Category Archives: Writer Interviews

NELL DIXON SHARES HER INSPIRATION FOR THE MISS UNDERHAY SERIES

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For the last two years I’ve been living full-time in Devon in a small fishing village. If anyone is unfamiliar with the area, it is a particularly beautiful place with sandy beaches, wide rivers, green farmland and historic and lovely towns and villages. Thatched cottages abound in a chocolate box setting. The Miss Underhay series is set in and around Torbay during the 1930’s. Torquay was the birthplace of Agatha Christie so clearly this is a landscape to inspire crime writing!

The world my intrepid amateur sleuth, Kitty Underhay inhabited in 1933 would be familiar to her today despite some damage done by the second world war and over enthusiastic building works in the 1960’s. Punctuating the landscape are several beautiful and unique buildings. All of which feature in or have inspired scenes in the series. Landscape has always been important to me as a writer. I’ve always been fascinated by the built environment and the human stories that are told through both the building and the spaces between them.

One such building is the now sadly neglected Pavilion theatre in Torquay, a gorgeous art deco affair on Torquay seafront. Set amidst green space and flowerbeds, in the twenties and thirties it hosted operas and a beautiful tearoom. It was the place to see and be seen. This was also a building familiar to Dame Agatha Christie. Hopefully it will take its place again soon as one of Torquay’s jewels.

Another favourite building is run by the National Trust, tucked away down a country lane on the way from Torquay to Dartmouth. Coleton Fishacre is a gem of a jazz age country retreat. Once the summer home of the D’Oyly Carte family, it’s set in beautiful gardens that lead to the sea. A wonderful cream tea can be enjoyed, and the house is one of the loveliest places to visit.

In nearby Dartmouth, the inspiration for Kitty’s home is York House. A black and white half-timbered building, it’s easy to picture Kitty and her grandmother running their hotel there. Dartmouth itself is full of amazing buildings, from the medieval Dartmouth Castle which guards the mouth of the river estuary to the Butter walk, a colonnaded stone walkway housing shops and tea rooms. The Butter walk was damaged in the Second World War but has been so well repaired that you wouldn’t be able to tell.

Dartmouth is also home to another incredible building, St Saviour’s Church. Listed as one of the best 100 churches in England, it was constructed around 1372, and underwent significant restoration in 2014 to preserve it for future generations. It has magnificent medieval wooden doors, heavily carved with gryphons and supported on huge iron hinges.

Another building that sums up the spirit of Torbay in the jazz age is a mansion owned by the local council which is now coming back to life. Oldway mansion in Paignton was home to the Singer family, a name known to anyone with an interest in sewing. Oldway mansion was modelled on the Palace of Versaille and the interior is a magnificently painted masterpiece. During the first world war it was a hospital for injured American servicemen and went on to become a country club. The house is currently closed to the public, but the beautiful grounds can be enjoyed by anyone and there is a lovely tearoom. It’s easy to picture Hercule Poirot strolling in the grounds.

As well as the places listed above there is also Greenway House, Dame Agatha Christies’ own home, which is well worth a visit.

Helena Dixon’s latest release in the best-selling Miss Underhay series is Murder at the Highland Castle available as ebook, audiobook or paperback https://www.nelldixon.com

From self publishing to Penguin Random House without an agent: A Writing Journey By Ivy Ngeow

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Pitching to Penguin after being signed to small publishers and being self-published.

Beginnings: I had not planned to be an author. I grew up believing that books were written by others, not me, for us to enjoy. Three or four events in my life, like special occasions, led me to “think” I was a writer. I was raised in a rich environment of stories, via my mum, my aunts, my grandparents, my dad, my teachers. I enjoyed hearing them so much that I also began telling them. I had a little burst of success as a 16-year-old in a national short story writing competition with the New Straits Times. I felt that indescribable buzz when I saw my byline among 30 highly-commended entries. 

