 It felt like this day would never come! EVIL IN EMERALD was written during the height of the Melbourne lockdowns which one would think would be an ideal time to be writing but I have to admit, I struggled. While it seemed like the world I knew was slipping away from my grasp, there were days when I stared at an empty screen. At one point I pretty much scrapped what I had written and started again. But it all came together in the end and I am delighted to see EVIL IN EMERALD finally get the wings to fly. The inspiration for this story comes from my own brush with amateur theatre in my early twenties when I joined the local Gilbert and Sullivan Society. It must have had a profound influence on me because G&S themes have run in other books. GATHER THE BONES, for example, has several oblique references to RUDDIGORE (which I think was the show I had the most fun in!) - indeed the title itself is a riff on a song from Ruddigore. PIRATES OF PENZANCE marked the height of my theatrical ambition - I actually scored a role (not just third chorus girl from the left). I was cast as Isabel - one of Major General Stanley's daughters. I had a whole two lines to say and no singing but it still gave me proper billing and a place in the 'principal's dressing room'. Oh to be that young (and that thin!) again. Just as in the last Harriet Gordon Mystery, Harriet and Curran cross with another part of my past (the military), in this book Harriet gets to reprise my experience of an amateur dramatic society. Not that we had any murders... So Pour, oh, pour, the pirate sherry; Fill, oh, fill the pirate glass... and drink to EVIL IN EMERALD - Available now in print, digital and audio!  A much younger (and thinner) Alison as Isabel in Pirates of Penzance.
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 IF you would like to read an excerpt from REVENGE IN RUBIES... AND go in the draw to win one of two Advance Review Copies. Click HERE or the the link below!
REVENGE IN RUBIES will be released on 15th September!
It's less than a month until the release of the second Harriet Gordon Mystery - REVENGE IN RUBIES!
If you join my email list between now and the end of August, you will go in the draw to win one of two Advance Review Copies of REVENGE IN RUBIES! Click HERE for more information and to PREORDER.
IN THE MEANTIME ENJOY THIS JIGSAW...
 For nine long years I pitched the first of the Harriet Gordon Mystery to publishers and agents. I believed passionately in the story that had been with me since I first met "Harriet" in the microfiche room of the Singapore National Library (see introducing-harriet-gordon.html) but it seemed I would never find a home for her... And now the day has come! SINGAPORE SAPPHIRE goes live across the United States and, I hope in as many other places as it can possibly be! As well as print and digital, most excitingly for this long term audio book fan, it is also available as an audio book. The narrator is wonderful... and I am sure you will love it! Because I live in Australia, I am not able to walk into the nearest Barnes and Noble and take a #shelfie which is why I am hoping that my friends across the USA can help me by taking a photo of SINGAPORE SAPPHIRE on the shelf of your favourite bookseller and enter it in the #SingSaphShelfie contest (details below!). There is a $50 Amazon gift card on offer and if you happen to see it on an airport bookshelf - there will be a mystery bonus prize! Don't forget to add where SINGAPORE SAPPHIRE was sighted! Friends in other countries are also welcome to send me #shelfies and will be in the running to win the gift card. Here's to Harriet and her friends... and if you can't wait for Book 2, THE COLONEL'S LADY will be out this time next year (at least that's the plan!) Alison Where to buy SINGAPORE SAPPHIRE!In print from your favourite bookseller (and if they don't have it on the shelf, be sure to ask them to get it in!) Audio from AUDIBLE, Kobo and other audio retailers. And in digital from your favourite digital retailer. Click HERE SINGAPORE SAPPHIRE #shelfie CONTEST |
A.M. StuartReaders can connect with A.M. Stuart at her website, Facebook, or subscribe to her newsletter on the form below. Subscribe to Alison's NewsletterArchives
April 2024
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