Why I Envy You

Thank the stars the heat has eased, here in Alberta!  It was a tough couple of weeks.

If you are purely a reader of fiction, and not at all a writer, then 1) I envy you a little.  I was a huge reader when I was younger, before the writing thing really grabbed me.  I loved stories of all types, across all genres.  I was an omnivore with a huge appetite and, back then, with a lot of time to spare to read.  Later, when I began to write and learn how to put stories together, a little of the magic of stories was lost.  I started to spot the wheels and pulleys behind the scene.   While I love writing and am deeply grateful I get to do it for a living, I sometimes miss the magical journeys that stories used to take me on.

And 2) you may not know that writers, when they’re writing, can get into a state called “flow”– this is where all externalities fall away, and they’re fully immersed in the story.  For me, when I reach that state, nothing exists except the story.  It is all I see and hear.  I don’t notice that I’m typing.  I don’t notice the passing of time.  This is why I love writing.  Being in a flow state and living the story…well, there’s no other experience than comes close to that sensation.  (Which is why I only envy pure readers just a little.)

When I was writing The Lavender Semaphore, I was reminded yet again of how powerful that flow state can be.  The day I was reminded of this, it was 38C (100F) here in Alberta and my basement office was hot, still and uncomfortable.

But I was writing a scene where it was the middle of the night, cold and damp and uncomfortable…and I shivered as I wrote it. 

The Lavender Semaphore was released this morning and is now available everywhere.  See if you feel the grit and grime and coldness of Edwardian London in the middle of the night, too.

Lady Adelaide leads a double life that sits ill with her…

In Edwardian Britain, Lady Adelaide Azalea Margaret de Morville, Mrs. Hugh Becket, finds her work for William Melville, spymaster, clashes with the life her society friends believe her to be leading.  Her guilt rises when her very dear friend, Isa Hass, arrives from Cape Town and asks questions Adele cannot answer.

When a homeless urchin, Charlie Rowbottom, hands a note written in German code over to Adele, she struggles to keep her true nature separated from her position in society while she searches for the writer of the note.

This novelette is the fourth in the Adelaide Becket Edwardian espionage series.
1: The Requisite Courage
2: The Rosewater Debutante
3: The Unaccompanied Widow
4: The Lavender Semaphore
…and more to come.

A historical suspense espionage novelette.