Anna Sayburn Lane

Thriller author

News

A note about AI and me

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AI-generated image of a woman in a garden, wearing a red hat and dress.
An advertising image for Death At Chelsea

Are you a robot? Certainly not. At least, not after I’ve had my coffee in the morning. But the annoying questions on those websites have taken on a new meaning recently. Are you a robot – or do you use robots, otherwise known as AI?

Some people are terrified of AI and warn it could destroy us all. Some are worried it’ll destroy our jobs. Others think it will bring huge benefits to humanity, while some think it will speed up boring tasks. Me? I’m somewhere in the middle, but I’m definitely curious.

Like many people in the creative industries, I experiment to see what these tools can do. It can be fun. I’ve generated images of characters in my books, based on my descriptions of them, using the image generator Midjourney. You can see a few below. Some work well and I’ve used them in advertising or promotions. Others are terrible (especially the hands – always check the hands).

And it can be useful. I’ve used Chat GPT to help create marketing copy for my books, one of my least favourite tasks. Like most authors, making claims about how marvellous my books are makes me cringe. AI doesn’t cringe. It speaks fluent marketing. I rarely use it word for word, but take a suggestion and tweak it. AI can also check my spelling and grammar, and make sure I haven’t used the word ‘spiffing’ three times in one page.

AI can help when I’m staring at a blank space on a page where a name should be. Imagine: you’ve been writing all morning, and you suddenly need the names of three French policemen. You ask your tired brain to supply them. Thierry Henry, it offers. Hercule Poirot. Jean-Paul Sartre. If I ask Chat GPT, it will return a list of ten perfectly usable French men’s names in seconds. I’ll pick three first names and three family names, mix them around and check none of them are real and famous. Then I’ll get on with writing the scene.

Here’s what I don’t use AI for: actually writing my books. I mean, why would I? I love writing. I’ve wanted to write since I was a small child, scribbling with crayon in scrap books. This is the fun bit. It would be like asking AI to go dancing for me, or go for a walk with my friends.

The reason I bring this up is because there is understandable confusion about what’s acceptable, what’s legal and what’s ethical in use of AI to create music, fiction, movies and more. I recently ran an advert on Facebook using an image I’d created from my prompts on Midjourney. It was a pretty picture of a woman in a garden (above), to promote my book Death At Chelsea. It got lots of likes and a surprisingly large number of people wanted to know the artist. I told them I made it using Midjourney, and people seemed happy. But one person asked if the book was AI-generated, as well as the imagery. Perhaps they had a point – there are rumours of a deluge of AI-generated nonsense being pumped out in book form to part people from their money. I wondered whether others might disapprove of me using AI imagery instead of commissioning a designer.

Here’s the thing: I commission a designer for my book covers (Donna Rogers), because she does a brilliant job. Those are lasting designs that will be on my books for years, and I want them to look fantastic. Advertising images will be used for a few weeks, then discarded for something new. I used to create them myself using stock photo images, but it was time-consuming and expensive. AI means I can create an attention-grabbing image, then move onto something fresh in a month. I’m not doing anyone out of a job – I’m saving myself some time.

So here’s my AI policy. I’ll update it if things change.

1: I will use AI tools to improve, enhance and polish my writing – but not to do my writing.

2: I will use human editors, beta readers and copyeditors to make my writing the best it can be.

3: I will use AI tools to generate advertising images and e-book ‘covers’ for short stories.

4: I will use human cover designers to create my novel covers.

I’m always interested to know what others think about this fast-changing field. Why not let me know?

Marjorie Swallow
Daisy Caldwell
Sarah Simpson

Lift-off for Death At Chelsea

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I’m truly thrilled by readers’ responses to Death At Chelsea. The reviews have been lovely, and I was especially excited to get my first ‘top three’ on Amazon in their Hot New Releases for private investigator mysteries.

Here are a few of my favourite reviews:

“Another delightful, fun and funny crime adventure with Marjorie Swallow and Mrs Jameson. This time they’re investigating sabotage of award winning plants just before the Chelsea flower show. Who keeps over watering the rare Himalayan lilies? And who poisoned the gardener?
With a ribbon from the king at stake, it’s up to Marjorie to put all the pieces together, hopefully before another body drops. This series is great, I really enjoy historical crime novels and Anna Sayburn Lane is a fab writer, which helps!!”

“I have read – or rather devoured – all three books in this series, and I can’t wait for the next one. Anna Sayburn Lane manages to combine a page-turning plot with characters that I am really enjoying getting to know – I’m becoming very fond of Marjorie Swallow, her plucky, somewhat naive sleuth. This had me chasing clues and guessing until the end – and I learnt something about plants too!”

