Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My first published books were mysteries set in 19th century England; the Thatcham Hall Mysteries. Two are currently available, both with feisty heroines who like to defeat the conventions of the Victorian world.
I’m also writing a series of short, cozy crime novels, set in a seaside town in Somerset. Strangely enough, I live in just such a place. I love beautiful buildings, landscapes and gardens, like to smell the roses, lavender and rosemary, and cook with a glass of wine in one hand and a bunch of chillies in the other.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Murder at the Lighthouse is a short, cozy mystery set in the fictional Exham on Sea, a coastal twon in the West Country. I love my small town, where I can walk along the beach or out into the countryside. It boasts the shortest pier in the UK and the weirdest lighthouse, with nine wooden legs, that appears on the cover of the novel.
It’s such fun to write short novels that readers can enjoy in one sitting: perhaps on the train, or in a lunch hour.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’ve just begun to write standing up, using a peculiar desk that sits on top of my own. I’m hoping it will help counteract the effects of sitting down at the keyboard. I make myself do it for an hour or so every day.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love Agatha Christie, and recently went to a festival in her honour in Torquay, where she lived at one time. Two talks on poisons gave me plenty of ideas for my own plots. My family are very afraid!
Then, there’s the incomparable Jane Austen, whose novels I read repeatedly, and Charles Dickens, who was, I’m told, a friend of my great, great, great, grandfather.
What are you working on now?
The next Exham on Sea mystery should be available in the New Year, and I’m aiming to finish the next Victorian mystery next year.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I love to Tweet, and I’ve found many people on the site who enjoy similar books to me, whether writing or reading them.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing! Don’t worry if the first draft is bad – I think of it as an extended outline. It’s not until the second draft that you get to tidy up the plot, and the third when you improve the writing. Then, there’s the third, to cut out the boring bits, fourth to find grammar mistakes, fifth for a final tidy…
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Do the best you can with the resources you have at the time and don’t beat yourself up if you make mistakes.
What are you reading now?
I’m just finishing a Philippa Gregory novel, The Taming of the Queen, in her series on the wives of Henry VIII.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Lots more murder mysteries. I’ve just started publishing my own work, after working with a publisher, and I’m having such fun.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Persuasion, by Jane Austen, a collection of Agatha Raisin cozy crimes by A C Beaton, and the longet, fattest Dickens I can find.
Author Websites and Profiles
Frances Evesham Website
Frances Evesham Amazon Profile
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