I’ve been lazy for a couple of days. Picture me, laid out flat out on my bed, going Aargh!

The reason? We had our annual Party in the Park on Sunday. It is run by our local Community Organisation, and attracts about 6000 visitors. There are stages for choirs and dancing troupes; a beer tent and a food area; clowns and balloons and races and football and Fit for Sport and a dog show and side shows. In other words, a proper Show. The local churches get together to rent a ‘patch of land’ on which we stage crafts (free for children), a prayer tree, an entertainment section, and a book and cards stall (my church). We set up in the morning, open at one and finish at five, although there is live music till 9. Old friends come and go but the highlight for me was a ride on the wonderful, noisy, creaking, slightly tatty carousel. And yes, I managed to hitch up my skirt and climb up onto one of the horses and hang on to the barley-sugar pole and go wheeeee! So now you understand why I’ve been lying flat out on my bed, going Aargh!

As to the books. Well, the next Ellie Quicke – MURDER BY SUSPICION – came out at the end of June (available three months later in the USA). I don’t have any reviews from the magazines yet, but I do have three via the NetGalley system, which is for librarians and web-site reviewers who can apply for a free digital copy in advance of publication. And they have been very kind. Thank you, all of you.

The storyline? The charismatic leader of a cult is after Ellie’s money. Pastor Ambrose works through Claire the Tearful, whom Ellie took on to look after her elderly and very frail housekeeper, Rose – and that did not work out well. Also Ellie’s policewoman friend is raising the question of a missing schoolgirl with whom Claire has had an argument. For details of the ISBNs, see below.

Someone asked me the other day about a character in one of my books and my mind went completely blank. I have enough trouble remembering the names of characters in my current work, especially when they keep changing! For instance, in the current storyline, I had a character who started off as Donald. He looked like a Donald. He acted like a Donald. And then I remembered I have another character with a similar name – Dan, Vera’s husband. All right, Dan is Daniel, and Don is Donald, but . . . no. I decided the names were too similar, so now I have to think of another name for this important character. Gordon? Perhaps.

Mind you, there is good reason for me to be confused. At any given moment I can be working on four different story-lines. If you are as easily confused as me, I suggest you skip the next paragraph.

Currently, I have just received my copies of MURDER BY SUSPICION, officially published last week. I have finished the edit on FALSE WALL, and am waiting for the copy-editing to arrive. I am beginning the first draft of the next Ellie, MURDER AT THE MAGPIE. I am polishing off another short story for the Methodist Recorder called WHY BOTHER? introducing a new character. I am writing and sending in publicity material for MURDER BY SUSPICION, which will appear on other people’s websites soon and I’m arranging for some forward publicity for . . . er . . . remind me, someone! And I have to bear in mind that publication in the USA is going to be three months behind that of the UK, and somehow I’ve got to arrange for the website to be kept up to date . . . and there are some nice reviews coming through for . . . which story?

You get the picture?

On the whole life is good. They say that writers are never so happy as when they’re producing the first draft of a new story. I’m not sure that that’s true but, as it happens, this one is coming along a treat . . . at least, it seems to be all right at the moment. What I’ll think of it when I come to the edits, I don’t know.

And finally, a blessing: may the longest days of the year bring more light than darkness into your life.

Veronica Heley

NEW . . . .

MURDER BY SUSPICION, the 16^th Ellie Quicke.
Hardback:   ISBN 9780 7278 85241         E-book: 9781 78010 6779

FALSE ALARM, the 7^th Bea Abbot.
Paperback: ISBN 978 1 84751 466 0.

The audiobook of   THE WILFUL HEIRESS from Soundings. In CD.

The new pop-up by Francesca Crespi, for Noah’s Ark, has a text written by yours truly. Francesca’s work is stunning. Frances Lincoln, ISBN 978-1-84507-937-6.

UNSUNG HEROES is now available as an e-book. This is a collection of short stories concerning the problems of three retired men and their families, plus some Ellie Quicke short stories. £3.40 UK, and $4.90 USA. http://www.veronicaheley.com/othertitles.php?l1-11

Find details of all the other E-books at http://www.veronicaheley.com/ebooks.php?l1-11

You find me refreshed, revived, etc. In other words, I stole away from my desk for a few days holiday in Bruges. Without a computer. And only switched my mobile phone on once a day. And it was good.

I came back to find the usual things had gone wrong in the house, such as the central heating clock developing a mind of its own – why would it want to do that? Don’t I treat it well? Anyway, I got Tim to fix it.

Work. Well, first off, the audiobook of THE WILFUL HEIRESS came out in May – and I do hope you enjoy it. ‘The Lady Elizabeth Silverwood states that she may be an heiress, but she is not a fool . . .’ so you can guess the rest. Oh, yes, and she wears some lovely clothes and is being pursued by a fortune-hunter . . . or is he? The cover shows a Victorian costume, but the story is actually set in the reign of George II. Go figure! It is a beautiful cover, but perhaps a tad misleading.

More good news: the contracts are through for another Bea Abbot and another for Ellie Quicke. I spent a lot of time when I was in Bruges simply sitting and thinking about the next book. Before I start writing I have to know what the situation is that calls for Ellie to intervene, I have to know what the main characters look like and how they behave, and, most importantly, I have to know their names. So I sit on a bench overlooking the canal, with the tourist boats swishing past now and then, and a cyclist thrumming along on the cobblestones at my back, and I think. It’s a lovely place to sit, looking over at ancient gabled buildings which line the canal on both sides. Where I sit there is a rough triangle of grass with some flower beds in it, and a couple of mill-stones rescued from a long-gone windmill. There are some restored windmills only a few hundred yards away on the banks of a still larger canal, but I like this quiet, grassy spot away from the road.

