Hello,
We're halfway through Lockdown #2 here in the UK and I know much of the rest of the world is facing restrictions on 'normal' life to one degree or another.
Luckily before the country shut down again we squeezed in a week's holiday in North Norfolk. We booked it back in the summer after our planned two-week trip to the Swiss Alps was hijacked by the coronavirus.
Oliver, our oldest, decided to stay at home and look after the cat, so for the first time it was just me, my husband Adrian and our youngest son, Thomas.
We took our mountain bikes and had a relaxing but active week exploring the lanes, tracks and beaches around Wells-next-the-Sea and Holkham.
It's a stunning part of the country, and I'm sure we'll be paying a return visit before too long.
This second lockdown has been a chance for me to get my head down and press on with Book Three.
The last time I wrote to you I had just consigned 24,000 words of the fledgling manuscript to the bin because I knew the plot wasn't strong enough.
I went back to the drawing board, came up with a totally new plot and, at the end of October, I started again.
Since then I have been cracking on, and now have 32,000 words under my belt. I can picture many of the scenes as if I'm watching a drama on television, which is always a good sign. The characters are as real to me as my own family. If that sounds weird, it's because it probably is!
I have set myself the target of finishing the first draft by the end of the year. I even took my ancient laptop on holiday because I wanted to keep up the momentum.
I will keep you posted on my progress!
In other news, I have been enjoying some fab books recently, including The Perfect Couple by Jackie Kabler.
The book has all the ingredients of a great psychological thriller – an unreliable narrator, secrets and lies and plenty of twists to keep you turning the pages.
Protagonist Gemma and her new husband Danny have the perfect life together… until she returns to their Bristol home from a work trip to discover Danny has vanished off the face of the earth.
Reporting his disappearance to the police, Gemma is informed that a serial killer is on the loose. But if that’s not shocking enough, all the victims look uncannily like her husband.
Stranger still, the detectives investigating the case establish that Gemma is the only person who has seen Danny since he moved to the city weeks before and little about her story rings true.
So when the finger of suspicion points a little too close to home, Gemma, a former news reporter on a national newspaper, decides she must investigate her husband’s disappearance herself.
I always try not to second-guess promised twists – I’d rather just be swept along by the story, especially when I’m in such excellent hands as Kabler’s – but let’s just say the book’s reputation as a twisty read is well-deserved.
This was a great read and it’s easy to see why it’s a USA Today bestseller. Thoroughly recommended.
It’s ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ from me!
If you're in the US or Canada, Should Have Known Better, my second domestic thriller, has been picked by Amazon for a Kindle deal this month, which means it's just 99c to download until the end of November.
It is also completely free to read with Kindle Unlimited wherever you are.
To check it out, just click this link. And if you've already read and enjoyed the book, please tell your friends!
And finally, if you've read this far, you definitely deserve a ⭐️!!
So, thanks for sticking around and listening to all my news.
Stay safe and, until the next time...
Happy reading!
Amanda