Thank you.

by Vicki Delany

It has often been said that writers toil in solitude. We then release a book and wait anxiously for reviews to start coming in.  We might meet a few readers at conferences or book signings but generally we then retreat back to our unheated garrets and toil on the next book.

There is some truth to that, but the rise of social media has given us a way of interacting with our readers that previous generations of writers could only dream of.  

This was brought home to me this past week when I announced on Facebook and Twitter that my Lighthouse Library cozy series (written under the pen name of Eva Gates) has been saved. As you may know Penguin Random House did a massive cull of their mass market line, and cozies were particularly hard hit. The Lighthouse Library series included. As the series was a work for hire, the publisher owned the copyright and thus I couldn’t continue to write it.

The people at Crooked Lane Books, who publish the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, wanted to take it on, so they asked my agent, the marvellous Kim Lionetti of Bookends, if she would ask Penguin if they’d release it.

And they did! I got the copyright and then signed a contract with Crooked Lane for the next three books in the series.

I made the announcement on social media, and the response from readers was overwhelming and heartfelt. I was genuinely touched at what people had to say.

So, thank you to everyone who wrote to me.

We don’t have a publication date yet, but probably spring 2018 for Lighthouse Library #4. And I will be keeping the Eva Gates name.