Welcome to 2022, Detectives

Hello Detectives! I’m back at last!

Thank you so much for being patient while I was on leave. I’m doing great, and so is the baby. I’m really enjoying parenthood, and I feel so lucky to have been able to take time away from writing to be with them while they were tiny. (By the way, I won’t be mentioning them much online from now on, or giving out details about them – we don’t know if they’re going to be the kind of person who wants to have an online presence, and so we’re waiting until they can tell us what they’d prefer!)

I’m now going to be in the office part time for the next few months. I will be here as much as I can, and posting on Instagram and Twitter again, but my priority whenever I sit down at my desk has to be The Ministry of Unladylike Activity. And the good news about that is that the third draft is going really well! There’s always a moment when the story really clicks for me – sometimes that happens in the second or even first drafts, but this time it’s taken until now for me to feel really excited and confident about what I’m writing. The time I’m spending on it is paying off, and so I hope you’ll understand why I’m around a bit less than I would usually be.

I’ll be able to share more about Ministry later this spring – I’ve seen early versions of its cover, which I LOVE, and I’ll also hopefully be able to talk more about its new main characters. So stay tuned for that!

The next part of what I want to write is a lot less fun. I’m sure you’re all very aware of the war in Ukraine. This is a scary and confusing time, and I am thinking of everyone affected, especially my lovely Ukrainian publishers Nebo Booklab, and all of the Ukrainian members of my Detective Society. It is hard to know what to say, and harder to know what to do, and no one has all the answers, especially not a murder mystery writer. But there are a few things that help me to remember them, and that I hope can help you if you are feeling worried and powerless.

Reading and watching scary things can make us feel as though we are in imminent danger. But most of us, most of the time, are not. Take four deep, calming breaths (in for a slow count of four, out for a slow count of eight each time) to remind your body that you are safe right now. Once you have done that, you’ll feel more strong, and that’ll make you more able to be helpful and kind.Find an adult you trust, and talk to them about your questions and worries. It might seem scary to say the things you’re afraid of, but talking often really helps. Make sure that the person you choose really listens to you, and really responds to what you’re saying. Remember that there are a lot of bad people in this world, but just as many good ones – and remember that there are a lot of good people working on solutions to this problem. We can all do something. You just need to find your thing to do. This could be writing to your MP (or TD or equivalent person). You could donate money, if you have it (or fundraise it, if you don’t!), to a reputable organisation you like the work of. You could go to a rally or march if you are able to. Or you could do something else! It’s up to you. Only you know what’s appropriate for your circumstances. But I think deciding on something active will make you feel less helpless.And finally, you will see a lot of people comparing this situation to other ones in the past. But it’s really important to remember that although there are always similarities and useful parallels, history never actually repeats itself. It just doesn’t! And I say this as someone who does a lot of historical research as part of my job. No one ever really knows what’s going to happen next, I promise you – so please don’t listen to people who are making wild predictions right now.

So take heart, Detectives. You are wonderful, and you have more power than you think you do. Just remember to be kind and thoughtful – and if you have a chance to help someone in difficulty, please do it.

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One more thing: you’ll notice that comments are not enabled on this post, and they won’t be on posts going forward. This is because one commenter has been persistently posting things that don’t meet the standards of this website. My team and I have worked as hard as possible to make sure the rest of you, who have been abiding by the rules and being wonderful to each other and to me, don’t lose your posting privileges, but it’s now clear that comments need to be closed for a while. I’m sad about this, and I’m looking into ways around this, but for now this is what I have to do.