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What I’m Writing
Missing ( James Lalonde, Book 1) – 3rd Edition
Submitted to my editor!
Duplicity ( James Lalonde, Book 2) – 3rd Draft
84,782 of 85,000 Words
Untitled (James Lalonde, Book 3) – First Draft
60,000 Words
Immunity (James Lalonde, Book 4) – 2nd Draft
112,960 of 99,000 Words
Amateur Sleuth Mysteries
A Body is on the Front Lawn. A Priceless Painting is Missing. A Killer is on the Loose.
When Will Thatcher doesn’t show up for work, James Lalonde is forced to attend an afternoon tea with Alistair Carmichael in Will’s place. The lovely autumn afternoon tea comes to an abrupt end when a body is discovered on the front lawn of the Carmichael Estate with strange markings on its neck.
But something is missing, a priceless painting is off the wall. However, it’s no ordinary painting, it’s a van Gogh purchased in an auction a few months prior. But, trouble has its watchful eye on James.
Can James figure out who the thief and murderer are before he is next?
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A Murdered Judge. A Dark Secret Silenced.
Rookie reporter James Lalonde is bored. And, he isn’t a journalist. He’s an all-round dogs-body, to editor-in-chief, Rhys Kelly. But, his luck has finally changed. After eavesdropping in on the morning editorial meeting, James learns he has his first-ever story. There’s one catch. If the story gets too complicated, it will be taken away from him and given to another journalist with more experience. Sure it’s a boring interview with the soon to be sworn-in magistrate, Albert Harrington, but it finally gets him out of his six-month slump as an editorial research assistant.
The following day, James turns up to his interview with Albert to discover a trail of blood smeared through Albert’s house, an empty safe, the murder weapon on the floor, but no body. Detective Anwar Khan turns up to the crime scene, puts two and two together, and believes James murdered the controversial magistrate. Can James clear his name and write his first-ever story before his editor takes it away from him?
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News
A Quick Snapshot into the Writing Life of Amateur Sleuth Mystery Author A. D. Hay.
25 June 2022
While working with my editor to perfect the prose in Suspicion, I’m also going through one last edit on Duplicity, searching for repeated words and overused phrases. I have a few writing hangups. After that, I will send Duplicity off to beta readers to check for any plot holes I’ve overlooked, and then I’ll submit Duplicity to my editor.
I’m hoping to be able to publish Duplicity sometime in September but have a preorder up in August. But all of this will depend upon the availability of my editors. So Fingers crossed everything goes well. As you can probably tell I’m excited to be publishing this next amateur sleuth mystery novel.
I’ll keep you posted with more updates like this.
23 June 2022
I know this is going to sound alarming, but I’ve not been happy with the first book in the James Lalonde Amateur Sleuth series, Missing. My unhappiness has led me to create a third edition with new scenes, improvements to the old ones, and a more satisfying ending.
This week, I sent the third edition, which is titled “Suspicion”, off to my editor. The story has an extra 5,700 words, which roughly translates to 23 physical pages, so it’s a short novel instead of a novella. But, I’m so excited because I’m very close to publishing this new first-in-series novella. And I plan to make this novella available for free to my James Lalonde Insiders reader club.
You can become an insider by entering your first name and email address in the signup form on this blog post.
02 March 2022
I can’t believe that I get to type these words—I’ve finished the rewritten draft of the second book in the James Lalonde amateur sleuth mystery series. Yay! But it’s not over yet. Up next on my to-do list is to prepare the novel for editing. Before my editor sees the story, I need to make sure that the manuscript is free of all known errors. I aim to finish preparing the book for my editor before the end of the first week in April. Between now and the next two weeks, I will take a two-week break because I feel a little burned out.
Hopefully, I’ll return to the writing refreshed and ready to go.
If you would love to read the book before anyone else and like leaving reviews, then sign up to receive an Advanced Reader Copy of Duplicity (James Lalonde #2).
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MEET A.D. HAY
Hello,
I’m Amelia Levillain. I write under the pen name A. D. Hay, and I’m the author of Missing, the first book in the James Lalonde Prequel trilogy and the Byline Thriller Novels also featuring James Lalonde. My books are set in the world of investigative journalism with a dash of conspiracy, crime, and medical sci-fi.
When I’m not writing and editing thriller novels, I’m the host of The Authorpreneur Podcast and The Book Nerd Podcast. Right now, I’m editing my soon to be published mystery novel, Duplicity. And, I am writing the first book in the Rookie Reporter Mystery series, which is titled, The Candidate. Over on my YouTube channel, I’ll be sharing weekly writing vlogs where you can watch me write the first draft of The Candidate.
When I’m not writing or hosting my podcasts, I love to travel around Europe with my husband Roland, drink tea, and eat pizza.
