News and Reviews

Newsletter

JUNE - 2026

Hello again

I hope you are well.

May was a fairly eventful month for me. After returning from the Isle of Skye on the third of the month I had a great day at the Prestwich Clough Day festival in Prestwich (where else?) on the 17th. This is my little corner of the main tent.

The whole event is always such a lively experience with every type of music from indie rock to pipe bands and masses of stalls, many of which dispense calories at an alarming rate! Lots of charity raisers as well, including me, donating £3.00 for each book sold to Cancer Research. (And just for the record, that came to more than £3.00 in total)

Either side of that I made another appearance at Lemon Drizzle Central a.k.a. Costa coffee in Bury Tesco Superstore. This time on a Friday as I seem to have exhausted sales opportunities on my usual Saturdays, where everyone has either got a copy or has told me they don't want one. But if you're born and blended in Britain, you've got to put in an appearance some time.

And squeezed in between two of these, I was back at my brother's in Kilmaluag on the Isle of Skye for a few days acting as chauffeur for a hospital visit to Fort William. It's the most magical place to live, but the closest major hospitals are at Inverness and Fort William - each 140 miles away! But just look at this picture.

This is my brother's cottage next to an ancient stone bridge with a beautiful river running beside it, recently home to an otter Magical doesn't really come close to describing it.

For the month ahead, tomorrow, Saturday 6th, I will be at Urmston Library in Trafford at a new event - the Trafford Celebration of Reading. I've been invited to take part, along with other local authors, and will be there to meet attendees from 10.30 a.m. to 3.30 p. m. It's open to all and is FREE, so if you have the time do come along. In addition to the clutch of authors there is a lot more going on  with stories and songs, panel discussions, and talks on historical fiction and the development of speculative fiction. I'm hoping to sneak in to that last one. Also throughout the day there'll be scavenger hunts for children and adults, as well as printed book quizzes. I'm really pleased to be part of this great idea. The address is:-

Urmston Library

34 Golden Way

Urmston

Manchester

M41 0NA

One thing missing from my June calendar is an in-store book signing. And there's a reason for that. As you are probably aware, in June last year T G Jones bought all the W H Smith stores in the country except their 'Travel' stores. So W H Smith still exists in airports, railway stations and motorway services, but all the High Street, shopping centre and local town shops became T G Jones stores. In reality, except for the name change on the outside of the shops, you wouldn't have noticed - it was business as usual. For me, it was a big relief as it meant the continuation of a successful relationship which delivered a very large percentage of overall sales of my books.

Then, at the beginning of May, I received  a letter telling me of the Company's proposed restructuring involving the closure of 150 of its 480 stores, which, if not approved, would mean its going into Administration. It's bad news for me, because for the foreseeable future there'll be no more book signings. But I feel it much more for the staff in the stores, many of whom have become like friends over the years and whose futures are now in doubt.

And speaking of book signings, and on a lighter note, I had my favourite pen stolen from T G Jones in the Trafford Centre at one such event earlier this year, but I'm delighted to say that the replacement i ordered from Amazon was delivered earlier this week.

So it's not all bad news.

That's all folks, as that famous wabbit used to say. Thank you for reading my Newsletters.

Stay safe and well. 

Recent NEWS AND Reviews

‘I really enjoyed reading this debut novel from Mike. I was captured immediately & found the book to have a thought-provoking theme. It kept me interested throughout, so much so that I spent a whole day around the pool on holiday with my head immersed in the book! (Only surfacing for a cool beer.) Now I am looking forward to a sequel...or there will be a riot!’ - Amazon Reviewer

'I've just finished your first book, Catalyst, and can't wait to get hold of the next book. Very difficult to put down. I'm an avid reader of murder mystery novels but found this one so different. The balance of story, dialogue and description is brilliant. Well done you for a super novel!' - Sheelagh Taaffe