summer fun
It’s been a minute… How are you all? I thought it was about time I dropped a line to let you know what’s going on with me and what I’ve been up to since my last blog.
The summer began with my birthday and a holiday (our first since before Covid) at a beautiful coastal town in southern England with its own private beach. It was joyous to see my pups Noah and Hugo frolicking in the sea (not so good for my nerves, but that’s a different story). I began work on ‘Josef’ and got caught up in the moment, and before I knew it, I had sunburn so bad that I spent the rest of the week in a darkened room and, like a vampire, barely stepped into the sun for over a week (“It burns! It burns!”).
The good thing coming out of my enforced exile was that I could work out the storyline for ‘Josef,’ the plot, and the characters. I’m really excited about this story. I’ll talk more about it in another blog, but if you’ve been following the blogs, you might remember it’s an indirect sequel to ‘Hugo & Josef' (with rather an imaginative title, I’m sure you’ll agree!) The book has sat on the back burner for a while as I was unsure where it would sit between my other stories. Anyway, it worked out in the end when I was working on ‘Quatre Pièces’ (the fifth Coco book); I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but much like what happened with ‘Les Mauvais Garçons’, I later realised I was unwittingly writing a spin-off story. Once I realised that the rest was easy and ‘Josef’ was born, or more importantly, we had the first in a brand new series: ‘Les Enquêteurs.’ I can’t wait to share these new stories with you.
Returning home, ‘Josef’ had to go on hold when house chores took over (remind me NEVER to paint and replace carpets again…), but it gave me a chance to work on final versions of the three books now complete. Yes, three books are all waiting in the wings to share with you. The first, ‘Hugo & Madeline’, is the conclusion to the Hugo prequel trilogy; next up is the fifth Coco book; and finally, the thirteenth Hugo investigates book ‘Hotel Beaupain’. So, that means next year is already taking shape.
August sees the return of Coco, her fourth adventure, ’Séance de Spiritisme,’ where are wonderfully chaotic heroine jostles with the world of clairvoyants. I’ll share more about that story around the release.
Until then, I hope you’re all enjoying your summer as best you can and remaining happy and healthy. Thanks again for all your support.
Gx