“Great addition to the Marjorie Swallow series, set at the Chelsea Flower Show. Here’s the usual knotty plotting with excellent period detail and lush settings – but our author is developing enduring relationships and a witty lightness of touch which makes this cosy crime read a cut above the rest! Highly recommended!”

Why not try it for yourself? Order here.

 

May newsletter: Tell me what you want

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Hello from Venice!

When I was a child, a phrase often heard was ‘I want doesn’t get’, whether that was a note to get out of P.E., a pair of drainpipe jeans or a Girls World mannequin head. I think I’ve internalised this message, with the result that I’m quite bad at saying what I really want.

And I’ve wanted to visit Venice for decades. I’m lucky to have had wonderful holidays in Spain, France, Britain, even other cities in Italy. But somehow, I never visited Venice. I’ve read about it, dreamed about it, watched films set there… and when friends told me they were going, I said I’d love to go myself. One day.

A week later, they asked if Phil and I would like to go with them. We checked our diaries – both unusually free. We found accommodation. Even the same flights had seats available. I was out of excuses.

I’d been warned that Venice was over-run with tourists, and the city had become a museum with barely any residents. Perhaps that too was why I’d hesitated, fearing it would not live up to the romance in my head.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. I spent the days floating through this dream city built on water. Near our apartment children played in a shady square, old men chatted beneath the trees and everyone crowded into the bakery for morning coffee.

We bounced around on vaporetti, taking a trip to the islands after a lunch of grilled fish overlooking the lagoon (thanks to Lynn Morrison for the recommendation!). In the evening, we strolled over the Rialto Bridge and through St Mark’s Square, busy in daytime but magical after dark. We visited art galleries and palazzos, ate delicious food, enjoyed the secluded alleyways, canals and bridges with views so picturesque that we took about 600 photos in 3 days.

I’m so glad we went. And I have a new resolution: to say what I want out loud, and try to make it happen.

Death At Chelsea

In that spirit, please do order, read and review Death At Chelsea, the third in my Marjorie Swallow murder mystery series. The book will be published in six days, on Thursday 2 May.
My advance reader team loved this book! Here’s what they said:

“I found all the characters distinctive and intriguing. You are especially good at strong women… I really enjoyed it and wanted to keep reading to find out whodunnit!”

“Each one gets better and better – tighter, more confident, more assured. I particularly enjoyed the humour in this one.”

“I absolutely loved it. Great characters, cracking plot, was hooked.”

I have five signed copies of Death At Chelsea to give away, to the first five people who reply to this email with the answer to the question at the bottom of the letter. Keep reading for your chance to win.

Recommendations

A new book by Magda Alexander is always an event, and her Kitty Worthington series continues with Murder At A Funeral, publishing on 30th April. With her wedding day to CDI Robert Crawford Sinclair mere weeks away, Kitty is thrilled beyond words. But first there’s a sad duty—the reinterment of Robert’s mother at Castle Rutledge.

But on the day of the funeral, things don’t go according to plan. The vicar’s gone missing; the organist is drunk as a judge. And then there’s the body in the sanctuary. Not the one you’d expect. Then Robert’s brother becomes the main suspect, leaving them with no choice but to investigate…

Pre-order here.

My other book recommendation is Donna Leone’s Death At La Fenice, the first in her series of murder mysteries set in… you guessed it, Venice. Unusually for a murder mystery, the investigation takes a leisurely pace, with the delightful Commissario Brunetti taking time to lunch well, annoy his pompous superior, buy flowers for his beloved wife and play games with his children, alongside his investigations. I admit I’d guessed the mystery about halfway through, but that didn’t lessen my pleasure at the atmospheric story. Very much recommended – especially if you can read it while strolling those same streets!

Finally in Venice, I’m enjoying Ripley, Netflix’s dark rendition of Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr Ripley. It sacrifices some of the gorgeous glamour of Anthony Minghella’s 1919 version for an uneasy monochrome noir. Some have said it’s a bit glacial, but I think the gradual build-up suits Andrew Scott’s subtle acting style well.

If you follow me on Amazon (which you can do here) you may have spotted that I have a fourth book in the Marjorie Swallow series in the works. The Riviera Mystery is due to publish in October, or sooner if I can mentally drag myself back from Italy to the south of France!

To win a signed copy of Death At Chelsea, tell me this: What is the big event that all English gardeners get excited about in Chelsea every May?

