News! News! News!

Some of you may have seen the cryptic countdown on here and social media as we waited for 04/04!

I have had to keep this to close friends and family awaiting the official release of the BIG news.

I am delighted to announce that I have been signed for my next book, my novel If Crows Could Talk formerly known as ‘Colourblind’ (working title) with Bridge House’s new literary imprint Walela Books which launches today. It is not open to submissions yet. I think there are some quite specific criteria for selection. It was submitted to Walela through my lovely agent Camilla at the start of the year and I was delighted that Gill felt it was the right fit and a worthy book for the imprint’s first release.

Colourblind as it was first called started life as a short story back in 2003/4 and was part of a bigger project… my first stab at a novel that had short stories woven into it. But I felt the story was too big for that novel and never included it and that novel ended up being my practice novel that never did much. So I developed the short story into the novel Colourblind, or at least the first version of it back in 2006. While it had some good feedback I knew I needed to develop my writing skills further and that one day I would return to it and do it the justice I felt it deserved. I had a feeling about it. I went on to write other novels and in fact, While No One Was Watching (my debut) was in fact my fourth novel. However, what you might not know is I took a lot of what I learned from writing about George and Molly… African-American narrators in If Crows Could Talk to create Lydia in While No One Was Watching.

In 2020 while the world locked down and I was recovering from my breast cancer surgery I finally decided, several novels later and numerous short story successes, I was ready. I completely rewrote the novel making several changes from the original. While it is still the same story, I had let it grow and felt it was ready. The response when out on submission was great and now it has found its forever home 🙂

If Crows Could Talk is an American mystery novel with pertinent themes. African-American George Tucker and white teenager April Jefferson share the same birthday – born fifty years apart – but that’s not all they share. The novel explores the repercussions of Jim Crow’s actions and the impact they have had on George’s life. But what George doesn’t know is how a little white girl is the key to unlocking his biggest secret, so that justice can finally be served.

The novel is set for release in the Autumn and you can bet there will be a book launch locally and I am planning signing events at bookstores too. I am also hoping to do something in the US as I have plans to be in LA and New York later this year. Oh and for the fans of my first novel, I did bring Lydia back, though only in a cameo role!

I will be sharing steps along the way right here!

But today I will celebrate sharing the news with you all! A press release has gone out to various national bookselling and publishing news sites today. Thank you so much to Gill at Walela Books for making me their first acquisition! I wish you all the luck in the world with this exciting new imprint. The name means hummingbird, it’s the Cherokee word and anyone who knows me will understand the significance of that. The new website is live here with the news: WALELA BOOKS

And I am finally doing the happy dance!

“Did you hear about Debz’s new book?” “What’s it called?”