A little of what you fancy . . .

. . . does you good. Every Monday afternoon I allow myself a break from work to toddle along to the Tea Club where we take our seats among friends and are served the following: four finger sandwiches – without crusts and with various fillings – and a slice of cake: Lemon drizzle is my favourite but the red velvet chocolate is also to be recommended. Tea and coffee are on demand.

And we talk! About local concerns, the latest in scams, the children’s Maypole Dancing . . . and why so-and-so is not with us today. We don’t touch on politics as it raises the blood pressure. Sometimes we have a quiz. An hour and a half later, we stagger back home to decide that we don’t need any supper, do we?

So, back to work. London Book Fair has been held and everyone concerned is exhausted but content. I don’t attend nowadays as my age is beginning to tell. I miss the face-to-face meetings with my editors and agents, but good news still drifts my way. Booklist has given the May publication of FALSE GOLD a good review . . . ‘A perfect escape from weather vagaries, especially with a cup of tea.’ This book has Bea called on again to help Julian – who has unexpectedly inherited Marston Hall – only to be plagued by rumours of buried gold, a missing security man and also his dog.

Now it’s back to juggle promises I’ve made to deliver this and that. First, the Easter story for the Methodist Recorder. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what we leave behind when we die. Will ee be judged by the amount of money we leave and how wisely we have directed its disposal? Or will we be remembered for acts of kindness which leave no footprint in the financial markets? The story will come out in the Easter edition, titled ‘Snakes & Ladders.’

I also wrote another short story about Maximilian the Magnificent, the undersized black cat who gets into lots of bother. This time he has an unwelcome guest in the house to deal with. I wrote UNINVITED for our choir concert, and you can find it here.

And now, back to Bea Abbot and the work in progress. This story is FALSE RELATION and will be he last in this group of four books which take Bea out of her comfort zone into her friend Julian’s new life at Marston Hall. It’s coming on, slowly.

As for the garden, I’m behind with sowing seed because it’s been so cold, but now the sun’s out, I’m popping seeds in here, there and everywhere. Lots of colour from the forsythia and the grape hyacinths, not to mention the polyanthus and the brilliant daffodils.

A blessing on all the volunteers who run coffee and tea clubs for us oldies. They are often the only human contact we have all week, and give us so much pleasure.

Veronica Heley