The hotel rooms: As a university student and an adult, I wrote nothing. I only started when I started travelling for work in hospitality and resort design. I was in hotel rooms and airports a lot. I learned that I really valued and enjoyed observation and being alone, which of course, are the prerequisites of the writing life. I was surprised to be flooded with ideas which had nothing to do with work. I began writing again because as you know, you don’t need any fancy tools or equipment. In those days, I printed and posted my stories from airports, or the nearest post office to the hotel. This period led me to believe I had again some chance of success because I was getting accepted by the Sunday magazines. One story was bought and broadcast by the BBC World Service. I had meetings with agents in Soho back in London, which led to nothing but an inkling that my writing was getting attention, any attention. I took writing more seriously when I invested in an MA in Writing at Middlesex University. As you know it’s not free, so I was taking a big chance but I was working and it paid for the fees. I was astonished to discover that I won the Middlesex University Literary Prize in an international competition, a cash award large enough to cover a third of my fees. The judge was Penelope FitzGerald and about my story, she said she had never read anything like it in her life. 

The agent: I was snapped up by an agent immediately following the prize, a decision that was poor. I had no other offers. After 5 years, she did not get me a deal despite my writing not one but two novels for her to market. I did not write a word for 10 years. My writing stayed on my hard drive. It was deliberate. I had two children whom I wanted to give 120% of my attention. After 10 years and they were in primary school, I started submitting the novel again, and following 87 rejections I won a prize in Hong Kong, also a large cash prize. This novel, my debut, Cry of the Flying Rhino, was the turning point for me, because I now was an author. My entire family flew out to Hong Kong for the award ceremony and the publication. It was a small publisher, like my second novel’s, Heart of Glass.

The pandemic: Following the two novels with small publishers which were given zero marketing and publicity and unsurprisingly, hardly earned any royalties, I started to wonder if indeed they had even been published. I wrote another, Overboard. I got 50 rejections and I decided to start an imprint to publish it as I consider it to be my best book yet. I think my limit for rejections is now 30. I do think there is a limit otherwise you will be querying until you die. I don’t think I have the time or the patience to withstand 87 rejections like I did with the first, and 55 with the second. There’s no point and nobody cares. It’s an art form. It’s not a pizza which is edible and sort of OK even when bad. During the 2-3 years of the pandemic. I ate, sleep, wrote, published. Repeat. It was like a bumper sticker. 

Keep going: I did online courses on self-publishing, keywords, genres and copywriting to study the market. I cannot stress how important it is for a writer. Without knowing the market and the audience, you can’t pitch. I learned to write through editing other people’s work and through reading hundreds of books in the genres I was interested in. The MA will not teach you these skills. My objective had always been to write the best book that could write. This kept me going in the lockdown years. I published a couple more, short stories, and another novel, White Crane Strikes.

Perfect pitch: A famous author, unfortunately I forget who, said that if you cannot tell your story in 17 words, you don’t know your story. That intro letter, one-page synopsis and first paragraph in your manuscript is everything. I wrote The American Boyfriendin November 2021 which I decided I would query until that magic self-imposed 30 rejections before I would publish it myself. I would trade the complete control and higher royalties in self-publishing for a traditional deal because of the connections. By the time I started querying again post-pandemic, I had already distilled my book to the most grabby Netflix 40-word synopsis. I saw a window of open submissions from Penguin Random House Southeast Asia. I was just about to release my book, because I got to 27 rejections. 9 months after querying, in August 2022, I got the best email ever. It was from Penguin and consisted of 5 words: has this manuscript been acquired? 

Worldwide connections: The worldwide connections have been the most astounding and rewarding part of the publishing experience. Having a publicist was already mind-blowing as I had never had one before with self-publishing (that would be me) or with the small publishers I had been with (that would be no one). 

The Penguin publicity, marketing and sales team have opened doors from day one: no. 1 Sunday Times authors providing the cover endorsement quotes, media and press outreach including World Literature Today, Nerd Daily, Culturess, Book Riot, The Telegraph and Elle, being no. 4 on the Straits Times bestseller list in its opening week, being on sale at WHSmith at the airport departure lounge, book launch at West End London bookshop and in the USA, in Barnes and Noble physical bookstores throughout USA and at the airports such as in Key West, Miami International and JFK. I have also been invited to the Jaipur Literary Festival (“the greatest literary show on earth”) in February 2024. I have also seen an uptick in the sales of my other books. These opportunities to build audience trust and author visibility would not have been possible without the Penguin label. This experience has changed the way I see publishing as I come from a “nothing happens” school of thought from my previous publications. I am proud that my book now belongs with the orange-spined classics I grew up reading. I am inspired to keep writing. Stories keep us alive. Stories are more than ever what we need in these times.

