The House Swap
New book, new house, old life...
Oh, I’m full of good intentions. Writing my Substack once a week, and it started off so well. Everything seems to go better when I’m in Switzerland. Back in the UK, life gets in the way and that fog of overwhelm descends. Things fall by the wayside. But I have good news!
The House Swap will be published on 4 December. It’s had fabulous early reviews on Netgalley and I’m hoping that you’ll enjoy it too. If you’re anything like me and craving a holiday, then a quick imaginary jaunt to Provence and Knightsbridge might just do the trick. Although perhaps not, because the properties might be beautiful, but the goings on in both locations is fraught. I mean you wouldn’t expect anything less from a psychological thriller, would you? This is what it’s about: Two perfect families. Two beautiful homes. A one-way trip to hell.
The House Swap is just 99c / 99p or free in Kindle Unlimited. Click here for the links to Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. The audio will be released on 11 February 2025.
When I’m not deep in writing my next book - and it’s going well, I reckon 80% done - I’m donning a hard hat and steel-capped boots.
We’ve bought a new house. Except it’s not new. It was built circa 1750, a perfectly proportioned, chocolate-box petite Georgian beauty with beautiful bones. I have no doubt the previous owners loved it, but it hasn’t been cared for and is riddled with every building horror you can imagine. Damp of each variety, wood worm, beetles, a failing roof and much more. The work we’re doing on it is humungous and hopefully will make the house gorgeously habitable for generations to come, but the pain right now is… painful. Here are some photos of it in its stripped back state.
The builders told me a story just before they ripped off the plaster and boarding. They were in another old house in a local town, stripping back the walls, when suddenly, a skeleton fell out of the wall. A skeleton! I was hopeful that we might find something hidden away - not a skeleton, obviously, but some gold coins might have been nice. I was also hopeful that we might find something in the first house we renovated in The Peak District (the setting for The Visitors). All we found was a plastic bag of weed! And in this house, we’ve found nothing. But perhaps that’s for the best!
We’re only a month away from the release of my how-I-write-four-books-a-year book. My friend and the best book coach in the world, Emily Tamayo Maher, and I have penned The Rapid Novel Blueprint. I share the precise processes I use to write novels quickly. It’s currently available to pre-order at: Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
I’m off to write another chapter and do some knitting. We’re doing home-made gifts only this Christmas. Not sure how that one will pan out!
Wishing you a great first week of December. (How did that happen?!)
Miranda x