After having to cancel a planned mini-break in Bruges due to illness, I’m now settling down into near-hibernation mode for the winter, at least in terms of travel. Not that I have travelled much this year, with short breaks in Norfolk and Scotland. Even so, I’m glad to raise my metaphorical drawbridge and spend a few months on my home turf.

At the end of every month, I like to invite an author friend onto my blog for a fun conversation about their writing life. This month, I'm pleased to welcome Susan Grossey, author of historical crime fiction, whose career I've followed since her debut novel, Fatal Forgery, back in 2013.  Susan specialises in historical cases of financial crime, inspired by her own career.

As someone who makes their living from writing, I often visit places that will fuel the creative part of my brain, such as an art gallery or a museum. So last month I was pleased to spot road signs for the Crafts Alive craft fair at Rodmarton Manor. Run by the Gloucestershire Guild, this event offered a welcome opportunity to visit the private house reputed to be one of the finest Arts and Crafts Movement homes, and I booked a ticket to visit. 

I’ve always dreaded the onset of autumn. As an optimist, I prefer the anticipation of what’s to come, rather than harvest. Spring is my favorite season, with its bright buds and brilliant blossom. Second best is summer, with long daylight hours always a source of pleasure. I can even reconcile myself to September for its often bright, crisp days and occasional spell of Indian summer weather.

I spent part of the weekend before last observing other people’s reactions to country churches they weren’t familiar with: On the Saturday, many visitors from beyond our parish attended the Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival's autumn event at St Mary the Virgin, Hawkesbury - my local parish church. On Sunday, at St Andrew's Leighterton, I attended the last of five concerts in the inaugural…

This week, another post about an aspect of my writing life, as featured in the September issue of the Tetbury Advertiser. Tidying my study after the summer holidays, I declutter my desk, taking it down to bare essentials. There’s a pen tray and bottle of ink, a pencil pot, a shelf of project notebooks, and a stack of four in-trays, one tray for each area of my working-from-home life.

Writer's block: it's a term lots of people bandy around as if it's some kind of medical or psychological condition that blocks creative flow. I have strong views about writer's block, which I shared in my talk the Troubador Publishing's annual Self Publishing Conference in Leicester on Saturday. While the talk is still fresh in my mind, I thought I'd share my reasoning in this week's blog post.

Living in a small Cotswold village with a lively community provides ideas and inspiration for writing my cosy mystery novels. I've served on many committees, belonged to different organisations, and taken part in lots of activities since I moved here over thirty years ago. One of my favourite activities here is ringing the church bells, which were installed in our parish church of…

When, as a child, I used to play with my grandma’s button box, I admired each button like a tiny work of art. Born in 1900, Grandma grew up fastening her button-boots with buttonhooks. As a young woman, she embraced flapper styles. The contents of her tin gave a miniature history of twentieth-century fashion. My mum (91) still has her own button box from when she used to make clothes for her children.

I love reading books set in distant countries that I'm unlikely to visit - whether the action takes place in the present day or back in time. Even better when those books have been written by authors who have spent time in those countries for added authenticity and a stronger sense of place. So I was eager to read my avid traveller friend Clare Flynn's latest historical novel, …

This week's post is literally about music - but another kind of music to my ears is readers' early reactions to my new novel, launched last Saturday, and now available in ebook, paperback, hardback and audiobook. Death at the Village Christmas Fair is the third in the Cotswold Curiosity Shop cosy mystery series, a festive edition launching in midsummer, because that's the way the publishing industry works - operating a season ahead of reality, just like the fashion industry!

In today's new blog post, I'm sharing my latest column for the Tetbury Advertiser, plus a sneak preview of my new novel, Death at the Christmas Village Fair, which launches on 16th August, and reviews of recent holiday reads. Tidying the mug shelf in my walk-in larder, I’m mourning the fact that only my favourite mugs ever get broken. I’m down to a single bone-china Cath Kidston, surrounded by numerous unwanted chunky ones.

For many years, my mum has kept a little notebook in which she writes down the titles and authors of books she has read. As the most avid reader I know, she has inspired my to keep track of my own reading, and for the last five years, I've done the same in a now rather dog-eared Alice in Wondlerland notebook. 

At the end of each month, I invite an author friend to join me in conversation about their latest book or other project of mutual interest. I hope this occasional series gives you interesting insights into what goes on behind the scenes in our writing world, and how authors work.  July's guest is Alison Morton. Although we're writing in very different genres - Alison writes contemporary and alternative history thrillers and I write cosy mystery - we share a love of penning series.

On discovering the upper recruitment age for the British Armed Forces is 39, I feel a flash of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). I’ve missed that boat–or tank, or fighter jet–by a couple of decades. The same goes for the police force. Although there’s no age limit for joining up, they expect you to retire by 60. I don’t know why this irks me.

When earlier in the year, I scheduled this interview with my author chum Helen Hollick, it was going to be on the topic of ghosts, following the publication of her latest non-fiction book, Ghost Encounters: The Lingering Spirits in North Devon. Since then, she's published another book, the ten-author anthology Fate, and is just about to launch A Matter of Murder…

I always enjoy my piano tuner’s annual visit. No matter how much dust has gathered on my bookshelves, or how much laundry is piling up in my utility room, I know he’ll restore at least this one small corner of my house to perfect order.

The Japanese have a word for it: tsundoku*. That is, buying more books, even though you haven’t read all those you have at home. To Western ears, that term may sound like criticism, but in the Far East it’s regarded as reasonable. I’m clearly living in the wrong country. Despite being a speedy reader, I buy books faster than I read them…

"If you want something done, ask a busy person." That may be one reason that I've found myself helping behind the scenes with a wonderful  new music event founded by Badminton Benefice Music Director Ben Humphries. Badminton Benefice - part of the Diocese of Gloucester - contains ten ancient and beautiful rural churches, each in an idyllic, timeless setting. Sharing one vicar between them, the Reverend Richard Thomson, there is a limit to how many church services they can host each month.

I've known Howard Lovy, American journalist, podcaster, and editor for eons, through our work for the Alliance of Independent Authors. I was surprised and delighted for him when he told me he was also about to become a published author. His debut novel, Found and Lost: Jake and Cait's Story, was published by Vine Leaves Press, run by another longstanding author friend of mine, …

(Please note: This post replaces an earlier version that was somehow jumbled in the transmission - I'm hoping it will read in the right order this time!) After emerging from a frantic period of activity, I'm just trying to catch up with myself, and have realized to my horror that I haven't posted on my blog here since 8th April. So today I've decided to do a bit of catching up before it all gets completely out of hand.

I've just discovered that the blog post that I published just now was somehow scrambled in the sending, with the text all out of order. I have no idea why this has happened, as it was all in perfect order when I previewed it prior to sending. I'm reporting it to Wordpress's technical wizards to see if they can fix it.

After emerging from a frantic period of activity, I'm just trying to catch up with myself, and have realized to my horror that I haven't posted on my blog here since 8th April. So today I've decided to do a bit of catching up before it all gets completely out of hand. First off, as a matter of record, I need to share the article I wrote for last month's…

Anyone who has ever worked for their living or played team sport will probably have been told at some point: “There is no I in team.” Writing my first murder mystery play, The Importance of Being Murdered, caused a variation on that theme pop into my head: “There’s no I in theatre”. Even before the first rehearsal, I recognised…

As regular readers of my blog will know, my final post each month is a conversation with an author friend, talking about their creative process and other topics that I hope you will find of interest. This month, it's perfect timing to welcome Linda Alvis to celebrate the launch of her latest travel memoir, the third volume in her series…