerunner to the bond between Sophie Sayers and her late Great Auntie May in my Sophie Sayers mystery series.  Like The Owl and the Turkey, it’s available  as an ebook and tiny paperback (6″ x 4″), and as a very short audiobook. You can buy it here.

On a roll with Christmas stories, I then decided to compile a collection of short festive tales, and wrote a dozen, each on a different aspect of the festive season, from Christmas shopping to cooking Christmas dinner, but with a unifying theme of taking the stress out of the season. Stocking Fillers is the antidote to pre-Christmas angst.

Over the years various charities have asked permission to share stories from the collection, either as secular readings at fundraising carol concerts or to appear behind the doors of their online advent calendars of stories.

(If you’d like to use any of my stories for your charity events, please write to ask permission – I’ll almost certainly say yes, but need to know about it for legal reasons as the copyright remains mine.)

The latest charity to use my Christmas stories is Roundabout Dramatherapy, “dedicated to transforming the lives of vulnerable people, using the creative power of dramatherapy to enhance mental health”. You can find me reading “Christmas Time”, about the time pressures of the season, behind day 5 of their #ShareAStory advent calendar, for which each story is shared on YouTube. You can find the full calendar here. Apparently actors will be reading some more Stocking Fillers stories there, but I’m not yet sure which doors they’ll be behind.

Christmas in my Novels

With each of my two series of novels following the course of a year, they inevitably both feature a Christmassy story. The Sophie Sayers one is easy to spot from the title and cover. Murder in the Manger is a cheery but touching story of a nativity play that goes wrong, and it’s full of festive humour. (One reader reckons it has the funniest opening lines of any novel she has read.) It’s also very respectful to the Christian tradition, and, spoiler alert: no-one actually dies – I couldn’t bring myself to bump anyone off during the season of goodwill. The intrigue revolves around the whole village finding itself accused of murder.

(Available in beautiful new editions as an ebook and paperback from Boldwood Books and in audiobook from Saga Egmont.)

Amazon UK  Amazon US

Meanwhile not far away at St Bride’s School, the second Gemma Lamb Cozy Mystery, Sinister Stranger at St Bride’s (previously published as Stranger at St Bride’s), finds the staff and girls preparing for the boarding school’s Christmas traditions. The denouement of the mystery takes place at their traditional Christmas Fair and the teachers’ Christmas dinner.

(Available in ebook, paperback and audiobook, all from Boldwood Books.)

 Amazon UK   Amazon US

(If you’d like signed copies of any of my books to send as Christmas presents, just send me a request via my contact form.)

More Christmas Stories to Come

I’m not done with Christmas stories yet! I’m currently compiling a collection of short festive stories about Sophie Sayers and friends which I plan to publish in time for Christmas 2023. These will reflect many of the features of a village Christmas that I love so much, such as carol singing and bell ringing, as well as addressing some lesser known aspects of Christmas celebrations such as the origins of the poinsettia as a symbol of Christmas, as shared with Sophie by her travel writer Great Auntie May, and the first ever back story of May and Joshua’s romance. Some of these are already written; others I will write while in festive mood over this coming Christmas season.

Whatever you’re reading this Christmas, and however you celebrate (or not) this season, stay warm and stay well, and I hope the new year brings you many more good books to enjoy. 

To find out when new books will be published, news of events, special offers, and the chance to enter my monthly prize draw, click here to join my Readers’ Club mailing list

 

All for One and One for All

In October I was invited to take part in some medical tests by the research organisation Biobank, for which I’m a longstanding volunteer. I’ve taken part in various tests for them over the years, most of which have been short and uninvasive, but my latest call-up was for a whole afternoon of full-body and brain scans.

As I’d never had a full-body or brain scan, I figured it might be useful practice. Then, if I ever need to have one for medical reasons, the prospect might be less scary.

With hindsight, I’m not sure this strategy stands up to scrutiny. I’ve never broken a limb, but I wouldn’t deliberately snap a tibia just for the experience. Nor would I purposely wreck my car to make future motoring accidents less stressful. Even so, I’m glad I decided to accept the invitation.

