Yesterday, 7th March, I was at the WHITBY BOOKSHOP signing copies of my latest hardback novel JUST ONE MORE DAY, published on 5th February, by Piatkus, an imprint of the Little Brown Book Group. It was a bright sunny day with the result that there were many people visiting Whitby which meant that lots of feet crossed the shop’s threshold. People showed interest in my work and I enjoyed chatting about it. Among them were familiar faces from past signing sessions and others were new to me. They all made a lively and interesting two hours for me. On the same day the paperback of  A TAPESTRY OF DREAMS was published. There were more books to sign, among them earlier novels by Jessica Blair. One lady produced a copy of HARPOONED:- The Story of Whaling, a highly illustrated book which was published in 1980 by Conway Maritime Press, written under my own name, Bill Spence. It was this book which led to the birth of Jessica Blair in 1992 and my first novel under that name, the RED SHAWL. That had whaling and Whitby set in the nineteenth Century as its background.

Best Wishes to you all.  Keep reading.

JUST ONE MORE DAY (hardback)  published by Piatkus, an imprint of Little Brown Book Group.  A Second Word War story set on a bomber airfield in Lincolnshire. It follows the lives of three WAAFs and the aircrews of Bomber Command. The subject matter was suggested by my publisher, to be published this year which is the 70th  anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

Also published today by Piatkus is A TAPESTRY OF DREAMS (paperback). Greed and ambition threaten lives in this powerful drama set in the 19th Century woollen mills of the West Riding of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire sheep farming. 

Apart from being a ghost story WHISPERS IN THE SNOW (Piatkus eBook £2.99), which came out for the Christmas market also had an old RAF Bomber Command airfield as its background. This also made it a fitting introduction to my next Jessica Blair novel JUST ONE MORE DAY coming out on February 5th in hardback. This also has a RAF background as it follows three WAAFs who serve on a bomber station, written to appear in 2015 as this is the 70th anniversary year of the cessation of hostilities in the Second World War

The sound of bombers roaring overhead and the Petwood full of war-time memories. Will whispers in the snow bring peace to the hearts of the young?  Find out in WHISPERS IN THE SNOW by Jessica Blair, published by Piatkus as an eBook on 4 December (£2.99)

The silent remains of a war-time airfield and a deserted cottage connect the past with the present.

As snow falls silently, can a life-changing revelation solve a mystery from a former time?

Whispers in the Snow by Jessica Blair published as an eBook 4 December by Piatkus an imprint of Little Brown book Group,

A bomber airfield in Lincolnshire is home to men and women serving their country at war. Can love survive the dangerous skies?

Find out on 4th December when Whispers in the Snow, by Jessica Blair, is published by Piatkus  as an eBook £2.99

The cover for my new novel to be published in February 2015.  The story concerns three WAAFs and the Lancaster bomber crews serving on a Lincolnshire airfield during the Second World War.

I recently gave a talk to a reading group in my village. With this picture loaded on to my iPad I was able to pass this picture round the audience for each them to see and handle it, thus using the maxim:-   Authors should use all the tools of their trade to promote their work.

Had a few days break from writing to visit my grandson and his partner in Southampton. They laid on some glorious weather for me and my daughter.  Apart from relaxing in their garden we visited Mottisfont, a country house with extensive grounds and gardens, and sailed to the Isle of Wight and back on the ferry. This was made most interesting by my grandson’s knowledge of the shipping and shore installations of this busy stretch of waterway. All grist for the writer’s mill.

I came back refreshed and ready to start on my next book  but before I can do that I need verification that my publisher, Piatkus, likes the outline I sent before I had my break in Southampton. I’m itching to get started and use up some of that new battery power.

Here is a link that might interest you http://www.piatkusbooks.net/an-evening-of-celebration-at-the-romantic-novelists%e2%80%99-awards-ceremony/

Yes, it was a great evening for me at which I was well supported by my family and my publisher Piatkus. I thank all those who have supported me, before, during and after the Awards event. It has been a memorable time. Now it is back to writing the next novel by Jessica Blair. In the meantime, before I reveal what that novel might be,  let me say that a novella, entitled WHISPERS IN THE SNOW will be out for Christmas and a full-length novel JUST ONE MORE DAY will appear next February.