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Amanda Cadabra’s life
LOOKS perfectly normal...
But looks can be very deceiving.
In the picture-perfect English village of Sunken-Madley, a young covert witch
is laying
low. Amanda Cadabra has her reasons.
Orphaned when her family’s van mysteriously plunged over a Cornish cliff many
years before, Amanda is keeping herself to herself, quietly working for her
grandfather’s furniture restoration company, hoping the world will leave her
alone.
However, soon Amanda’s peace is disturbed by the arrival in the village of the
inquisitive Inspector Trelawney, dogging her footsteps as he investigates the
strange fate of her family. But the persistent detective becomes the least of
her problems, as a restoration job at the Tudor manor propels the young witch
into a swirl of mystery and intrigue.
Events quickly conspire to drag Amanda into the building’s murky past and its
even more dangerous present. Armed only with her wits, her grumpy feline
familiar, Tempest, and a wand, Amanda Cadabra is going in.
A body, ghosts, hidden passageways, and a host of unanswered questions soon
emerge. Can Amanda dodge the inspector long enough to solve the Manor’s many
mysteries and unravel her own past before the scandal of murder engulfs the
village?
Follow the tour to
read exclusive excerpts, interviews, and spotlight posts:
https://saphsbookpromotions.blogspot.com/2026/09/book-tour-schedule-amanda-cadabra-and.html
Describe the vibe of your new book in 3 words (or 3 emojis!!!!)
The one I’m now writing, the 10th in the series: intriguing, suspenseful, humorous
Taking the story from a concept to a published book is a long and involved process. How does that usually work for you?
I have a set process that can take anything from 3 months to the longest, 3 years, depending on what crops up in the meantime, but the process is the same.
Apart from the first book, the idea for the next one and sometimes even the one beyond that comes to me while writing the one I’m working on. I write or note down the idea, and sometimes whole chapters, passages or dialogue, as the plot forms. I will collate these and use a large sketch pad to diagram the plot.
There follows a combination of new writing, tidying up what’s already down and filling out notes. Once it’s all correct in Word, then it goes through an app called Grammarly for thorough grammar and spell-checking and checks for things like repeated words or weak vocabulary.
Next, and this is more of the fun part, I print out the book and go and read it through somewhere that is not my desk, like tucked in the corner of the sofa. I become a reader. I mark what needs correcting and put those in.
Then I format it for ebook and again read it somewhere away from my desk, seeing it as my ebook reader will, mark and correct. Then the fourth pass is recording it as I will eventually for audiobook, mark and correct. After that it’s off to my subediting team.
Once their suggestions, where appropriate (nearly always!), are in, it’s ready for my paperback formatter over in the States. Meanwhile, my friend and illustrator will be preparing the cover, and I work with him on that, collecting or creating, with the help of my AI friends in Midjourney and ChatGPT, whatever reference images he needs. In the background, I’ll be creating the launch machine, a series of reveals from title to launch day for both the ebook and paperback, when I’ll book a promotion for another book on Freebooksy or possibly BookBub.
This time, I’ll see when this book wants to be let loose on the world. Just how fast it goes, but I have to say I’m riding the dragon at the moment!
Which of your books would you recommend for readers to choose first if they’re new to you and your books?
The first, Amanda Cadabra and The Hidey-Hole Truth, the one that this blog tour with Sapphyria’s Book Promotions is introducing to new readers looking for a cozy urban fantasy series with a difference.
If your latest book were a soundtrack, what song plays over the end credits?
I really had to think hard about this one, but then it came to me, and I’m glad you said ‘soundtrack’ and not ‘song’, because I couldn’t imagine one that was big enough, and this answer may be unexpected. But although I rarely listen to this sort of music these days, it’s Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, the sixth in his series.
