BOOKWORMS AND VILLAINS

 Apocalypse at The Secondhand Bookworm Now available to read with amazon Kindle and in paperback worldwide As with all my books, royalties from sales or KDP reading goes to Mary's Dowry Productions, my film production apostolate to help with props, costumes and production of films. That aside, book 12 in my series of novels set in a bookshop is now available! Here is the blurb: The local Doomsday Compound has closed so Nora Jolly, who runs The Secondhand Bookworm in Castletown, has travelled with her boss and friend Georgina Pickering in the bookshop calls van to rifle through the extensive library of apocalyptic literature so as to pull out volumes they think will sell in their used and antiquarian bookshop. Nora thinks this is a very bad idea, but Georgina is determined! She's even had built two new free-standing bookcases in the winding, rickety old bookshop, one of which will house the entire library of Armageddon tomes.  One of the bookshop's regular customers, Spencer

November 2023: So Book 13 is underway while book 12 is with my proof-reader - I know, I can't stop writing these bookshop stories in between work and fun. 'The Breakfast Club at The Secondhand Bookworm' takes place three weeks after the 'Apocalypse at The Secondhand Bookworm'. Nora and Co are preparing for the Re-Opening of The Secondhand Bookworm as well as the opening of The Book Grub book café next door and The Secondhand Bookworm, too - spoilers! I'm continuing themes and developing themes, introducing new characters, bringing back old characters and have a new storyline amidst the daily Breakfast Club - Georgina is missing! Meanwhile, as I write I am enjoying dipping in and out of my copy of The Breakfast Club 1984 movie for lots of references and nods towards the film. In the midst of it all, Nora and James are planning their wedding Georgina's old school friend Grant Shermer has arrived and rented out a room above the soon-to-open Book Grub Café for h

  While editing and reading through the finished first draft of Apocalypse at The Secondhand Bookworm last week I decided to transfer a sub storyline that runs through it, placing it over in book 14. This meant carefully removing all mention of it and all scenes relating to it throughout the whole book. It ended up being the transferal of about 14,000 words. I'm very happy having done this as it means I have an additional theme for book 14 (Comic-Con at The Secondhand Bookworm) that can be hinted at in the next two books and also now the focus is sharply honed in on the End Times books from the Doomsday Compound and the arriving bookshop Armageddon. Currently I am now reading through the whole manuscript once more before I send it through to my very kind proof-reader so that it is ready to share on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. Once Apocalypse at The Secondhand Bookworm (book 12 in the series) is finished and available to read, I shall continue working on book 13 - The Breakf

  The Knucker of Worthing Museum I recently came across some photographs I took of a Knucker in Worthing Museum a few years ago. I first learned about Knuckers and Knuckerholes, which are unique to Sussex, from a regular bookshop customer, Rosalinda, when I ran a bookshop in Arundel for 10 years. She was seeking a particular book and asked about it every time she popped in (I never did find it - I left almost 12 years ago!). I decided to include mentions of Knuckers and Knuckerholes in my bookshop novels, most especially Winterland at The Secondhand Bookworm (book 11 in the series). It was very atmospheric and interesting to do and has made me want to write a separate book about the actual Knucker I mention in my bookshop novel. Tales of ancient dragons and legends are always fun. Hopefully one day I will have some inspiration and time to delve into some fantasy writing. Meanwhile, Winterland at The Secondhand Bookworm is available from Amazon on kindle and in paperback worldwide.

Reading through Chapter One of  Apocalypse at The Secondhand Bookworm Having completed writing book 12 in my The Secondhand Bookworm series of novels (set in an English bookshop), I am now reading carefully through the first draft, making corrections and editing the story, making sure it flows and builds correctly, and checking continuity. I find this very difficult because I read and work very fast. I get excited and impatient and want everything done as quick as possible! This is probably because I want to share the story desperately so can be in a haste to get everything done ASAP. But I have two weeks before my proof-reader returns from her Northumberland camping trip so I will be patient and thorough so it ends up as a very good read for all! Chapter One is unique and quite amusing. The book and the story opens by setting the scene for one of the main running themes of this book as Georgina and Nora travel in the bookshop van to the recently closed Doomsday Compound. The theme of

