Dear Readers,
Today we follow the trail to Denise Fleischer’s ingenious questions that prompted me to reveal … maybe not all … but, well, you’ll see. Denise, through her splendid book review site Gotta Write Network, is kindly hosting a blog tour spotlight of my latest book launched just last month on Kindle and in paperback. This includes an interview, a guest post and an excerpt from the new novel. I’ll let you know when the other two enter stage left.
Back to the Q&Q. If you are curious about the creation of Amanda Cadabra and The Strange Case of Lucy Penlowr, the latest in the Amanda Cadabra series, read on …
Holly: The book begins with a dream that Amanda has while travelling to Cornwall with Detective Inspector Trelawney. She witnesses a fire in a grand house and a murder. Trelawney wonders if it has anything to do with the story of Lucy that they are going there to hear.
Holly: Retired Chief Inspector Michael Hogarth, of the Devon and Cornwall police, was and is Trelawney’s boss and best friend. He is also Amanda’s honorary uncle. The cold case has unexpectedly personal associations for Hogarth, and links to Amanda and Trelawney. At the end of the previous book, Lucy, from deep in the shadows, tells Amanda that it is time for Hogarth to tell ‘Lucy’s story.’ It may be that Amanda is the key to solving the case.
Holly: Bodmin is a granite moor at the heart of Cornwall, the south-east peninsula of mainland Britain. It is at least 60 million years old, and humans have lived there for at least 10,000 years. Now few people dwell there.
Brown Willy is the highest point in Cornwall, and the moor is rich in Bronze Age monuments, stone circles and ancient burial structures. The landscape is of barren rocks set a lush green of grass, marram, moss and bog. It is perfectly safe during the day but after dark …. It is also known for the legendary Beast of Bodmin Moor, the haunted Jamaica Inn (made famous by Daphne du Maurier), the ghost of a Victorian murdered girl, and witchcraft!
I hope that you enjoy the interview, and the book. Back soon with news of the next project. Meanwhile, here is the post-launch trailer which includes some beautiful footage of Bodmin Moor from professional cameraman Paddy Scott, and two talented amateur photographers.
Happy spring!
Holly
PS If you want to start the series now:
Dear Readers,
The next stage of the launch of Amanda Cadabra and The Strange Case of Lucy Penlowr has arrived. To celebrate this joyful event of the paperback release, we are having a free book day.
This time new readers can join the series with Amanda Cadabra and The Cellar of Secrets, free to download from Amazon. Or, if you downloaded Book 1 in the free deal weekend a couple weeks ago, this is an opportunity to continue the Amanda Cadabra journey with Book 2 at zero cost. This offer is just for today and tomorrow, 20th and 21st February, so please do get it while it’s hot.
Surely this is the final stage in the new sequel release? I hear you ask. Well, actually, there’s more. I’ll come back to that in the next letter.
Meanwhile, this is for all you fellow paperback readers. I hope you enjoy the new sequel. If you’d like to let me know how you get on with it, I would love to hear from you. Always.
Happy reading,
Holly
PS If you want to start the series now:
Dear Readers,
Here we are at last! Amanda Cadabra and The Strange Case of Lucy Penlowr is now live. Here for your entertainment is the launch video:
This is just a brief note, but I can share with you that one my dearest beta readers has just submitted the very first review of the book to Amazon. Also, I heard from our illustrator, Daniel, that he is working on the cover image for the paperback version of the book. As soon as possible, I will get that out for those who, like me, prefer the touchy-feely experience.
Book 1, Amanda Cadabra and The Hidey-Hole Truth is free from today until Monday. Something else to celebrate!
Back soon with the launch report, thanks to all of those who made this possible, and what next …
Happy viewing,
Holly
PS If you want to start the series now:
Dear Readers,
Here it is! The product of our wondrous illustrator Daniel Becceril Urena’s creative furnace.
