VAL PENNY

I am pleased to welcome Martin Knights to the blog today to dicuss his love of the horror genre. Martin is an attending author at Authors in Wonderland the amazing book event taking place in Nottingham in July and run by the delightful Annalee Adams. Thank you for your time today, Martin and for explaining why the genre of horror is so appealing to you. Thanks for inviting me onto you blog today, Val. It’s taken me a long time to realise it, but I'm actually a horror fan. Bel

I am delighted that Murder in Gilmerton has been published by Joffe Books and this allows me to share more of my stories with readers. Readers are the life-blood of the book industry - without them, it doesn't exist! So today, let me share a short extract from Murder in Edinburgh with you. I hope you enjoy this and will be tempted to delve further into the story of this mystery to be solved by DI Hunter Wilson and his team. The Extract DI Hunter Wilson and DC Tim Myerscough p

It is lovely to welcome author Marsali Taylor back to the blog to discuss her writing and, particularly, her new book Death in a Shetland Family. I am grateful to Lynsey Adams of Reading Between the Lines for including me in the tour to help launch this book. Thank you for taking time to chat with me today, Marsali. I know how busy you must be when you have a new book to promote' Thank you for having me back to you blog Val, It is always nice to chat with you, especially abou

My novel, Murder in Edinburgh, was published by Joffe Books on 13th May. In case you haven't read it yet I wanted to share a little bit of it with you, to entice you into DI Hunter's World. In this scene, local villain Jamie Thomson is keeping up the family busines of theft and burglary while his father is in prison for robbing a bank. Jamie Thomson swaggered along one of the tree-lined streets in the wealthy Edinburgh suburb of Morningside. To him, the capital of Scotland wa

I welcome romance author Eve L. Mitchell to the blog today to discuss her writing and books as she gets ready to attend Authors in Wonderland at the Eastwood Hall Hotel in Eastwood near Nottingham In July. Welcome, Eve. Thank you for your time today. Thanks for having me on your blog today, Val. I didn't plan to become a romance author. I mean — I planned it the way most of us do, desperately wanting it and having absolutely no idea how to make it happen. Seven years ago, I h

Shana is one of the authors attending Authors Invade Glasgow at the Golden Jubilee Conference Hotel in Clydebank near Glasgow on 27th June 2026, so I am delighted that she has agreed to share with us today her thoughts on Scotland's largest city and her books set there. Thank you for your time Shana. Thank you for inviting me to your blog today, Val. As you know, Glasgow is not a ‘romantic’ city. It lends itself better to superhero movies and murder mysteries. And yet, when i

I suppose your first book is a bit like your first child, a thing of awe and wonder and you never really understand how you got it into the world. My first novel, which had the working title of Sins of the Fathers. The general idea came from that bible where the idea is repeated several times, but the most memorable to me comes in the Old Testament Book of Numbers verses 14-18 where it says: ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and tr

It is my great pleasure to welcome author Jax Knight to the blog today. Jax, like me, is an attendiing author at Authors Invade Scotland taking place at the Golden Jubilee Hotel, Beardmore Street, Dumbarton, Clydebank on 27th June 2026. Welcome to the blog today, Jax and thank you for your time. Jax Knight, like many of us, has led an interesting life. And now, she puts her experiences living abroad and working as a drama teacher, actor, and police officer (both on and off s

Let me preface this article by staing the obvious! Agents are individuals and their opinion is just one opinion. (Although I appreciate that when you've been on the receiving end of several rejections, it may not feel that way.) Also bear in mind that because they are indiviauals different agents will be attracted by different aspects of your pitch. A visual person might be attracted to a mood board, while others may find a list of tropes or themes helpful. There is an elemen

Some years ago, my family was sent into shock. I was diagnosed with breast cancer, could no longer undertake my job as a university lecturer and was really very ill. I had recently moved across the country and didn't know many people in the area. Now added to that, during chemotherapy and radiotherapy my immune system was compromised so I couldn't get out to meet people either. This was a challenging time not only for me, but for the whole family. Normally my pleasures includ

