Tiny superstitions and big decisions

We writers can be terribly practical… until the day a penny shows up the wrong way round.

There’s an old belief: if you find a penny heads-up, it’s good luck; tails-up, best not touch it.

Years ago, while I was trying to decide whether to publish my first-ever book in The Vampires of Emberbury, I stepped outside to clear my head, and there it was on the sidewalk, a penny, tails-up. I stood there, laughing at myself and at the timing.

I didn’t pick it up. I did something smaller: I nudged it with the tip of my shoe until it turned heads-up. Perhaps to bend the universe… or just to settle my nerves. Copper has long been a friendly metal in folklore, a little charm for steadiness and good things. I can’t remember what happened next. I probably walked back home, brewed a cup of tea, and chose yes.

That “yes” became the book that opened a world: a secret world under a graveyard; a witch who is braver than she feels; a gentleman vampire who still wears a cape...

That book was Stray Witch.

If you’d like to visit Emberbury (or revisit), you can get the whole series here:

Read The Vampires of Emberbury: https://mybook.to/straywitchseries

Thank you for reading, and for keeping me company across the miles.