BOOKWORMS AND VILLAINS

I have been working on a couple of film scripts the past few weeks, charging the many batteries for Mary's Dowry Productions' little faithful cameras as we prepare to start filming in a few weeks for some DVDs,  but I am back reading through the chapters I have written so far on my latest novel, book 7 in my bookshop series, titled 'Book Club at The Secondhand Bookworm'. Trusty cameras about Arundel for Mary's Dowry Productions My cousin phoned me earlier while I was sitting up here in my attic room, listening to the rain on my three slanting roof windows while writing and reading, to give me some bookshop news. He has been filling my shoes for the past 6 years as manager of the bookshop where I worked, and so after a chat, and some new book-selling stories he has given me for my writing (always amusing), my sister and I were chatting over a cup of tea downstairs about the bookshop. I said to my sister, 'do you remember we went to London about ten years ag...

Thirteen at dinner - Chapter Five of Book 7 So I am now on chapter five of 'Book Club at The Secondhand Bookworm' (as of 3rd January 2019) which I have titled 'Thirteen at dinner'. It's the chapter before the third Book Club meeting in the front room of The Secondhand Bookworm and Nora's anxious when another member's down to join that evening. The chairs used in the meetings are from her brother's theater and were used in the Agatha Christie play 'Lord Edgware Dies' which is alternatively titled 'Thirteen at Dinner'. This second title, used on American editions of the novel, arises from a superstition that sitting down thirteen to dinner means bad luck to the person who first leaves the table. Although the Book Club members aren't actually sitting down to dinner, they break for sandwiches, tea and cake in the middle of each meeting. Naturally, in chapter six, when the Book Club meeting commences, Nora is going to be ve...

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...