A very vexing murder, p.31
A Very Vexing Murder,
p.31
To my wonderful beta readers, Alice May and Tiffany Cassidy, thank you so much for your generosity in reading an early draft of the book and for offering such invaluable feedback.
It has been a long road to getting my debut novel published and I’ve been very lucky to have so much support and encouragement along the way from some brilliant individuals and organisations. Thank you to Sophie Hannah for the amazing coaching and positivity on your Dream Author programme. To the wonderfully supportive Elane Retford and Sarah Snook from I Am In Print, whose Writing Sphere sessions and Agent 1-2-1s gave me the tools and drive to get my work out there, thank you for sharing your expertise. To all the brilliant tutors on the Writing Sphere programme, thank you for the advice and inspiration – particularly Scott Pack, Helen Dennis and Electra Rhodes. And to the late, great Marcus Sedgwick, who taught me to stick to my guns and write what I loved – thank you, you were right. And thank you to the wonderful Writing Sphere group for your support – Alice, Jill, Hazel, Shaney, Richard, Kristienne, Aisling and Susan. It’s been lovely to see you all thrive!
I’ve been lucky to gain opportunities through competitions in the past couple of years. Thank you so much to the Penguin Michael Joseph Undiscovered Writers’ Prize team and, in particular, Joel Richardson for his editorial feedback and encouragement. Thank you to Bob McDevitt and the Pitch Perfect team at Bloody Scotland for the wonderful experience in this competition. Thank you to the Spread the Word Case Closed competition team, particularly Bobby Nayyar for mentorship support and Emma Finn and Saida Azizova from the CW Agency for feedback on my work. And, of course, thank you to the A.M. Heath Criminal Lines competition team and to Leodora Darlington from Orion for your invaluable mentorship.
The crime writing community has been so welcoming. Thank you to all the authors who have offered me advice and encouragement, but a particular thank you to D. V. Bishop and Claire Wilson for going above and beyond to support my writing journey.
In my local area, thanks so much to Jonathan Davies and Writing West Midlands, the staff at Wolverhampton Libraries and the Wolverhampton Literature Festival, and my fellow crime fiction enthusiasts at the Penn Crime Club. Thank you to the WMWC and the West Midlands local group of the Society of Authors, particularly my coorganiser, Sharon.
Thanks to my colleagues and students from the English department at University Centre Shrewsbury and the University of Chester for their enthusiasm and support, particularly Professor Deborah Wynne for being such a champion of my work, Dr Sally West for encouraging me to chase my dreams and Dr Naomi Walker for running the writing group that gave me the confidence and inspiration to start writing this novel. Thank you, too, to Liz Milne and Jennifer Edwards, my fellow Just Write! organisers and writing buddies.
Thank you to Becky Sharpe, co-author of my very first piece of Emma fan fiction, many years ago. We were right to be suspicious of the convenient timing of Mrs Churchill’s death!
A huge thank you to my head cheerleader, Dr Katie Baker, for always believing in my writing, even when I didn’t, and for being there through all the highs and lows. Thanks to my lovely friends Grace, Amy, Heather, Lucy, Vicky and Jo for their continued support – even when I shut myself away writing and don’t see them for months! And thank you to Dr James Wakefield for lending his name to Wakefield the butler – I promise I’ll promote you one day!
I wouldn’t be where I am today without my awesome writing support group, ‘The Gang’ – Joshua Baker, Jennifer Edwards, Shaney Lloyd, Hazel Meredith-Lloyd, Fleur Rowe, Oran Stafford and Judy Helen Whitehead. Thank you for everything!
Last, but definitely not least, thank you to my family for sharing this journey with me. The Hamblin clan for your advice, support, taxi service and tortoise care. To my mum and dad, for always believing in my ability to get published and for continuing to support me in tough times. To Sarah, the best sister in the world, who has read endless versions of the manuscript, been dragged along to many bookish events and has offered me a place to stay to do my Jane Austen research. Thank you for all of it – and sorry that there’s more to come! And thank you to Grace the tortoise for letting me invade her space. While I’m thanking tortoises, I must offer a huge dandelion of thanks to my tortoise Toby, for providing me with endless emotional support and distractions and for giving me a good reason to write in the garden.
The biggest of thank yous must go to my long-suffering husband, David, who has dealt with all the tears, tantrums and tirades that come with being (and not being) an author. Thank you for your love, support, the endless cups of tea, the meals that have kept me alive, and for being my companion, promoter and general dogsbody at so many literary events. When I say I couldn’t have done this without you, you know that this is no exaggeration.
Lucy Andrew, A Very Vexing Murder
