After a glorious August, where the only downside of the freakishly hot weather was that it grew some of the biggest spiders I have ever seen in my life, I’m back at my desk and ready to dive into novel number four…

At the end of the summer term I sent my finished manuscript, Lucy’s Locket, off in various directions, and while I waited for feedback, I took the month of August off from writing to catch up on cuddles with my growing boys before they got too big for that sort of thing. (Although I can confirm five foot ten is still open to such frivolous behaviour.) We spent two weeks camping in a field in Dorset, and it was a time for family, lots of swimming in the sea, eating too much, getting to grips with the TBR pile and generally escaping the modern world. We had no electricity and no wifi and I oddly rather enjoying being temporarily out of the social media loop.

Interestingly though, after months of snatching every spare moment at the keyboard to complete novel number three, I missed the creative process. There truly is nothing quite like the tappity-tap of your fingers on the keyboard, the satisfaction of a well-written piece of dialogue or a plot twist that presents itself unexpectedly. I was still mulling ideas around, even as I snorkeled for hermit crabs and toasted marshmallows over an open campfire. So by the time September arrived and I gleefully waved my little and not-so-little darlings off to school, I couldn’t wait to start the research and planning for novel number four.

The outline for my new novel is very nearly a fully formed thing. This time my story lends itself to a dual timeline, and has so far involved some fascinating research into the Arts and Crafts architecture of the 1890s. The story centres on two identical houses built in that period and the lives of the people who lived in them then, and who live in them now. As always, there is a hint of magic thrown in for good measure and, because there are two love stories, I get to write about two orgasm-inducing heros, who at the time of writing this are Percy (an up and coming architect in 1890 who is given the opportunity to design a house for a young married couple) and Rory (a burnt out city trader who has shut himself off from the world).

I would tell you more but I’m afraid I would then have to end your life in a most unpleasant manner. As interesting as this might be for possible future plotlines (and I have been rereading some sterling Agatha Christies of late so am not short of clever ways to dispatch you) I am not a fan of housework and can’t be bothered with the whole bin bag and bleach routine.

So it’s a deep breath and a graceful dive into the world I so love and cherish. I will be head down and feet kicking madly for the next few months. And in the meantime, should anyone snap up Lucy’s Locket you will, of course, be the first to know.