Five days ago I was up in the Lake District at an event near Carlisle touring with my latest book, Utterly Dredged. A quick pause for breath and time to dry out after all the wet weather, and then today – lockdown art!
Tesco Staff Tributes
It was so moving to watch my cover design artist, Rebecca Moss Guyver present portraits she painted during lockdown as a tribute and thank you to key workers. Today it was the turn of the key workers keeping the Stowmarket Tesco food store open during lockdown – shelves stacked, tills manned and ‘click & collect’ baskets filled. So – six wonderful portraits of Stowmarket Tesco staff with Rebecca in the centre of the store – a very special moment.
Utterly Dredged – the 9th book in the Utterly Crime Series – is now published and available to buy – but the ‘book launch’ is on hold. 
I thought, quite reasonably, that an early spring or Easter release date for Utterly Dredged, the 9th book in the Utterly Crime Series, would be a great idea. I had planned a book launch starting at the Cressing Temple Barns Spring Fair, to be swiftly followed by various library talks and bookshop signings/meet-the-author events.
And the plan started so well. My amazing cover artist Rebecca Moss Guyver had two of her egg tempera paintings chosen for the 2020 Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition, held at the Mall Galleries in London on the 20-29 February 2020. The exhibition was a great success, and what better way to celebrate and validate the talent of the artist who has designed my latest Utterly book cover?
But the coronavirus pandemic was about to hit the UK. Three weeks into March the UK Government announced a shut down of events and public meetings, closed schools, pubs and restaurants, and advised social distancing – in a bid to slow the spread of the virus. All necessary steps, but they also slowed the spread of my book publicity! End result – the promo book launch is on temporary hold BUT…Utterly Dredged is published and available to buy (ebook and paperback), on Amazon, and at Waterstones and other local bookshops.
Two paintings by artist Rebecca Moss Guyver were selected for this year’s Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) annual exhibition. How cool is that? I feel so lucky to have Rebecca as the artist designing my Utterly Crime Series book covers.
The exhibition runs from the 4th to the 14th of July. It features over 500 works by established and emerging artists. It’s held at the Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1.
It’s sourced from member artists and through open submission, to produce high quality works in an eclectic mix of style and media. The show also includes entries from the finalists for the Society’s prestigious Rome Scholarship award, and work from the recipient of the Rome Scholarship from the previous year.
I went along for the official opening and took lots of photos. The gallery lighting cast a few frame shadows – it all adds to the atmosphere of the event! I have posted one of Rebecca’s two selected paintings along with Rebecca Moss Guyver next to the painting. Catch the exhibits at www.royalsocietyofbritishartists.org.uk.
ORANGE COLLECTION
Egg tempera
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