 Book 12 in The Secondhand Bookworm Series Apocalypse at The Secondhand Bookworm The series continues with an interesting theme in book 12 when the local Doomsday Cult closes and its diverse leaders Bo and Peep are arrested for fraud and emotional mockery. Spencer Brown, a regular at Nora's bookshop in Castletown, is in charge of removing the various doomsday cults and groups, their belongings and their library from the sprawling End Times complex. Georgina, to Nora's dismay, has agreed to purchase as much of the library as she can. Nora has a very bad feeling about it all. Fun ensues with the Cult of Cthulhu, the Vampires of Eden, the Monks of Remorse and many more groups who had gathered in expectation of the impending doom get wind of what's taking place. Since Bo and Peep had a nifty little clause that meant they became the sole owners of all literature in the compound, they're selling it to help fund their trial. This means an onslaught of crazies to The Secondhand

  Knuckers and Knuckerholes (of Sussex) Knucker is a dialect word for a sort of water dragon, living in knuckerholes in Sussex, England. The word comes from the Old English nicor which means water monster and is used in the poem Beowulf. Unique to Sussex, these bottomless ponds remain cold during the hottest of days and are said to be homes to strange beasts. I included an Ice Knucker in book eleven of my series of novels set in an English bookshop, having mentioned them several times before in previous novels. Book 11 in the series: Winterland at The Secondhand Bookworm A tale of a local water dragon in a bottomless pond in the Duke of Cole's estate become more than just a story, with the vengeance-filled determination of James' cousin, Sir Robert Knightley. Cara has written and illustrated a book about the local legend and Nora faces a great terror when confronted with a madman, the ice knuckerhole and the Duke's cousin bent on harming James. Twists, turns and action in t

 GET READY FOR THE APOCALYPSE! The End Times Cult that arrived at the end of book 10 in The Secondhand Bookworm series of novels set in a quirky English bookshop in Castletown (featuring Nora Jolly, a Catholic Duke, plenty of customers, new faces, old faces, laughs, light romance and plenty of books!), is in crisis! After makings its (hilariously outrageous) presence known throughout the Winterland Festival (curses, predictions, doom and gloom and a worrying event looming on the bookshop's horizon) - the End Times Cult has disbanded. Nora and Georgina have arrived at the compound to buy the library of outlandish books for The Secondhand Bookworm, but this may well mark the descent into their very own Apocalypse. The Duke of Cole's brother is having a crisis, there are many new establishment now open in the town, too much weight is being added to the already creaking bookshop floors, the local Ghost Hunt Tour has employed the Grim Reaper, Georgina's purchased a library of Gh

FANCY SOEMTHING NEW TO READ? LOVE BOOKS? LOVE BOOKSHOPS? EVER FANCIED WORKING IN A BOOKSHOP? WINTERLAND AT THE SECONDHAND BOOKWORM I am really pleased to be able to bring Book 11 in The Secondhand Bookworm series to share on Kindle, KindleUnlimited and Amazon with all bookshop lovers soon. It was great fun to write and is a good read if I say so myself - right up your street if you enjoy rickety old shops, sprawling old castles, rivalries, romances, intrigue, a book with a curse, hidden cyphers, duels and fist-fights, quirky English humour, secret maps and snowy festivals all set around a bookshop. If you haven't already, why not give The Secondhand Bookworm series a go and get a head start on the story as the characters and themes develop over the whole series? Each novel spends a week (or 6 as in the case of book 7) in The Secondhand Bookworm; a higgledy-piggledy bookshop with three floors, a winding staircase spiralling all the way to the attic (and a room filled with paperback

  ASNIPPET FROM WINTERLAND AT THE SECONDHAND BOOKWORM Books, customers, sabotage, rivalry, romance, friendship, intrigue, humour. My series of enjoyable novels set in an English bookshop continues. I have almost finished reading through my finished book - Book 11 in The Secondhand Bookworm - a series of novels set in an eccentric English bookshop. It is called 'Winterland at The Secondhand Bookworm'. I would like to share with you a snippet from chapter four as I read along.  The scene takes place in the front room of The Secondhand Bookworm. Nora, who is the main protagonist and who runs the bookshop, is working with Betty, the eldest member of staff (very sensitive about her age). Along comes a regular customer, a local author and Betty's rival. COMING SOON TO AMAZON KINDLE AND PAPERBACK SNIPPET FROM CHAPTER FOUR: Betty curled her lip. “Hello, Mr Fink.” He stood and wiped snow off the top of his shopper, brushing it everywhere, so that it settled on books displayed in lit

