Category: Dear Reader

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Dear Reader

Dear Reader #26

Dear Reader,

This week I wrote chapter twenty-two of Snow in August, Sam Smith Mystery Series book sixteen. In this chapter Sam wanders on to the beach and sees bioluminescent plankton, a phenomenon caused by tiny organisms that produce a chemical called luciferin as a defence mechanism to draw predators towards the creature trying to eat the plankton.

Very proud to be a member of the Mom’s Favorite Reads team. Our magazines have proved popular throughout the year and with our December edition I believe we have produced a cracker 🙂

🎄🎄🎄Our Christmas edition! 🎄🎄🎄

In this edition…articles, short stories, recipes, travel, interviews, young writers, poetry and activities for all the family.

Read or download your copy FREE.

Readers familiar with my Sam Smith Mystery Series will know that the stories are based on psychological and sociological issues. Therefore, I’m delighted that blogger and YouTuber Anna Grace agreed to discuss a range of psychological issues in a guest post for my website. If you haven’t seen Anna’s post you can view it here 

https://hannah-howe.com/2019/12/04/anna-grace/

Some political pictorials that caught my eye this week…

Mom’s Favorite Reads‘ charity of the month is Christmas for CAMHS, a charity that supports children and adolescents who will spend Christmas in hospital, often away from their families, because of mental health issues.

The gifts on their wish list are inexpensive, no more than a cup of coffee, so please support this great cause by either: following their Facebook page, sharing their web links, donating via their gift page or by sending gifts. Thank you.

https://www.christmasforcamhs.org.uk

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/9A29RCVE11LW

https://www.facebook.com/ChristmasForCAMHS/

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

Categories
Dear Reader

Dear Reader # 25

Dear Reader,

In Snow in August, Sam Smith Mystery Series book sixteen, Sam meets a family of otters. Otters often partner for life, their young stay with mom for a least a year, past maturity, and they like holding hands. Cute 🙂

I’m currently writing chapter nineteen of thirty-three and the book will be available early next year 🙂

Very proud of the wonderful authors at Mom’s Favorite Reads for coming together to support our charity of the month Christmas for CAMHS https://www.christmasforcamhs.org.uk Please visit their website and lend your support.

My Amazon top ten for November. Delighted to see that Ann’s War has proved so popular and that Saving Grace is back in the top ten. Also that Sam is represented with books from various stages in the series. Many thanks to all my readers for their interest.

Of course, I want people to read and enjoy my books. But some things are more important…

What have foreigners ever done for us?! Quite a lot actually…

I could do with him in my house…

A new word for the Oxbridge English Dictionary…

A British citizen this week.

“It’s 5pm. I walk out of Soho restaurant. On the cold pavement is a huddled bundle, young enough to be be my granddaughter. Too hopeless even to beg. I get her a coffee, give her my change. Does it make her feel better? Does it make me feel better? No. This is my country, 2019.“

Government sponsored austerity is brutal. It must end.

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

Categories
Dear Reader

Dear Reader #24

Dear Reader,

This week saw record-breaking sales for my Ann’s War Mystery Series with Betrayal placed at #1 for the seventh time. Many thanks to everyone who has supported this series.

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Delighted to see that the Spanish edition of Saving Grace has entered the top ten of my personal bestseller chart 🙂

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Eton, the source of all Britain’s problems…

“A characteristic of the schooling of many senior Tories (I should know, because I went through the system) is extreme competition. Your worth is constantly assessed by whether or not you come out on top. You can’t succeed unless others fail. It embeds a win-at-all-costs mentality.

Virtue is unrewarded, unless it is the kind that can be measured by tests and marks and athletic competitions. Kindness, empathy, attendance to the needs of others, count for nothing. In fact they count against you, as they might prevent you from elbowing your way to the top.

This encourages a ruthless disregard for anything but winning. Honesty, decency, other people’s lives: anything that might stand in your way is swept aside. You win or you have no self-worth. It’s a really toxic way to bring up children, and we see the results in public life.” – George Monbiot, author and journalist

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Margam, my local park

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I don’t know about you, but I’ve always felt that a smile or a handshake is sufficient…

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Somewhere in Britain, in the near future…

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Winter is approaching. Cold, frosty nights. Snow. I love the frost and snow. It feels good under my feet and it looks beautiful. However, the cold weather is an enemy for many people, especially the homeless within our society.

