November Newsletter

Hi All,

Hope you survived the ghoulies and ghosties and haven’t overdosed on pumpkin pie. Now we’re into the countdown to Christmas... 

But before we get into that, I have a few bits of news on the book front. 

Dates for your diaries:

On 7 November I am doing a talk ‘From Plough to Pen’ at Martham Library at 1630.  I hope I might see some of you there. I will have signed copies of all my Geldard books with me, plus my 2024 PageTurner best crime winner, Milestones. 

I am also signing books at the Scratby Christmas Craft Fair on 5 December.

This month we have had the pleasure of family visitors all the way from Wales. Even so I have not only completed the first draft of book 13, provisionally titled Mystery on the Norfolk Broads, I have also finished the second round of edits. Not long now before it goes out to my trusty beta readers for their comments. 

I feel this is a particular achievement given some of the challenges my normal writing routine suffered this week. I’ll give you an example:

0930 sit down to write

1000 things going well

1005 cat arrives on my lap and insists on a head scratch

1015 still scratching and my mss now has several additions contributed by Loki’s nose

1017 cat pushes iPad out of the way and occupies whole lap. I carry on typing, with some difficulty.

1022 cat slides off lap, digging all claws into my leg to save himself. Cleaning lady rushes in to ask why I’m screaming.

Finally, having completed my first draft of Mystery … ahead of schedule, I am giving Greg and his team a short rest while I focus on something I have wanted to write for a long time.

I have been mulling over ideas for a trilogy set in Great Yarmouth at the time of the Black Death. In 1349 Great Yarmouth was a major port and an important town. Within a year, according to some accounts, it lost up to 70% of its population. The word decimated is often bandied about incorrectly to mean ‘a lot’. In reality the word means to lose one in ten. Great Yarmouth lost seven out of ten. 

Against this backdrop of disaster, heartbreak and upheaval, I propose to set a family saga studded with mystery. Wish me luck, as I embark on Book One of the Black Trilogy Mysteries - The Black Year. 

Nearly forgot to say thank you to all of you who have bought Killing on the Norfolk Broads, and to let you know that the next in the series - Hidden on the Norfolk Broads - is due out on 20 January.

See you in December.

Love and thanks

Heather

copyright: H L Peck