The scans were to take place at a tiny research laboratory tucked away in the corner of a Patchway industrial estate. Decades ago, my very first job was in a similar corrugated tin shed in Avonmouth. Half expecting to enter a familiar grubby warehouse full of men in dusty boilersuits, I was astonished and relieved to find myself in a pristine, gleaming suite of rooms kitted out with expensive high-tech equipment and staffed by medics in spotless surgical scrubs.

All very reassuring until I realised it reminded me of the film set for Coma in which patients’ organs are surreptitiously harvested for the black market.

It was thinking about another classic movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, that got me through the full-body scans. As I was being fed, immobilised, into a large, noisy white tube for half an hour at a time, I pretended I was entering the suspended animation capsules used by the astronauts to while away their long journey to Mars. In my head I played on a loop the film’s soothing theme tune, Strauss’s “The Blue Danube“, as I tried to interpret the machine’s raucous noises as music. It seemed odd that the scanners were so loud when I could see no moving parts. I began to understand why primitive cultures thought cameras were stealing their souls.

Yet when I left the facility several hours later, my overriding impression was not to do with the extraordinary technology, but with the kindness of the staff as they explained the procedures and gently manipulated me into the right positions for the machines. I was just one of a huge quota of subjects they process every week, day in and day out, for years, and they’ll probably never see me again, yet they treated me with such care and consideration that I felt like a VIP.

While I was only a tiny dot in the vast data sets they’re assembling, Biobank’s findings might eventually make an enormous difference to medical treatment and outcomes for us all. No matter what nonsense is going on at government level just now (I’m writing this article on the day of the appointment of our fourth Chancellor of the Exchequer in four months), if our country has projects like this working away in the background for the common good of ordinary people, I like to think we’ll be ok.

This article was first published in the November 2022 issue of the Hawkesbury Parish News

POSTSCRIPT

Shortly after writing this article, I read a book called Musicophilia by Dr Oliver Sacks, who wrote many moving and compassionate patient-focused studies of neurological conditions. An accomplished musician himself, in this book he addresses the power of music on the human mind. The following extract struck a chord with me (if you’ll excuse the pun) following my Biobank experience:

There is certainly a universal and unconscious propensity of impose a rhythm even when one hears a series of identical sounds at constant intervals… We tend to hear the sound of a digital clock, for example, as “tick-tock, tick-tock”, even though it is actually “tick, tick, tick, tick”. Anyone who has been subjected to the monotonous volleys of noise from the oscillating magnetic fields that bombard one during an MRI has probably had a similar experience. Sometimes the deafening ticks of the machine seem to organise themselves in a waltzlike rhythm of threes, sometimes in groups of four or five. It is as if the brain has to impose a pattern of its own, even if there is no objective pattern present.

I highly recommend reading this wonderful book – and indeed all of Oliver Sacks books. Although drawn from his career as a highly specialised physician, they are highly accessible, immensely moving works that will enhance your understanding of people and your appreciation of your own neurological make-up. Find out more about his life and work here:

https://www.oliversacks.com/

IN OTHER NEWS

Boldwood Books has now published not only their new editions of my first two Gemma Lamb Cozy Mysteries, set at St Bride’s School for girls, but also launched a brand new adventure for Gemma and friends, Wicked Whispers at St Bride’s. The titles for the first two are a bit jazzier than my originals – Secrets at St Bride’s has now become Dastardly Deeds at St Bride’s, and Stranger at St Bride’s is now Sinister Stranger at St Bride’s.

All of these books are now available to buy in all formats on all the usual sales platforms, including ebook, paperback,large print, hardback and audio. A fourth novel, Beastly Business at St Bride’s, is now at the planning stage and will be published in the summer of 2023.

 

 

 

 

 

Boldwood Books has also now published its beautiful new editions of the first three of my Sophie Sayers Village Mysteries, and the fourth will be out on 15th December, with the other three of the series of seven to be issued in January and February. (Murder at the Vicarage was previously published as Trick or Murder?) These will all be available in ebook, paperback, large print, hardback and audio.

 

 

 

 

 

The first seven audiobooks of the Sophie Sayers novels are being published by Saga Egmont with different covers as below, with Boldwood Books publishing subsequent audiobooks.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, over in Germany, new translations of the first three Sophie Sayers Village Mysteries are being published by DP Verlag, with these beautiful covers under the series title “Cottage Crimes”. The first two are out now and the third will be launched on 15th December.