The was the most exciting cover voyage of the series. What made it different? Well, as Daniel’s skill and understanding of the project have increased, I’ve taken more of a back seat. I simply told Daniel the plot of the book and let him choose a selection of scenes that appealed and inspired a possible cover. He sent me no less than eight sketches. I was dazzled. The better Daniel gets, the harder it is to choose. In the end, there was a shortlist of three, but I had to sleep on it. In the morning, I knew. It had to be the one we’ve opted for.
Daniel got to work on the first level of tweaks. First level? Why couldn’t I just tell him all of them at once?
Have you ever tried on a suit in a shop? When you look at yourself in the mirror for the first time, you probably just want to see the effect of the outfit as a whole, an overview. That’s like level one. Say you like that. Now you start to look more closely, most likely at the jacket: level two. Then the details of the jacket, how it sits across the shoulders and so on. That’s level three. Then maybe you take off the jacket and look at the trousers or skirt. Is it the right length? Imagine it with different tops, different shoes.
So by the time you say, yes, this is the suit for me, you’ll have gone through a few layers of
inspection. First, does it fit? Does it match other things in your wardrobe: like tops and shoes and scarves or ties? Is it appropriate for the occasions for which you want to wear it? Does it make you feel good? Do you love it?
It’s the same with a book cover. At each level of tweaks, you see more. In the case of a book in a series, does it have continuity with the other jackets? Is it a good match? Is it right for your genre? In other words, does it fit? The same ensemble that may look fabulous for dinner out or a party, may be too revealing for work. Again, it’s the same with the cover. It mustn’t reveal the plot, especially surprises. That might mean that a detail in a sketch you love needs to be left out.
Of course, we all have our own taste and style, a range of things that we feel confident 
wearing and know we can carry off. In illustration terms, we might call this artistic licence. Here’s an example. Amanda Cadabra and The Hidden Depths takes place in the winter. However, on the cover, Amanda is wearing a sleeveless dress. It isn’t that she doesn’t feel the cold! It’s for consistency with other covers. It might also appear that Amanda owns only one pair of earrings because the same ones are there in cover after cover. Well, the same reason applies.
Finally, there is the all-important criterion that guides one through the cover tweaks: how it feels. Every time Daniel sent me a new version, what was the effect emotionally? More and more, it was this: I felt like I was in love.
So it takes reasoning, feeling and hours of staring, and hence several tiers of adjustments that gradually became finer. Essentially, it takes a patient and skilful artist to know how to make the changes, send back the new version, receive the next lot of changes. Rinse and repeat. All with a deadline looming, as the manuscript is nearing completion and the marketing engine comes to life.
It takes an artist that you click with, who comes to know what you mean when you need an effect that you don’t know how to bring about, who loves the project, who loves the stories and the character and just ‘gets it’. I won the jackpot the day that Erik, my previous illustrator, introduced me to Daniel. Oh, and Daniel does all of this from the other side of the world, through lockdown and restrictions, and while doing post-graduate studies in art. I am sure there are many other authors who would happily create a Cover Illustrators Appreciation Day!
And so far, all you’ve seen is the front cover for the Kindle version. Soon the paperback will be available and you’ll be able to see the full effect in all its glory.
Meanwhile, next comes the trailer. Back soon to bring you a brief trip to the movies.
Happy reading,
Holly
PS If you want to start the series now:
Dear Readers,
Amanda Cadabra and The Hidden Depths is now launched, live and available for download from Amazon Kindle. Below is a 15-second video for your entertainment.
T
o celebrate the launch, there will now be at least 2 free days for Book 1, Amanda Cadabra and The Hidey-Hole Truth. So if you’re thinking of joining the Sunken Madley ride, you can do so without outlaying a single coin on Monday 24th and Tuesday 25th August. If you know of a fellow reader who’d enjoy mystery, magic and suspense in an English village, please do pass on the good news.
With each book, I get better with controlling the launch. Launches seem to have a mind of their own and are all too ready to grab the momentum and run wild with it. This time, it was all going according to plan, with no pressure. And then … an opportunity presented itself that was too good to miss.
