Cheryl's 'By the Letter'


River Witch book award! - walking the research - Karen Heenan author - book reviews - KU for authors?	View in browser

Welcome (back)!

A belated Happy Easter to all those who celebrate. I hope you had wonderful breaks and if in the UK, enjoyed the unusual cessation of rain for a couple of days.

My daughter visited and we made excellent use of the weather to explore the other side of the river Severn, the setting for my Great Flood of 1607 novel (2024, other things will be out before then). Quintessentially English countryside, with some amazing houses, and daffodils everywhere. It has changed little since my protagonist Agnes walked there 400 years ago. Here are a few pics for you. (Shame about the van, but had to have a photo of the dove cote.)

We also picked wild garlic and made cheddar and wild garlic scones. Very yummy! If you have access to wild garlic, I recommend this recipe.

Meanwhile, the Kitchen Saga continues. First fix of plumbing and electrics have been done, although the latter meant pulling up some of our recently laid carpet and cutting holes in the ceiling. Joy! I chose the flooring today, and we might - just might - have a kitchen by June. Fingers crossed.

WRITING NEWS

I was thrilled beyond belief that River Witch was a finalist in the international SPR 2022 Awards. This is my first award for one of my books, and I get a gold sticker to go on the cover :D. To celebrate, and tempt those who haven't yet read River Witch, here's a link to an extract for you.

Over the last month, I had the pleasure of visiting two book clubs. The first are old friends, and I was there to introduce Walking in the Rain. The Keepers fans were happy to take copies of this sequel off my hands. The other club was new, and I was invited to talk about my books generally. They were a lively and questioning bunch, and I have a return invite. Chatting with, and reading to booklovers is always a joy.

The sequel for Guardians of the Forest is now plotted, and I need to focus on actually writing it. In addition to roaming the countryside, my research for the Great Flood novel is coming along as I remind myself of the bigger historical picture of the time and, more interestingly, learn what people wore and ate then. I've found a fascinating little book by Dean Archaeological Group with recipes from the period for daily meals such as trout pasties, boiled onions, and pea pottage (of course!).

Forest corner

Coronation events!

The Forest is gearing up to celebrate the coronation of Charles lll. While there will be events all over, I loved the idea of this one, being organised by the Cinderford Palace Cinema - a brilliant mid 20thC-style, vibrant cinema.

The idea of having the poetry and artwork displayed around the town is very appealing. Might have to write a poem.

If you're local, entries close 26 April, so hurry up!

Guest author Karen Heenan

After thirty years as a legal assistant, Karen Heenan threw in the towel and escaped to a life of growing her own food, sewing her own clothes and writing her own books.

A keen fan of historical fiction, her first series was set in Tudor times, but with a great twist - these are tales of the not-so-famous and their insights into court life for the ordinary mortals is fascinating. More recently she has skipped forward 400 years or so to the 1930s and the Great Depression. Meet Karen here.

WRITERS ARE READERS TOO

What have you been reading this month? I'd love to have some recommendations please! Here's my list.

A Terrible Kindness - Jo Browning Wroe. I hesitated to read this, knowing it starts with the Aberfan tragedy. But when I took the plunge I was glad I did. My featured book of the month, read my review here.

The Shadows of London - Andrew Taylor. The latest in the Ashes of London series, Andrew Taylor involves us in yet another great murder mystery set in 17thC London and surrounds. A wonderful cast of villains, with Cat and Marwood on the job to bring them to justice. Excellent reading, highly atmospheric.

Dark Eyes - Nina Romano. The latest from this prolific author of historical fiction, and a new genre for her, is this murder mystery set in Stalin's Russia. Here's my review.

The Heart's Invisible Furies - John Boyne. A mixed bag for me, for reasons explained here. I read it quickly though, which says something.

WRITER'S CORNER

Kindle Unlimited - a good thing for authors?

A vexed question among indie authors. Being in KU means you can't be elsewhere, such as B&N and Kobo, and you don't get paid much for page reads. So why do we do it?

Click on the button to see what I discovered.

Kindle Unlimited?

COMING UP

May, and the Forest will be awash with bluebells and - we hope - sunshine! I hope to have sunny news too, like massive progress on the writing front. There's a special project coming up which I will tell you about then. It's to do with kids and writing, and that's always a wonderful combination for me.

Until then, happy reading and writing.

Cheryl

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Cheryl Burman

Forest of Dean
United Kingdom

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