 

 

 

 

 

With all this going on, is it any wonder that I haven’t had time to publish any blog posts in November?! My Christmas holiday project will be to update my website to reflect all these exciting developments. I may be some time…

My Quest for the Perfect Handbag

For as long as I can remember, I have been on a quest to find the perfect handbag. Until a few weeks ago, I seemed as likely to discover the Holy Grail. But unlike the Holy Grail, the object of my mission has changed as I aged.

When I was very young, all I needed was what my mum called a “peggy purse”, a piece of plain leather folded in the shape of an envelope sealed with a snap fastener and hung across my body on a long narrow strap.

It was just big enough for the essentials for a day at school: a hankie, a sixpence to buy sweets on the way home, and a tiny “pocket dolly” for comfort.

At secondary school, a traditional leather satchel was de rigueur, conker-brown, stiff and unyielding, softening only after a few terms’ use. When, aged 14, I moved to an American-style school in Frankfurt with no uniform requirements, I fashioned a funkier schoolbag from an old pair of jeans.

In early adulthood, there followed a string of bags of all shapes and sizes. In the days before mobile phones and multiple loyalty cards, they could be very small indeed.

Then along came my daughter, and as any mother knows, the smaller the child, the larger the baggage.

Just when I’d passed the stage of needing to carry nappies and bottles, life dealt my daughter Type 1 diabetes. Until she was old enough to manage her own medical care, my huge handbag was like a First Aid kit that happened to include a purse and a phone.

I thought I’d cracked it for both style and capacity when I invested in an early Cath Kidston bucket bag. Then the impact of rheumatoid arthritis on my hands and wrists dictated the need for a hands-free, cross-body bag. What I needed now was one that was large enough without getting in the way.

Then this summer I realised I’d got my priorities wrong.

When I watched HM The Queen graciously accept Paddington’s gift of a marmalade sandwich and stow it in her classic clip-top bag “for later”, I knew that was The One.

It might not be practical, and I might not use it every day, but I longed for a bag like the Queen’s to display on my bedroom shelf for decoration and inspiration, a symbol of her grace, dignity, goodness, poise, and, above all, her sense of fun. I knew it would make me smile every time I saw it. A couple of weeks later, I snapped up a vintage bag just like hers in a charity shop.

As I write this column four days after the Queen’s death, this handbag has acquired a new purpose. It’s now my personal tribute to her, displayed in my bedroom window against the backdrop of a Union flag. It will stay there until after her funeral. Thank you, Your Majesty. My quest is at an end.

This article was originally written for the October edition of the Tetbury Advertiser, 

IN OTHER NEWS

While I work hard at finishing my next novel for Boldwood Books, the eighth adventure in my Sophie Sayers Village Mystery series (to be launched next spring), I’m also busily preparing for two special events. If you’re within reach of my home turf of Hawkesbury Upton in the Cotswolds (postcode GL9 1AS), you might like to attend either of both of these.

Saturday 29th October, 2-5pm
HULF Talk: The World at WarOur special guest from Ukraine, Svitlana Rotayenko

A fascinating afternoon with six authors of fiction and non-fiction inspired and informed by the First and Second World Wars, plus a special guest speaker from Ukraine on the topic of the war with Russia. Tickets cost £5 and include tea, coffee, cake and a £2 book voucher valid at the event.

Click this link for more information and to book tickets: 
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hulf-talk-the-world-at-war-tickets-375311455667 

Thursday 3rd November, 7-9pm
An Evening with Debbie Young

The wonderful Cotswold Book Room in Wotton-under-Edge, just a few miles from Hawkesbury, has invited me to spend the evening talking about my books and my writing life at their beautiful shop. I’ll also be giving a reading from my next book, the all-new Wicked Whispers at St Bride’s, which launches officially on 14th November.Free to attend, but space is limited, so places must be booked in advance via the bookshop’s website. Complimentary refreshments provided.

Click this link to reserve your place:
https://www.cotswoldbookroom.co.uk/events/25-an-evening-with-debbie-young/

A Place for Everyone

What if the new government were to pledge to provide for every community in the land a sturdy and spacious building in which the public might seek comfort at times of crisis?