Names can be very difficult to pin down. You can visualise the character – how they dress and act and speak, and sometimes you can get the name straight off, but usually I have several goes at it. This time I started off with some fairly unusual names which looked all right to start with, but then became something different. Why this should be, I do not know, except that as the characters grow in my mind, the original names didn’t fit. I start writing this next story – which is to be called MURDER AT THE MAGPIE, today, as I have just managed to get off the next Bea Abbot story to my publisher. It’s a weird business, this stepping away from ‘being’ Bea, to ‘becoming’ Ellie. I assure you that I am neither personage, although I do share some traits with both. And, like Ellie, I wish I were a little taller!

What else is happening this month? Well, there will be a hardback of another Ellie Quicke – MURDER BY SUSPICION – out in the last week of June together with the trade paperback and the e-book. This one has the charismatic leader of a cult going after Ellie’s money. Pastor Ambrose works through Claire the Tearful, whom Ellie took on to look after her elderly and very frail housekeeper, Rose – and that did not work out well. Also Ellie’s policewoman friend is raising the question of a missing schoolgirl with whom Claire had had an argument. For details of the ISBNs, see below.

Also at the end of June there will be a large print version of the 7^th Bea Abbot story – which is FALSE ALARM.

Meanwhile the Methodist Recorder have asked me for another short story for the summer months, and I have to deliver that by the end of June, so I’d better get started on that, too. I think we’ll be introducing our two old friends, Bruce and Leo, to a new comer, who is going to be quite a problem. I’m rather looking forward to that. His name at the moment is Corin – but, see above – that may well change as he becomes more real in my mind.

And finally, a blessing: may the showers of rain in your life help you to grow as flowers do in a garden.

Veronica Heley

NEW . . . .

MURDER BY SUSPICION, the 16^th Ellie Quicke.
Hardback:   ISBN 9780 7278 85241
Trade paperback: ISBN 9781 84751 6244
E-book: 9781 78010 6779

Also, the audiobook of THE WILFUL HEIRESS from Soundings. In CD.

The new pop-up by Francesca Crespi, for Noah’s Ark, has a text written by yours truly. Francesca’s work is stunning. Frances Lincoln, ISBN 978-1-84507-937-6.

UNSUNG HEROES is now available as an e-book. This is a collection of short stories concerning the problems of three retired men and their families, plus some Ellie Quicke short stories. £3.40 UK, and $4.90 USA. http://www.veronicaheley.com/othertitles.php?l1-11

I have made a New Year’s Resolution – well, all right, I do know we’re now into the fifth month of the year, but I don’t know how else to term such an important, nay life-changing, event. I am not going to mention the clothes moths any more. I have thrown out all my woollen garments. I have torn up old carpets and had new ones – supposedly moth-proof – put down. I have replaced carpeting with tiles in the bathroom. I have sprayed with lavender oil. And still they come. So, I have decided that from now on the battle should be considered part of everyday normal life and therefore not to be mentioned. (Of course, like all good New Year Resolutions, I may break this one from time to time!)

I went to the London Book Fair, which has moved to Olympia and, like everyone else there, was bewildered by the signs – or lack of. Now I quite understand how difficult it was for the organisers to fit so many aspects of the publishing world into four conjoined halls and two, or was it three, sets of galleries – one of which could only be reached by lift. But was it really necessary to put table D31 between tables C45 and C56? I exaggerate not. That was the sort of obstacle which we punters had to negotiate in order to find our editors and agents. Yes, no doubt all will be fixed by next year – or will we be transferring to Excel? I rather hope not, but . . .

However, good news all round. Severn House want another two books from me, which will keep me fully employed for the next year. One for Bea, and one for Ellie, as usual. Which is just as well, as my peculiar brain is already working on that happens in Ellie Number 17, and I am still tidying up Bea Number 10, which I am due to deliver at the end of May 2015. I will try to keep you up to date on when and how each story comes out and in what format. It looks as if we will be having more paperbacks and less hardbacks in future.

Soundings are continuing to bring out audiobooks for the last few of my historical novels, which is lovely, and they are also looking at taking on the four books in the Eden Hall series. So see me walking on air. . .

Meanwhile the short story for the Methodist Recorder duly came out on Good Friday, and if you haven’t been able to get hold of a copy and would like to read it, just drop me an email, and I’ll send it to you free of charge. This one is called ‘Saying Thank you!’ in which Kerry decides we don’t thank people enough for what they do, and he sets about doing so. (Spoiler alert: we lose one of our heroes.)

Usually my publishers, Severn House, bring out an Ellie Quicke in the third week of May every year. This time it’s going to be delayed till June. But, if you like, you can always go into the library and reserve a copy now. The title is MURDER BY SUSPICION, and has the charismatic leader of a cult going after Ellie’s money. Pastor Ambrose works through Claire the Tearful, whom Ellie took on to look after her elderly and very frail housekeeper, Rose.

Do you belong to a book club, or like to have recommendations to books? Every year I have to give an in-depth review of a book I have chosen and this year it’s The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier. This is a very personal review, and many people may not agree with what I have to say about it, but if you’d like to read it, you can find it through the Review section on the website.

And finally, a blessing: may you find time to marvel at the splendour of the flowers in the gardens around you. And – like Kerry in the short story – feel brave enough to thank the gardeners concerned?

Veronica Heley

www.veronicaheley.com

http://blog.veronicaheley.com/

NEW . . . . LONGSWORD, an audiobook from Soundings. A romping adventure set in the Middle Ages, about a man wrongly accused of theft. He takes refuge in a castle, where he falls for a girl whose father has vowed she is to become a nun. CD/9781407951683.

Recently published: FALSE IMPRESSION, 9^th in the Abbot Agency series. Bea has taken in the helpless Dilys, who accidentally infects the agency’s systems with a virus, while Bea’s on-and-off friend Leon also seeks sanctuary with her. Both Leon and Dilys’s boy-friend Orlando had been lured to the car park of a swimming pool where a murderer had been at work – leaving them entangled in a web from which they find it hard to extricate themselves. Everything that happens can be interpreted in different ways and it’s some time before Bea realises exactly who was murdered and why. Before she does so, she and everyone else in the house and at the agency find themselves under siege.   Severn House. ISBN 978 0 7278 8445 9.

