AB Morgan – Newsletter

Hello. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alison, most people call me Ali and I write crime thrillers under the name A B Morgan. What does the B stand for? (especially as I don’t have a middle name). Well, although my motorbike is called Bernard, I haven’t borrowed his initial to make me sound more interesting, but A Morgan just looked wrong.  I thought that A Morgan sounded as if I was a car or simply one amongst the thousands and thousands of us Morgans out there. There are a number of Alison Morgans and one, a reverend and doctor of theology no less, writes books too. So I plopped a B in there. A B Morgan has a better ring to it. If you are still trying to guess then let me relieve you, the B stands for Bongo. My nickname. Ali Bongo. There, now you know.

I live in Bedfordshire, sunny England, with Mr Morgan  – the bearded wonder – and our dog Sadie who is my writing companion. Our children have long since flown the nest and are far too busy enjoying life to have furnished us with any grandchildren yet. Which is good in one respect, as I’m too busy writing to babysit. Writing isn’t something that I have been immersed in for years because I didn’t make any space for it. Perhaps I should have done because I love it. My background is in nursing and after several decades I took early retirement from my role as Clinical Nurse Manager for the countywide Early Intervention in Psychosis Service for Bedfordshire where I spent my entire nursing career. My own health took a bit of a nosedive when I developed an electrical problem with my heart and I was forced to slow down. Not being able to zoom about, like I normally would, I decided to write a set of clinical guidelines for student nurses on my specialist subject, psychosis. However, for some reason I had reached saturation point, compassion fatigue perhaps. Whatever the reason, a story decided to force its way out of my head where it had been lurking for years and I found myself taking up a different challenge. Could I write a novel? How long was a novel anyway? I was a nurse used to writing factual reports and patient records and I had no idea whether the creative side of my brain still worked. It must have done because that was a few years ago and now with four novels completed I still find the process compelling, and the idea that I can call myself an author remains astounding to me. Imagine my delight, therefore, when Junction Publishing contacted me to say they loved the manuscript I sent them earlier in the summer and they wanted to publish my fifth book Fat Chance. The idea for the story came from a till receipt with the words Table No 88 printed at the top. The receipt was handed to me by a lady called Barbara, a friend of mine who was running a pub at the time. She said those magic words, ‘bet you could make a story out of that,’ and I have.

Fat Chance isn’t your usual police procedural, or cat and mouse thriller, but it is true to my style, sense of humour and mental health background. This is what the blurb on the back cover says. A missing barrister, a severed thumb and fat chance of finding out the truth. Ella Fitzwilliam’s world is about to spiral out of control. She’s not cut out to be a private investigator. With little or no aptitude for the job, she’s been sent undercover to expose the hidden lives of two men who meet nearly every week at Buxham’s – a private members’ club where portions are large and secrets are held in strictest confidence. One of those men is Harry Drysdale, a defence barrister, and the other is Marcus Carver, an eminent surgeon with a tarnished past and much to lose. Ella knows he has unhealthy appetites, she’s sure he’s feeding his perverted habits and putting his female patients at risk but she has to prove it. When Harry Drysdale goes missing, Konrad Neale TV journalist tries to reveal the truth behind the lies, but some of the secrets start to reveal themselves… and they are big. The official publication date for Fat Chance is on 15th January 2019 and I’m very excited. I have a launch planned. My local county library are very supportive of local authors and I will be running a crime writers workshop on Saturday 2nd February for two hours followed by a meet the author/book signing in the main library. Tickets for the workshop are priced at £2. Yes, for a mere £2 sterling keen writers get the benefit of a fun-filled morning with me and local writer and editor Morgen Bailey. The last one was a hoot! We facilitated a workshop on how to plot a murder. Let me tell you there are some worrying types who live near me! The methods of murder some of the enthusiastic participants came out with could keep me going for years. Apart from that I will be busy penning a sequel to Fat Chance, appearing on local BBC Three Counties radio, which I do now and again as a panellist on Roberto Perrone’s show, and preparing myself to sit on the crime writers’ panel at the 2019 BeaconLit Festival in the summer. Last year I was sitting in the audience listening to Louise Jensen… this year I’ll be up there with Dave Sivers, Alison Bruce and Leigh Russell. Somebody pinch me! I only hope they don’t find out that I’m just a weird ex-nurse having a mid-life crisis masquerading as an author. Anyway, that’s enough wittering from me, if you want to know more about the books I write then feel free to take a look at my website where you can find details. I also produce a few reviews, blog occasionally and update news on publication dates etc. www.abmorgan.co.uk or you can find me on Amazon http://geni.us/o6nx8h