 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
way to keep up-to-date with your favourite author! Sign up to a quarterly email with all the latest news and views from Lesley, plus information on her forthcoming books. If you want hear from the number one bestselling author on a regular basis, plus have the chance to win early copies of her books, enter your email address here. |
|
|
|
|
|
I'm snatching a few minutes to write to you between packing for a research trip about the Gold Rush in the Yukon in Canada. The packing is proving hard as I'll be constantly on the move on planes, boats and trains, with only a night at each place, so I can't carry much. To add to the problem it's going to be very cold in the mornings and at night, but warm in the afternoons - the ice will have only just melted over there. That rules out glamour! Shame, as I would have liked to have caught the eye of some gorgeous Mountie to write him in as the hero of my next book. I shall just have to fall back on my imagination!
I'm very excited, though a bit nervous as the distances are vast - and if I oversleep or get waylaid and miss a connection, I shall literally be stuck up a creek without a paddle. I'll let you know all about the trip next time, and hopefully by then I'll have written enough of the book to whet your appetite enough so that you want to read it in 2008.
Meanwhile, we'll be running the second Women of Courage Award. The 2006 Award was won by the wonderful Nicole Gallagher, who was announced as winner at a ceremony at Penguin Books in February of this year. Nicole was an inspiration to us all for her bravery and stoicism in coping with her two little girls, who have had so many serious medical problems. I so much hope that the holiday she won, along with the other prizes, will have given her whole family a great deal of joy, and that the public acknowledgement of what a remarkable woman Nicole is, will help her and her husband through the anxiety as the girls face further operations.
'Love It!' magazine will be sponsoring the award again this year, and it's time for you all to think about whether you know a Woman of Courage. She may be someone who has become a stand-in mother for someone else's children. Or someone who has picked themselves up after terrible domestic violence, and made her new home for her family. There are those who've worked selflessly to help those with addictions, or mental problems. I personally know at least three women who I would want to nominate if I was able to do so. And you must too. And remember that even if the person you know doesn't win, by nominating them you are acknowledging their courage, and that small gesture can make all the difference to their lives. Keep an eye on www.womenofcourageaward.co.uk from July for all the details.
You might like to buy 'Love it' magazine on June 18th, as there will be a short story that week written by me for you to read. I hope you'll enjoy it. It was fun breaking off from my new book to write it.
Finally, Faith will be out on August 2nd. Set mainly in Scotland, it's about Laura Brannigan, who is serving a life sentence in prison. She has done a great many bad things in her life, but has she committed murder? You'll have to read it and find out!
Next time round I'll be able to tell you how the Gold Rush trail went. That is of course if I don't get lost in the wilderness or find gold and a gorgeous Mountie and decide to stay!
|
|
|
