Your Latest London Dispatch for May 2024
On the move again
Changes are afoot here in London!
The Gentleman and I are currently in the process of moving, which has a unique ability to make me feel chaotic even when I have good, solid plans in place to make that move happen. I am a home person (not necessarily a homebody), and I like having my books, clothes, cookware, knitting, you name it around me. However, packing all of that up temporarily is necessary for moving so I’m not complaining (too much).
I mention this only as a fair warning that eagle-eyed readers of this Substack might notice some disruption to our regularly scheduled programming for the next couple of weeks. I am going to do my best to keep up with my regular What I Read This Month post for the end of May, as well as Friday essays for paid subscribers. However, if any of this slips, I apologize and will get back on track as soon as possible.
And now, on to something much more exciting…books!
Book News
Betrayal at Blackthorn Park (Evelyne Redfern #2)
Good news for on the sequel to A Traitor in Whitehall! Since I last emailed, I have proofread what are called pass pages of Betrayal at Blackthorn Park and handed them in. That means that my work on the text of this mystery novel is pretty much done! Now I can take a deep breath and start putting plans to promote the book into motion.
Keep an eye out for more about Betrayal at Blackthorn Park—including a short story that will be available for free to all newsletter subscribers that delves into what Evelyne got up to between books #1 and #2—ahead of the book coming out October 1st!
If you haven’t preordered your copy of Betrayal at Blackthorn Park yet, please do consider it as preorders are a huge help to authors like me. Preorder links are now available for the print, ebook, and audiobook editions at all book retailers including:
Also, if you’ve been waiting for the paperback edition of A Traitor in Whitehall to come out, that preorder is live as well ahead of its September 10th release!
And don’t forget, if you just can’t wait to read Evelyne Redfern’s first case, A Traitor in Whitehall is currently out in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook!
Evelyne Redfern #3
Keeping on the Evelyne Redfern theme, I officially started writing book 3 in the series last month! (No title yet, but I’ll be sure to share as soon as I can.) I spent some time this spring plotting the book out and figuring out what case I wanted Evelyne and David to solve. I settled on an adventure that will send them out of the UK and into a shadowy city of spies. I’m about a third of the way through the manuscript now, so I expect some future twists and turns are ahead!
The Dressmakers of London
And rounding out a busy batch of book news, things are ticking along with my historical novel due out in February 2025, The Dressmakers of London. I put down Evelyne Redfern #3 for about a week and a half to complete copy edits on this book, and I have to say I’m incredibly proud of this book. That wasn’t always the case. Around this time last year, I was seriously struggling with the first draft of The Dressmakers of London, so it’s a huge relief to have done a total 180 with that book.
The next step for my dressmakers should be a cover, which I will naturally send to subscriber to Your Latest London Dispatch first!
A Collection of Other Things
I thought I’d whip through some of the things I’ve been writing and reading on Substack recently.
First off, I wrote about how I juggle all of those bits of book news you just read about. I go in-depth about what my typical writing/publishing schedule looks like in a year, and then I dive into what I predict I’ll be working on until 2025 for those who want to get really nerdy about process with me.
Juggling
As a rule, I don’t like being bored in my professional life. I enjoy being productive, and I get antsy when I feel as though there’s nothing for me to do. This has the happy consequence of meaning that I find a lot of satisfaction both the process and final product of traditional publishing. However, there are a few times the year where different books …
Kristin Harmel and the hosts of Friends & Fiction invited some of my favorite historical fiction authors and me to a roundtable discussion called Writing About World War II. The conversation was so good that Kristin decided to split it into multiple parts, so be sure to catch part 2 as well!
Indulging in my favorite craft, I wrote about my first truly ambitious knitting project for my other Substack The Writer’s Knitting Basket.
Also, I made these raspberry lemon drizzle scones a couple of weeks ago and thought they were excellent. I sold them to The Gentleman as “American coffee shop-style scones” as they aren’t the traditional British scones you have with cream and jam that I last made for him1, and they received excellent marks.
Also, there was a nice mention of The Last Garden in England in a roundup by Diane Parfitt for CityView recently. If you’re looking for some more home and garden-related books to read this summer, I definitely recommend checking this one out!
Postscript
What I’ve been reading: It’s been a slow start to the reading month as I’ve been distracted, but I loved Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elie Cosiman, which I read on audiobook, and I plan on reading the rest of the series soon!
What I’ve been watching: After just about everyone in the world recommended it to each of us, The Gentleman and I finally got around to watching Slow Horses on Apple TV and—perhaps not surprising to anyone who knows our mutual love of spy thrillers—loved it.
What I’ve been listening to: You guys, I’m going to be really honest, all I’ve really listened to since April 19th has been The Tortured Poets Department. I decided to split Taylor Swift’s double album in two to make the sheer volume of it more manageable, and I’m solidly in the camp of thinking part 12 is brilliant. I’m now cautiously dipping a toe into part 2.3
What I’ve been knitting: The time and energy I would usually dedicate to reading has been taken over by knitting this month, in part because I find it so calming during chaotic times. I decided to challenge myself this summer to making some summer knits, and I currently have this really beautiful Roving Summer Top by Irene Lin on my needles.
What I’ve been cooking: Quick, satisfying, and leaning heavily on our pantry that we are trying to use up has been the name of the game recently as we prepare to move, and Nigella Lawson’s spaghetti carbonara from her wonderful book How to Eat is perfect for a household where pasta, bacon, and parmesan cheese are considered pantry staples.
Nigella Lawson’s excellent Lily’s Scones in How to Be a Domestic Goddess
“Fortnite” to “Clara Bow”
“The Black Dog” to “The Manuscript”
I hate moving! I'm sure you're looking into being happily ensconced in your new home. But yay for Dressmaker's book. I'm so glad that you feel happy with it. That's half the battle, isn't it? Feeling proud of what you put out there. xoxoxo good luck!
Well Julia…thanks to you I have discovered that I do enjoy historical mystery after reading Traitor in Whitehall and I am totally looking forward to the second book in the series! You have proven that you can teach an old dog new tricks…here I am commenting on your Substack newsletter! I really really can’t wait for your next historical fiction..February feels like an eternity to wait but I guess I’ll survive! I’ve been living the WW II author round table discussion…literally all of my favorite authors in one place! Looking forward to reading the next segments! Finally I just want to let you know that my in person library book club is going to be reading The Last Dance of the Debutante in July..can’t wait!
Good luck with your move! Wishing you all the best!💜❤️📖📕📚❤️💜