The Crystal Crypt blog tour continues … and they all love the map!

Today on Poppy’s blog tour for The Crystal Crypt we are stopping of at Jaffareadstoo. She says:

“Beautifully written, with both a sense of fun, and pathos, the glorious city of Oxford comes to life and thanks to the cleverly designed map, I was able to, quite literally, follow in Poppy’s footsteps as she moves through the city on her hired bicycle. […] Poppy Denby is, by far, my favourite amateur sleuth, and I look forward to meeting her again soon.”

I must confess, the map is my favourite part of the book. It took me ages to source just the right one and to plot Poppy’s adventures on it. But it helped me visualise where Poppy was going from the very beginning.

Happy Publication Day! The Crystal Crypt out now

And it’s Happy Publication Day for The Crystal Crypt! Out today in paperback and ebook (already out in audio). Poppy and I will have a glass or two of bubbly this evening. It’s hard to believe this is book 6 already. Thanks so much to my family, friends and loyal followers of Poppy for your support over the years. It brings me joy to know that my imaginary friend and literary creation is so well loved. Thank you all ????

Get your hands on a copy here. 

Trip Fiction video review of The Art Fiasco

Here’s a lovely video review (vlog) of The Art Fiasco by Trip Fiction. I’ll be doing a couple of guest posts on their website next week about how I researched locations in Newcastle for the book, giving readers and insight into my process. I’ll post the link next week. For now, enjoy this delightful little review – with your sound turned up!

Radio Northumberland Culture Show

This week I’m a special guest on Keith Newman’s Northern Culture Show on Radio Northumberland. You can catch me and Keith talking about my Poppy Denby books and doing a brief tour of locations of the latest book set in Newcastle and Northumberland. The show will be aired 1pm tomorrow, 2pm on Saturday and 4pm on Sunday. Tune in via their website, the TuneIn app or ask Alexa to find it for you. www.radionorthumberland.com

Writing Disability

Readers of my Poppy Denby books may have noticed that in each of my books there are always some characters with disabilities. There are of course the regular characters who appear throughout the series: the fabulous Aunt Dot who is in a wheelchair and the tough-as-nails editor Rollo Rolandson with dwarfism. However, in each book there are also additional characters with some form of disability.

I have been speaking to disability awareness charity Through The Roof about the reasons I include disabled characters and why I think more novelists don’t do so.

You can read the interview here.

Poppy Denby meets Dr Noir

Last night I had the privilege of having a consultation with the incomparable Dr Noir (the founder of Newcastle Noir) talking about my Poppy Denby books, and in particular, The Art Fiasco, set at the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle. The conversation ranged from my great grandfather’s murder, the importance of women’s voices in my books, to where to find loos on 1920s cruise ships. And all over a lovely glass of champers! Here’s a direct link to the video with Dr Noir ..

Copyright Fiona Veitch Smith 2024. Privacy Policy

Up ↑