Summertime Blues

What a long time since I wrote a blog post! I shall give a brief update on the life and times of Lesley Cookman and Libby Sarjeant (bessie mates, actually) then it's back to work.

First, thank you to anybody who has bought one or more of my books over the past year. Much to my surprise, I am not only able to go to Turkey again this year, but I have also got a beautiful new conservatory. This change of career into novelist has certainly worked for me. Murder In The Monastery has been doing quite well, I've reached a lot more readers in the States and I'm currently doing last minute revisions on Murder In The Dark (above) which will be out in October. I've also started work on Murder In A Different Place, set mostly (so far, at least) on the Isle of Wight, which I'm hoping gives me an excuse to do a little research trip! Not that I don't know the Island pretty well anyway (holidays there since I was eight - when Adam was a lad) but I need to check on a few things. Ahem.

There will soon be a new look to this blog, as elder son's girlfriend is redesigning it for me, so I can actually update things myself and use it like a website. I also ought to start blogging more regularly - a fact that was battered into me last weekend at a writers' conference. Marketing - and self-publishing - were the buzz words there and I do neither. Mind you, some of the self-pub stories made me want to take it up immediately, but only because I already have a brand. My friend Freda Lightfoot got back the rights to all her early books and put them up as ebooks herself, very professionally, and is earning rather nicely from them. Very nicely indeed, in fact. Another friend, Linda Gillard, also traditionally published, had a book turned down by her publishers because it didn't fit into their view of her, so she did it herself. She has gone on, despite a rather nasty brush with cancer, to self publish more, and is doing very well. Yet another friend (we are all great mates, us writers) Alison Morton, had also been turned down by traditional publishers for various reasons, none of which were "bad writing", so she has chosen the "Empowered Publishing" route, where a company will do everything for you, editing, cover design, formatting and various other arcane stuff. Her book is now out in print and ebook and is doing very well, too.

I am currently performing in an Old Time Music Hall at our local theatre, (see picture) giving my Lily Morris impression and singing "Don't Have Any More, Mrs Moore". I appeared in Alan Bennett's "Enjoy" in April, and was nominated for a best actress in a supporting role award. I came in as runner up, but it was nice to be nominated, and the awards evening was splendiferous. Champagne and everything.