What if these buildings were on a grand scale, with ample seating for visitors and plenty of space to wander about in?

What if each one was uniquely beautiful, built from local materials to blend in with their setting, and decorated with paintings, carvings, and fresh flowers to please the eye and lift the spirits?

If that proposition sounds wildly extravagant in our straitened financial times, you can stop worrying about the impact it might have on your income tax bill or the National Debt, because we already have such buildings in every single parish.

Yes, you’ve guessed: I’m talking about parish churches. I reckon if we didn’t have parish churches already, we’d need to invent them.

The church of St Mary the Virgin, Hawkesbury, has been at the heart of our community for over 1000 yearsAnyone may enter these beautiful, calming, safe spaces.No gatekeeper will ask to see your membership card.No-one will check your ID.

Increasingly churches are open all day, at least in the spring and summer months. If you want to visit when the doors are locked, you can usually gain access on request.

That’s just how the Church of England wants its churches to be: accessible to all, and not only during religious services.

I was surprised to learn recently that their insurers agree. They believe these beautiful old buildings, as an important and valuable part of our national heritage, should be seen and enjoyed by as many people as possible.

This weekend St Mary’s is decorated for Harvest Festival

When on holiday, I like to visit local parish churches as a tourist to enjoy their aesthetics and acquire a flavour of the communities they serve. They’re also often a great source of secondhand books!

Closer to home, knowing I can visit our parish church of St Mary whenever I like is a comforting thought.

In September, it helped me process the sad news of the death of the Queen. I was glad to toll the bells of St Mary’s in mourning for the Queen and in celebration of the new King’s Proclamation. I was glad to take part in the special Commemoration service, to light a candle and to sign the book of condolence there.

Ringing muffled bells at St Mary’s to commemorate the late Queen

Most of all, I was glad to spend time in a place that has witnessed the arrival and departure of all the British monarchs since William the Conqueror, and of generations of their subjects.

Spending time in St Mary’s provides a sense of perspective, of reassurance and of hope. In a constantly changing and often bewildering world, as we approach what the media keep telling us is going to be a difficult winter, it’s good to know St Mary’s is there for us all.

This post was originally written for the October 2022 edition of the Hawkesbury Parish News. 

IN OTHER NEWS…

I’m pleased to announce the publication of two novels set from November to December – perfect timing if you’re seeking a cosy autumnal mystery!

Murder at the Vicarage

First, I have yet to break to the vicar that my second Sophie Sayers Village Mystery, originally published as Trick or Murder?, is being relaunched under the title Murder at the Vicarage!

The audiobook was released on 15th September by audiobook specialist Saga Egmont, named by the London Book Fair 2022 as Audiobook Publisher of the Year, to all the audiobook platforms, although it will take a little while to appear on them all as they upload new books at their own pace. Here’s the cover to look out for:

The paperback and ebook will be released by Boldwood Books, named by the Romantic Novelists’ Association last year as Independent Publisher of the Year, on 24th November. I’ll be able to share the cover of that one with you very soon.

Sinister Stranger at St Bride’s

Meanwhile Boldwood Books are poised to relaunch my second St Bride’s boarding school mystery on Tuesday 11th October, in ebook, paperback and audiobook. Again, the title is changing, but only slightly, from its original title of Stranger at St Bride’s to Sinister Stranger at St Bride’s. Here’s the stunning new cover, hand-drawn by Rachel Lawston.

More book news soon! Meanwhile, back to editing my current work-in-progress, Sophie Sayers’ eighth adventure…

 

Economy in the Kitchen

Fond memories of my old student cookery habits 

In September, IKEA is always full of soon-to-be students stocking up on kitchenware and bedlinen to take to university. It’s a rite of passage my daughter’s been looking forward to.

When I was her age, IKEA had yet to conquer Britain, so in my first week at university, I went to Hillards, the supermarket closest to our campus, to buy everything I needed.

I was lucky enough to have a government grant, but inflation was rising fast, so I was cautious with my cash.

