Many thanks to all my kind friends who emailed to commiserate when I went down with shingles. Yes, it was ultra nasty, and I do not wish ever to have to go through that again. I lost three weeks of work time, during which I was good for nothing but drifting around the house or lying on my bed. Gradually the pain eased and, although I still do get some in my left arm, it’s nothing like as bad as it was and I am managing to do some writing – if for less hours than usual.
For those of you who have suffered please note that, although it doesn’t seem to be generally known, there is a vaccine for shingles. Google and see if it applies to you.
And then, just as I was beginning to crack on with the next Ellie book, the copy-editing for FALSE ALARM, another Bea Abbot story, dropped through the door. My editor has been most sympathetic and allowed me extra time to do this job but I have kept at it, and little by little, the corrections and queries have been dealt with and the amendments are on their way back to source. Proof reading should be next month and the book should be out on time in November.
It was hard to pick up the Ellie book again after these interruptions, but I must say I have been heartened by having some very nice reviews for MURDER IN MIND, Ellie’s last story, which came out in May. Kirkus write that ‘Ellie’s 12th is right on the money’; Publisher’s Weekly says that ‘Ellie is as spirited as ever, and her daughter as detestable, in this entertaining entry’; and Booklist paid me a back-handed compliment; ‘Heley’s latest, despite its Miss Marple-like heroine and British cozy style, is full of contemporary drama, suspense, and surprises’. Not bad, eh?
I have also had to produce another short story for the Methodist Recorder – delivery end of August for their Harvest issue. I thought it might be interesting to focus on Methodist ministers who move to their new posts at this time of the year – and the complications that might arise. Please note; this is fiction! I don’t want to be sued by someone saying that ‘But I’m not like that!’ Details in the next newsletter for those who’d like to have a copy sent them by email.
So, on with the next Ellie. Sometimes when I’ve been writing as Ellie Quicke, I find it hard to switch into ‘being’ Bea Abbot. I’ve enjoyed ‘being’ Bea for a while, but now I must get back to Ellie, who really ought to go on a diet, but probably won’t do anything about it. And what do you think her daughter Diana is up to next?! And that little scamp, Mikey? I’m afraid that what I thought was a sub-plot is going to take over – and maybe that’s all right, and maybe it isn’t. (To be continued)
Veronica Heley
MURDER IN MIND . . . May 2012
Ellie is asked to look into two ‘accidental’ deaths in the family of the Great White Shark – as the local big estate agent is called – because her daughter Diana intends to marry him once he’s got rid of his current wife. The surviving members of the Hooper family appear to be self-centred and unsympathetic but as their numbers diminish, Ellie begins to understand the reasons behind the way they act. Can she save the rest of them – or is it too late to act? ISBN Hardback 978 0 7278 8179 3
Also the paperback of MURDER MY NEIGHBOUR. Ellie looks into the case of a wealthy lady who tells everyone she’s moving to a retirement home – but never arrives. ISBN Paperback 978 1 84751 360 1
NEW in July!
The large print version of FALSE PRETENCES. Bea finds all is not well at an old established charity. The death of one director may have been from natural causes, but those which followed definitely were not. ISBN 978 0 7278 9884 5
FALSE REPORT is coming out as an ebook. Bea discovers that helping a vertically challenged musician to some home help is asking for trouble, especially when a pretty girl has been trafficked into this country by a gang who target wealthy men. ISBN 978 1 78010 201 6.
E-BOOKS. Find them at http://www.veronicaheley.com/ebooks.php?l1=102
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