And just for the fun of it, what’s one thing you’ve always wanted to do, but somehow never got around to? Why not see if you can make it happen this year?

Have a marvellous May, and happy reading!

April newsletter: one month to go

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Thank you to everyone who got in touch to tell me they enjoyed Jackdaw Jubilee, the short story I send you last month. It leads perfectly into the next Marjorie Swallow mystery, Death At Chelsea, which will be out on May 2.

I also have some exciting travel news, and some great recommendations for Easter visits and reading.

An inspirational garden

One of my inspirations when writing Death At Chelsea was the English writer and gardener Vita Sackville-West. There’s perhaps a hint of her in Constance Hall, the gardener in my novel.

Vita had an extraordinary life and she made an extraordinary garden in Sissinghurst, Kent, not far from where I live. She and her husband Harold bought Sissinghurst Castle when it was a complete ruin, and gradually restored it, along with its beautiful gardens. I visited in winter but there was still much to see, including Vita’s writing tower, which gave me serious writing room envy! You can see some of the formal gardens from the top of the tower.

The house and gardens are open year-round and well worth a visit. If you can’t get there in person, I recommend Vita Sackville-West’s Sissinghurst: The Creation of a Garden, with additional text by Sarah Raven.

Recommendations

A new Verity Bright novel is always a treat, so I’m looking forward to getting stuck into A Death In Venice. Lady Eleanor Swift is off on a grand tour with her faithful butler and her bulldog Gladstone. But death stalks the canals of this beautiful city.

Excitingly, I’m off to Venice myself after Easter – a trip I’ve longed to do for years. I know which novel I’ll be packing in my suitcase!

Buy A Death In Venice here.

I’m getting started on research for the fourth Marjorie Swallow mystery, which will be set on the French Riviera, making use of my recent travels to Nice.

I very much enjoyed watching The French Riviera: A History of Pictures, a documentary about the artistic life of the Côte d’Azur presented by actor Richard E Grant. The film was made a few years ago but very informative about the artists who found inspiration here, from Henri Matisse to Pablo Picasso and Raoul Dufy. You can find it on YouTube here.

The Big Question!
Do you live in the US? Would you like to help me write my next book? Read on…

I have a great team of beta readers, who see an early draft of my books and give me excellent feedback on what they think of the story, whether they guessed whodunnit, whether I’ve made any obvious errors or forgotten to explain something! They see the book before it goes to my editor, so I can get it into the best possible shape before she sees it.

Because I’m UK-based, most of my beta readers are also in the UK. But I know lots of my readers are from the US. I’d like to include more US readers in my beta team. If you like the sound of that, hit reply and let me know. I’ll reply with more details and you can decide whether it’s for you.

Have a wonderful April, and happy reading!

March newsletter: Celebrating a year of Marjorie Swallow

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I can’t believe it’s only a year since I started writing the Marjorie Swallow mysteries! Marjorie already feels like part of my family – perhaps because she is inspired by my wonderful grandmothers and great-aunts.

I celebrated a year of Marjorie in the way she’d have loved best: delicious afternoon tea at a posh London hotel. The Goring, which opened in 1910 around the corner from Buckingham Palace, has served royalty and statesmen for more than 100 years. It makes a brief appearance in my next mystery, Death At Chelsea. I went with a writer friend, Kathy, and strolled around St James Park afterwards, watching the pelicans on the lake.

I’m also celebrating with a free short story featuring more adventures from Mrs Jameson’s past.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Short story: Jackdaw Jubilee

Marjorie and Mrs Jameson are off to the countryside for their next adventure, Death At Chelsea. But on the way, Mrs Jameson tells Marjorie about a visit to Hawkshill Manor for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, when a valuable piece of silver went missing.

Did she manage to retrieve it? Did the schoolchildren’s Jubilee Pageant go ahead? And did everyone enjoy a slap-up afternoon tea? Subscribe to the newsletter to find out!

 

 

 

Death At Chelsea

Death At Chelsea will be out in May in time for the Chelsea Flower Show.

The Royal Horticultural Society’s Spring Show at Chelsea is a gardening celebration attended by the Royal Family and celebrities, as well as keen gardeners. Think Superbowl for flowers!

I visited once and was amazed by the scale of the event and the beautiful display gardens. It’s a very English occasion which has been running since 1862, although it only moved to Chelsea in 1913. I loved the idea of setting a murder mystery at the show.

Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered. If you want to be sure of getting a copy on publication day, you can do so here.

