Book Girl Summer
This summer I am putting the finishing touches to my Poetry MA dissertation, which is all about being a carer-parent. Even as I write the word ‘carer’ it is being highlighted as a non-word. That just about sums it up. It is written from experience of the last twenty years since I had my first child and her subsequent autism diagnosis at the age of two, and non-verbalism.
I never write about my personal life in my prose, but poetry is another matter. It has been a learning curve. The poems are deeply steeped in questions about gender expectations –there was me thinking that my interest in gender only came out in my fiction.
Speaking of which, I am delighted to be taking part in an event at Féile this year with James Murphy and Sharon Dempsey about gender representations in crime fiction. We each have a lot to say about this topic! The event will take place on Tuesday 8 th August, 6pm. So do get your free ticket and join us if you can.
I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at James Murphy’s next book, and it is just fantastic!
Congrats also go to Sharon, who has recently got a PhD; her thesis was on gender and class in Northern Irish crime fiction, and it was an honour for me that she included the DI Harriet Sloane series.
The proof of Sloane book 4, SAFE AS HOUSES, arrived recently. The title will be released on 20th October this year. At the moment it is pre-orderable for kindle for only 99p. This novel is set in Belfast and Norway, so it has a Scandi feel to it. SAH is also more thriller than police procedural. Book five will see a return to form, but this one was my chance to shake things up and take a bit of a detour. I love it and hope you will too.
After being on Twitter for years, last month I was locked out. It seems to be a glitch in the system and their support team has been chronically bad at offering a proper resolution. So, (un)fortunately, I am no longer on Twitter. I mean, the account is there, but I can’t read my messages. So please don’t try to contact me in weird X land.
You can, however, connect with me on TikTok, Instagram, Threads, and Linkedin. If you would like an early review copy of Safe as Houses, email: editor.theincubator@gmail.com. Let’s keep in touch.
K x