My parting words and 5 rules of writing: Persevere. Learn to write. Write the best book that you can write. Believe that top quality writing always stands out. Above all, read.

RETREATING IS THE BEST STEP FORWARD BY CASS GRAFTON

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One of the many things I’ve learned as a writer is the importance of location. This isn’t about the settings of novels so much, but rather places where it’s possible to escape from day-to-day life and become fully immersed in a story in the making.

Most authors, when at home, tend to write in whatever space they have created for the purpose, anything from a desk in the corner of a room to a dedicated office or (my personal dream) a writing hut in the garden. When the opportunity arises, though, the chance to go away—especially with other writers—is the perfect mix.

Although I’m lucky enough to ‘retreat’ with four of my writing friends each year, usually on an escape into the Shropshire Hills, I’ve also enjoyed a few Cornish writing experiences through The Writing Retreat, superbly run by Jane Moss and Kath Morgan, who not only offer their insight and experience through optional tutoring and one-to-ones they also provide plenty of personal time to write. I’m booked onto my third retreat with them next March and can’t wait—though I’ll have to diet before I go so that I can enjoy the delicious meals they dish up every day!

My most memorable stay with Jane and Kath so far took place a few years ago in a truly remarkable location: the Old Sawmills, a property situated on a secluded creek off the River Fowey in Cornwall.

I was deep into the writing of a book I hoped would be the first in a romance series, set in the fictitious town of Polkerran Point (also in Cornwall), which had several parallels with the town of Fowey and the village of Polruan, situated further down the river from the isolated creek that is home to Old Sawmills.

This fabulous property sits on a tidal inlet, only reachable by boat at high tide or by walking through the woods from Golant or uphill and down dale from Fowey (a much longer route).

The mill building has a fascinating history spanning centuries and was converted some years ago into accommodation, with a music studio built on the lower ground floor. Many musicians have stayed there over the years, and some iconic albums have been recorded in this distinctive location, including Oasis’s Definitely Maybe, and several by Muse, including Showbiz and Origin of Symmetry.

Stalled in my writing for months, once installed in my room at Old Sawmills, I quickly realised I’d found my happy place. My bedroom overlooked the top end of the creek, beautiful in any season, and sat in the window there or curled up on a squashy leather sofa in the light, bright sitting room, the words flowed.

Perhaps it’s not surprising. Not only had many musicians created their masterpieces there, but Kenneth Grahame is also believed to have been inspired to write Wind in the Willows after picnicking in a little creek off the River Fowey—allegedly this one—an experience that is reflected in the opening chapter and describes the setting perfectly.

For myself, not only did staying at Old Sawmills give me the space and opportunity to pour my heart into my book—now published as New Dreams at Polkerran Point—but the setting of the recording studio will be a key location in the third book in the series.

Currently for sale, who knows what the future holds for Old Sawmills? In my dreams, a reclusive writer will buy it and happily sit in the conservatory, nature all around, as they pen novel after novel, lost in a world of their own creation.

 

Visit https://www.thewritingretreat.co.uk/ for more information.

 

 

 

 

WHY GO ON A WRITING RETREAT BY JO THOMAS

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To celebrate publication of  Countdown to Christmas, Jo Thomas shares the magic of writing retreats…

credit: Gemma Griffiths Photography

I love the chaos of busy family life. People coming and going. The dogs greeting everyone, tails wagging; the hustle and bustle in my kitchen. I thrive off it….most of the time. But sometimes I need everything a writer’s retreat gives me.

The first writing retreat I went on was a house in Scotland, Cliff Cottage, owned by a writer who enjoyed the company of other writers. It overlooked the sea and was a marvellous place to sit and work and leave daily life behind.

There is nothing like spending time with other writers to get the juices flowing, ideas bouncing, plots unblocked and for laughing together. Generally, writers get other writers.

I went on to go on writing courses in France with Anita Burgh, Veronica Henry and Jane Wenham Jones and eventually after years of trying and failing I got my first book, The Oyster Catcher written. After that, Chez Castillon become a place to go and get words on the page for me.

I love morning tea with writer friends…… drinking tea in your dressing gown and discussing a plot problem that’s holding you up or talk through an idea that’s come to you in the night.

