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June/July 2004
Dear Visitor,
In the immortal words of the wise and wonderful
Britney Spears, ‘Oops, I’ve done it again’.
And there’s no excuse this time. I’m
fine, the computer’s working, my e-mail’s
working (well, it is when I’ve got a broadband
signal which isn’t too often, but it is usually
there in the middle of the night, and that’s
when I work), and No. 14 is still at the stage where
I can’t plead work overload. I just somehow
let the time slip away, and I’m sorry that
the June newsletter is staggering out in the last
week of June. I’ll let it run through July,
and then I promise – promise – to try
to update it at the beginning of every month from
August to the end of the year.
So what’s been happening? Well, on the 5th
of June, Unlucky for Some, which new visitors might
like to know is the latest (and thirteenth) Lloyd
and Hill novel, was published. I haven’t seen
any reviews yet – there might not be any. Once
upon a time, mid-list authors, particularly crime
authors, could look forward to a few lines in most
of the broadsheets, usually in their ‘crime
round-up’ section, but these seem to be a thing
of the past. I don’t think reviews are particularly
important from the point of view of sales – in
hardback, established crime writers sell to libraries
and the larger bookshops on the strength of their
backlist, not reviews, but I always liked to see
how my books were received. Obviously, I liked good
reviews better than lukewarm ones, but even less
than enthusiastic reviews were of interest to me.
Now the novels are published into a void, and mid-listers
have to wait until the larger regionals review them,
which they still do, bless them.
And, as you will readily realise, that momentous
event took up none of my time at all, so what exactly
I have been doing must remain a mystery, to me as
much as to anyone else. But I have got my act together
to some extent now, and if you feel so inclined,
you can read about Unlucky for Some on the book pages,
and even order it from Amazon, if you like. But if
shelling out the best part of twenty quid seems to
you to be taking loyalty to ridiculous lengths, then
have a go at this month’s competition, and
win a signed first edition.
Last month’s winners have been notified, and
their prizes will be on their way to them as soon
as possible. And don’t forget you can always
choose to have a copy of the Lloyd and Hill movie
if you’d rather. For this month only, I’ll
pick two first-prize winners, one who wants the movie,
and one who wants Unlucky for Some. But I can only
do this once, so make the most of it!
And some sad news about Frankie, I’m afraid.
Those of you who have been visiting since the start
will know Frankie, my little black cat, and indeed
I was talking about him only last month, when he
seemed to be perfectly all right, but he wasn’t.
He had kidney problems, which became apparent only
in the last couple of weeks, and has died, aged sixteen.
He was a great little cat, and even though he was
very ill, his proud record of never having made a
mess in the house remained intact. We got him when
he was three months old, and he used a litter tray
for about two weeks, until he discovered the garden,
and from then on he went out. For a little while
the litter tray sat there with its virgin cat litter
in it, and he would walk past it on his way out.
Clearly, he thought it was there in case one of us
needed it, because he certainly didn’t. So
we took it away, and he carried on going out, right
to the end.
Sorry to end on a sad note, but he had a long life
and a happy one, especially whenever he found a very
small cardboard box into which he could squash himself.
And, I’m happy to say, just such a box had
presented itself for him about two weeks before he
took ill, so everything was just how he liked it.
See you in August,
Love,
Jill
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