Four homeless people in Britain died last night. An estimated 726 homeless people have died over the past year. These deaths are the direct result of austerity. These deaths are the direct result of Tory policies. A report in the Independent newspaper called them murder by government.

So, while you sit snug and warm beside your fireplace with your family tonight, enjoy your surroundings. And spare a thought for the man who will lay his head on a park bench for the last time. Spare a thought for the man who will bid this world goodbye.

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While writing chapter seventeen of Snow in August the subject of the Rorschach test cropped up. Named after Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach, the Rorschach test is a psychological test in which subjects’ perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation. This card, nine of ten, produces the most varied answers. What do you see here?

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As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

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Dear Reader

Dear Reader #23

Dear Reader,

You know you’ve hit upon a good idea when the concept comes to you fully formed. That happened with Sam, Ann, Grace and my Spanish Civil War mini-series. Recently, while reading an item about the Second World War the idea for a mini-series came to me, fully formed. The central character, themes and events are clear in my mind. Now, I need to do more research and develop the characters. Then I can add my new idea to my writing and publishing schedule 🙂

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And speaking of research… Currently I’m reading The White Mouse, Nancy Wake’s autobiography. It’s a remarkable story, an example of the tremendous courage people have shown throughout the ages in their fight against fascism.

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Another excellent translation from Laura. This is the fourth book she has translated for me. I look forward to working with her in 2020 on new titles. Meanwhile, here’s an example of our partnership 🙂 https://hannah-howe.com/translations/francais/

RIPPER FRENCH
Many thanks to my readers in Australia for placing seven of my books in the top 💯 alongside greats such as Robert B Parker. And here’s a curiosity, the Italian version of Betrayal is #1 in Australia.

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A startling graphic highlighting the global climate crisis.

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And a moving graphic from Remembrance Day.

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I’ve been updating my Amazon author page and discovered that I have sixty-nine books listed. Many thanks to my readers, publisher friends, author friends, translators and narrators for making this possible.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

– Helen Keller

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00OK7E24E

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As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

Categories
Dear Reader

Dear Reader #22

Delighted to announce my publishing schedule for 2020. It’s an ambitious one with the following books in the pipeline.

Snow in August: Sam Smith Mystery Series Book 16

The Olive Tree: Roots: A Spanish Civil War Saga Book 1

Looking for Rosanna Mee: Sam Smith Mystery Series Book 17

The Olive Tree: Branches: A Spanish Civil War Saga Book 2

Another beautiful translation from Cristina. Available soon 🙂

ANN'S WAR ESCAPE MASTER ITALIAN

Recently, I visited a series of caves in west Wales where I learned about the Red Lady of Paviland. The Red Lady of Paviland, pictured, is an Upper Paleolithic partial skeleton dyed in red ochre and buried in the Goat’s Hole Cave 33,000 years ago. William Buckland discovered the skeleton in 1823.

The Red Lady obtained her name because of the red ochre dye and jewellery found at the site. However, later analysis proved that ‘she’ was a man.

This incident will feature in Snow in August, out soon.

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The joy of research is it will often lead you to items you were not originally looking for.

While looking for books to place on the Europe by Book website https://europebybook.com I discovered the story of Nancy Wake, a remarkable woman.

“Nancy Wake (30 August 1912 – 7 August 2011) worked for the Pat O’Leary escape line and the Special Operations Executive in France during World War II.

After the fall of France to Nazi Germany in 1940, Wake became a courier for the Pat O’Leary escape network. As a member of the escape network, she helped Allied airmen evade capture by the Germans and escape to neutral Spain.

In 1943, when the Germans became aware of her, she escaped to Spain and codenamed “Helene,” joined the Special Operations Executive.”

I intend to learn more about Nancy Wake and use elements of her story in a novel I’m currently researching.

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Struggling to find the right presents for your children this year? Here’s fun for all the family! The aim is to become a tax-dodging millionaire. If you fail, you lose!

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In a recent study, Buckets, Trapnell and Paulhus sought to examine the dark personality traits of Internet trolls. The researchers explored trolling in 1,215 participants and compared this to the dark personality triad, which is the dark triad – narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy – plus sadism. They discovered that all forms of dark personality were significantly higher in individuals who troll with sadism the strongest factor.

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So many good people do so many wonderful things. Our political leaders pale into insignificance in comparison.

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As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx