      August means a holiday . . . or does it?
No, of course it doesn’t. August means that other people go on holidays, that my favourite café is closed for a fortnight, that other people talk about what they’re going to do or have done – or maybe dream of doing.
It doesn’t mean a holiday for me. Rather the reverse. I had to deliver another Max story for the choir concert, and another short story for the Methodist Recorder, and by the end of August I must deliver another complete book – FALSE RELATION.
Actually I’m having some fun with the end of False Relation. This will be the fourth and possibly last of the stories around Marston Hall and the young couple who inherited this run-down stately home. Now most of their problems have been dealt with and I plan to finish up with the flier for their first Garden Fete. The model railway will feature, of course, and the dog show they’ve been talking about for a while. But what else? Is it the wrong time of the year to have a plant stall? Yes, to a craft tent, a tea tent and – of course – a beer tent. Yes to Face painting and a Children’s Corner. Should we have races for children and a tug-of-war? I’m told something called Whack-a-Mole is fashionable, but I need instruction on that.
                                        So what’s new?
Or, what’s newly published? Well, first there’s another box set from Joffe, which had the first seven – yes, Seven – of the Ellie Quicke books republished under the title of the ELLIE QUICKE MYSTERIES. That was on July 21st.
Next, the large print hardback comes out for libraries, and that’s FALSE NAME which is the first in the series where Bea Abbot gets tangled up in the fortunes of a seeming rough sleeper with an intriguing background. That’s out now.
                                          The next extract . . .
Now I have a problem. You know I’ve been bewailing the fact that I didn’t have a new short story for you each month – but this month I have two. I’ll save one for later but here, for your delectation and enjoyment, is another chapter in the eventful life of Maximilian the Magnificent – or The Comfort Cat. Read it here.
A blessing on all those who, after telling you their tales of hospital visits, sleepless nights, digestive problems and what the children/grandchildren are doing, actually remember to ask how you are doing yourself.
Veronica Heley