Hi,

The weather in Ireland has been amazingly stable for a month; almost endless sunshine. I wake up every day wondering when it's going to break, or if the news is going to take a turn towards predictions of drought and water restrictions. It's a strange reversal from our first year in Ireland, when it rained torrentially for five months while we were trying to put windows into our 'wreck'. We have made use of the dry weather to build a half-round patio area outside the double doors to the garden, and a couple of raised beds. It's going to be a riot of colour when everything is established.

WRITING AS DAISY O'SHEA

The fourth book in the Emerald Isles series was published on May 15th. Many thanks to those readers who signed up for an advance copy. I truly appreciate your loyalty. If you enjoyed the story, please don't forget to review it. For those of you who missed publication day, the e-book is presently discounted on Amazon for just a few days, so click the image to obtain your copy. The Irish Key is due out in Ireland as a trade paperback on 5th June (incidentally, my 70th birthday). I'm still waiting for news on publication in Norway, Czechoslovakia, and Belgium. Nothing happens fast in this business!

Another great read in this excellent series

(Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 16, 2025

"From the first time we visited Roone Bay when Grace arrived from the UK in The Irish Key, every book in this series has been a thoroughly enjoyable read. Don't be fooled, though, by the pretty covers. While these are feel-good reads, they also cover serious subjects and act as Irish history lessons. I was particularly struck by Hannah’s polio story, as my father was also a victim of the Irish polio outbreak of that time. Wonderful relatable characters and switching between two timelines, this excellent read will keep you gripped. If you've read the previous books in the series, you'll enjoy reaquainting yourself with some of the other characters in the series too. I really can't wait to revisit Roone Bay and see what's in store for them all again in the future."

The first three books are now available as audiobooks, published by Howes, available from Audible. I love the voices chosen; the voice actors did a splendid job of creating the right tone. If you do listen to any of the audiobooks, I'd really appreciate feedback.

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If you haven't already read HER IRISH HOME, my FREE short story in this genre, it's still available. Click on the image below. Collection will sign you up to Bookouture's mailing list, from which you may unsubscribe at any time.

WRITING AS CHRIS LEWANDO

The first two in my self-published series SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN have now been professionally edited, so I'm preparing to launch into advertising on Facebook, Bookbub, and Amazon. A scary concept, as the cost of advertising might well outweigh any resultant sales. It would be a great help to receive a few more reviews on these books, so if you have read them and haven't posted a review, please consider doing so.

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Insights for Aspiring Authors (previously Waymarks for Authors), has now been upgraded and professionally edited, so I have trialed Amazon's beta AI (Artificial Intelligence) facility to create an audiobook from the text. This is a controversial subject, but I couldn't justify the thousands it would cost to employ a voice actor for this work. It was an interesting exercise. The AI didn't know the difference between read (reed) and read (red), live (liv) and live (lyve), etc. Making sure the right pronunciation was used in every instance of such words involved listening carefully to the whole work, identifying glitches, and inventing interesting ways of spelling to correct the pronunciation. I chose a male voice narrator, and the overall intonation is fairly true to intent. On the whole it worked better than I expected. This exercise, incidentally, also identified a few lingering typos, despite final editing. I'd be interested to have feedback if anyone would like to listen to it. Unfortunately, I don't have free copies to give away. I also experimented with The Silence of Children, but the result for a work of fiction is somewhat less than satisfying; the lilt of the sentences was often suspect. I'm sure a human narrator would create a much better listening experience.

Presently, I'm busy writing the next in the Emerald Isle series for Bookouture.

Thank you for being interested in my amazing publishing journey. All the best until next time.

Daisy O'Shea / Chris Lewando

There's an unsubscribe button at the foot of this newsletter. I do hope you wish to continue to follow both my publishing journey and my website storyboards of life here in Ireland.