Rather than buy a plate and a bowl, I chose a large, shallow soup-plate I deemed suitable for every meal. Although I bought the smallest vegetable knife I could find, I invested in a quality brand rather than the cheapest. Good decision: I still use my little 75p Kitchen Devil every day.

My old faithful Kitchen Devil has cost me less than 2p a year

With the addition of a small frying pan, milk pan and chopping board, I was soon cooking from scratch cheap, filling meals. I shared a two-ring Baby Belling electric cooker with five other students on my corridor. (There was a tiny oven beneath the rings, but it didn’t work.)

I’d often buy ingredients at the campus shop where everything was packaged for singletons. You could even buy a solitary egg. My most satisfying purchase ever was a sliver of liver for just 11p.

Because it was so cheap, liver became my signature dish, cooked in the same pan as onions, potatoes, carrots, and gravy. I did a deal with my roommate. I’d cook if she washed up, until the summer term, when she promised she’d rustle up her own pièce de résistance: “My father says I make a wonderful tossed salad!” Summer came and went without her making a single leaf airborne, but I didn’t mind; I preferred cooking to washing up.

The six of us also shared a small fridge. We labelled our milk with our names, sometimes adding, “I spat in this carton” to guard against theft. When my boyfriend, near to tears, came to tell me one morning that John Lennon had just been shot dead, I was more upset that overnight someone had stolen my bacon.

Wooden lockers were provided for non-perishables. Once, when a hideous smell mysteriously filled the kitchen, the source turned out to be an elderly net of brussels sprouts locked away for too long by someone who’d gone home for the weekend.

I am eternally grateful to my school cookery teacher, Mrs Ellis, for giving me the basic skills and recipes to thrive with such limited resources. She’d trained during rationing, so she taught us how to cook frugal meals.  Not all her dishes appealed to 1970s schoolgirls. During her lesson on gutting and marinating fish, she had to take me to the medical room to recover.

If it’s good enough for Nigel Slater…

A few years ago, I picked up a second-hand copy of the Leiths Cookery Bible, published by the elite Leiths’ School of Food and Wine, thinking it would be a useful resource for my daughter at uni. However, in the context of the current cost-of-living crisis and the vastness of twenty-first century student debt, I think she’d be better off taking my old school exercise book of recipes instead. I like to think that would please Mrs Ellis. I only hope she’d forgive me for first ripping out the page on Soused Herrings.

Faithfully recorded in my school exercise book, even though I never made it to the end of this lesson

This post first appeared in the September 2022 issue of the Hawkesbury Parish News. 

POST SCRIPT

The new edition of Gemma Lamb’s first adventure is now available in ebook, paperback and audiobook, published by Boldwood Books

I was touched to receive an email recently from a former pupil of my old secondary school, saying she’d read my first Gemma Lamb Cozy Mystery, Dastardly Deeds at St Bride’s (originally published as Secrets at St Bride’s), and recognised many of the details, even though St Bride’s is a boarding school and our old school was a state day school.

(Now Chislehurst School for Girls, in case you’re wondering, called Beaverwood School for Girls while I was a pupil, and before that Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School for Girls.)

However, the pupils in the cookery classes at my fictional St Bride’s School produce more appetising fare than we ever did.

Decision Time

When shops mount ‘Back to School’ displays at the start of the summer holidays, part of me feels sorry for schoolchildren. I also find the promise of the return to normality in September strangely comforting, but I’ve only just realised why.

Every day we need to make a lot of decisions. How many is unclear, but the extraordinary figure of 35,000 pops up all over the internet from various sources.

Assuming we sleep seven hours a night, that leaves us responsible for over 2,000 decisions per waking hour.

How did scientists come up with such a huge figure? I question whether some jiggery-pokery is in play. Perhaps it is analogous to my Fitbit’s insistence that I’d walked several miles when I was on a long journey in our camper van, doing nothing more active than knitting. It turned out the device was counting each stitch as a step, misinterpreting the movement of my hands.

Now there’s a  handy tip if you’re struggling to reach your step target at the end of a tiring day: sit down and do a few rows of knitting.

