Long overdue update…

It’s always difficult to know where to begin with these updates when there has been such a long gap since my last one.

Since my last novel, Death on the Queen Mary, came out in autumn 2021 a lot has happened, but conversely not a lot has happened.

Much of my time is taken up with my full-time job, which although thoroughly enjoyable is equally exhausting. I’ve more recently taken on an Assistant Manager role, which was originally a temporary secondment but has now become permanent. Most days after working a full shift I’ve had no inclination to sit down and write, preferring to just chill out and watch TV and play with the dogs.

Speaking of dogs, last year we lost our beloved Golden Retriever, Sam, which completely knocked us for six. And this was on top of having to have our lovely ginger tom Tobey put to sleep the previous year. All of this added to my disinclination towards continuing to write.

We got a new puppy a few months ago, a gorgeous Samoyed called Harvey. He’s a total goofball, completely adorable and also a bit of a handful. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

At the beginning of the year I had a severe case of kidney stones. It was as excruciating as the trapped nerve I suffered a decade ago and incapacitated me for several weeks. It was actually during this time that I did finally complete the first draft of Death on the Tracks, which will eventually follow publication of the next book, Death upon the Lonesome Wild.

On top of everything else, we have been doing quite a few renovations to our cottage which have been time consuming.

It was always my intention to publish a new novel each year, but I don’t think Death upon the Lonesome Wild will be ready now until summer or autumn of 2024.

Throughout the pandemic, I somehow managed to avoid contracting COVID, but unfortunately that changed this month! Everything tastes of bilgewater and everything smells like it’s in a different room to me! And the aching… and the coughing…

Lovely – not!!