Freya and Lucy sit on a wooden bench outside the front of their school. Sweet-smelling roses surround them in an ornate garden edged with perfectly shaped hedges and manicured flowerbeds. But instead of savouring the horticultural delights, their gaze fixates on the wrought-iron gates, hoping for a fleeting glimpse of any fit boys passing through…
I thought I would dedicate a blog post to one of the main characters in the book I’m currently working on. The reason being I was inspired by a special lady who frequents our café. I first met Betsy four years ago when she was ninety-six! Yes, she turned one hundred this week, and my…
I blink my eyes to try and get a clearer picture of what I’m seeing. What looks like dozens of tiny pink mice are hanging lifeless on the washing line in our neighbour’s garden. It’s a dull, grey day, the mortar-coloured landscape exacerbated by the net curtain hanging between me and the bedroom window. I…
I throw my rucksack down in the hall and make a beeline for the kitchen. There’s no smell of burnt food or trails of kitchen paraphernalia, which means either mum’s not cooking until much later, or, (hopefully), we’ll be having a takeaway tonight. There’s one packet of skips left in the cupboard which won’t go…
Book Review I’m a real fan of Lisa Jewell’s books, and this one didn’t let me down. She has a way of writing that’s easy to read, with plenty of exciting action and intriguing storylines. The book is written with short chapters and plenty of cliffhangers; I had difficulty putting the book down at times….
I am a little later than most to the reading party. However, I’m now making up for lost time by reading around five to six books a month at the grand old age of fifty-six. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the odd book on holiday, or reading on a long-haul flight. I…
1. The Family Upstairs – 4.5⭐️ Lisa Jewell is fast becoming one of my favourite authors of psychological thrillers! I listened to ‘The Family Upstairs’ on Audible, which was well narrated. I will, however, be buying hard copies to place on my beautiful bookshelves since these are books I would highly recommend to any thriller…
The Mid Witch by D J Bowman-Smith. Release date – 28th August 2023. Intro Well, what can I say? This book is not a genre I would usually consider buying. Especially since I am a thriller writer and like to read as much as I can in my own genre. I would like to point…
Mark Dawson’s SPS 2023 I dug my heels in and made every excuse why I couldn’t go to the SPS at the Southbank Centre in London. My disability would make travelling alone difficult, I couldn’t afford the extortionate price for London hotels and I wouldn’t know anybody. But then, after speaking to D J Bowman-Smith…