A.A. Abbott

GREAT CRIME STORY WRITER

books

So What Have Libraries Done for Me? A guest blog by Helen Hollick

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Helen Hollick and her new cozy mystery A Mirror Murder in the Library

I know, that heading conjures a mental image of Monty Python and that scene in  Life Of Brian: “What have the Romans ever done for us?”

The aqueduct, sanitation, roads, education… Hmm, can I add libraries? The Romans provided scrolls, kept in dry rooms, for patrons of the public baths to read. The baths were not just a place to go to get clean, they were the equivalent of a leisure centre, a place for exercise and relaxation. Which included the pleasure of reading.

I am sixty-seven this year (2021) but one of my earliest memories is of leaving the library with a book clutched tightly in my hands, thrilled, because it was one I hadn’t read. I say ‘read’ – that, I’m not sure of. I was not yet four years old. Was I reading by then? I don’t remember, on the other hand, I don’t remember not reading. (For those interested, it was a Little Grey Rabbit book by Alison Uttley).

Books rarely let you down

I was a shy, quiet child, with very little self-confidence, heightened because I was extremely short-sighted. I could see, clearly, what was going on in a book. Books didn’t shout at you when you couldn’t see the board at school, or didn’t mind that you couldn’t see well enough to thread a needle in sewing class. Books were friends, not enemies. Books rarely let you down.

I was a regular at South Chingford Library, east London – it helped that my junior school was almost opposite and I had to pass the library to go home. I wonder, was it that compulsion which made my little legs turn into the library to browse the books, the forerunner of not being able to pass a bookshop now, without at least peering into the window?

At the age of nine I discovered the second love of my life. Pony stories.

I received a book for my ninth birthday. I’m ashamed to admit that my first reaction was one of disappointment. A book. It would probably be Noddy, or a school story (I disliked both). I unwrapped it. There, on the cover, was a girl riding a black pony. Jill’s Gymkhana by Ruby Ferguson. I recall nothing else of that party, only the book. I hadn’t realised, until that moment, that there was such a thing as The Pony Story. I desperately wanted a pony, but we were not in the financial position for ponies, although I did ride at the local stables once a fortnight.

Thank goodness for the library. I devoured everything pony-related that they had. The Pullein-Thompson sisters, Monica Edwards, Pat Smythe, Joanna Cannon, Elizabeth Beresford… And then there was the non-fiction section. How to groom a pony, feed a pony, keep a pony… But there was more than books and reading, more that I discovered because of libraries. I started to write. From the age of about eleven, I scribbled (not very good, I suspect) stories about, well, yes, ponies.

Come school leaving age at sixteen in 1969, I was steered towards working in the library – that same, South Chingford Library in fact. It was heaven, especially when I realised that, as a member of staff, I could take out more than four books at a time!

The secret life of a librarian

Come school leaving age at sixteen in 1969, I was steered towards working in the library – that same, South Chingford Library in fact. It was heaven, especially when I realised that, as a member of staff, I could take out more than four books at a time!

I was still writing, scribbling away – although I had moved on to fantasy and science fiction. Then I came across King Arthur. Mary Stewart’s The Hollow Hills and The Crystal Cave. Fabulous stories, but what triggered my interest, and imagination, was her author’s note where she explained that if Arthur had existed (a very doubtful if, now) it would have been during that period between the Romans (them again!) and the coming of the Anglo Saxons. I was intrigued. I had never much liked the traditional Arthurian tales, the Medieval knights in armour … but a Dark Age warlord? Now that I did like! I pounced on the non-fiction section of the library, re-discovered the beautiful poetic narrative of the brilliant Rosemary Sutcliff, studied Roman Britain, and came across too many novels that just didn’t fill what I was looking for: a realistic man, with faults as well as strengths. No post-Norman nonsense, but a man who fought hard to win his kingdom, and fought even harder to keep it. And as for Guinevere… sorry, I just didn’t see her as a fragile wimp drooling over a Lancelot figure. So there was nothing for it. I decided to write my own novel, where there would be no Merlin, no Lancelot, and Gwenhwyfar would know how to wield a sword. (And there would be horses. I still loved horses – had one of my own by then!)

