April 2026:

Finally I can say with confidence that the warm weather was here! Is it here to stay (I’m hoping so! 🤞🏻) But the warm weather did help to make April a busy and cheerful month!

April began with a lot of work based focus, particularly getting characters names, locations, motives and clues and we are currently drawing the end of April creating the in-depth plan of each chapter ready to start writing the book at the beginning of May. Now granted I think I was slightly over optimistic with this one as I did claim at the start of the last week in April that I would have all the plans completed by the 30th April ready to start writing the first draft on the first May…. All thirty three chapters of them… needless to say that hasn’t happened, however I will continue to push through and hopefully get all the chapters planned by bank holiday Monday (please keep your fingers crossed for me🤞🏻). But if you want to keep up to date with all the latest progress on my newest book, then head over to my YouTube channel or TikTok page where you can follow along the progress there! 

Talking of books… my latest book “Deadly Greetings” is now available to pre-order and I have also revealed the cover which you can see down below!! Copies of the book have already arrived and are sitting in the cupboard all ready to be package up and delivered to you lovely people, so get your pre-orders in now!! I think I am putting a deadline on when people will have to get their orders in if they are wanting to have the book on the release day as I am away near the end of June beginning of July so will be unable to package up any new orders once I am on holiday. So if you would like your copy on the day of release, get ordering!! 

In other news, I put my hands to another DIY task during April of painting the fence in our back garden. I started this off thinking I was going to have it all done in a day (stupidly delusional of me) and then stated that I found it a rather therapeutic job and rather enjoyed it (certainly didnt feel that way about it by the end of the task) but nevertheless, three days later the job was done and I must say it does make the world of difference, but I’m definitely not looking forward to when we get round to painting the front fence.

It will come as a surprise to you that I left the house twice this month for two events… and neither of them were The Drifters! 

The first event was in Nottingham where we went to see the theatre performance of Death On The Nile. As you may know from previous blog posts or if you follow me on social media that we have seen a fair few of the Agatha Christie theatre performances now and have thoroughly enjoyed them, and this one was no different. The staging to represent the boat on the Nile was cleverly thought out and executed perfectly, the cast and staging team were brilliant, the whole event was smooth and had you gripped from start to finish, even if you already knew the story. If you are looking for an evening out, check to see if the play is performing in a theatre near you and grab yourself some tickets. The final event was mum and I took a trip to the cinema to see the latest Michael Jackson film titled Michael. I’ve never been a hard-core fan of Michael Jackson but I do enjoy his music. This film was fantastic! I’m not entirely sure what the critics saw when they watched the film, but mum and I loved it, we danced in our seats throughout the film and were deeply touched to see what Michael’s childhood was actually like. Again if you’re looking for something new to go and see, please go and see Michael while it is still on in cinemas – mum and I are going to watch it again next Monday.

The final big event of April… MY BIRTHDAY! 🎁 This day was also when my new book “Deadly Greetings” went on pre-order and so far we’ve had 12 pre-orders! Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered the book so far! Whilst I’m on the discussion, we are now six books away from hitting 100 books sales, so if you haven’t already pre-ordered my book or haven’t ordered any of my books and would like to help me reach that goal… you know what to do!! But back to my birthday, my day was a lovely day spent with my mum where the morning was spent opening all my lovely cards and presents before we headed off to one of our local pubs for a spot of lunch, the rest of the evening was spent sat on the sofa watching tv. I did try my best attempt at making a key lime pie cake… however, it wasn’t my best moment (note to self don’t try and bake a cake with the lime juice in it, much better to poke holes in the cake and drizzle the lime juice over the top). But either way, we did enjoy the cake and I must say I was proud of my piping skills.

And finally the icing on top of the cake (see the follow on I did there with the cake?) a slideshow of Bertie’s April highlights.

Comments Conversation: How would you describe the best way to spend your birthday? Do you prefer to go all out and celebrate over a grand dinner or a birthday party or do you prefer a quiet day in at home chilling and relaxing? I think my day was my ideal way for me. Being able to relax at home and not rushing about with a schedule to follow, with a little spot of lunch added in as a treat – perfect!

Until next time!

See you soon!

TTFN – Love Hannah ❤️

Written: 30th April 2026.