Currently getting my step count up by knitting poppies for Remembrance Day

Lifestyle app Noom’s estimate of 122 daily decisions is more plausible, and more manageable, considering that we spend a good part of each working day on autopilot. Many of our decisions are shaped by our routines: when to rise, what to wear, how to travel, and so on. The more rigid our workday routine, the fewer decisions we need make. Even a creative job like mine is shaped by a certain degree of habit. For example, I always write first drafts by hand with a fountain pen.

Holidays make us abandon our work routines. While freeing us of some sources of stress associated with our workplace – conflicts with colleagues, commuter journeys – they force us to make many more decisions every day.

However well you know your own mind, all decisions are a source of stress, some more than others.

As a teenager moving from a school with compulsory uniform to one with a liberal dress code added much angst to my mornings.

Most holidays are too short for us to lay down comforting new routines. It takes an estimated 18 days to lay down new habits, although there are exceptions. On holiday in Berlin this summer, my daughter and I quickly got into the swing of breakfasting on oven-warm pastries and good coffee at the Einstein Café on the Kurfürstendamm, cute sparrows hopping around our feet to peck up dropped crumbs.

Returning from our holidays – going ‘back to school’ in spirit if not in fact – and to our old routines, we leave the stress of so many extra daily decisions behind. Whether this means a net gain in well-being depends on how stressful your job is.

If you’re feeling blue as the autumn takes hold, try this top tip for keeping your spirits up post-holiday, courtesy of my friend and former colleague Becky: let your first decision be where to spend your next holiday.

This column first appeared in the September 2022 edition of the Tetbury Advertiser.

 

BACK TO SCHOOL WITH GEMMA LAMB

Go back to school with Gemma Lamb this autumn – St Bride’s School, that is! The new edition of the first Gemma Lamb Cozy Mystery, Dastardly Deeds at St Bride’s, is now available in ebook, paperback and audiobook, published by Boldwood Books. (Previously published as Secrets at St Bride’s.)

Order your copy here:

 Amazon UK  Amazon US

The Mystery of the Disappearing Books

A news round-up featuring my book publishing schedule from now until Spring 2023

If you’re currently trying to order any of my novels, you may be wondering why they’re proving tricky to find – or at least, my original editions. That’s because they’re all in the process of being relaunched by publishing houses to whom I’ve licensed the rights – ie I’ve signed contracts with trade publishing houses.

Over the last few weeks I’ve therefore been in the curious position of having to UNpublish my novels, which feels odd after spending the last five years publishing them! This has been necessary to make way for the new trade-published editions.

I am in the very fortunate position of now having not one but three publishers about to launch their own editions of my books, superseding my original self-published editions.

I also have a contract to write two new books a year, one in each of my series, for Boldwood Books.  Boldwood will be publishing an all-new third in my boarding school series in November, and the all-new eighth in my Sophie Sayers series in the spring.

Over the next six months, they’ll all reappear in beautiful new editions as paperbacks, ebooks, and audiobooks, plus there’ll be a new German translation of the first three books in the Sophie Sayers series.

At the bottom of this post, you’ll find a summary of what’s happening with the my two series. All of them will be available worldwide, online and to order from wherever you usually like to buy your books and audiobooks.

You may still find the old editions for sale secondhand – there are a lot of them out in the world, so it’s inevitable they’ll still pop up now and again. I’m especially pleased when I see them in charity shops, knowing that they’re having a new life raising money for good causes.

But by the end of March 2023, they should all be reissued in their new editions – along with a new novel in both the Sophie Sayers and Gemma Lamb (St Bride’s) series.

I will still continue to self-publish other books in my back catalogue, for example the Tales from Wendlebury Barrow novellas, The Clutch of Eggs and The Natter of Knitters, and to self-publish any new books that don’t fit the lists of my new publishers or find homes elsewhere.

GEMMA LAMB COZY MYSTERIES (The series set at St Bride’s School)

The multi-award-winning Boldwood Books is launching new editions of both books previously published in my school series, with new jazzier titles and bright new covers hand-drawn by the wonderful Rachel Lawston. They’ve rebranded them as the Gemma Lamb Cozy Mysteries to focus on the central character, English-teacher-turned-amateur-sleuth Gemma Lamb.