The new pop-up by Francesca Crespi, for Noah’s Ark, has a text written by yours truly. Francesca’s work is stunning. Frances Lincoln, ISBN 978-1-84507-937-6.

In January the Ellie Quicke story, MURDER IN TIME, came out as a paperback on   ISBN 978 18475 15186, and in February there was a large print version, at   ISBN 978 072 789 7770. Both from Severn House

One of my earliest historicals – MY LORD, THE HERMIT – has just come out on audiobook at CD/9781407951638.

SUE FOR MERCY, my very first published book, is now out as an e-book, as are CRY FOR KIT, and THE SIEGE OF SALWARPE – a romance set in the middle ages.

You can hear me reading various bits and pieces in recordings made by Isis (Soundings) as follows: Podcast & Interview:https://soundcloud.com/isisaudio/isis-unabridged-podcast-3-veronica-heley-interview.   Collected newsletters 2011-2014 (one audio file) https://soundcloud.com/isis/veronica-heley-newsletters-2011-2014   Links to individual newsletters (click on each title) https://soundcloud.com/isisaudio/sets/veronica-heley-newsletters

UNSUNG HEROES is now available as an e-book. This is a collection of short stories concerning the problems of three retired men and their families, plus some Ellie Quicke short stories. £3.40 UK, and $4.90 USA. http://www.veronicaheley.com/othertitles.php?l1-11

Find details of all the other E-books at http://www.veronicaheley.com/ebooks.php?l1-11

Hurray, hurray, I’m now officially convalescent. I can walk up to the shops without too many stops to admire the gardens en route. I can have a pleasurable chat over coffee with friends, and only have a catnap instead of a sleep in the afternoons. I can even do a bit of gardening! The mornings are getting lighter, there are some red sunsets to be seen in the evening, and there are sufficient flowers in the garden to lift the spirits. Altogether, life is on the upturn.

As for work – well, I have struggled to keep up with my copy dates and more or less succeeded. The short story, ‘Saying, Thank you!’ for the Methodist Recorder was accepted without the need for alteration and will be published on Good Friday. If you can’t get hold of a copy and would like to read it, let me know afterwards and I’ll send you one free by email. This story has Kerry deciding that we don’t say ‘thank you’ often enough, and proceeding to do something about it.

So back to work on the next Bea Abbot. I don’t usually have trouble thinking up a good first line, but this one has me stumped. Everyone now and then I think I’ve clinched it, and then I think . . . but . . .! And it’s back to the drawing board, because a snappy first line makes all the difference. My first effort was:

‘Bea watched, horrified.’     I scrubbed that and wrote:

‘Bea didn’t have time to scream.’        And finally,

‘She didn’t even have time to scream.’

It may still change because it is so important. Think about it; you’re in the library and you pick up a book by an author you don’t know, and what do you do? You may read the blurb, but then you read the first line. If that interests you, you are likely to read on. If not, you put the book down again. I usually read the last line of the book as well – but then, I’m one of those peculiar people who can’t bear to read the whole thing before finding out Whodunnit!

Then I had the copy editing to do for MURDER BY SUSPICION. Concentration required! I decided to reward myself with a piece of chocolate when I reached the end of each chapter. I got hung up on a crucial scene at the end which needed alteration, but think I’ve managed to sort it now.

I have been working so hard that many of the letters on my keyboard had disappeared. Now normally it’s not a great problem but when I have a senior moment, I glare at the white keys and think, ‘Now, where is that N?’ I thought I’d be clever and ink the missing letters in with a marker pen. Now I have violet fingertips and smudges over the whole keyboard. Yes, I know I need a new keyboard, but it’s just one more thing to organise . . . like replace the plug and chain in the basin in the bathroom. I have bought the necessary parts but haven’t a pair of pliers with which to effect the alteration. Perhaps a charitable friend will oblige.

Later – aren’t friends wonderful? Marie came round with a pair of pliers and managed the change-over, to my enormous relief. She offered me a loan of her pliers to do the job, but I declined with thanks, on the basis that she’s much less cack-handed than me. Now I owe her a cup of coffee.

April is the time for the London Book Fair, which this year returns to Olympia after having been at Earls Court for many years. I’m not at all sure how they’ll all fit in. The people who are organising the event keep sending me emails about attending all sorts of seminars and worthy-sounding workshops but I’m only going on one day to see my editors and my agent, so won’t have time afterwards to do more than have a quick look around. The publishing world has changed so much over the last twenty years that it’s hard to keep up with all the developments – for instance, who’d heard of e-books when I first got published?

A blessing: on all those wonderful people who help us in our hour of need.

Veronica Heley

www.veronicaheley.com

http://blog.veronicaheley.com/

NEW . . . . LONGSWORD, an audiobook from Soundings. A romping adventure set in the Middle Ages, about a man wrongly accused of theft. He takes refuge in a castle, where he falls for a girl whose father has vowed she is to become a nun. CD/9781407951683.

Recently published: FALSE IMPRESSION, 9^th in the Abbot Agency series. Bea has taken in the helpless Dilys, who accidentally infects the agency’s systems with a virus, while Bea’s on-and-off friend Leon also seeks sanctuary with her. Both Leon and Dilys’s boy-friend Orlando had been lured to the car park of a swimming pool where a murderer had been at work – leaving them entangled in a web from which they find it hard to extricate themselves. Everything that happens can be interpreted in different ways and it’s some time before Bea realises exactly who was murdered and why. Before she does so, she and everyone else in the house and at the agency find themselves under siege.   Severn House. ISBN 978 0 7278 8445 9.

The new pop-up by Francesca Crespi, for Noah’s Ark, has a text written by yours truly. Francesca’s work is stunning. Frances Lincoln, ISBN 978-1-84507-937-6.

In January the Ellie Quicke story, MURDER IN TIME, came out as a paperback on   ISBN 978 18475 15186, and in February there was a large print version, at   ISBN 978 072 789 7770. Both from Severn House

One of my earliest historicals – MY LORD, THE HERMIT – has just come out on audiobook at CD/9781407951638.

