Dear All,
It’s absolutely bonkers to think that this time last year was the launch of Kiss, Marry, Murder and now here I am again with the follow up! After a dry spell following Covid, I really feel like I’ve found my sea legs again when it comes to writing and I hope that you all enjoy Little Grey Cells when it comes out on 2nd June. There are plenty of ways to purchase the e-book or paperback – please visit my homepage for all the links.
Publishing a book is a weird time. All the heavy lifting has been done, the preparations made, press releases sent and as much PR done as possible to raise awareness and increase my reach. There’s really nothing left to do except hope someone buys it! The main event, I know from experience, will be mainly focused on social media content creation and the endless drive to encourage friends, family and total strangers to ‘buy my book’. It is not easy, and feels like I am being very ‘extra’ in order to sell a copy or two. But the bottom line is if I want to continue to self-publish this series, I have to keep driving sales any way I can. So this is my plea to you, dear reader, to please buy, like, share and tag, and if you can take the time to leave a review, I will be forever grateful.
I had an amazing time at the Bournemouth Writing Festival last month and love being out workshopping, networking and promoting, but the most important thing I can do to help along my career, is keep writing. I already have the third of the Jessica Sinclair series mapped out in my head (roughly – anyone who is familiar with how I write these books will know I never decide on who the killer is before I’m over halfway through a first draft, to keep me on my toes) and I know from Little Grey Cells that if I start writing in September, it will most likely mean a first draft will be complete by December and I can get it out sometime next year. But because I am a hybrid author, publishing traditionally and independently, I also have to balance my projects, and I am feeling the itch again, to get another book deal under my belt. The manuscript I had taken out on submission last year received some interest but I got feedback on it that made me decide it needed a rework, and for now it is ‘resting’ in the imaginary filing cabinet, waiting for me to energise myself to do that. But after a hugely helpful and inspirational chat with a new agent to pitch the idea, I’m instead taking a palette cleanser in the form of a thriller – a genre I haven’t written in before and much darker than any of my previous works, but something I’m really enjoying getting my teeth into.
I’m squeezing in a decent amount of writing, given this month has been mainly recovering from shoulder surgery and trying to keep my poor kid motivated during GCSE study leave (all those exams! madness!); I’m at 10k word count and have a long way to go, but it already feels like it’s got momentum. Unlike murder mystery, writing a thriller has forced me to plot; from the start, I felt like it wasn’t a genre where I could wing it. If I get my protagonist into trouble I absolutely need to know where that trouble is leading her, in order to keep building the necessary tension. It’s far more character driven, too, with a lot of unreliable narration and subtext… which means doing a lot of thinking ahead of time, to get the ‘voice’ of each character right. Fortunately 2 weeks of not being able to move my arm gave me a lot of time for all this, and by the time I sat down to write 10 days ago, I was ready. I am hopeful that I will make significant headway on this manuscript over the summer so that I can return to book three of the Sinclair Mysteries at some point in the autumn.
In the meantime… enjoy the new book!
Fx
WHAT I’M READING THIS MONTH As is usual when I’m in between writing projects, and particular as I couldn’t do much else for quite a bit of this month, I read and listened to quite a few books in May, mostly thrillers while I did a bit of prep for my own. Some I did not enjoy, and one I didn’t even finish. I am not going to share those with you because I am sure plenty of people did enjoy them and it’s not terribly sporting to slate another author’s work imo.
However, I did enjoy ‘The Housemaid’. I haven’t seen the screen adaptation, and perhaps I should put that on my watchlist, but I did enjoy the book, especially the twist at the very end. I’m not sure I love all of McFadden’s works… see above para… but I did think this one worked very well.
WHAT I’M WATCHING THIS MONTH A LOT. Some of it good, some of it bad and some of it downright ugly. Highlights have included the excellent Hacks, the unbeatable The Pitt, the inimitable John Hamm in Your Friends and Neighbors and a masterfully concluded The Boys. Not worthy of your time may include Rooster, The Boroughs and Widow’s Bay, all of which have highly decorated actors in them who, frankly should have known better.
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WHAT I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS MONTH
MY BOOK LAUNCH! Just in time for National Crime Reading Month, Little Grey Cells makes its way into the world on 2nd June, and I’m running/appearing at a few different events during the course of the month to celebrate, including the Great Dunmow Book Festival (part of the Essex Book Fest) on Saturday 13th June. They are turning the whole high street into a bookshop and I’ve very fortunate to have bagged a place at the pub… if you’re in the vicinity, I’ll be selling and signing 12pm-5pm at the Saracen’s Head, so do pop by!
June is one of my favourite months of the year and this year is no exception. I’m also looking forward to (in no particular order): Tennis, bbqs, concerts, lunching with friends, birthdays and end of GCSEs!
AND FINALLY … I’m now taking bookings for book club nights, blogs, podcast and workshop opportunities for autumn 2026. If you would like me to come along and talk about my books, writing mid-life female characters, writing through play, or generally about life, the menopause and everything, please get in touch at fayebrannwriter@gmail.com. If you’re part of a bookclub, visit my ‘books’ pages on the website and download a bookclub pack for either Kiss, Marry, Murder or Tinker, Tailor, Schoolmum, Spy. They contain some discussion questions about the book, a short essay from me and MOST importantly, a cocktail recipe!
Have a wonderful month!
Faye x
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