 

 

Recommendations

I had the great pleasure of visiting Sargent And Fashion at the Tate Britain Gallery, a tremendously jolly exhibition of John Singer Sargent’s portraits, with an emphasis on the wonderful clothes. Several of the outfits that the sitters wore were in the exhibition alongside the paintings, which added interest.

As you may have gathered from my books, I love beautiful clothes and get much enjoyment from concocting outfits for my characters to wear! This exhibition was very helpful for thinking about the clothes in Jackdaw Jubilee, although I couldn’t find an excuse for anyone to wear this exquisite cherry-coloured velvet gown!

 

 

 

Cozy Mysteries Promotion

If you’re still looking for more cozy mysteries, try the March Free Cozy Mysteries promotion at Bookfunnel, which you can find here.

February newsletter: a successful launch, a return trip to Nice and progress on book 3

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Thank you to everyone who bought The Soho Jazz Murders and Blackmail In Bloomsbury last month. January was my best-ever sales month in five years of publishing. I managed 700 sales (not including all the Kindle Unlimited borrows) and The Soho Jazz Murders made the top 20 ‘hot new releases’ in historical mystery on Amazon. I was particularly thrilled that this put me in rather good company next to fellow newcomer Agatha Christie!

Read on for news of travels, book and movie recommendations, and a free book promotion.

Reviews of The Soho Jazz Murders

One reviewer kindly headlined their review of The Soho Jazz Murders: “The new Agatha Christie!” Here are a few other reviews that made my day:

‘An entertaining and atmospheric read. I like the developing relationship between Marjorie and her employer, Mrs Jameson.’

‘This was an engaging read that took you through night life in London in the 1920’s… The detective duo are great, one sophisticated, one spirited and game to try anything. All in all an enjoyable novel.’

‘A relatively new series in which you should definitely invest your time!’

Please do take time to leave a review if you’ve read any of my books. For independent authors without a big marketing budget, reviews make a huge difference in helping us find new readers.

Back on the Blue Train

The next-but-one Marjorie Swallow novel will be set on the glorious Cote d’Azur in the south of France. I hopped back on the train from London to the Riviera at the start of January for two weeks staying in a very glamorous art deco apartment overlooking Nice harbour. Even Mrs Jameson would have to approve of the accommodation.

Turquoise sea, acid-yellow mimosa in the Cours Saleya flower market and ice-cream hues of the painted houses in the old town – strawberry, lemon and pistachio – meant grey old England felt a very long way away. This was the place the British upper classes used to flock to in winter, before hot summer beach holidays became the fashion. Artists and writers loved it too, from Picasso to Matisse, Monet to Renoir, Chekov to F Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway to HG Wells.

It wasn’t too hard to imagine a few murders among the mimosa for Marjorie and Mrs Jameson to investigate. But if I need to jog my memory about the locations, perhaps I can squeeze in another trip south on the Train Bleu before I write it!

 

 

Work In Progress

It wasn’t all play and research, however – I knuckled down to some serious writing in Nice, meaning that I’m on track to finish writing the next Marjorie Swallow mystery, Death At Chelsea, in a couple of weeks. Then it goes off to my lovely editor and beta readers for their thoughts, before I work on the revisions. It’s on track for release in May – thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered. If you want to be sure of getting it, you can do so here.

Recommendations

I have a hot new release to recommend this month. I’m devouring Lynn Morrison’s 1920s ‘Dora and Rex’ series, featuring sleuth Theodora Laurent, a femme fatale with a mysterious past. The latest in the series, The Roman Riddle, was published on Tuesday. It sees Theodora and sidekick Lord Reginald “Rex” Bankes-Fernsby decamp to the Eternal City, where the British ambassador, no less, is accused of murder. I can’t wait to read more.

The next recommendation isn’t new at all (it came out in 2001), but if you love Downton Abbey and murder mysteries, then you should definitely check out Gosford Park, a 1930s-set murder mystery starring Dame Maggie Smith and written by Downton author Julian Fellowes. I re-watched it this week on Netflix and thought it was funny, sharp-edged and gloriously entertaining.

Cozy mystery promo

February is definitely the season to snuggle up with a good mystery – so if you’re running short of reading material, try the February Cozy Mystery Freebies promotion, running all this month. It has more than 30 free cozy mystery e-books to fill up your e-reader.

Competition winners!

Congratulations to Bryony Taha, Karen O’Conner and Holly Bradford who won signed copies of The Soho Jazz Murders for correctly identifying the murder victim in Blackmail In Bloomsbury.