World Book Day

sue bentley

Hello Readers!

It's the 25th Anniversary of World Book Day this year. I visited Raunds Primary School on the 3rd of March 2022, and had the pleasure of meeting 100 enthusiastic young readers, teachers and teaching assistants. Here I am signing books for the winners of the free raffle. I hope they enjoy reading them.

Signing books at Raunds Primary School on World Book Day 2022


After a quiet time for author visits in the past two years it's lovely to be out and about meeting people in three dimensions, and seeing their happy faces. I visited Staverton Women's Institute recently, and was warmly welcomed by the 25 women who attended. The village hall is a little gem in a narrow, unlit country lane. So charming to see the members of the WI walking there, with torches in their hands. I'm sure there's a story in there somewhere.


Proof that spring has arrived in force!


I hope to get to meet many more readers of all ages this year, and to enjoy a few literary events. Sometimes the best thing is to be incognito, and meet other authors I admire. It's always fascinating to find out how they write their books. I was looking through some photographs recently and came across this blast from the past.

It's of me and Katy Fforde - who is now a well-known, and extremely successful writer. Both Katy and I were unpublished at this time. We were 'the hopefuls' interviewed by Gloria Hunniford, during an item about the winner of the Romantic Novelists Award for that year. Maybe it was a lucky omen - we're now both now bestselling novelists!



That's all for now....

By sue bentley March 16, 2024
It's almost proper Spring - lighter mornings making it easier to get up, and head straight to my writing desk. My book in progress The Making is going well, after a lot of cuts, and re-writes. I'm planning on delivering it to my agent before too long. There are bound to be more changes that need making, some tightening up that needs doing. But I'm a perfectionist, and have learned to expect this work which will make my book come alive. I want my reader to empathise with my characters, feel immersed in the world they inhabit. It is though, one of the things most authors struggle with. I doubt any one of them, even a winner of the Booker prize, is ever completely satisfied with their finished book. When I pick up one of mine that has sold very well - sometimes around the world, had great reviews, even been featured on the Sunday Times best-seller listing, I still criticise the writing. Making imaginary new edits. Wishing that I'd chosen this word over that one. That's the thing about being meticulous, and I know I owe my readers that level of detail. Only my best is good enough. It comes with the writing territory! Or it should, if you're doing your job well?
By sue bentley January 17, 2024
2024 - the year of the mighty dragon!
By sue bentley November 29, 2021
Lastville 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.
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