SUE FOR MERCY, my very first published book, is now out as an e-book, as are CRY FOR KIT, and THE SIEGE OF SALWARPE – a romance set in the middle ages.

You can hear me reading various bits and pieces in recordings made by Isis (Soundings) as follows: Podcast & Interview:https://soundcloud.com/isisaudio/isis-unabridged-podcast-3-veronica-heley-interview.   Collected newsletters 2011-2014 (one audio file) https://soundcloud.com/isis/veronica-heley-newsletters-2011-2014   Links to individual newsletters (click on each title) https://soundcloud.com/isisaudio/sets/veronica-heley-newsletters

UNSUNG HEROES is now available as an e-book. This is a collection of short stories concerning the problems of three retired men and their families, plus some Ellie Quicke short stories. £3.40 UK, and $4.90 USA. http://www.veronicaheley.com/othertitles.php?l1-11

Find details of all the other E-books at http://www.veronicaheley.com/ebooks.php?l1-11

February didn’t happen. My heavy cold morphed into a cough and there I was, stuck indoors, with no energy and copy dates marching inexorably towards me.

But oh, the kindness of friends! I couldn’t have managed without them. They popped in and out, and brought me food and fruit and bunches of daffodils. One day I decided I’d had enough of being an invalid and crawled up the road to our local shops . . . and then had to sit on a bench and rest awhile before I could manage the journey home. And what a scolding I got from my Chief Carer! I didn’t dare put my nose out of the door for another three whole days. I’m a little better now but she still rings me up and tells me whether I can go out or not!

I am a very lucky woman to have such good friends.

Do you remember I told you I now have to register all my audiobooks with the Public Lending Right system? My publisher very kindly sent me a list of all twenty-seven books, each of which has a thirteen-digit number. (Yes, 13 digits for each audiobook!)

Can you imagine how many mistakes I can make in copying out even one of these numbers? Fortunately one of my good friends has volunteered to come round some day and dictate the numbers to me, so that I can put them on the web. I’m amazed that so many of my books have made it to audio . . . do look for them in your libraries, won’t you? They’re all unabridged, and professionally narrated.

Also out in February was the large print version of MURDER IN TIME, which is the last of the Ellie Quicke books which has been published so far. Another story will be out this May or June – which reminds me that I have to set aside time in March for the copy editing of this next one, which is called MURDER BY SUSPICION.

Something else good happened this month: Booklist sent through a nice review for False Impression, which is a Bea Abbot and doesn’t come out in the United States till 1st March. They said, ‘Solid writing, larger-than-life characters, plenty of twists, and a lovable, Miss Marple-like heroine make for an entertaining and satisfying read.’ Isn’t that nice? For the storyline, see the end of this letter.

One of the things I had to get on with this last month was another short story for the Methodist Recorder, titled SAYING, ‘THANK YOU!’ which is due out on Good Friday. They need the copy six weeks beforehand, so this was a bit of a problem because of my fluey/cold and cough. I managed to rough the storyline out fairly quickly, but it was a hard slog to get it finished. I was asked recently what I meant by ‘editing’ something I’d written. For me, it’s reshaping an awkward sentence, taking out words which aren’t needed . . . sometimes whole sentences need to go. It’s all about sharpening the text, and making sure it reads as easily as possible . . . and within the word count. In the end I had to ask the Recorder for a little more time. That hurt! I pride myself on delivering on time. But it has happened this time. More about this story in the next newsletter.

Some of you have been enquiring about the moths? Well . . . sigh. I still get a few. Urgggh! After changing the carpets and all! Oh well.

February is the month in which I received that all important payment from the government for Public Lending Right, which amounts to almost 7p per loan for each of my books in the libraries. I’m really looking forward to receiving my next bank statement.

A blessing: May you always find friends to help you when you’re in need.

Veronica Heley

www.veronicaheley.com
http://blog.veronicaheley.com/

Recently published: FALSE IMPRESSION, 9^th in the Abbot Agency series. Bea has taken in the helpless Dilys, who accidentally infects the agency’s systems with a virus, while Bea’s on-and-off friend Leon also seeks sanctuary with her. Both Leon and Dilys’s boy-friend Orlando had been lured to the car park of a swimming pool where a murderer had been at work – leaving them entangled in a web from which they find it hard to extricate themselves. Everything that happens can be interpreted in different ways and it’s some time before Bea realises exactly who was murdered and why. Before she does so, she and everyone else in the house and at the agency find themselves under siege. Severn House. ISBN 978 0 7278 8445 9.

The new pop-up by Francesca Crespi, for Noah’s Ark, has a text written by yours truly. Francesca’s work is stunning. Frances Lincoln, ISBN 978-1-84507-937-6.

In January the Ellie Quicke story, MURDER IN TIME, came out as a paperback on ISBN 978 18475 15186, and in February there was a large print version, at ISBN 978 072 789 7770. Both from Severn House

One of my earliest historicals – MY LORD, THE HERMIT – has just come out on audiobook at CD/9781407951638.

SUE FOR MERCY, my very first published book, is now out as an e-book, as are CRY FOR KIT, and THE SIEGE OF SALWARPE – a romance set in the middle ages.

You can hear me reading various bits and pieces in recordings made by Isis (Soundings) as follows: Podcast & Interview:https://soundcloud.com/isisaudio/isis-unabridged-podcast-3-veronica-heley-interview.   Collected newsletters 2011-2014 (one audio file) https://soundcloud.com/isis/veronica-heley-newsletters-2011-2014   Links to individual newsletters (click on each title) https://soundcloud.com/isisaudio/sets/veronica-heley-newsletters

UNSUNG HEROES is now available as an e-book. This is a collection of short stories concerning the problems of three retired men and their families, plus some Ellie Quicke short stories. £3.40 UK, and $4.90 USA. http://www.veronicaheley.com/othertitles.php?l1-11

Find details of all the other E-books at http://www.veronicaheley.com/ebooks.php?l1-11

I must confess that during the month of January I have not been nice to know. I had one of those heavy colds that went on and on and . . .You get the picture? If you don’t want to hear more about this, please skip to the next paragraph. The big problem with this sort of cold is that you don’t run a temperature consistently and you don’t have the fluey aches and pains, so you don’t get much sympathy, either. I got through so many boxes of tissues that I switched to loo rolls, the softest I could find, and kept a small tin of soothing lip salve in my pocket to use every time I blew my nose.