Now that I run retreats in France, we generally meet on the morning of the first full day to introduce themselves, tell us why they’re there, what they’re writing and what they want to achieve in that week.

For many people making time to get away from everyday life has taken a lot of effort and juggling, not to mention organising travel and paying for that time away. I don’t want anyone to feel they haven’t achieved something by the time they’ve left. Even if it’s a plan for going forward.

Then I’ll make time to meet with everyone, one to one. It may be over a coffee in café in the town, by the pool in the shade of the covered terrace or over a gin and tonic in the bar across the road. Somewhere we can talk about the path forwards; talking ideas, finishing the book, finding an agent. Anything.  A week away is like a fullstop on busy everyday life and whilst you may not write a book in that week I do want everyone to go home feeling they know how to keep going.

And so we leave with plans, food memories from meals out at the bistro or the restaurant by the river or oyster tastings on a Sunday morning, with new clothes bought from the linen lady at the Monday morning market, shoved into our already tightly packed cases. We have laughed together, swapped stories, even cried in some cases as we support and encourage each other in our writing. We swap email addresses, make WhatsApp groups and new friends. And we promise to meet again, same time, same place….. new words to go on the page. It’s a place of support, encouragement, celebration and laughter. A little pause on everyday life to keep the wheels of our writing routine turning as we go back to everyday life and I return to busy kitchen, happy dogs and family life around the table.

 

Countdown to Christmas by Jo Thomas is published by Penguin (£8.99)

PUBLICATION DAY SPECIAL: UNDER A GILDED SKY BY IMOGEN MARTIN

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Where do I start with this wonderful novel? With the sense of place and time, I guess, because it was so very brilliant. It’s set in rural Missouri in the 1870s and reminded me greatly of the childhood books I adored by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

The story opens when, much to her older sister Ginny’s horror, teenager Mary-Lou brings home an injured drifter. The sisters pretend their father is still alive, just sick upstairs, to keep themselves safe while Lex heals, but running the farm is a struggle in financial terms, although they cope on every practical level.

Then Lex leaves, and it isn’t giving too much away to say that a sweeping love story ensues. Beautifully done, but not overdone, embedded in both the social mores of the time and the freedoms of homestead life. The characterisation – and I mean all the characterisation, right done to the couple Ginny meets on a train – is wonderful, and I genuinely struggled to put this book down.

A strong contender for one of my books of the year and I just had to ask Imogen how she had placed her reader in the American Midwest in the 1870s, when she lives in twenty-first century Wales:

Credit: Faye Chamberlain

The story for Under a Gilded Sky had been in my mind for a long time. The first and most important thing was how my protagonists, Ginny and Lex, would get to know each other and fall in love. I hope their characters drive the story. Once I had written the first draft, I zoned in on the exact time and place. The novel is set in the Midwest and Boston, and begins in 1874, 9 years after the Civil War.  Although I have travelled in the States, I needed to do deep research. Luckily, the internet is a treasure trove of maps, photographs, academic papers, newspaper articles.

I’m a visual person and I needed to see my characters in their settings. Ginny’s homestead is the classic layout in the Midwest: what’s known as the I-House, with two rooms, a passage between, and the kitchen at the back. Not many remain, but Jessie James’ family home in Missouri survives because of his notoriety, so that was a great visual cue.

I wanted the size and price of Ginny’s farm to be accurate so I poured over the beautiful copperplate writing of page after page of the 1880 Agricultural Census for Missouri. I used William Strassburg’s farm in Pulaski County as a guide.

The episode in the Missouri Governor’s Mansion (my heroine has a rich cousin who is determined to find a rich suitor for her) uses the exact layout and décor of the real Mansion, using the rich details on their website.

The moments of research I most loved was when I found a nugget that would enhance the story. For example, I read on a history website about the devastating grasshopper plague of 1874 and 1875 which afflicted western Missouri and created financial strains. An academic from University of Missouri wrote a paper about the Missouri Banking Fraud of 1861, so I threaded this into Ginny’s aunt’s story.

I tried to capture train journeys of that time. Charles Dickens wrote letters about travelling on a train in Massachusetts and, although earlier than my setting, I used snippets such as his description of orange peel and nuts on the floor.  My best research moment was when, after hours of Googling, I discovered the exact timetable for Ginny’s journey from St Louis to Boston. She leaves at 7.20am, because that is the accurate time from 1875.