The publication schedule for the Gemma Lamb ebooks, paperbacks and audiobooks is as follows:

15th September 2022 Dastardly Deeds at St Bride’s (formerly Secrets at St Bride’s) – *out now*11th October 2022 Sinister Stranger at St Bride’s (formerly Stranger at St Bride’s)14th November 2022 Wicked Whispers at St Bride’s (all new – not previously published)1st July 2023 – Book 4 – no title yet!SOPHIE SAYERS VILLAGE MYSTERIES – Ebooks and paperbacks

The new editions of the first two Sophie Sayers Village Mysteries will be published on 1st November with bright new cover designs, to be revealed shortly. Unlike the Gemma Lamb stories, they’ll all be keeping their original titles, except the second one, which Boldwood have renamed Murder at the Vicarage. The publication schedule for the new editions of the ebooks and paperbacks is as follows:

1st November 2022 – Best Murder in Show & Murder at the Vicarage1st December 2022 – Murder in the Manger & Murder by the Book1st January 2023 Springtime for Murder & Murder Your Darlings1st February 2023 Murder Lost & Found1st March 2023 A Fling with Murder (working title – not previously published)

To receive news via email about my books from Boldwood Books, sign up for their Debbie Young newsletter here.

SOPHIE SAYERS VILLAGE MYSTERIES – Audiobooks

The launch of the new series of audiobooks is already under way by audiobook specialist Saga Egmont. They have created their own cover designs, and the first two are below.

The launch programme for the audiobooks of the first seven Sophie Sayers novels is as follows:

18th August 2022 Best Murder in Show – *out now*
15th September 2022 Murder at the Vicarage – *out now*
27th October 2022 Murder in the Manger
2nd January 2023 Murder by the Book
9th February 2023 Springtime for Murder
9th March 2023 Murder Your Darlings
6th April 2023 Murder Lost and Found

SOPHIE SAYERS VILLAGE MYSTERIES – German translation

Meanwhile German publisher DP Verlag has undertaken to translate the Sophie Sayers novels and to publish them in ebook and audiobook format. As you can see from the cover image, the title is completely different, of course, and I don’t yet know what the German language titles will be for books two and three, but here is the production schedule:

25th August 2022 – Sophie Sayers #1 ebook – *out now*
27th October 2022 – Sophie Sayers #2 ebook
15th December 2022 – Sophie Sayers #3 ebook
July 2023 – Sophie Sayers #1 audiobook
October 2023 – Sophie Sayers #2 audiobook
November 2023 – Sophie Sayers #3 audiobook

I’m hoping that if sales in Germany go well (which so far they seem to be doing for the 1st book, which has been hovering around the top 1000 mark in the whole of Amazon’s German ebook store), that DP Verlag will also want to translate the rest of the series.

By the way, if you have borrowed any of the previous editions of these books under your Kindle Unlimited subscription, rest assured you may continue to read them at no extra cost.

Also, if you ever have any problems getting hold of copies of any of my books in your preferred format, just drop me a line via the contact form here, and I’ll do my best to rustle one up for you.

Onward and Upward

As you can imagine, all of this activity, plus my new contractual obligation to write two new novels a year, is keeping me very busy, which is why I haven’t had a chance to publish a new blog post here since 1st September – but I’m hoping to share my latest columns for the Tetbury Advertiser and Hawkesbury Parish News here, as usual, before the month is out.

In the meantime, as well as pressing on with writing Sophie Sayers #8 (halfway through so far and I’m having great fun!), I will now be updating my website to reflect the new editions as they come out. Plus of course I’ll be doing the many other things that are part of my writing life – running author talks as part of the Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival series (the next HULF Talk on 29th October will be about The World at War – book your tickets here), teaching my Simply Self-publish course for Jericho Writers (next course runs October-December), keeping my Little Free Library stocked up, and, of course, reading voraciously!

New School Year, New Start for my School Mystery Series

As the new academic year starts in my local village school, I’m getting ready for a fresh start for my cosy mystery series set in an eccentric English boarding school for girls.

Until now there have been two books in this comedy cosy mystery series, which readers have described as a cross between St Trinian’s and Malory Towers for grown-ups! These first two books were originally published under the titles Secrets at St Bride’s and Stranger at St Bride’s.