Now that’s another thing . . . why aren’t there pockets in skirts any longer? In trousers, yes. But not in skirts or dresses. I suppose because skirts hang better without pockets bulging with paper tissues, keys, sweets and something that you forgot to take up or downstairs and is still in your pocket when you finish for the day?

Grumble over. Now I am all sweetness and light. Well, almost. I have sighted a couple of moths this month, but managed to act as exterminator before they could do any damage. I hope.

January is an important month in the life of a writer. If your books end up in the libraries, this is when the Government gives you nearly 7p per loan for each of your books. Scoff not! To me – who write for a library readership who want a good story with believable characters in which right always triumphs – it gives a boost to my income.

It is true, of course, that in recent years the library system has been much battered by the economic situation, and my total this year is down on last year’s. (Boohoo!) But there is light on the horizon because writers are now encouraged to register our audio books for payment next February. This is very good news, as all my Bea Abbot and Ellie Quicke books have been or are currently being transferred to this medium. Also some of the historicals and – if I’m not mistaken – my very early crime books as well. So this time next year I shall probably be heading up my newsletter with a ‘Rejoice with me!’ banner.

Meanwhile, the Methodist Recorder brought out the short story UNFINISHED BUSINESS early in January. If you haven’t already read this, just drop me an email and I’ll send you a copy free. This story has my three heroes looking back over the past and taking action as a result.

What next? FALSE IMPRESSION, the latest Bea Abbot story, came out at the end of November, and got a very nice review from Publishers Weekly. The reviewer termed it ‘Heley’s satisfying ninth Abbot Agency mystery’. For the storyline, see the end of this letter.

The next Ellie Quicke has been accepted for publication in May or June – but I don’t have to do the copy-editing till March, which means I can get on with roughing out another Bea Abbot story. I did think Bea was going to end up marrying Leon at the end of this one, but as things turn out, he rather lets her down after they attend a neighbourhood party which goes disastrously wrong. Well, we’ll see. I’ve plenty of time to change my mind. Or Bea may decide she can’t be doing without him . . . it will be interesting to see what happens.

A blessing: May you find a bunch of daffodils to bring some sunshine into your life – and give one to your friends, too.

Veronica Heley

www.veronicaheley.com
http://blog.veronicaheley.com/

Just published: FALSE IMPRESSION, 9^th in the Abbot Agency series. Bea has taken in the helpless Dilys, who accidentally infects the agency’s systems with a virus, while Bea’s on-and-off friend Leon also seeks sanctuary with her. Both Leon and Dilys’s boy-friend Orlando had been lured to the car park of a swimming pool where a murderer had been at work – leaving them entangled in a web from which they find it hard to extricate themselves. Everything that happens can be interpreted in different ways and it’s some time before Bea realises exactly who was murdered and why. Before she does so, she and everyone else in the house and at the agency find themselves under siege. Severn House. ISBN 978 0 7278 8445 9.

The new pop-up by Francesca Crespi, for Noah’s Ark, has a text written by yours truly. Francesca’s work is stunning. Frances Lincoln, ISBN 978-1-84507-937-6.

In January the Ellie Quicke story, MURDER IN TIME, came out as a paperback on ISBN 978 18475 15186, and there’ll be a large print version in February, also from Severn House, at   ISBN 978 072 789 7770.

One of my earliest historicals – MY LORD, THE HERMIT – has just come out on audiobook at CD/9781407951638.

SUE FOR MERCY, my very first published book, is now out as an e-book, as are CRY FOR KIT, and THE SIEGE OF SALWARPE – a romance set in the middle ages.

You can hear me reading various bits and pieces in recordings made by Isis (Soundings) as follows: Podcast & Interview:https://soundcloud.com/isisaudio/isis-unabridged-podcast-3-veronica-heley-interview.   Collected newsletters 2011-2014 (one audio file) https://soundcloud.com/isis/veronica-heley-newsletters-2011-2014   Links to individual newsletters (click on each title)
https://soundcloud.com/isisaudio/sets/veronica-heley-newsletters

UNSUNG HEROES is now available as an e-book. This is a collection of short stories concerning the problems of three retired men and their families, plus some Ellie Quicke short stories. £3.40 UK, and $4.90 USA.
http://www.veronicaheley.com/othertitles.php?l1-11

Find details of all the other E-books at
http://www.veronicaheley.com/ebooks.php?l1-11

The Christmas season arrived while I was still working on this and that, but I did manage to prise myself away from the computer to meet and greet friends and family – and, despite running out of milk on one important occasion, it all went well. The only really bad thing that happened was that I saw a clothes MOTH!!! one day. Fortunately it was only tiny and I managed to deal with it straight away – not always easy when they’re flying around – and two more since!!! But, my brand new sparkly top has been worn on several occasions and received one or two compliments. I do like being complimented on my taste by people who are well-dressed themselves.

So, the festivities over, what happens next? It takes an effort to switch my mind back to work, but the hardbacks of the latest Bea Abbot – FALSE IMPRESSION – should be hitting library shelves now, and I’m looking forward to the professional reviews in due course, although we’ve had some good ones through NetGalley already. For the storyline, see the end of this letter.

I believe that the Methodist Recorder has my next short story scheduled for the New Year or Epiphany, but I haven’t got a date as yet. This one has my three heroes looking back over the past and it’s called UNFINISHED BUSINESS. If you can’t get hold of a copy and would like to read this story, then e-mail me a request and I will send it to you by email – after it’s officially published.  

The latest catalogue from Frances Lincoln does include a Noah’s Ark book for children, but it doesn’t yet have the new pop-up by Francesca Crespi, for which I did the text. However, almost everyone I’ve shown this book to, has wanted to buy a copy, and it is now available for bookshops to order. The child in me loves making Noah and his son saw wood, the clouds drop away from the sun, and the fish swim round and round . . .