Wild RideBooks Go Social, who handles most of the marketing for the Amanda Cadabra books, invited me to submit an excerpt from Book 5 in a special magazine. This is no other than the International Review of Books special edition within the International Dublin Writers Festival magazine. This is scheduled for publication at the end of this month, (free to read online or download) now only days away.
The starting pistol had been fired and the fun began in earnest. Book 5 would have to launch at least a few days before the magazine comes out. I was still putting in the amendments in from my last readthrough, but now it was pedal to the metal. The team valiantly came on board, scheduling editing and cover illustration. At the same time, star beta readers kindly agreed to read the manuscript and get back with comments quickly.
Paperback
The Kindle version is now live, a little earlier than planned, thanks to this happy circumstance and everyone who pitched in. Next it’s time to get on with formatting for the paperback, while our cover artist Daniel conjures the back cover and spine for the book jacket.
(The launch process for the next book will be calm and composed. That’s the plan.)
Back soon with more news, possibly an additional free day for Book 1, and more juicy goodness.
Happy reading,
Holly
PS If you want to start the series:
Dear Readers,
As promised to you, here is the video with visuals as well as my reading of Chapter 1 of the new Amanda Cadabra and The Rise of Sunken Madley. I hope that you enjoy it. Please let me know if you have any thoughts on it. The next is below if you’d like to read it as well.
‘It will all be over very quickly. One way or another,’ said Aunt Amelia. She stared intently into the glass sphere on the round, lace-covered table.
‘Very quickly?’ asked Amanda Cadabra, pushing back her mouse-brown hair and glancing up from following the goldfish. Unlike her aunt, it was pretty much all the ball ever showed her.
‘An hour only, perhaps.’
‘And the villagers? Everyone will see it. If the magical world is supposed to be so secret and the entire Flamgoyne witch-clan descends upon Sunken Madley with fire, brimstone and hurricane, that is going to raise more than a few eyebrows on a whole lot of Normals, assuming that any survive.’
Amelia frowned into the globe ‘The village will empty.’
Amanda looked at her in wonderment. ‘How come?’
Her aunt shook her head, ‘That is not shown to me …. The glass is clouding … I’m sorry, Ammy, that’s all.’
‘I’ll have an hour to somehow repel them — without striking a single blow — but the village will empty?’
‘Yes.’
‘And I will have to defend it alone? — But no, you said I’d have help.’
‘That’s what it showed.’
‘So just me and my … helpers … whoever they will be.’ Amanda pondered, doubtfully.
‘Rrrrrr,’ interjected Tempest, in a marked manner.
‘Principal among whom will be Tempest, of course, ‘she added for the benefit of the thick, grey ball of grumpy cat, curled up in the most comfortable chair in the room.
Amanda’s familiar preened himself.
Not that I’m getting involved, he thought. This is a test for my human. But I’ll lend a paw if absolutely necessary. Dear me. The very idea is exhausting. How tiring this species is.
He shut his eyes and went to sleep.
***
Amanda Cadabra stared at the sky. The thunderous swirl of cloud was racing towards her village of Sunken Madley. She stood at its heart, before the green, opposite The Sinner’s Rue, on the old crossroads. She stood, feet planted apart, wand pointing at the ground, ready. Tempest sat by her side.
‘How?’ she wondered. ‘I’m just a furniture restorer. I have asthma and an annoying cat. I should be in my workshop, polishing Mrs Kemp’s aunt’s commode. How in the world did I come to this …?’
***
It was a recurring dream, but the situation was imminent, and the question was both real and pressing. The answer might have been said, and was by Granny, to be that Amanda had brought it on herself.
‘If only,’ Senara Cadabra had lamented, ‘you had not cast that spell. The very one your Aunt Amelia warned you not to perform, if you didn’t want to bring the Flamgoynes down upon the village.’
On the other hand, Grandpa, in his light Cornish accent, said that she had had no option.
‘When the crunch came, it was a choice between saving herself and the inspector, or sending up a beacon that Sunken Madley was the epicentre of powerful magical activity.’
Former Chief Inspector Hogarth of the Devon and Cornwall police saw it another way: an opportunity to solve a cold case that was over 30 years old.
