Check ou Isabella is never happier than when she is immersing herself in the sights, sounds and experiences of family life in southern England in past decades – specifically those years from the Second World War through to the early 1970s. Researching all aspects of life back then has formed the perfect launch pad for her works of fiction. It was during two happy years working on and completing her MA in Professional Writing when Isabella rekindled her love of writing fiction and since then she has gone on to publish six novels, six novellas and two short story collections. Her latest novel, A Notable Omission, is the fourth book in her successful Sussex Crime Mystery series, featuring young librarian and amateur sleuth, Janie Juke. The early books in the series are set in the late 1960s in the fictional seaside town of Tamarisk Bay, where we meet Janie, who looks after the mobile library. She is an avid lover of Agatha Christie stories – in particular Hercule Poirot. Janie uses all she has learned from the Queen of Crime to help solve crimes and mysteries. This latest novel in the series is set along the south coast in Brighton in early 1970, a time when young people were finding their voice and using it to rail against social injustice. As well as four novels, there are six novellas in the series, set during the Second World War, exploring some of the back story to the Tamarisk Bay characters. Her love of Italy shines through all her work and, as she is half-Italian, she has enjoyed bringing all her crime novels to an Italian audience with Italian translations, which are very well received. Isabella has also written a second series of Sussex Crimes, set in the sixties, featuring retired Italian detective, Giuseppe Bianchi, who is escaping from tragedy in Rome, only to arrive in the quiet seaside town of Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, to come face-to-face with it once more. Isabella’s standalone novel, The Forgotten Children, deals with the emotive subject of the child migrants who were sent to Australia – again focusing on family life in the 1960s, when the child migrant policy was still in force. Find out more about Isabella and her books by visiting her website at: www.isabellamuir.com
For the love of books...
FEBRUARY 2022
Hello lovely readers
My passion for the 1960s continues, but those of you who have read any of my novels or novellas will know that another era often features centre stage - the Second World War. In the second of the Janie Juke crime mystery series, Lost Property, we discover how events that occurred during the Second World War had repercussions many years later. And three of my novellas are set in Sussex during World War Two, exploring what life was like back home for people coping with incessant bombing, rationing and hardship, while the community spirit of 'all for one and one for all' helped families and friends to survive a time we can only now imagine.
My current work in progress focuses very much on that time - between 1939 and 1945 - when loved ones went off to war and families wondered if they would ever see them again. And back at home brave men and women - and youngsters - gave up their usual occupations to help with the war effort. As I trawl through my research the over-riding sense I get is that community was everything and, despite the difficulties everyone faced, they were usually ready for a laugh and smile.
It's early days in the writing process, so for those of you who might like to follow my progress and get some insight into how the story is developing, I'll be posting regular updates on my publisher's website - here...
You can choose to 'Follow' the posts so that you will receive each update as and when they are posted. What's more, there will also be news and updates from the other authors that Outset Publishing looks after. All of which means you have a chance to browse through a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, from the comfort of your armchair!
Outset Publishing authors include: children's author, Lexi Rees, who has a wide range of best-selling children's activity books and children's fiction to her name; historical non-fiction author, David EP Dennis, who specialises in the medieval history of Sussex; and crime and thriller author, Christoffer Petersen, who having lived in Greenland for seven years shares some pretty hair-raising experiences with his readers by way of more than fifty novels and novellas. Enough reading there to take you through the rest of this year!!
All the Outset authors are busy working on new projects so we will be able to share plenty of book news with you - it will be just like having your very own library at the touch of a button!
For now I will leave you with a link for the first of my own updates about Sussex in World War Two...
Happy reading!!
Outset Publishing
Check ou Isabella is never happier than when she is immersing herself in the sights, sounds and experiences of family life in southern England in past decades – specifically those years from the Second World War through to the early 1970s. Researching all aspects of life back then has formed the perfect launch pad for her works of fiction. It was during two happy years working on and completing her MA in Professional Writing when Isabella rekindled her love of writing fiction and since then she has gone on to publish six novels, six novellas and two short story collections. Her latest novel, A Notable Omission, is the fourth book in her successful Sussex Crime Mystery series, featuring young librarian and amateur sleuth, Janie Juke. The early books in the series are set in the late 1960s in the fictional seaside town of Tamarisk Bay, where we meet Janie, who looks after the mobile library. She is an avid lover of Agatha Christie stories – in particular Hercule Poirot. Janie uses all she has learned from the Queen of Crime to help solve crimes and mysteries. This latest novel in the series is set along the south coast in Brighton in early 1970, a time when young people were finding their voice and using it to rail against social injustice. As well as four novels, there are six novellas in the series, set during the Second World War, exploring some of the back story to the Tamarisk Bay characters. Her love of Italy shines through all her work and, as she is half-Italian, she has enjoyed bringing all her crime novels to an Italian audience with Italian translations, which are very well received. Isabella has also written a second series of Sussex Crimes, set in the sixties, featuring retired Italian detective, Giuseppe Bianchi, who is escaping from tragedy in Rome, only to arrive in the quiet seaside town of Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, to come face-to-face with it once more. Isabella’s standalone novel, The Forgotten Children, deals with the emotive subject of the child migrants who were sent to Australia – again focusing on family life in the 1960s, when the child migrant policy was still in force. Find out more about Isabella and her books by visiting her website at: www.isabellamuir.com
With the release of - Partridge - we've reached the end of our Christmas advent calendar! Of course, we couldn't have a series of festive short stories that has birds as its central theme without including the Partridge. Let's get Michael's thoughts on the subject, in this excerpt from the story... "A partridge in a pear tree, of course,’ she said, laughing. ‘Who came up with that idea anyway? Have you ever seen a partridge in a pear tree, Mickey?" He shook his head, wondering again why he...
By writing this advent calendar of short stories I sought to merge nature with history. So when I researched the ninth story in the series - Tree Sparrow - I learned about an event that brought mankind's influence on wildlife into even sharper focus... Photo credit: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. When I came to do my research for Tree Sparrow, I learned that in China, as part of Chairman Mao Zedong’s ‘Great Leap Forward’...
We're nearing the end of this unusual Christmas advent calendar of short stories, journeying with Michael Grey as he discovers the traits of the birds he loves to watch are often reflected in the people closest to him. As I researched this story I learned that the Wren is connected to the most charming legend... Photo credit: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Legend has it that once long ago, in a secret green valley on the...