I wrote whenever I could, and penned quite a few chapters in the library office when I was there on my own, supposedly writing out overdue cards…

It’s murder in that library

As for my latest release,  A Mirror Murder, a ‘cosy mystery’ which I based on my years of working in the library, I plan to alternate between one story set in and around the library, and one in a different location, so book two (A Mystery of Murder) will be set in Devon over Christmas 1971, book three (no title yet!) will be back in the library – again based on my years there. Jan Christopher has been asked to take over one of the Book Delivery Service rounds, selecting and taking books out to the housebound. Of course, one day she finds… well, you’ll have to wait until I’ve written it. Sorry. I wrote A Mirror Murder because I finally realised that the years I had spent as a library assistant ought to be put to good use. All those anecdotes, all those hilarious moments, all those members of the public and the quirky events that happened  –  from the main door that was so heavy it bruised your heels, to the slice of raw bacon used as a bookmark…

It took me well over ten years to write a final version of what eventually became my Arthurian  Pendragon’s Banner trilogy, originally published in 1994 by William Heinemann. The books are still in print, although via different publishers now. Oh and that book that I received for my ninth birthday? I’ve still got it.

So what did my library do for me?

It gave me a love of books, of reading. Library books nurtured my imagination, expanded my existence. My library took me to places in other countries and other worlds. The books kept me company when I was lonely, cheered me when I was sad. The characters within were my friends.

My library helped to show me that I could write, that I could fulfil an ambition – to become a real author.

What have libraries done for you, I wonder?

HELEN HOLLICK – A MIRROR MURDER

Amazon Author Page (Universal Link) http://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick

“I settled down with A Mirror Murder and pretty much read it in one sitting, thoroughly enjoyed it.”

The first in a new series of cosy mysteries set in the 1970s… Will romance blossom between library assistant Jan Christopher and DC Laurie Walker – or will a brutal murder intervene?

Eighteen-year-old library assistant Jan Christopher’s life is to change on a rainy Friday evening in July 1971, when her legal guardian and uncle, DCI Toby Christopher, gives her a lift home after work. Driving the car, is her uncle’s new Detective Constable, Laurie Walker – and it is love at first sight for the young couple.

But romance is soon to take a back seat when a baby boy is taken from his pram,  a naked man is scaring young ladies in nearby Epping Forest, and an elderly lady is found, brutally murdered… Are the events related? How will they affect the staff and public of the local library where Jan works – and will a blossoming romance survive a police investigation into  murder?

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Find out more about Helen Hollick on her website and find her on Twitter and Facebook. If her book, A Mirror Murder, tempts you to read more stories about librarians, look no further than The Bride’s Trail. First in my Trail series of thrillers, it features real-life librarian Jackie Molloy saving a saintly cancer researcher from a killer!

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A Fair, A Festival and Fabulous Beer – April’s Literary Highlights

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I’ve been hanging out with readers and writers at three very different events this month – the London Book Fair, a live fiction night at a pub in Birmingham, and the Hawkesbury Upton Litfest at a village in the Cotswolds. All were not only fun, but a chance to learn from other thriller writers. Most of all, I get a buzz being around others who love books as much as I do.

I wrote a blog about the London Book Fair in 2015. If you’re not sure why everyone in the book trade (apart from the most important people, readers!) hits town every year, do take a look! Deals are done, free wine flows and there’s frantic networking. For me, the key messages this year were to make my thrillers available as audiobooks and go for a darkly sinister cover for my next crime thriller. Watch this space!

I’ve also blogged about live fiction events and literary festivals before. I can’t recommend them enough to readers. Stories come alive when they’re read aloud by their writers. The pub night, organised by Donna of Twitter’s @TheCultureHour, featured the well-respected New Street Authors. They all proved to be polished live performers as well as writers. Even better, it was hosted by The Gunmaker’s Arms, the showcase and brewery tap for beers from the Two Towers Brewery. The beer was awesome, a bargain at under £3 a pint, and worth a trip to the pub in its own right. I indulged in their Birmingham Mild, a style of ale quite hard to find outside the British Midlands, yet one of the most delicious drinks on the planet.

It’s only natural that the Two Towers, named after nearby landmarks that inspired the great JRR Tolkien, would want to support the local literary scene. So, back to the books, the main event of the evening. Although there were stunning performances by master of suspense Andrew Sparke and the cutting, creative and comical Gareth J Wood, it was New Street Author David Wake who stole the show. His steampunk Derring-Do Club series had the audience in stitches. Check them out, and if you’re organising a litfest, ask him along. With a theatrical background, David knows how to make an audience very happy indeed.

Coincidentally, half of the Hawkesbury Upton Litfest was also hosted by a pub, the ancient Fox Inn. A sweet honey-coloured Cotswold stone village, Hawkesbury Upton is a world away from Birmingham’s gritty Gunmakers’ Quarter. Seemingly, everyone in Hawkesbury Upton loves to read. At any given time, at least two events were taking place for adults at this full-day festival, and there were art exhibitions and children’s workshops too. A charming green chalk line directed punters between the Fox and poetry performances at the Methodist Church Hall. Did I mention cake? It appeared the villagers were brilliant bakers too, with home-made goodies on sale with all those lovely books.

