It’s Summer!!!
Welcome to my monthly newsletter for August 2024
How can it be true? Summer is over . . . again. I’m such a warm-bloodied creature and each winter I long for the sun’s warmth to seep into my bones. But then it’s all over far too quickly. I must learn to embrace the colder months with as much enthusiasm as I do the warmer ones! I took this photo as I was writing and watching the sun come up over Greece. As I sit here in my writing room with the rain hammering on the roof it all feels like a long time ago.
Anyway, welcome to this month’s newsletter which I hope is packed full of good stuff to inform and entertain! And read on for the link to see me reading the first chapter of my forthcoming book A Borrowed Path. (Look at that! A little teaser.)
What am I writing?
My summer of fun and frivolity is about to come to a crashing halt which means I have to put down my writing side hustle – my cosy mystery book – and return to slightly more serious matters. I had hoped to get to the end of the mystery by the end of the summer but for one reason or another (mainly me not writing enough) I haven’t hit that target. Never mind! One day I will finish it.
So, I’m currently waiting for the main edits to arrive on the book for next year, A Question of Loyalty. As ever, my heart was in my mouth as my editor read the first draft, hoping that she liked it. We met for lunch in London last week and she told me that she had, in fact, loved it and that she thought it was pretty special and might be my best yet. I tell you this not to toot my own horn (although obviously it does do that) or to entice you to stick around until it’s published, (there’s that too) but mainly to try and get across how scary being a writer can be. When you’re in the thick of a project, it can be hard to see the wood for the trees and I can easily lose my sense of perspective. By the time I deliver the manuscript, I have usually convinced myself that the book is a bit rubbish. On top of that, as I don’t have an outline I never even know if my editor is going to like the story. It’s all very high risk.
Anyway, I live to write another day (phew!) and the edit will begin shortly.
After that I will start writing the book for 2026 (which seems like a horribly long way off.) For a long time, I only had the theme of that book in my head and the idea for the opening. I was beginning to think that I didn’t have enough for a novel but then, when I was on holiday, I had an idea which makes everything significantly richer and now I’m very excited to get started. But I have to complete the edit for the A Question of Loyalty first. One thing at a time, Imogen.
Where have I been?
I had a flying visit to London to see my editor as aforementioned. There was also a week in Greece on the island of Lefkada with my husband and our kids which was lovely. Going on holiday with adult children can be a bit of a challenge for me. For years when we went away I was the one in control. I packed, I organised, I made sure everyone had what they needed and I decided what we would do and when. I know that sounds a bit draconian but with four children there has to be someone in charge and my husband was happy for me take that role.
But when we go away now we have no need for someone to keep everything running like clockwork. We are six adults all with different ideas and needs and there’s no reason why my ideas should be the ones we go with. I have to say, though, I’m not very good at stepping back. You’d think I’d be getting the hang of it by now, but somehow when we’re all together I have to work hard to not revert to my former role of Boss!
I spent a lot of time in water when we were away (and not just the hot kind!) I love to swim and when the sea is warm it’s a complete joy. So here are a few watery photos!
The other big trip this month was to a glamp site in Norfolk. I was a girl guide and a venture scout and so spent a fair bit of my youth in tents but it’s been a while since I’ve slept under canvas. Glamping is a bit like camping but with added frills. In this case, the frills were having a huge tent with a real bed and a log burner in it.
I was there to do some research for a forthcoming Izzy book and it was great fun – but I think I prefer either to sleep under canvas in the traditional way or better still, to have four walls and a roof!
I got some great material for the novel, though and had a really helpful chat with the glamp site owner who shared lots of stories with me.
Book news!
As you may remember, my new book A Borrowed Path will be published in a little over three weeks. You can pre-order it if you think you might forget! Here’s a little reminder of what it’s about.
Eve has always had a tricky relationship with her mother, Agatha, and returning to Fox House, the family home, hasn’t made it any easier. When Eve’s daughter, Lyra, and granddaughter, Skye, unexpectedly turn up, it becomes clear that four generations of women under one roof is a recipe for trouble. Not least because Lyra clearly needs help but refuses to say why.
Lyra decides she wants to live in the ramshackle cottage in the grounds, but when Agatha announces she’s promised it to a man called Dylan, Eve and Lyra are mystified. Who is he, and what reason could Agatha possibly have for giving him the cottage?
Because it seems that it’s not only Lyra hiding things. Agatha has secrets she has never had the courage to tell Eve. Is now the right time to finally reveal the truth? And if she does, will it give them the relationships they’ve all longed for—or will it drive them further apart?
I’ve long wanted to write a book about motherhood. The poem This be the Verse by Philip Larkin has haunted me ever since I became a mother myself and I wanted to write something inspired by that. If you don’t know the poem you can read it HERE. It’s only short.
But the book is not just about mothers. It also has a mystery at its core and plenty of secrets.
If you’re in the Ilkley area then I will be having a book launch at The Grove Bookshop (as mentioned in Kate Atkinson’s new Jackson Brodie novel – see below.)(To clarify -the bookshop is mentioned in KA’s book, not my book launch.) I’ll be chatting about my inspiration for the novel, reading a bit and answering any questions. There’ll be a glass of fizz and maybe a nibble or two. The event is on 1st October at 7.00pm. It’s a free do but if you want to come then you need to let The Grove Bookshop know as numbers are limited by the size of the shop.
And if you’re curious, there’s a video of me reading the first chapter HERE.(Teaser fulfilled.)
US Competition
If you happen to be in the US then Goodreads are running a Giveaway for 100 copies of the ebook. You just have to enter to be with a chance of winning one. Sadly it’s US only and as I don’t have a US account I can’t give you a link but I believe you just search for A Borrowed Path to find it.
What have I read?
I’m a huge Kate Atkinson fan so I was delighted to read the new Jackson Brodie story Death at the Sign of the Rook. If you haven’t read this series then I recommend you start at the beginning with Case Histories but otherwise dive straight in. All the old characters are in there in a story set in a fictional village not far from Ilkley where I live. As with all of her books, this one is quirky and whimsical and it made me laugh out loud often. It’s a little sillier than some of the others in the series but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Swimming to Lundy by Amanda Prowse is a dual timeline story set on the Devon coast in a tightly knitted community which has more than its fair share of secrets. Tawrie decides to take up wild swimming and in doing so unlocks parts of her past that she had closed off. It’s a story about acceptance and taking risks and is packed with strong female characters and the kind of emotional whammies you might expect from a book by Amanda Prowse.
There’s Nothing Wrong with Her by Kate Weinberg. Vita has a great life – a job she enjoys, a loving boyfriend, and the best goldfish a girl could wish for. It’s all perfect. But then a six month long illness floors her and she stops leaving her basement flat. No one can work out what is wrong with her, not even her doctor boyfriend. Then one day she has to answer the door and discovers the people who live upstairs, and gradually her world changes. It’s a book about self-discovery and coming to terms with our past and has a sixteenth century Italian ghost with a serious attitude who I particularly liked.
Finally, The Beloved Girls by Harriet Evans. A successful barrister goes missing the night before her wedding anniversary and no one can understand where she might be. The key seems to be hidden in her childhood and in the shadowy events of a long hot summer which she spent with the charismatic Hunter family at their rambling house in Somerset. A tragic accident and a secret ritual are both involved and I was enthralled as I tried to piece it all together.
I’m always interested in book recommendations so if you have any then why not join our Book Café and tell us all about them.
And I think that’s everything for this month. As ever please get in touch if you have any burning questions. As well as this newsletter you can also find me on Instagram or Facebook. And don’t forget about my new book! It’ll be out by the time we meet again.
So until next month, happy reading.