Frances Lincoln, ISBN 978-1-84507-937-6.

You may remember that I delivered another Ellie Quicke story to my publishers at the end of November. Then there was the usual difficult wait for my editor’s verdict . . . which fortunately was positive. Although there are a couple of tiny points to clear up in the text, MURDER BY SUSPICION has now gone through for copy editing, and is scheduled for publication in May or June next year. Whew! I’m always on tenterhooks till I hear what my editor thinks about the latest book.

And – you will not be surprised to hear – that on December lst I began work on the   next book, which will be a Bea Abbot Mystery called FALSE WALL. I haven’t got very far with it over the Christmas period, and I’ve got to do some more research before I’m happy with the development of the plot but at least I have made a start.

What else? Well, there is a new e-book out on Amazon for SUE FOR MERCY, which was the very first book I ever had accepted for publication in 1974. The heroine is a practical girl, somewhat overweight. When she rescues the handsome victim of a road crash, she has no idea what she’s in for . . ..

And, sometime in January the Ellie Quicke MURDER IN TIME comes out as a paperback from Severn House. ISBN 978 18475 15186.

A blessing: give kindness to others and surely it will be returned to you in due course.

Veronica Heley

www.veronicaheley.com
http://blog.veronicaheley.com/

Just published: FALSE IMPRESSION, 9^th in the Abbot Agency series. Bea has taken in the helpless Dilys, who accidentally infects the agency’s systems with a virus, while Bea’s on-and-off friend Leon also seeks sanctuary with her. Both Leon and Dilys’s boy-friend Orlando had been lured to the car park of a swimming pool where a murderer had been at work – leaving them entangled in a web from which they find it hard to extricate themselves. Everything that happens can be interpreted in different ways and it’s some time before Bea realises exactly who was murdered and why. Before she does so, she and everyone else in the house and at the agency find themselves under siege. Severn House. ISBN 978 0 7278 8445 9.

One of my earliest historicals – My Lord, the Hermit – has just come out on audiobook. Libraries usually stock my audiobooks, so you can ask for it there. CD/9781407951638.

Sue for Mercy, my very first published book, is now out as an e-book, as is Cry for Kit, and The Siege of Salwarpe – which is a romance set in the middle ages.

You can hear me reading various bits and pieces in recordings made by Isis (Soundings) as follows: Podcast & Interview:
https://soundcloud.com/isisaudio/isis-unabridged-podcast-3-veronica-heley-interview

Collected newsletters 2011-2014 (one audio file)
https://soundcloud.com/isis/veronica-heley-newsletters-2011-2014

Links to individual newsletters (click on each title)
https://soundcloud.com/isisaudio/sets/veronica-heley-newsletters

Severn House e-books released recently

Bea Abbot:   FALSE STEP: http://aerbook.com/books/False_Step-8687.html
Historical:   LONGSWORD: http://aerbook.com/books/Longsword-8830.html
Ellie Quicke: MURDER IN TIME:   http://aerbook.com/books/Murder_in_Time-8823.html

UNSUNG HEROES is now available as an e-book. This is a collection of short stories concerning the problems of three retired men and their families, plus some Ellie Quicke short stories. £3.40 UK, and $4.90 USA. http://www.veronicaheley.com/othertitles.php?l1-11
Find details of all the other E-books at http://www.veronicaheley.com/ebooks.php?l1-11

Lots of good news this month – which is as what we all want in December, isn’t it? First, I’ve hardly seen a clothes moth for weeks! Yes, I am definitely rejoicing about that. It may be that the cooler weather has discouraged them from emerging from their hidey-holes, or that my efforts to eradicate them have succeeded. Mind you, I have bought a tiny phial of concentrated lavender essence which I will proceed to dilute and use as and when – or if – they re-appear.

And I have managed to replace certain important items in my wardrobe, which is just as well as I had to throw so many away. I am particularly fond of a new glittery top which I propose to wear on all occasions, suitable and otherwise, over Christmas. I do like a bit of glitter in the dark days of the year.

Now, back to work. FALSE IMPRESSION, the latest Bea Abbot, has officially been published and there are some five star reviews already up through NetGalley. Don’t ask me to explain how it happens that they come out before the official publication date. Don’t ask me to explain how NetGalley works. I believe it’s for the use of readers whose professional reviews are OK’d by my publisher. Anyway, False Impression is a good story – see below for blurb – so I hope it does well. It should be available now in the libraries.

You may be interested in a peep behind the scenes at the production of a fantastic pop-up book by Francesca Crespi. She is so talented, I am in awe of her skill. But her last effort, NOAH’S ARK, got held up for years. Yes, I do mean years. Way back in 2008 Francesca produced a mock-up for a Noah’s Ark story, for which I was asked to provide a text. I did so, but the project ran into trouble because no printer could reproduce Francesca’s fantastic designs without going wildly over budget. The project stalled but the publisher did not give up, and eventually the designs were revised and a printer was found who could bring it in at a reasonable price and . . . ta da! It has gone on sale this autumn, six years after it began. It is quite stunning. Do look out for it in the shops. Frances Lincoln, ISBN 978-1-84507-937-6.

Meanwhile, I have had another short story accepted for the Methodist Recorder. They wanted something for the New Year so I came up with ‘Unfinished Business’ where our three friends review their lives and take appropriate action. This story is not really about the business of making New Year’s Resolutions but about looking back and perhaps dealing with an ancient wrongdoing. I’ll let you know the date of publication in my next newsletter.

The last few weeks of November are always fraught for me, as I have to deliver a book to Severn House by the end of the month. And yes, I did manage to do it this time, too. This was, believe it or not, the l6th (sixteenth) Ellie Quicke and it’s called MURDER BY SUSPICION. It has the nastiest villainess I’ve ever written about . . . and I’m currently waiting with baited breath (what other kind can there be?) for my editor to give it the OK. Meanwhile . . . on with the next Bea Abbot. Yes, I start the next book the week after I’ve turned one in to Severn House.

