Work In Progress

Hello again readers, writers and fellow book-lovers! Today I want to share a little about my current WIP. The book is set in Lastville, a fictional town in Northamptonshire, and centred around the death of a brutish and unpleasant shoemaker. Miss Minerva Shaw, twenty-six years old, opinionated, stiff-necked and resigned to being a spinster, forms an unlikely friendship with the dead man’s son. Their investigations lead them into the very heart of a secret club, where death itself is currency.

As part of my research for Lastville, I visited Springline — the only remaining last manufacturer in Britain — and was shown around the factory. It’s very exciting to have a bespoke pair of boots made for me. The process has been the same for centuries; Northampton shoemakers were and are very skilled. It’s been such an inspiration for my writing and novel-in-progress.

Here I am with Michael James, master last-maker of Springline, with a measurement drawing. I absolutely love my new boots. My feet feel extra special when I’m wearing them!

That’s all for now, time to return to my editing cave…