Looking back on my notes now, I see a huge level of detail. My hope is that this has made the story feel authentic, without the reader thinking they are walking through a museum.

 

 

TEN YEARS AN AUTHOR… JANE CABLE SHARES HER MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS

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Jane Cable self published her first book in 2013, after it reached the final of a major national competition sponsored by Harper Collins. After a brief flirtation with an agent and another publisher, in 2018 she signed to Sapere Books, for whom she writes haunting romances. Two years later she achieved her dream of becoming an Harper Collins author, writing as Eva Glyn. So far four women’s fiction titles have been published by One More Chapter, three of them set in Croatia.

This week, lessons eight to ten:

Publishing deals are increasingly hard to find

One thing I really wish I had been able to tell my twenty-something self was to prioritise my writing then, because publishing would become an increasingly tough business. Sadly that still holds true today.

Think about it; when one of the mainstays of your business plan is the 99p ebook (of which the platform selling it will take a very large share), a huge number will need to be sold to make anything like a profit. And it seems to me a bit of a fallacy that the costs involved are lower; the only thing missing are printing and physical distribution, and those can be done very cheaply in bulk, especially when you consider the differential in price.

So publishers have to be incredibly careful about what they acquire. Celebrity authors are bankers who bank roll the rest of us, but very little else is certain. Even authors with contracts can find themselves in choppy waters if the first book of a deal does not sell well. It’s brutal, but it’s a business. And sadly, with a cost of living crisis gripping the country and beyond, I can’t see it getting better any time soon. Sorry.

 

You will spend more time marketing your books than you ever imagined

When new authors blithely ask what they need to do to make sure their book sells I do have a wry little smile to myself. If there was a magic bullet and I knew what is was, I would be top of the Amazon rankings.

The one thing I can say with a degree of certainly is that you need to choose your marketing channels and stick with them consistently. I can tell when some authors have a book out in the near future because suddenly they pop up on social media, after an absence of months or even years. In that time all but your closest contacts are going to forget you.

Of course marketing takes time. I spend at least an hour on it each day, mainly on social media, but also looking at other promotional opportunities such as advertising, preparing new graphics, polishing up my website and Amazon pages, writing guest blogs… The list is pretty endless, but it’s only by trial and error you will discover what works for you.

 

A good edit is the best learning experience you can have

The first book I wrote for One More Chapter was The Olive Grove, and when the structural edit came back it wasn’t so much a case of ‘could do better’ as ‘must do better’. I was devastated, but the notes I was given were so detailed they provided a roadmap for how to improve the book, so it could become the best seller that it has.

I learnt so much from that experience. How to fill the pages with wonderful settings and deep, credible emotions. How to take a reader inside the story and keep them there, turning every page. It was the most valuable learning experience of my entire writing life, and I have pumped what I learnt into everything I’ve written since. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m perfect and every time I receive an edit back from One More Chapter I am trembling not only with fear, but with anticipation.

Each and every one has made me a better writer. And that’s very exciting indeed.

 

Lessons one to seven have been published on the previous two Wednesdays.

 

TEN YEARS AN AUTHOR… JANE CABLE SHARES HER MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS

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Jane Cable self published her first book in 2013, after it reached the final of a major national competition sponsored by Harper Collins. After a brief flirtation with an agent and another publisher, in 2018 she signed to Sapere Books, for whom she writes haunting romances. Two years later she achieved her dream of becoming an Harper Collins author, writing as Eva Glyn. So far four women’s fiction titles have been published by One More Chapter, three of them set in Croatia.

This week, lessons five to seven:

Writers who have successfully self published tend to be more savvy

I started out by self publishing my first novel, The Cheesemaker’s House, because at that time in particular, publishers were afraid of ghosts. In romance books anyway. I knew nothing about the process, so put in into the capable hands of assisted publisher Matador, but even so it was a very steep learning curve.

I needed to understand retail distribution, I didn’t know book bloggers existed, and barely anything at all about Amazon categories, let alone going wide or narrow. The whole process of publishing and marketing baffled me, but I had to learn pretty quick. Also to moderate my expectations about the sales the book might achieve, although the ebook at least vastly exceeded them.

