It’s just three weeks to go until Country Secrets comes out and I’ve been in deepest Leicestershire, recording the audiobook narration. I threw my heart into my World Tour of Dodgy Accents (which never quite made it to Scotland despite my best efforts), and yet again loved having the opportunity to share my writing with readers in my own voice. Here was my office view all last week:

I’m now more convinced than ever that all authors should read our books out loud before the final print run because it’s by far the best way to proofread them. Whilst recording, I spotted some erroneous words and commas that must have completely escaped me when I scoured its typeset pages earlier this year. No matter how eagle-eyed the professional proofreader and author are in combination, a few mistakes inevitably slip by, although this one felt particularly ironic:

A list of corrections has now winged its way to my publishing team, albeit too late for the hardback which has already been printed. And that looks so gorgeous, I hope you’ll forgive the odd dropped ‘h’. Cue pack shot:

The opening chapter is now here on my website if you’d like a taster. You can find it by following this LINK.

Narrating Country Secrets brought me right back into the heart of Comptons again, the perfect spot in which to linger just before publication.  First love is a big theme in the novel, along with families and forgiveness, and it’s left me feeling wonderfully nostalgic, grateful for the chance to escape into the Bardswolds villages. I hope readers old and new feel equally at home there.

I gather “unboxing” videos ahead of publication are now de rigeur, which strikes me as odd (opening the book is more exciting than its delivery packaging, surely?) but in the spirit of media savvy modernity, I’ve made one to share with you:

Be warned, a flurry of excited posts and tweets will follow in the coming weeks, along with the obligatory snapshots of the hardback posing with my photogenic pets and/or Photoshopped into celebrity pics. But as those of you who have read my previous books will know – and I love you for it – it’s what’s inside the covers that really matters to me, and the journey its characters take you on. If you listen to the audiobook, you’ll have me as your talkative travelling companion throughout.

Not long to wait now!