Aunt Amelia, Amanda’s confidante and would-be divination tutor since she was nine years old, not only refrained from repeating I-told-you-so but was both sympathetic and constructive.
It was January, one of their regular Tuesday dinners together. Leaving the tea brewing in the kitchen, Amelia Reading, in deep red velvet splendour, sailed into her sitting room, her long dress wafting behind her, and seated herself.
‘Let’s see if the crystal will tell us more about the help that will come to you.’ Amanda, sitting opposite, could only see, reflected in the glass surface, Amelia’s bright brown eyes in a face framed by a chestnut bob. Apart from that, all she ever got was goldfish or a plastic Paris in a snowstorm. This had been the case for more than 20 years. Until now.
Suddenly, Amanda was electrified. ‘Wait!’ she cried excitedly.
‘What?’
‘Aunt Amelia. I see something!’
‘What, Ammy? What do you see?’
‘It’s … a big … banjo? …. No! Cello. It’s a big cello … it’s getting smaller … a violin? No. Oh.’ Her enthusiasm deadened. Amanda looked at Amelia questioningly. ‘A viola?’
Her aunt chuckled. ‘Ah, well that does happen in divination if you ask the same question twice or more. You get a joke or gibberish. At least this wasn’t the latter.’
‘The message is the same as the one I got from our conversation about having help to defend the village: find Viola. Except it’s not vee-oh- la, it’s Vie-oh-la.’
‘It shows you’re on the right track, and what a break-through for your divination, sweetie!’
Amanda was cheered.
‘You’re right, Aunt, on both counts. OK. So, what do we know about Viola? She was a friend of Granny’s. They met during the war. She was living here back then and told Granny, or “Juliet”, as you called her in your story, that she and Grandpa, “Romeo”, could have a peaceful life here. Yes? There wasn’t any more than that, was there?’
‘I’m afraid not.’
‘So, at least, the crystal ball confirms that this Viola is still alive. Unless … she’s not a ghost, is she?’
‘Was the cello — viola — clear or transparent?’
‘Perfectly clear,’ answered Amanda.
‘Alive then, I’d say.’
‘She must be old then …. I’ve thought of three people that she could be — Ah, the tea must be brewed by now. Shall I go and get it?’
‘Oh, use magic to bring it in. It’s perfectly all right here,’ Amelia assured her. ‘I’ve got this place as psychically secure as Fort Knox.’
Amanda pulled a certain Ikea pencil out of her orange woollen jacket pocket, flipped up the end and extracted a tiny slim wooden shaft topped with a citrine. She leaned across so that she could see into the kitchen, pointed the wand and said,
‘Aereval.’ The tea tray, bearing its load of Devon rose-patterned Wedgwood pot, cups, and bowls containing milk and sugar, two silver spoons and a plate of gingernut biscuits, rose from the worktop beside the kettle.
‘Cumdez,’ instructed Amanda. It glided through the air, along the passage to the sitting room and hovered.
‘Sedaasig.’ The tray lowered itself gently onto the table beside them. Amanda would not usually have bothered with a wand, but there was hot liquid involved, so extra control was needed. Hopeless though she was at divination, this was her special, and exceedingly rare, magical talent: a Cadabra family trait inherited from her grandfather. It enabled her, in spite of asthma that was all too easily agitated by physical exertion, to carry on the family business of furniture restoration, with all of its strenuous activity. Of course, any spell-working had to be conducted out of sight of Normals.
‘You were saying, dear,’ Amelia reminded her, adding sugar lumps to the teacups. ‘Three possibles.’
‘Yes,’ replied Amanda. ‘Mecsge,’ she added. The spoons began stirring. ‘There’s Mrs Uberhausfest, who distinctly told me that she and Granny had been friends for over 50 years — and you know how fond Granny is of her, invoking her whenever she talks of how, “we both did our bit in the War”.’ And with her line of work, if anyone could organise a Home Guard, she could!’
‘And the other two?’ enquired Amelia.
