BOOKWORMS AND VILLAINS

I keep wondering/considering how to change the title one of my long-standing characters in my 'The Secondhand Bookworm' series after the Queen of England pinched my title of 'Duke of Sussex' and bestowed it upon Prince Harry. If I had chosen a lower title in the British peerage it would have been fine, like an Earl, Viscount or Baron, or made up a region, but I loved the idea of having a Duke of Sussex since the title had been extinct since 1843 with the death of Prince Augustus Frederick. I wonder, did her Majesty read my novels and think it would be a good title to resurrect (chuckles to self). I picked the 'Duke of Sussex' because my novels are set in a bookshop in Sussex in the fictional town of 'Castletown'. The royal resident arrives in book 3 'Christmas at the Secondhand Bookworm' which was published in December 2017. Yes, it's entirely possible that Queen Elizabeth II read it and was inspired by my character (chuckles again to self)...

I had fun imagining a reality where one of my bookworm novels was at the forefront of Amazon's kindle advertising campaign this Christmas. I thought it looked very fine and delighted in my fantasy for a bit. My 'bookshop' series of novels are all available to read for free to subscribers of Kindle Unlimited. I'm not actually a member myself because I actually don't get a chance to read very much, but I love having them a part of the Kindle Unlimited scheme as they have been reaching a large audience of readers. Currently I have six novels in my bookshop series. These are the titles: The Secondhand Bookworm Nora and The Secondhand Bookworm Christmas at The Secondhand Bookworm Summer at The Secondhand Bookworm Halloween at The Secondhand Bookworm Black Friday at The Secondhand Bookworm The novels follow after one another but can be enjoyed alone. I am currently writing book 7 in the series 'Book Club at The Secondhand Bookworm' which I am so enjoyi...

Now the Christmas bank holidays are over I am hoping to get back to writing my seventh novel in my 'bookworm' series. The book is called 'Book Club at The Secondhand Bookworm' and follows on from book six which is called 'Black Friday at The Secondhand Bookworm'. I managed to get to chapter three in 'Book Club' so far and am really enjoying writing it. I think that the scene where the book cub members introduce themselves is very funny and although I shall probably go over it several more times to edit it I thought I would include it here in this blog post. It would be wonderful to have the novel completed and available for the end of January because I am hoping to have Book 8 'Valentine's Day at The Secondhand Bookworm' available for February. It's probably wishful thinking but it's a good deadline to set myself. I hope to be able to add many more to the series throughout 2019. I have a lot of novels planned for the bookworm...

I have now started to write book 7 in my series of humorous novels set in an English used bookshop. It is called 'Book Club at The Secondhand Bookworm' and picks up a few weeks from where 'Friday at The Secondhand Bookworm' left off. Lots of real life experiences pop up once more in the series and in this novel, Nora Jolly is running a Book Club. She has ten members to begin with, all with varying strong characters, some looking for romance, some wishing to simply stop their brains from rotting. The Duke, her sister-in-law, cousin and several work colleagues as well as familiar customers and one stranger named Danny make up the club which begins with its first meeting in the middle of December in the front of The Secondhand Bookworm. The book is comprised of thirteen chapters and rather than following the usual pattern of every two chapters taking place in six successive days of the week (with an extra chapter for one of the days), this time the novel takes pla...

I'm pleased people are discovering The Secondhand Bookworm novels and I was delighted to read this review on Good Reads for Book 1 in the series, 'The Secondhand Bookworm'. I have reproduced it here but you can follow the link to read it on Good Reads below: The Secondhand Bookworm review - Good Reads - October 2nd 20118 "A really delightful insight into the horrors of running an antiquarian bookshop. Bevans has a mild-mannered humour reminiscent of Barbara Pym, and the gentle everyday happenings of small-town business life further highlight the comparison. Nora, a self-insert in this biographical novel, garners the reader's love and sympathy from very early on. The tiny quirks of her colleagues make each of them stand out in an understated way, whilst the far bigger quirks of her customers can incite laughter and despair in equal measure. It goes beyond just being a vent of frustration for the author - which is a bit of a dangerous trap, with autobiographica...

I managed to release my NEW novel (book 6 in the bookshop series) this weekend in time for Black Friday! It was a lot of work aiming for a deadline and I wanted it complete and available on Kindle for people to enjoy in the build-up to Black Friday. I thought it would be amusing and original to set the novel in a week's build up to Black Friday in the used and antiquarian bookshop and not only are there lots of laughs with the bargain hunters and the new Bargain Book Yard, but character story lines continue to develop too. I had such fun writing this novel and enjoyed how it turned out. I am keen to continue the series with the next book which is 'Book Club at The Secondhand Bookworm' but I realize I probably need a break! I would also like to write the six volume series of novels that the Book Club will be reading in book 7 but I may just settle with six plots planned and see where the inspiration leads me. Black Friday at The Secondhand Bookworm is available on Kin...