All of these were important lessons to take with me when I found a publisher. Everything from assessing the contract to understanding the control I would be giving up, and the promotion I would still need to do. If I hadn’t indie published first I would have been clueless.

 

Writer friends you really trust are invaluable

Ten years ago I had only one writer friend, introduced to me by a neighbour, and that was Claire Dyer. Through getting to know her I learnt the value of having someone to talk to about all aspects of our craft and of the crazy world of publishing we operate in, and we are friends to this day.

Writers talk about ‘finding their tribe’, and I found mine first in Chindi, a group of independently publishing authors in Chichester, where I was living at the time. Three of us moved on to find deals more or less together and we have remained close, but I learnt so much from almost every member of that group I will be forever in their debt.

As my career has changed, I have made many new writer friends, but there is a solid core of those I trust implicitly; people I can turn to when times are tough, and celebrate the successes too. Without them, being an author would be a very lonely business.
When you’re in the publishing wilderness, keep writing if you can

Overnight success in publishing is rare and most authors have periods they either feel they are never going to make it, or that they have been in the wilderness so long there is no possible way of crawling back.

It is so important to keep writing. One famous author described her work as her life raft when her publisher dumped her, and I totally understand that. Writing is as much a vocation as it is a profession, and without it many of us would feel even more lost. It can be a life, and mental health saver, but if you take a break then that is fine too. Your brain and body will tell you what you need to do if you listen to them.

Of course you also need to keep writing to have something to submit. Or even a drawer full of somethings, so that when that deal arrives you can offer more than one book, because you’re going to need it. It proves you have the work ethic, commitment and ideas it takes to succeed now it’s your turn to shine.

Lessons one to four were published last Wednesday, and lessons eight to ten will be published next week.

 

TEN YEARS AN AUTHOR… JANE CABLE SHARES HER MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS

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Jane Cable self published her first book in 2013, after it reached the final of a major national competition sponsored by Harper Collins. After a brief flirtation with an agent and another publisher, in 2018 she signed to Sapere Books, for whom she writes haunting romances. Two years later she achieved her dream of becoming an Harper Collins author, writing as Eva Glyn. So far four women’s fiction titles have been published by One More Chapter, three of them set in Croatia.

Today, lessons one to four:

Making connections through social media is fun

I know social media isn’t for everyone, but I do feel sad when authors say they hate it. I love interacting with other writers, bloggers and readers, chatting about books in general and hunting around for interesting content to post on my feed. On Twitter especially there are people from around the world who share my posts most days, and I of course reciprocate. I even feel I know them quite well.In my business life I used to do a fair bit of face to face networking, which being a shy person I did not always enjoy, but it taught me to treat my virtual networks in the same way; that to make it enjoyable (and successful) you need to put in more than you hope to get out. Although some days it seems like a uphill struggle to think of something to say, if I keep this in mind I still enjoy the interaction.

Twitter is LinkedIn for writers

So often people dismiss Twitter as ‘just talking to other writers’. Firstly, I don’t see the problem with that. Writers are readers too, and big recommenders of books other than their own. They have blogs and mailing lists you can swap with, and what’s even better is that their natural audience is the same as yours.But more than that, there are a large number of book reviewers and publishing professionals using Twitter every day. Pitches are announced, book deals, new publishers even. By connecting with these people they at least know your name. And you never know when that could be important.

You never stop honing your craft

And you never should. Every single book you write is a learning experience. If I had the time I would love to go back and rewrite my first novel, The Cheesemaker’s House – my skills as an author have improved so much. But perhaps I’m being too fussy, because readers still absolutely love it.Like most authors I take great pride in everything I produce. And I want that pride to be justified. After all, I am asking readers to invest not only their money, but their valuable leisure time, and in return they deserve my best.

 

Publishers acquire books because they think they will sell

There is no other agenda here. It doesn’t matter how beautifully you write, or how lovely a person you are; publishing is a business and money talks. Of course your contacts and reputation as a writer will put you a notch further up the slush pile, but without a book that will work in the market of the moment (which of course changes all the time), you will still be rejected. It’s nothing personal.It is the way of the world, and understanding this will help to protect your mental health. I’m lucky that I have a reasonably thick skin, but of course rejections still hurt. I have just learnt not to dwell on them. It only takes one book to land on one desk at the right time. Keep believing.

Lessons five to seven will be published next Wednesday.