Highlight of the litfest for me was meeting cosy crime thriller writer Jackie Kabler, whose TV newsroom murder mystery is storming the charts. I too prefer to keep graphic violence out of my books (thriller author Joanna Penn used the term ‘torture porn’ at the lifest) and it’s encouraging to know that’s what readers like too.

I left Hawkesbury Upton staggering under the weight of new books to enjoy! As an amazing April literary feast draws to an end, these are next on my ‘to-read’ list:

Copper Trance & Motorways, by Andrew Sparke – I’m already chuckling at the office politics in this wryly observed crime thriller.

Screaming Blue-City Murder, by G J Wood – I’ve dipped into this fabulous collection of satirical, sweary short stories already. Although I write about a shinier version of Birmingham than Gareth, I love his focus on seedy, sinister secrets. He’s a genius.

Marry in Haste, by Debbie Young. Romantic short stories with happy endings, great with a cuppa.

Me-Time Tales, by Rosalind Minett. More short stories, the ideal solution for time-poor fiction lovers!

The Derring-Do Club and the Invasion of the Grey, by David Wake. After hearing his stirring steampunk at The Gunmaker’s Arms, there was no way I was leaving that pub without a copy to read!

Who Needs Mr Darcy? by Jean Burnett. There’s nothing quite like a Jane Austen pastiche, and unlike others, this one is zombie-free…

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I’m a British crime thriller writer, following in the footsteps of Ruth Rendell, Kate Atkinson and our transatlantic cousin, John Grisham. Read tasters of my work, including 5 minute crime thriller ‘The Gap’ here.

 

 

12 Books of Christmas

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Christmas is on the way. Even the self-service tills at Tesco’s supermarket jingle their bells and laugh ‘Ho Ho Ho’ as I pay. (What irony! and amazingly annoying for the poor checkout girl standing nearby and hearing the seasonal sounds hundreds of times every day.)

As well as all the fun of seeing family, and giving and receiving presents, most of us have a few days’ holiday at Christmas and a chance to reflect. With that in mind, here are my suggestions for 12 Books of Christmas. There’s sure to be one you’ll enjoy, so grab it for your Kindle. Even better, you could buy it as a gift for your nearest and dearest, and squirrel it away on Christmas Day to read yourself.

#1. Blood Libel by Chuck Loyola. This noirish political thriller (very Blade Runner in feel, although set in 1990s Britain) was my Thriller of the Month in October. Check out my review on Goodreads.

#2. The Bride’s Trail by AA Abbott. It’s my best crime thriller yet! Away with false modesty! Predecessors After The Interview and Up In Smoke are great reads too.

#3. The Cost of Living by David Moody. His publisher, Infected Books, reckons 2016 is the Year of the Zombie. Fans of the undead can’t go wrong with this suspense-filled novella.

#4. Park Life by Katharine D’Souza is a sophisticated, page-turning novel and the book every woman over the age of 40 should read. Two unlikely neighbours find common ground and an answer to their problems.

#5. The Siege of Wrenstock Gardens by Suzanna Stanbury. Wildly over the top South Bristol slapstick comedy. If you know any Bristolians, buy them this! Alreet, my luvverrr.

#6. Shades of Green by Andy Lake. The Green Earth Movement sounds kind, caring and cuddly, doesn’t it? Turns out it has a very sinister agenda indeed in Mr Lake’s compelling political thriller. Andy Lake has worked for the Cabinet Office and understands political machinations perfectly.

#7. Clovenhoof by Heide Goody and Iain Grant. The first in a series of books about saints and devils marauding across the modern world. Terry Pratchett fans should love them. Simon Fairbanks reviews the latest, Hellzapoppin, here.

#8. A Letter From Oggi edited by Richard Jaffa. Olga Franklin was a woman in a man’s world, working as a journalist in the mid-20th century. Her letters to her sister are witty, warm, dark, sweet and the most entertaining slice of history you could possibly read.

#9. No Other Darkness by Sarah Hilary. I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with this talented British writer at an event at Foyles this year. Her latest crime thriller is tense and addictive.

#10. The Adulterer’s Daughter by Deenagh Miller. The true story of an appalling childhood. Painter Deenagh Miller clearly survived the agony. Her art, dark and emotional, may draw on the shadows of the past, though.

AND NOW FOR THE LITTLE ONES…

#11. The Wolf from the Ridge by Suzanna Stanbury. The tinies in my family can’t get enough of Suzanna’s children’s books.

#12. The Other Christmas Carol by David Wake. When they’re at that awkward age of just realising Santa doesn’t exist.