When I worked in the real world, long before I was an author, I met many people from different backgrounds and each had a name. There was the lady who had married twice - her maiden surname was Robertson as was the surname of both her husbands, so she was Mrs Robertson or Robertson or Robertson. There were the people who made up what I called my dark rainbow, Mrs Brown, Miss Gray, Mr Black, Dr Green and Dr Orange and the fun names, Mrs Bird, Miss Snowball and Dr Bean. Then I

I have now finished the manuscript of the next DI Hunter Thriller. I wanted to treat you all to a short excerpt from near the beginning of the book. Please let me know if you enjoy it. The Extract Chapter one “The festival is here again. I love this time of year. The city is so busy and vibrant,” Hunter smiled at Meera. “Edinburgh is such a beautiful city, isn’t it?” “It is. But what we call The Festival is really several different festivals of the arts. The ori

Inexperienced authors have often asked me if they need beta readers, where to find beta readers or even what beta readers are, so let me try to explain what they are, where to find them and why they are important. Beta readers are those to whom you entrust your manuscript after you have finished with it, but before you send it to your editor for polishing. They are a vital part of your book's journey to publication and must be familiar with your genre, fluent in the language

Most people imagine a writer as a lonely individual hunched over a desk in a dimly lit room with crumpled paper strewn about working on their next novel. However, writing is so much more. It is thought put to page, even if we do it in a blog, a letter to a friend or a journal for our own memo r ies. In most cases, writing is most useful as a tool for thinking and expression as well as creativity. Writing can also be good for us. In what ways? Let's think about that. To impr

Jane Walters is a very busy lady! Not only is she an author whose new book, Bless The Work Of Our Hands just launched last week, but she is also, amongst other things, Chair of the Association of Christian Writers. So it is with many thanks and blessings that I welcome her to the blog today to tell us more about her new work which comprises prayers and reflections for creatives. Thank you for your time today, Jane. Thank you for inviting me to chat with you today, Val. I was

I am delighted to have been invited to take part in the tour for Shannon Symonds book, Murder by the Book, run by Jessica Thompson of BitterSweet Book Tours. The author tells me that this cozy mystery is perfect for fans of small town whodunits, quirky book clubs, and scrappy amateur sleuths with heart! So she thinks that if you enjoyed Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club, Agatha Christie’s Murder is Announced or The Secret Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams, you won’t be

I am delighted to have my friend and fellow author Sharon Jackson visit the blog today for a chat about her new book Ash's to Ashes . I thoroughly enjoy Shoron's crime novels, but they are not for the faint hearted as she does not shy away from violence or gory decriptions. I would recommend her books to those who enjoy Chris Carter and Jo Nesbo novels. Thank you for taking time to join me today, Sharon. Tell me all about your new book. Thank you for having me on your blog to

There are some authors whose books you just know you are going to love. For me, Helen Matthews is one such writer and so I am thrilled that she has been willing to share an extract of her new book, If I Were You, which was published by DP Books only a couple of days ago. I'm sure you'll be as excited to read it as I am when you have enjoyed this taster. The Blurb If I Were You – a gripping standalone psychological thriller from Helen Matthews. Dark, emotionally charged a

I genuinely feel that if you have put in all the work required to complete and novel (congratulations) it is a shame if it wastes away in your cupboard or on your computer. Therefore, I happily share the routes to publication with you in the hope it will help gain your book a larger audience. I previously dealt with vanity press, hybrid press and self-publishing. Now let’s look at traditional and independent publishers. When people talk about traditional publish

Let me start at the very beginning. You will often hear people say - everyone has a book in them … This is not true. Others will tell you – I’m going to write a book when I retire … Most of them don’t. This is because writing a book is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes months of creativity, weeks of editing, time to work through the comments of beta readers and the editor and ends with continual marketing. So, if you have completed writing a novel and whatever state it is in