A blessing: may you find friendship, loving-kindness and hearts-ease at Christmas time.

Veronica Heley
www.veronicaheley.com
http://blog.veronicaheley.com/

Just published: FALSE IMPRESSION, 9^th in the Abbot Agency series. Bea has taken in the helpless Dilys, who accidentally infects the agency’s systems with a virus, while Bea’s on-and-off friend Leon also seeks sanctuary with her. Both Leon and Dilys’s boy-friend Orlando had been lured to the car park of a swimming pool where a murderer had been at work – leaving them entangled in a web from which they find it hard to extricate themselves. Everything that happens can be interpreted in different ways and it’s some time before Bea realises exactly who was murdered and why. Before she does so, she and everyone else in the house and at the agency find themselves under siege. Severn House. ISBN 978 0 7278 8445 9.

One of my earliest historicals – My Lord, the Hermit – has just come out on audiobook. Libraries usually stock my audiobooks, so you can ask for it there. CD/9781407951638.

Cry for Kit – one of the early mysteries, is now out as an e-book, as is . . .

The Siege of Salwarpe – a romance set in the middle ages.

You can hear me reading various bits and pieces in recordings made by Isis (Soundings) as follows: Podcast & Interview:
https://soundcloud.com/isisaudio/isis-unabridged-podcast-3-veronica-heley-interview

Collected newsletters 2011-2014 (one audio file)
https://soundcloud.com/isis/veronica-heley-newsletters-2011-2014

Links to individual newsletters (click on each title)
https://soundcloud.com/isisaudio/sets/veronica-heley-newsletters

Severn House e-books released recently
Bea Abbot:   FALSE STEP: http://aerbook.com/books/False_Step-8687.html
Historical:   LONGSWORD: http://aerbook.com/books/Longsword-8830.html
Ellie Quicke: MURDER IN TIME:   http://aerbook.com/books/Murder_in_Time-8823.html

UNSUNG HEROES is now available as an e-book. This is a collection of short stories concerning the problems of three retired men and their families, plus some Ellie Quicke short stories. £3.40 UK, and $4.90 USA. http://www.veronicaheley.com/othertitles.php?l1-11

Find details of all the other E-books at http://www.veronicaheley.com/ebooks.php?l1-11

One of my friends is allowed to read the proof copy of my books, as a favour, before they come out. She returned the latest to me with a concerned expression on her face. What was wrong? Had I dropped an important plot point somewhere? ‘No, the book’s all right,’ she said. ‘But, I do worry about you, Veronica. You have such a peculiar mind.’

She’s right, of course. I was in my early twenties before I realised – with astonishment – that not everyone went around making up stories in their heads. So here am I with my peculiar mind, producing another complicated plot using characters we all know and love.

The book she’d read in proof stage is the latest Bea Abbot, FALSE IMPRESSION, which will be published officially at the end of this month. If you’re near a library, you may like to go and reserve a copy now. The cover is a little different from those we have used before in this series, as it has a large black cat on it . . . which is fine, I suppose, as Bea’s Winston does wind his way in and out of the story.

What is this book about? Well, Bea has taken in the helpless (and hopeless) Dilys, who accidentally infects the agency’s systems with a virus, while Bea’s on and off friend Leon first seeks sanctuary with her and then tells her to disown him. It turns out that both Leon and Dilys’s boy-friend Orlando had been lured to the car park of a swimming pool where a murderer had been at work – leaving them entangled in a web from which they find it hard to extricate themselves. Surely this can’t have anything to do with Leon’s taking over his elder brother’s global empire? Or can it? Everything that happens can be interpreted in different ways and it’s some time before Bea realises exactly who was murdered and why. Before she does so, she and everyone else in the house and the agency find themselves under siege.

I do hope you’ll like it. And, if you’re a professional reviewer, you can ask Charlotte at Severnhouse to send you a digital copy through NetGalley NOW.

Meanwhile, I’ve been slugging along with the next Ellie, which is, incredibly, number sixteen in the series! How has this happened? Most series peter out after six or seven, but this one keeps on and on. Of course some of the minor characters come and go; some stick around for a couple of books – or even more. Some pop back in again, as they would in real life. So the difficult schoolboy Mikey is still coming around, and of course Ellie’s dreadful bully of a daughter, Diana. Someone said recently that there is a touch of Diana in even the nicest of daughters. Hm. Better not let my own daughter hear that!

Every now and then I feel a character telling me that they have had enough. The years take their toll, and one of the characters who appeared in the very first Ellie, is feeling her age. And no, I can’t stop her leaving. When it’s time to go, then that’s it. With regret and a good many tears on my part.

At the moment I’m taking a rest from this book while I start on another short story, this time for the New Year for the Methodist Recorder. If you didn’t manage to catch up with the last two stories I wrote for them, just drop me an e-mail and I’ll send them to you. ‘Summer Holiday’ saw our heroes going off in different directions and learning something new, while ‘Accident & Emergency’ found Kerry ending up in hospital and his friends rallying round to keep the hostel going.

The saga of the moths in my house is, hopefully, drawing to a close, but I have had to dispose of three warm wool skirts and ditto tops. So I now have excuse to go shopping, hurray!

A blessing: may you enjoy to some of the seasonal produce which is now coming into the shops . . . but remember that sprouts are not at their best till they’ve had the frost on them.

Veronica Heley

www.veronicaheley.com
http://blog.veronicaheley.com/

One of my earliest historicals – My Lord, the Hermit – has just come out on audiobook. Libraries usually stock my audiobooks, so you can ask for it there. CD/9781407951638.

Cry for Kit – one of the early mysteries, is now out as an e-book, as is . . .

The Siege of Salwarpe – a romance set in the middle ages.