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I write full-length crime thrillers for adults and the occasional commissioned children’s story. Check out my crime thrillers tasters, short stories and more here.

 

5 Social Media Tips For Readers

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I hope I persuaded writers to use social media in my blog last week. Of course, Facebook, Twitter et al are great for readers too. There’s no better way to learn about new books and connect with others who share the same interests. Here are my 5 top tips for readers to get the most from social media:

#1. Start your own book blog – Having a dedicated blog to talk about and review books is a great way to attract like-minded readers and more book recommendations. Share your content on sites like Twitter and Facebook and start your own online community. I always review a Thriller of the Month in this blog, and I’d welcome ideas for more books to read – do get in touch to tell me about your favourites.

#2. Learn to love lists – If you use Twitter, lists are a great way to categorise accounts you are following. I’ve created several lists, to follow authors, genres and publishers I like. By all means take a look at them, and seek out lists that others have created as well.

#3. Create a book group – Curate your own online book club with a Facebook group. This is the perfect platform for sharing and discussing what you’re reading, gathering book recommendations and sharing content. If you wish, you can still meet and enjoy a drink together (this appears to be an essential ingredient in every real life book club I’ve visited). Check out Bristol’s Plastered Prose Posse for ideas!

#4. Use hashtags – Searching for book and writing related hashtags on Twitter is a simple way to discover new authors and books you might otherwise have missed. I’m totally addicted to #TheCultureHour on Twitter on Wednesday evenings. Authors also love to hear about people enjoying their work, so tweet about it and tag them in!

#5. Have a Goodreads account – Goodreads is one of the biggest social media platforms for readers. Even if you don’t want to review books yourself, you’ll enjoy and learn from the discussions taking place there.

It goes without saying that none of this will cost anything at all. I really believe that reading is one of the cheapest, and best, forms of entertainment you can choose!

Do you have a book blog or readers group? Do get in touch if crime thrillers appeal to you!

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I’m a British crime thriller writer who loves to read most genres. For a 5 minute crime thriller with your coffee, please check out The Gap here.

Strong Women in Fiction

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I’ve been invited to the Midlands Women of the Year lunch this Friday, 9th October. Men and women alike are welcome should you care to join me! As well as meeting strong women in real life, I adore reading about them in fiction. While heroines abound, not all have a core of steel. I’d happily share a cup of tea with Jane Austen’s Lizzie Bennett, but I wouldn’t rely on her to save me from a tight spot. Here are a few fictional characters who really kick ass, though…

#1. Brienne of Tarth and #2. Arya Stark from George RR Martin’s fantasy series, Game of Thrones. Famously gory, bad things happen to practically everyone in Martin’s books. Misfortune is the making of some characters and the breaking of others, while for a few, it is simply endured. Unlike a conventional heroine, Brienne is no beauty, but her determination, physical strength and skill as a fighter enable her to hold her own among the knights of the land. Arya trains as an assassin to avenge her father’s death. Both are women you’d want firmly on your side. The alternative is too scary to contemplate.

#3. Dr Joanna Hunter in Kate Atkinson’s third Jackson Brodie detective story, When Will There Be Good News? Resourceful Dr Hunter may be the target of crime, but she’s definitely not a victim.

#4. Dagny Taggart in Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged is a businesswoman who runs a railroad and takes lovers on her own terms. While I find Ayn Rand’s novels lack subtlety (the heroes are intelligent and capable, the villains spineless), she firmly believed a woman could do anything a man could, and reflected that in her fiction.

#5. Terry Pratchett’s Granny Weatherwax. A beacon of common sense, guile and barefaced cheek, the old witch can take care of herself and others. There’s a fabulous chapter in Witches Abroad where she turns the tables on a bunch of conmen, robbing them blind in a card game. On another occasion, she cheats Death at the same game.

#6. Lisbeth Salander in Stieg Larsson’s thriller, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Salander’s tribulations, and her reaction to them, are every bit as extreme as anything George RR Martin could concoct. Although she lacks social skills after her troubled childhood, she’s a computer hacking genius. Evildoers can’t hide from her, and nor can their money.

Should you be celebrating great real-life role models at the Midlands Women of the Year lunch this Friday, do drop by to say Hi. I’ll be signing copies of my latest crime thriller, The Bride’s Trail – featuring an enigmatic heroine whose disappearance sparks off a trail across two British cities…

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AA Abbott’s crime thrillers, Up In Smoke, After The Interview and The Bride’s Trail, are described by readers as “racy and pacy”, “stylish” and “funny and fast”. Grab one at a bookshop, peek inside each book on Amazon or read tasters here.