‘Sessiblin,’ said Amanda. The spoons stopped stirring. ‘The ladies who live at The Grange. Miss Armstrong-Witworth — the one who worked as a field agent for the government many years ago, I told you? But I gather she always operated alone, so not an organiser, I’d say — well, she and Granny never seemed very close at all, so, out of the two of them, I’d plump for Miss de Havillande. Both she and Granny are strong-minded, outspoken, definitely organisers, and with Views on every subject. In fact, I’d often thought they could have been two peas in a pod!’
Amelia laughed. ‘I know what you mean.’
‘Although,’ remarked Amanda suddenly, then stopped to think.
‘Yes?’ encouraged her aunt.
‘Well, what if … Viola isn’t a woman, at all?’
‘I think I see where you’re going with this, but carry on.’
‘Well. Viola isn’t from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, is she? She’s from Twelfth Night. She’s the sister, cast up on an enemy shore, who, believing her brother to be drowned, takes on the disguise of man and gets a job working for the local count. So what if Viola is a sort of code name, but for a man?’
‘Or a woman pretending to be a man?’ Amelia hazarded.
‘Possibly, but I don’t think you could live in Sunken Madley and carry off a disguise like that for the better part of a century.’
‘True. What men would be eligible for the role of Viola, then?’
‘Well … old Mr Jackson, but he retired to Eastbourne to live with his son, so I don’t think it can be him.’
‘Someone at Pipkin Acres Residential Home?’ suggested Amelia.
‘Possibly …. But … well … what about Moffat?’
‘The Grange ladies’ butler?’
‘He’s far more than the butler,’ Amanda pointed out. ‘He’s pretty much run the house and estate for them all these years, and no one knows how old he is.’
‘That gives you four candidates then: Mrs Uberhausfest, Cynthia de Havillande, Gwendolen Armstrong-Witworth and, er — does anyone know his first name? — Moffat.’
‘Yes. And, I gather, Viola will be the means of assembling the rest of the people who will help on the day that the Flamgoynes attack.’
‘What’s your next move then, Ammy?’
‘Well … what I need is a reason to visit Irma Uberhausfest. And soon.’
Fortunately, thanks to stilettos, a spanner and a piano, one was in the making.
I hope that you enjoyed Chapter 1.
Looking forward to bringing you news of the paperback launch, and a suggestion for Hallowe’en.
Happy reading,
Holly
on
Amazon
Dear Readers,
With just over two weeks before the launch of Book 4, (and at least one free Kindlebook day of Book 1) to go, we begin the revelations. Between now and then, will be a partial cover reveal by our new illustrator, Daniel. Next, a full cover reveal. And of course, the trailer video. I have begun work on that. However, today here is the title of the new book.
The manuscript has been completed and is now with my superb editor, Flora Gatehouse. The VIP advance readers have already begun sending in their feedback, and those notes are being added in. This is all part of the polishing process, to make the finished product as perfect as possible for you.
The new book will have a floor plan of one of the notable establishments of the so very English Sunken Madley. There is also a small improvement to the map of the village, with a better version of that particular house. See if you can spot it. As always, there is a British English – American English Glossary at the back of the book for any terms that may be unfamiliar.
Here is a taste of the story coming your way in Amanda Cadabra and The Rise of Sunken Madley:
The Corner Shop is abuzz with news. There are no fewer than three new people in the village, and two of them may be Significant. This is the last thing on Amanda’s mind, though. The frightfully unpleasant witch-clan, the Flamgoynes — who may or may not have been responsible for the despatch of Granny’s equally odious family over a cliff in Cornwall — are coming. Thanks to some unavoidable spell-casting my the village’s beloved asthmatic furniture restorer and covert witch, Amanda Cadabra, Sunken Madley has flagged up a rival centre of ma
gical power. Now she must find some means of defending it. So far, alone. Apart from her grumpy cat, Tempest, that is.
However, another body with a new pressing puzzle is about to add to Amanda’s problems. The presentable but dogged Inspector Trelawney may be on hand. But that won’t change the lack of an alibi.
