I can’t believe . . .

. . . it’s June already. At the end of this month I will celebrate my ninety-second birthday! And I’m still writing! And I’m still being asked to talk about my books . . . Well, not so much now. I do have to ask for a lift to and from the venue, and I must admit that I was rather pleased to be asked what kind of cake I’d like to be given with a cuppa afterward. Isn’t that civilised?

And, talking of civilised, I have been thinking of what marks our entry into society, and I rather think it may be when a child – or an adult – says ‘Please’ or ‘Thank you’ on the appropriate occasions. The next step might be their saying, ‘Sorry!’ if they have done something inappropriate. This pattern of behaviour is something I’ve been thinking about for the book I’m writing now. I have a multi-billionaire who has forgotten how to say Please or Thank you until his circumstances change and he is challenged to relearn the rules of society. What would be your most acceptable turn of speech?                   

                             I had a very pleasant surprise . . .

. . . the other day when I finally took delivery of my copies of FALSE GOLD. For many years, Severn House had insisted that the background of crime books should be black. They firmly believed that this is what their readers wanted. Crime equals black, and that’s that. They may be right. Possibly they are. But I personally have a ‘thing’ about black and it was a great delight to find the background for this cover is a rich blue. Hurray! And yes, as usual Severn House have produced a readable text for all ages. And yes, I do like this story which follows the further fortunes of Bea and the supposed rough sleeper she found outside her garage one wintry night. He’s now in a very different place from the ragged, half-starved man she helped to discover his background, but there are still obstacles to overcome.

                     Now, what to do about the short story?    

How about a tearer from the start of Bea’s meeting with the aforesaid rough sleeper? The book was FALSE NAME, and you can find the first chapter here. This book was followed by FALSE WITNESS, which came out last year, and by FALSE GOLD, which came out this May. I am currently working hard on the last in this group, which will be FALSE RELATION.

A blessing on those kind people who offer a lift to an ancient ninety-two year old writer who walks with a stick.

Veronica Heley