 This month I started writing (and bringing together various notes and already written passages) book eleven in my bookshop series of novels set in The Secondhand Bookworm.  Book eleven is called: Winterland at The Secondhand Bookworm.  I hope to make the story available soon (as I hope to be able to work on it when possible during my recreation time!) I have to say it's nice being immersed in a fictional winter during this heatwave. Winterland follows on from Strange Things (book 10), set two months later and during a very heavy snowstorm. The Castletown Winterland Festival is underway which includes The Prosecco Festival and The Festival of Hours, the latter taking place in the museum. Nora is working in her bookshop and enjoying the festivities. But things get scary with the arrival of the Duke of Cole's cousin, Sir Robert Knightley. A plot unfolds and thickens based around a cursed book that has been in the Duke's family for centuries. The book is being displayed in The

 STRANGE THINGS AT THE SECONDHAND BOOKWORM BOOK 10 IN THE BOOKSHOP SERIES NOW AVAILABLE On a normal Monday morning (as normal as it gets in eccentric Castletown) Nora Jolly arrives to work at The Secondhand Bookworm - a rambling old shop with three floors and an attic room stuffed to capacity with books, upon books, upon books, and more books, with a winding staircase spiralling upwards and branching off into numerous rooms, a kitchen and a yard, a ghost under the flagstones, and with shelves, windowsills, nooks and crannies boasting over 27,000 used, some new and many antiquarian tomes - only to be faced with her greatest bookworm ordeal yet!  Erik Lodbrok, an enormous man with Norse blood, a body like Thor the god of Thunder and a frown that scares everyone, especially newcomer Wimsey (an Emo into Screamo), has arrived with a claim upon The Secondhand Bookworm. A ridiculous clause in the sale of the shop six years earlier to Georgina Pickering, Nora's friend and boss, has made th

I have almost finished writing book 10 in The Secondhand Bookworm series of novels set in an English bookshop. This book is called 'Strange Things at The Secondhand Bookworm'. It has been such fun to write, with strange and weird things occurring in the shop, the arrival of Erik Lodbrok, calls to an abandoned lunatic asylum, government lab and other unusual places, with anything and everything happening in a crazy week of madness, romance, rivalry and fun at the south coast of England's most eccentric bookshop. Slugs, blocked drains, Screamo, stalkers, wicked rumours, the Duke of Cole returning home early (much to Nora's delight), a huge Viking determined to take over The Secondhand Bookworm, a roller derby, Nora's matchmaking, murder hornets and screaming in the walls, an MI5 Agent investigating the bizarre happenings, customers, regulars, new characters, and books, lots and lots of books (plus much more) in this 10th novel in The Secondhand Bookworm series. Coming

  LOCKDOWN AT THE SECONDHAND BOOKWORM IS HERE I have finally released book 9 in The Secondhand Bookworm series - Lockdown at The Secondhand Bookworm - currently only available on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited, but paperback coming soon! It only took me three years to finish! But book 10 is well underway and coming soon. Lockdown at The Secondhand Bookworm can be read as a stand alone novel, but is best enjoyed as part of the series, set in an eccentric bookshop on the south coast of England in the fictional town of Castletown in the fictional southern county of Cole. Fiction loosely based on my 10 years managing a bookshop in West Sussex - lots of fun, bookselling related day-to-day happenings, romantic comedy, drama and all things books. Here is the blurb: It's Lockdown at The Secondhand Bookworm, a winding rickety old bookshop with three floors, endless rooms, hallways, shelves, cases, stairs, attic, kitchen and yard bursting at the seams with books upon books upon books, an

  The Secondhand Bookworm series - April 2023 Kindle sales so far for The Secondhand Bookworm series of novels this month have been rising with 18 books sold on Kindle and over 1000 pages read with Kindle Unlimited, too. April 2023 has been a really fun month for The Secondhand Bookworm series of novels. All profits from sales go to Mary's Dowry Productions, my co-shared film apostolate, which is wonderful because this month we bought a simple brown peasant farmer's apron for use in our film presentation of Saint Dymphna, filmed at the bluebell woods in Clapham, West Sussex. We produced biographical films about little known English Saints and Martyrs as well as interesting and inspiring historical figures, especially women and popular Saints from around the world. While I write the series of novels for my own enjoyment, for work colleagues at the real bookshop I ran for ten years (I left in 2012 to do film media full-time) and for my sister, they are available for friends, fami