The date for the Flamgoyne’s attack becomes set. The clock is ticking. Will this be the end of the village? Or will we see … The Rise of Sunken Madley?
More news to appear here, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr, (or keep in touch with email updates) so please feel free to follow me on any of those. It would be a pleasure to have you along on the Amanda Cadabra ride.
Soon, dear readers … soon.
Holly
on
Amazon
Dear Readers,
The launch of Book 3 in the Amanda Cadabra series of cozy paranormal mysteries, Amanda Cadabra and The Flawless Plan will be at the weekend of 19th May, and here is a partial cover reveal.
T
he action mostly takes place around the church precinct, so a new expanded, detailed map of that will be included at the front of the book, as well as another new map, and an updated version of The Village of Sunken Madley and Lost Madley.
The full cover reveal will take place in 2 or 3 days time. Subscribers will get a personal message and view first. If you would like to join them then just click on here on: Come on in, or drop me a line. Hearing from a reader is always the highlight of my day.
Th
e next post will announce when the book will be available for pre-order at a discounted early bird price.
I hope you are looking forward to being back in (or entering for the first time) Amanda Cadabra’s world in the English village of Sunken Madley.
The trailer is finished, so do look out for it here in the next few days. Speaking of trailers, in preparation for the one for Book 4, Chartreuse at Heypressto has been gathering new inspiration from some of the picturesque villages in Hertfordshire, near where Sunken Madley is set. You can find the new photographs here on the Real Sunken Madley page.
Back soon!
Holly
The book cover illustration is by talented artist Erik Patricio Lúa
It’s here! The paperback edition of Amanda Cadabra and The Cellar of Secrets is now available to buy on Amazon. After a few new technical challenges, it reached the virtual shelves of Amazon a few hours ago, ready to be transformed into print and paper on the click of a button. Here is a video to celebrate its appearance:
In time for the New Year for those of you who received book tokens in your Christmas stocking, it comes with the bonus extra from Matchbooks. This Amazon option allows you to buy the paperback and get the Kindle edition for just 99 cents.
Over the holidays, both editions (Kindlebook and paperback) of both Amanda Cadabra and The Hidey-Hole Truth and Amanda Cadabra and The Cellar of Secrets something extra will be crated to enhance the experience of the story. It will appear here on amandacadabra.com and in four other places. I hope to unveil this shortly.
Furthermore, during the coming days, Heypressto, which publishes the Amanda Cadabra series will be beavering away on the publication of two new ‘feel-better’ non-fiction books. News of those to follow.
Just after New Year’s Day, writing will begin of Amanda Cadabra Book 3. If you would like to be a VIP Reader that gets an advance copy of the manuscript in order to give me feedback before it is prepared for publication, there are still spaces available in that limited numbers group. Please join if you have the time to read and reply within 7 – 14 days of receiving the manuscript. May I thank those readers who gave me valued input on Book 2 before it reached its final form. I hope you’ll want to stay on board for Book 3.
May 2019 be filled with just the right amounts of adventure, excitement, fun, relaxation, and cosiness. All of the ingredients and more that make a …
Happy New Year!
Holly
Dear Readers,
Just a quick post to celebrate Launch Day of Amanda Cadabra and the Cellar of Secrets with you. Thank you for all of you who pre-ordered, purchased, spread the word and gave support and encouragement even in spirit. Remember that Book 1 is free to download from Amazon on Tuesday, 16th December, so if you want to either catch-up or stock up on your holiday reading, now is your chance.
The proof of the paperback should be arriving on my doorstep on Friday, so as soon as I’ve checked it and made any corrections so that it’s the best that it can be for you, I will click the ‘Publish’ button, and it will be available for you to buy. I will put it on ‘Matchbooks’ so if you buy the paperback then Kindle version will be only $0.99 so there’s a gift for someone and a treat for you in there.
Meanwhile, I am preparing some new Christmas inspiration for Sunken Madley church for you. Looking forward to sharing those with you and news of the paperback.
Happy reading.
Best wishes,
Holly
