The Witch House is back!
"There is more to life than writing an publishing fiction." Philip Roth
Following the sad demise of Red Dog Press at the end of August, I decided it was time to get on with the business of self-publishing. And here is my first attempt - the second edition of The Witch House.
The wonderful Sean Coleman of Red Dog has very generously allowed me to use the gorgeous cover he designed for the original edition. It really is very sad that Red Dog Press didn’t survive, as it was a brilliant and supportive indie publisher.
Currently it is only available in ebook form - the paperback will follow shortly. Probably.
In theory it is supposed to be possible to get Amazon to link to the reviews associated with the previous edition - but I suspect that might have to wait for the paperback.
I took my time, but this week the writing course comes to an end, next week I plan to get stuck in to finishing the first draft of the novel in progress (currently approaching 25 thousand words - not necessarily the right words in the right order, but still) so this was my big chance.
Next up, I plan to publish a second edition of A Savage Art - as the rights have reverted to me after the contract has ended. And after that….well, there’s a brand new novel ready to go (in time for Christmas, I hope) and I am planning to write a non-fiction book too…
Looking at all that, it seems I am expecting finishing the novel writing course will have some kind of magical variation on the time-dilation effect. At any rate, my mind is moving more quickly than my energy levels can handle…
So, what is The Witch House about?
The blurb -
Alice Hunter, grieving and troubled after a breakdown, stumbles on the body of her friend, Harry Rook. The police determine he has been ritually murdered and suspicion falls on the vulnerable Alice, who inherited the place known locally as The Witch House from her grandmother, late High Priestess of the local coven.
When the investigations turn up more evidence, and it all seems to point to Alice, even she begins to doubt herself.
Can she find the courage to confront the secrets and lies at the heart of her family and community to uncover the truth, prove her sanity, and clear herself of murder?
When I think about the different elements (archaeology, wicca, fraud, dysfunctional families) which inspired this novel, I start to worry that I might run out of material!
I first became hooked on the idea of archaeology reading Malcolm Saville’s Lone Pine mysteries as a child. Lone Pine Five mentions the Mildenhall Treasure, which makes a brief appearance in my novel. I actually sent Malcolm Saville a fan letter when I was ten years old, and enclosed a short adventure story I had written. He was kind enough to write back and encourage me to carry on writing - but I am heartbroken to admit that the letter is long lost.
In my late teens I volunteered on various digs - a Roman villa near Peterborough, and a Neolithic Hill Fort in the Cotswolds. For a while I aspired to become an archaeologist, but sadly I chickened out. Come to think of it, though, there are probably the seeds of another couple of novels somewhere in there.
Wicca - well, I am a lapsed witch, although I do retain some underlying pagan tendencies. I was initiated into a coven in the middle of Cannock Chase in the summer of 1985… It was all very sedate. We were dressed in robes sewn from old linen sheets. And every week we met for meditation and study of the Tarot and astrology, with the odd bit of ritual magic thrown in. I could probably still do a fairly competent Jungian style horoscope analysis, and more usefully, I still make a chicken curry recipe I learned from one of the group. And I did discover that groups of people are all prone to acting in very similar ways - whether it’s the church ladies, the coven, or the book club. Watch your back!
Anyway, I would very much appreciate all and shares of this post, or just the Amazon link. I know it can be tiresome, but I promise I will try not to overdo it! (You can see my fingers are crossed behind my back, right?)
And now the course is over, I hope to be posting more often here, although perhaps not on a regular schedule. As ever I will be writing about crime fiction, and what I’ve been reading, and all things writing.
Find The Witch House here
Ann
Yay! I must read it again. I enjoyed it the first time and it's in my to read again soon box. If I haven't already left a review, I'll go and leave another
I loved both these books and will be grabbing a copy of the next one.