You can hear me reading various bits and pieces in recordings made by Isis (Soundings) as follows: Podcast & Interview:

https://soundcloud.com/isisaudio/isis-unabridged-podcast-3-veronica-heley-interview

Collected newsletters 2011-2014 (one audio file)

https://soundcloud.com/isis/veronica-heley-newsletters-2011-2014

Links to individual newsletters (click on each title)

https://soundcloud.com/isisaudio/sets/veronica-heley-newsletters

Severn House e-books released recently

Bea Abbot:   FALSE STEP: http://aerbook.com/books/False_Step-8687.html

Historical:   LONGSWORD: http://aerbook.com/books/Longsword-8830.html

Ellie Quicke: MURDER IN TIME:   http://aerbook.com/books/Murder_in_Time-8823.html

UNSUNG HEROES is now available as an e-book. This is a collection of short stories concerning the problems of three retired men and their families, plus some Ellie Quicke short stories. £3.40 UK, and $4.90 USA. http://www.veronicaheley.com/othertitles.php?l1-11

Find details of all the other E-books at http://www.veronicaheley.com/ebooks.php?l1-11

Safely back from teaching at the NAWG Writers’ Festival at Warwick University, I must report an amusing incident. I won the top prize in the raffle, which happened to be a teaching course for writers, run by Writers’ News! Yes, me! With seventy four books out with traditional publishers. Naturally, I asked the organisers to pick another winner – which they did, but there were quite a few people smothering the giggles when my name was announced. And yes, while I was at Warwick I found some good writers to encourage which was just great.

You remember I said I was going to cut down on my workload? And I went through all the things I really have to keep on doing? Yes, to the two series for Severn House, and to the newsletter which subsequently appears as a blog on my website. Yes, to the short stories, of course. Which reminds me, if you didn’t manage to get hold of a copy of the Summer Holiday one, just drop me an email, and I’ll send it to you. Also, I see that the harvest one – Accident & Emergency – was published last Friday, so that’s now available, too.

Back to the workload: I have to continue doing the copy-editing and proof reading, for my books. Thankfully both are now over and done with for the next Bea Abbot story, which will be coming out at the end of November. That one’s called False Impression, and it has a cat on the cover.

So, what’s left? Apart from all the stuff I do for the church and the community. Well, it seems to me that I must take a good hard look at the guest slots which I do on other people’s websites. Some of them I can keep up with, but some I might drop, at least for the time being. Sometimes I am asked for the equivalent of a short story or an essay, in order to get the name of my next book out through someone else’s website. And each one of those, I reckon, takes a couple of days to do. So I’m looking at each one and deciding if I can do them or, with regret, decline.

A word of warning. When I first started to get published in the 70s, I was writing crime stories which went out under my real name, Veronica Heley. So when I started to write historicals for a different publisher, Corgi, my agent suggested I invented a pen name – Victoria Thorne. Now these historicals are being brought out as e-books by Severn House but it is not clear that Veronica and Victoria are one and the same person; because there’s so little space to put the details on the cover, the note about the name has gone on the second page. Apologies if you’ve been getting double vision over this. I think the last in this series – The Siege of Salwarpe – came out in September.

Now, back to my work on the first draft of the next Ellie Quicke. Before I start on a book I work out who the villain is and why. This time I knew all about the people who behaved badly and looked as if they were the murderers, but when I came to write them and they turned into real characters – don’t ask! It’s something that happens in my mind as I go along. I can’t explain it. It just is – it became clear to me that though they were not nice people at all, they hadn’t actually killed the missing girls. Oh. So who did? Ah, well . . . now I see that I’d written the murderer in all along, but hadn’t realised it. At the moment I’m taking a rest from this book while I start on another short story, this time for the New Year for the Methodist Recorder. When I come back to this Ellie, I may have to lay a few more clues.

Thank you for your kind enquiries about the moths which have almost been eradicated from the house. I do spot one or two a day but nothing like the twenty or thirty I was getting before I had the carpets up.

A blessing: may you catch some sun bringing out the rich colours of autumn leaves, and find time to meet up with old friends.

Veronica Heley

www.veronicaheley.com

http://blog.veronicaheley.com/

A review for Murder in Time from Library Journal concludes, ‘the author’s latest is equally amusing with an intriguing plot and well-drawn, appealing characters; her protagonist is charming and loyal to a fault.’ 

The Siege of Salwarpe is one of my historicals which Severn House released in September as an ebook 978144301379. It’s a romance set in the Middle Ages in which a hero uses guile rather than the usual battle tactics to free Ursula’s besieged castle from a marauding baron, all the while knowing that she is due to marry his patron. Over the years I’ve lost every copy of this book, first published by Robert Hale in 1982. I’ve tried the usual channels but no one has a copy for sale . . . unless you know better? If you have a copy and are willing to part with it, I would be delighted to pay any reasonable sum for it.

You can hear me reading various bits and pieces in recordings made by Isis (Soundings) as follows: Podcast & Interview:

https://soundcloud.com/isisaudio/isis-unabridged-podcast-3-veronica-heley-interview

Collected newsletters 2011-2014 (one audio file)

https://soundcloud.com/isis/veronica-heley-newsletters-2011-2014

Links to individual newsletters (click on each title)

https://soundcloud.com/isisaudio/sets/veronica-heley-newsletters

Severn House e-books released recently

Bea Abbot:   FALSE STEP: http://aerbook.com/books/False_Step-8687.html

Historical:   LONGSWORD: http://aerbook.com/books/Longsword-8830.html

Ellie Quicke: MURDER IN TIME:   http://aerbook.com/books/Murder_in_Time-8823.html

Digital review copies of Murder in Time are available from Severn House through NetGalley for librarians, booksellers and established reviewers and bloggers, but NOT to the general public who post reviews on Amazon or Goodreads – unless they are Amazon Vine reviewers or GoodReads librarians. Apply direct to Charlotte Loftus at Severn House

UNSUNG HEROES is now available as an e-book. This is a collection of short stories concerning the problems of three retired men and their families, plus some Ellie Quicke short stories. £3.40 UK, and $4.90 USA. http://www.veronicaheley.com/othertitles.php?l1-11

Find details of all the other E-books at http://www.veronicaheley.com/ebooks.php?l1-11