Dear Readers
Just popping in to remind you that today and tomorrow Amanda Cadabra and The Hidey-Hole is free to download from Amazon today, 20th and tomorrow, 21st April. And here, for you entertainment, is the video that announces it to The World:
https://youtube.com/shorts/4wq_pb_80ek
And here is the link to download it from your local Amazon : mybook.to/AC1_Kindle
If you’ve already read the book, please take a moment to share this page or the post on Facebook or anywhere else you see it with your friends. You will have my heartfelt appreciation and there may be those in your circle who will thank you for encouraging them on their next (or first!) cozy mystery journey.
Back after the figurative fireworks and champagne of the next two days, with What Next?
Happy watching,
Holly
PS If you want to start the series now:
Dear Readers
We are now into the final days of the great Cozy Mystery Booksweep where you can win over 30 books in our beloved genre. There is still time to enter but it closes on the 19th April. ‘But what if I don’t win?’ Never fear because …
On Thursday 20th April, the first in the series, Amanda Cadabra and The Hidey-Hole Truth is going to be available for free download from Amazon. It will be free for 48 hours until the 21st April. If you’ve already read it and enjoyed it, and you know of anyone who would relish it just as much, please pass on the good news. You can share this post or share the one on Facebook. I notice them all. Every like, share and comment is precious to me and deeply appreciated.
This event is a rather special occasion. For the first time, Freebooksy and Fussy Librarian are collaborating to create what they call a ‘stacked’ promotion, combining both their cozy mystery subscribers into a total of over 600,000 readers. So we can expect to see more enthusiasts joining us on the Amanda Cadabra journey.
Audiobook ProgressFeedback from the beta-listeners is coming in on the pre-sound-engineer-edit of, coincidentally …. Amanda Cadabra and The Hidey-Hole Truth. Wonderfully positive, I’m delighted (and relieved) to say. Just a handful of things to correct so far. Much appreciation goes out to the patient beta-readers.
Thank YouIndeed, thank you to all of you have kindly followed me on Bookbub. Over 340 at the time of writing. Your support counts for more than you know. I shall thank you properly at the end of the Booksweep.
You can still, as I’ve mentioned above, participate in the 30+ book prize opportunity. All for the simple addition of an email address and some ticks in some Bookbub follow boxes. (I’m 17th in the list. Just mentioning it.) Here’s the link one more time
https://www.booksweeps.com/giveaway/april2023-win-a-bundle-of-cozy-mysteries/
In addition, there are still two weeks in which you can throw your hat into the ring for the Baking up Murder Cozy Mystery giveaway. The free cozy baking haul is still to be played for here.
I’ll be back on Thursday with a reminder of the free book day. If you’re on Facebook, then look out for the fanfare there! If you are entertained then please give it a like and a share. It will make me happy but, even more importantly, you never know who among your friends may love the Amanda Cadabra mysteries.
When the fireworks from the Free Book party are over, I will have something new to show you. May be two somethings. I’ll say no more at this point.
Until Thursday, dear readers …
Happy Spring (or Autumn) Days!
Holly
PS If you want to start the series now:
Dear Readers,
Light streams up through the darkness of the ancient church colouring the stained glass windows. I didn’t see it. I
heard it. And I was sure I must have been mistaken.
Moments later, there it is was on the screen. I exchanged wide-eyed glances with my friend sitting on the same pew. Yes, she had heard it too: the name.
The fictional village of Sunken Madley, in which all of the Amanda Cadabra British humorous cozy paranormal mysteries are set, is based on a real place. Its name: Monken Hadley, a small community with a thousand-year-old history just north of London. This year they are celebrating 525 years since the rebuilding of the medieval church, most likely damaged in the Battle of Barnet. Every quarter of a century, this restoration is marked with a special event. Only a few days ago, in 2019, it was a retelling the story of the church and village in a spectacular Son et Lumière, sound and light.
The StoryThe event started at 3.30pm, but by the time the startling revelation occurred, it was already night outside. The monks of the old priory, the opposing sides of the famous battle, the gentry and the philanthropists of long ago had passed and sounded before our eyes and ears. The tale had reached the period of the first world war. The narrator spoke of a memorial stone on the walls of the building where we sat, dedicated to one … and that was when my ears pricked up…
In the winter of 2018, my author pal TJ Brown convinced me that I could pen a cozy paranormal mystery. I had been
adamant for years that I was strictly a non-fiction writer and fantasy was way beyond my ken. But Tim knew better. He encourage me to go off to research the genre, and presently we sat down together to begin the process of creation. First, we needed a name for the heroine. I knew it had to be something to do with magic. With a thesaurus list before us, we tried out different forenames and surnames, googled possible variations to see if they’d been used. The clock ticked away. We began growing tired and then … playing around with Abracadabra .. Tim came out with it: Amanda Cadabra! I repeated it in my head. Yes. We’d found her.
Suddenly, I heard the name, the name of her cat, I knew he was a collection of greys, he had livid yellow eyes and was permanently grumpy. It was the first name and the first thing that came to me. I had never seen it as a person’s name before, I knew it only as a weather system and the title of a Shakespeare play.
In the days that followed as I began to get a sense of Amanda and her familiar. I knew I had to find the right location for them. It had to be a village, and as I’d never lived in 
one, it had to be on the outskirts of a big city. I pulled up Google maps and began the search.
I’d have said that I knew the area pretty well, but I had no recollection of having seen the name of this particular village. Soon I was in the car and heading along the A1000, itself with a long history. Off the beaten track I went, by a pond, between trees and around the bend.
Behold. I knew: I had found my village, the village of Monken Hadley. Of course, I couldn’t call it that, so what about transposing the first letters … Hunken Madley? No … not quite right … another word ending in ‘unken’ … sunken … and it was born: Sunken Madley.
I tell you all of this, so you will understand why what I heard in the dim echoes of the church on that dark afternoon was so startling. I had no prior knowledge or use of that word as a pronoun or of that village.
So we’re in the dark of the church, sitting in a pew near the back looking up at the big screen, with the rest of the audience. We are hearing the saga of Monken Hadley and the officer whose efforts were instrumental in the achievement of the peace of 1918. Sadly he died just weeks before the end of the World War 1. His name? Charles Tempest-Hicks. The name of Amanda’s magical cat? Tempest.
Shivers ran down my spine, chills of excitement. Was the brave captain my muse? Had he been a cat lover? Was I being inspired? What would you say is the answer to the real-life mystery? Do share your thoughts with me.
Regardless, I am overjoyed that Tim motivated me to begin my cozy mystery journey, that he thought of Amanda Cadabra, that Tempest came to me. It is a source of continuing delight that Monken Hadley somehow drew me, that I have met so many kind people there, and that I travel back in time whenever I visit, Through writing this series, I have connected with all the dear readers who help and support and encourage me. I am thrilled to be on the journey of a lifetime, and that you join me in it. Thank you.
This year the sound and light show raised money for the restoration of a precious listed building, the 400-year-old church house, so that it can serve the community as was intended. And believe me, the entire community, from young to old all participated in creating the 525 experience. Seeing them waving happily at us in the closing credits brought a lump to my throat. Proceeds from tickets and donations also went to to the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice.
If you’re ever passing, do pop into the church of St Mary the Virgin, Monken Hadley. You can be assured a warm welcome and a moving and enchanting experience. It delighted at least one of our American cousins so much that it became the model for a church built in Chappacua, USA.
Next week: an offer and something new for December to help with your Christmas shopping. Want to get to know Tempest? Download your free short story here: Tempest’s First Day. Back soon!
Best wishes,
Holly
PS If you want to start the series:
on
Amazon