The Perfect Autumn Read After a hectic week working on NEW DVD film releases and an enormous DVD order to be prepared and shipped to Saint Paul's bookshop in Westminster, London, I'm finally getting my teeth back into polishing off book 6 in my 'The Secondhand Bookworm' series of novels. 'Black Friday at The Secondhand Bookworm' is coming along nicely, and I've given myself the task of trying to have it available on Kindle and in paperback in the week leading up to Black Friday 2018! In the bottom left hand corner of the cover above you can see Arthur, Cara's new bulldog, who pops up through the week! There's also several jaunts in the bright yellow Tuk-Tuk, which appears on one occasion as if by magic on the kerb outside The Secondhand Bookworm to take Humphrey and Nora up to their Deer Rut Safari! The deer rut safari in the Duke's Park The book opens in the week leading up to Black Friday, with Nora Jolly preparing to open the Ba...

Over the last couple of weeks I was able to release the 5th novel in my 'The Secondhand Bookworm' series - 'Halloween at The Secondhand Bookworm'. I am now writing, editing and polishing book 6 which is called 'Black Friday at The Secondhand Bookworm' and hope to have it available on Kindle and in paperback within the next few weeks. Meanwhile, 'Halloween at The Secondhand Bookworm' is finding readers (including myself!) as Halloween draws near. My writing environment is incredibly difficult so it is a frustrating endeavor to have. I love to write but it can be stressful being constantly shouted at by two of the three people I share a house with, with bangs and crashes from the neighbours either side too, with ear-deafening traffic noises, especially from motorbikes, whizzing alongside the street day and night, a mammoth amount of housework and countless interruptions. I do part-time work as well as running Mary's Dowry Productions and we always...

HALLOWEEN AT THE SECONDHAND BOOKWORM IMAGINE SPENDING HALLOWEEN IN A HAUNTED BOOKSHOP! I had fun today displaying a delivery of delicious new paperback editions of my fifth novel in my bookshop series - Halloween at the Secondhand Bookworm.  Check out how lovely and pumpkiney the cover is!  I loved writing Halloween at The Secondhand Bookworm. It's book 5 in the series and while characters have developed, relationships have grown, regular customers pop up in the books like familiar friends and an endless supply of interesting used and antiquarian books have been memorably traded throughout the three floored bookshop, Halloween at The Secondhand Bookworm is a story that can be enjoyed by itself. It's the perfect read in the build up to Halloween. Not too gory, not too scary, not to horrific, not too dull. It has humour, hauntings, zombies, werewolves, witches, Halloween authors and books, fancy dress, ghost sightings, plays, costume balls, haunte...

Looking for something to read this Halloween? Frights and Fun Ghosts and Vampires A Haunted Bookshop Pumpkins, costumes, parties and terrors Imagine spending Halloween in a haunted bookshop Halloween at The Secondhand Bookworm Book Five in the Bookshop series Read for free with Kindle Unlimited MORE HERE: HALLOWEEN

I have been writing book six in my 'The Secondhand Bookworm' novels today and making a little progress through chapter two. Once I get going I can bring all my plot planning, memories, ideas and characters together quite quickly and the writing flows. Chapter one opens on Monday leading up to Black Friday. Last minute preparations are being made on the Bargain Book Yard located at the back of The Secondhand Bookworm. The Duke is throwing a November ball at the castle where he will be abseiling down his largest turret, Troy is throwing a Thanksgiving dinner and there is an infestation of fleas from books bought in Itchingfield. It's another week in the bookshop! We have a new character in this novel - Paperback Pam. Paperback Pam is based on a work colleague of mine who was also a very good friend of my mum's. Her husband worked with the dad of the owner of the bookshop that I worked in for ten years. She was lovely and earned her name from spending all her time s...

Yesterday after Mass I popped into my old place of work, a secondhand and antiquarian bookshop, with my sister to visit my cousin who is still working there. I was able to get some great new ideas for my bookshop series of novels and have a chuckle over some book-selling memories. Now I am excited to get to work finishing book six in my series of novels set in a secondhand bookshop in Sussex, England. It's amusing, eccentric and fun with likable characters, story lines, intrigue, romance, gossip and classic British humour. Before we went into the bookshop, we visited the antique shop next door, which used to be a souvenir shop when I was working in the town. It is now a fantastic bazaar with endless floors and rooms crammed full of amazing, crazy items. For a writer this was very inspiring and the ideas started popping. The rickety staircases at odd angles led into different sized room, crammed full of objects, while pictures and paintings filled the walls, suitcases were p...