KAREN CHARLTON
  • Home
  • Author
  • The York Ladies' Detective Agency Mysteries
    • The Mystery of Mad Alice Lane
    • Smoke & Cracked Mirrors
    • Dancing With Dusty Fossils
  • The Detective Lavender Mysteries
    • The Heiress of Linn Hagh
    • The Sans Pareil Mystery
    • The Sculthorpe Murder
    • Plauge Pits & River Bones
    • Murder on Park Lane
    • The Willow Marsh Murder
  • Detective Lavender Short Stories
    • Death At The Frost Fair
    • The Death of Irish Nell
    • The Piccadilly Pickpocket
    • The Mystery of the Skelton Diamonds
  • Catching the Eagle & February 1909
    • Catching the Eagle
    • February 1809
  • Seeking Our Eagle
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Genealogy
    • James Charlton Senior (1700-1770)
    • John Charlton (1746-1818)
    • 'Pious John' Charlton (1769-)
    • James 'Jamie' Charlton (1774- )
    • The mysterious William Charlton
    • The Family Tree: Ten generations
Welcome to the official website of historical novelist KAREN CHARLTON

News: 'The Sans Pareil Mystery' is one year old

6/10/2016

0 Comments

 

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO
‘THE SANS PAREIL MYSTERY’

One year ago today, The Sans Pareil Mystery was published. This was a huge moment for me. Yes, The Heiress of Linn Hagh had enjoyed significant success when I self-published it in 2014 and had gathered wonderful reviews – but could I do it again with this second book in the Detective Lavender Mystery Series?  

​Sans Pareil was the first novel I’d written in three years. During that time, my beloved husband, Chris, was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died. After a year of grieving, I’d started to run out of money and needed to return to teaching.  Recklessly, I abandoned that plan and pursued my creative dream instead.

I also had new publishers to worry about. Thomas & Mercer had taken over Heiress earlier in 2015. Could they repeat its success with The Sans Pareil Mystery? Would they want any more books in the future? Everything from the mortgage payments to my dream of remaining a full-time author depended on the successful publication of this new novel and I was full of nerves on publication day. What would the fans of Heiress make of Detective Lavender and Constable Woods’ latest adventures? Could I really make it as full-time author?

Fortunately, the answer was ‘yes’.  Sans Pareil gained wonderful reviews, sold well and was long-listed in a prestigious historical fiction competition. Thomas & Mercer published the third book in the series, The Sculthorpe Murder last month. I’m now writing the fourth book in the series and my teaching career is definitely over. I’ve so much to be grateful for, and the publication of The Sans Pareil Mystery was a turning point in my life.

A series of novels on Amazon or in bookshops always look very similar to the reader. They have book covers in the same style and the same font and typesetting throughout. Homogeneity is the key to success in publishing.

But to the author, each novel is as individual as a child. Born and created out of a unique set of real-life experiences, often written in difficult circumstances, each one holds a special place in the author’s heart and is loved for different reasons. The Sans Pareil Mystery is a precious baby to me.
​
Happy first birthday, sweetheart. 
Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    For an occasional newsletter containing news, events and other information from historical novelist, Karen Charlton, please subscribe to the mailing list below.

    Archives

    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    February 2014
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011

    Categories

    All
    Articles
    Book Reviews
    Catching The Eagle
    Crime Fiction
    Dancing With Dusty Fossils
    Death At The Frost Fair
    Events
    Favourite Authors
    February 1809
    Genealogy
    Getting Published
    Guests
    Having Fun
    Historical Fiction
    Literary Awards
    Marketing
    Murder In Park Lane
    Musings On Life
    News
    Non Fiction
    Non-Fiction
    Northumberland
    Plague Pits & River Bones
    Reading For Pleasure
    Research
    Sales News
    Seeking Our Eagle
    Smoke & Cracked Mirrors
    Stephen Lavender
    Talks And Workshops
    The Border Reivers
    The Death Of Irish Nell
    The Detective Lavender Series
    The Gemma James Mysteries
    The Golden Age Of Crime Fiction
    The Heiress Of Linn Hagh
    The Missing Heiress
    The Mystery Of Mad Alice Lane
    The Mystery Of The Skelton Diamonds
    The Piccadilly Pickpocket
    The Sans Pareil Mystery
    The Sculthorpe Murder
    The Willow Marsh Murder
    The York Ladies' Detective Agency Mysteries
    Writing In General

    RSS Feed