NEW TERM, NEW TITLES & COVERS

This autumn, the multi-award-winning Boldwood Books will be reissuing them with bright new covers and snappier titles as Dastardly Deeds at St Bride’s (on 15th September)…

…and Sinister Stranger at St Bride’s (on 11th October).

Then on 14th November, an all-new third instalment of the adventures of Gemma Lamb and friends will be launched, called Wicked Whispers at St Bride’s. The cover for that one is still under wraps, but I’ll share it with you as soon as I can.

TOP MARKS FOR COVER DESIGNER

If the style of the cover looks familiar, it’s because it’s the hand-drawn artwork of the wonderful book designer Rachel Lawston, who last year created the cover of my standalone romantic comedy novella, Mrs Morris Changes Lanes.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what Rachel comes up with for Wicked Whispers at St Bride’s!

While I wait for that cover reveal, I’m already dreaming up ideas for the fourth book in the series, which I’ll be starting to write very soon.

NEW PUBLISHER IS TOP OF THE CLASS

All of this series will be published on multiple platforms and in multiple formats by the energetic, expert team at Boldwood Books, including ebook, paperback, hardback and audio – so however you prefer to read, there’ll be a format to suit your preference.

You’ll be able to buy them online and from bookshops, and if you ever have any problems tracking down the one you’re after, just let me know and I’ll help you out.

MEANWHILE BACK IN WENDLEBURY BARROW…

In the meantime, I’m 15k words into my next novel, which will be the eighth Sophie Sayers adventure, set in the Cotswold village of Wendlebury Barrow. Its working title is A Fling with Murder, although that may well change by the time I’ve finished with it. The Fling is an allusion to its Scottish setting – Sophie is whisking Hector out of his comfort zone in the Cotswolds to take him to meet her parents in Inverness, a city I love very much. This series is also about to get a relaunch and to become available in multiple formats. More news on that soon…

Now back to my writing desk, my notebook and fountain pen… there’s homework to be done before I can have my tea! 

(Yes, I do write my books by hand with a fountain pen!)BUYING LINKS FOR THE GEMMA LAMB SERIES

Dastardly Deeds at St Bride’s

 Amazon UK  Amazon US

Sinister Stranger at St Bride’s 

 Amazon UK   Amazon US

And Now Auf Deutsch…

Happy German Launch Day to Sophie Sayers! 

I’m delighted to announce the launch today of my first ever foreign language edition, thanks to my new German publisher, DP Verlag.

Best Murder in Show, the first Sophie Sayers Village Mystery, can now be read in German under the title, Cottage Crimes: Ein Preisgekroenter Todesfall and the series title Sophie Sayers Ermittelt (which means Sophie Sayers Investigates).

I’m really pleased with their presentation of the book. As this was a trade deal, I had no input into the design, so I was thrilled when I saw their beautiful, eye-catching cover design and series branding.

It’s especially appropriate that Sophie’s first foreign venture is in German, because at the start of the story, she is living in Frankfurt, working at an international school, when she inherits her great-aunt’s cottage in the Cotswolds.

On graduation day at Frankfurt International School

The reason I planted her in Germany is that I too used to live in Germany, thanks to my father’s employer, Burroughs Corporation, a computer company. His job had previously taken us to live in California for a year when I was eight years old, and when I was 14, we had the chance to relocate to Germany. I spent the last four years of my secondary school education at Frankfurt International School, which had pupils from over 60 different countries on the school roll.

Funnily enough, just a week ago, I was in conversation with the current Upper School Principal, John Switzer, who is doing a survey for his doctoral thesis about the impact of taking the International Baccalaureate on the lives of its former students. I was pleased to tell him that not only had the school broadened my outlook and made me many lifelong friends, but it had also helped inspire my first novel. I’ll be sure to send him a link to the new German edition!

If you’d like to practise your German, here’s a screenshot of the book’s page on Amazon.de, where it’s currently riding high in the charts:

And here’s the first review – thanks to Koetzi for being so quick off the mark on publication day!

DP Verlag have also published an interview with me on their own website, which you can read here.

The company has also bought the German translation rights for the ebooks of the next two books in the series. I can’t wait to see how they turn out!

I have to thank my agent Ethan Ellenberg of the Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency for introducing my books to DP Verlag. I’m hoping this is the first of many translations of my books!