A sad, sad day

Hi folks,

Today is a very sad day for me. One of my best friends, author Lesley Ann Sharrock (who wrote under the pen name, Lesley Welsh) has unexpectedly passed away. Lesley and I worked closely together on all of her novels, including her latest one which is scheduled to be released on June 14.

(Please click on Lesley's photo for the link to take you to her Author's Page and books on Amazon.)

I had just gotten an email from her a few days ago, telling me she was sending me a copy of The Serial Killer’s Daughter and had included me in the acknowledgements as she always did, when I was blindsided from an email from Paul Brazill, our mutual friend, letting me know that her daughter Estelle had just posted the sad news on Lesley’s Facebook page. Then, before I could even read it, I got another email from another mutual friend, Vince Zandri, who gave me the same news. All of us are in deep shock.

I met Lesley about four years ago when she contacted me to see if I would be willing to work with her on a novel she was writing. As soon as I read the first pages, I was in. Just brilliant story-telling. She eventually joined our online novel-writing class, but eventually dropped out as she wanted to just work one-on-one. Over the years, we not only worked closely as colleagues, but became fast friends. An ex-pat Brit, she was living in Spain. Prior to our meeting, she had her ex-husband had edited several of Europe’s top magazines from London, but had decided to move to Spain and work on her fiction.

The world of letters has lost a magnificent writer. Those who knew her have lost a wonderful friend. She will be sorely missed.

Here is information about Lesley from her Amazon Author’s page:

Lesley Welsh was born in Strawberry Field children’s home and raised on a notorious Liverpool council estate. Later she moved to London, where she studied English and drama and worked as a freelance writer specialising in alternative lifestyles. Her articles appeared in Cosmopolitan, Marie Clare, Red, Bite, Forum, Time Out and many others before she established Moondance Media, a magazine publishing company. Her dark and compelling short story Mrs Webster’s Obsession was turned into a film. She now lives and works in Spain. 

Her first crime novel 'Truth Lies Buried' was published by Thomas & Mercer in June 2016 and has been nominated for the CWA Golden Dagger Award as the best crime novel of 2016. Her second 'The Serial Killer's Daughter' will be out in June 2017, published by Bookouture,

Give her books a read—you’ll be greatly pleased.

Blue skies,

Les