It's so English village, you know? As is Sunken Madley, where Amanda Cadabra lives, on the borders of Hertfordshire, with its rural roots. Then comes the storm in all its suspense, threat, danger and violence, in a meteorological event that has happened over and over again, just as the events in the book plunge into that sequence in both the past and the present. And then ... the music delivers us into the calm; the sun and beauty return in the resolution, as they do in the story with the discovery of the murderer, finding them, and securing the village once more, and, of course, the happy ending. No wonder Beethoven’s piece was used for the Disney film, Fantasia. And fantasy, albeit urban cozy mystery, is what I write, with magic at the heart of the books.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
Yes, the main characters are very much inspired by real people and some minor ones too. Any others are, I’d say, composites of people I have known.
For example, my detective is inspired by my brother, who was much older than I, but we were very close. Amanda’s grandfather is inspired by my own, and their relationship is very like ours was. Oh, and Tempest, Amanda’s familiar. Yes, my own cat I had growing up! But I think Tempest’s personality is one most cat owners will recognise straight away!
What have you learned throughout your writing process?
This is difficult to come out and say for me as a Brit, but what I’ve learned is that I’m good at this. I am good at the creative writing process, which, back when I wrote non-fiction, I would never have believed. But let’s say I am a good receiver and interpreter of what comes to me out of the ether, entirely on its own timescale.
The greatest emotional revelation, though, is how supportive readers are. I have felt so much, I have to say, love coming from those kind people who take the time to message me, or post, or especially email me with their appreciation and encouragement, and it so often moves me to tears.
As for learning information, I have learned a huge amount. I like to be meticulous in my research of everything I write about, which has included police procedure here in the UK, for example. For the last book, Amanda Cadabra and The Twilight Toxin, I had to find out a lot about how ambulance crews operate; I’ve learned about Cornwall, where two, so far, of the books are set, oh, and about accents! When you narrate your own audiobooks and hadn’t thought about that when you put characters in with different accents (nothing too challenging in the third audiobook, that’s just come out, fortunately), you really have to do your homework, and even get coaching! But I love research, so I find that side of things immensely rewarding.
How do you keep your ideas fresh and avoid traveling over well-worn territory?
The new ideas just arrive. I wish I could say I had a system! I do focus on different centres of the village, though: the Manor for the first one, others the library, the church hall, a grand house called The Grange and so on; this latest one involves the historic Tudor pub. The one thing that you might call well-worn is, at the end of each standalone mystery, the happy ending!
Thank you, Dawn, for asking me such interesting and original questions. I’ve very much enjoyed answering them, and hope your fans, friends and followers will enjoy reading them.
Meet the Author:
Cat adorer and chocolate lover, British author Holly Bell’s life changed in a day. A best-
selling author friend
convinced Holly that she could write cozy mysteries, after many years
experience with
non-fiction, photography and video making.
Holly devoured all of
the Agatha Christie books long before she knew that Miss Marple was
the godmother of the
Cozy Mystery. Her love of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings meant that
her first literary
creation in this area would have to be a cosy paranormal. Since then, the
series has grown to
include the genre of urban fantasy mystery.
Having derived
immense delight from the adventure of writing Amanda Cadabra and The
Hidey-Hole Truth, its
8 sequels and 1 prequel to date, Holly has more in the pipeline, with
the 10 th book in the
series now in the making. The third in the series Amanda Cadabra and
The Flawless Plan has
just come out on Audible in audiobook format, joining the first two
books. The World of
Amanda Cadabra shop for bookish gifts on Redbubble has just begun
rolling out its
Sunken Madley School collection.
Holly lives in
London, somewhere near the place that inspired her quaint, peculiar but
apparently perfectly
normal fictional village. Readers will know better.
Her favourite feline
is a black cat called Bobby. He is black. Like her favourite hat. Purely
coincidental.
Holly loves to hear
from readers. Find her on the contact page of the amandacadabra.com
website, or on
Facebook as Holly Bell Author. She always responds in person.
The Amanda Cadabra
Urban Fantasy Cozy Mysteries (in order):
Amanda
Cadabra and The Hidey-Hole Truth
Amanda
Cadabra and The Cellar of Secrets
Amanda
Cadabra and The Flawless Plan
Amanda
Cadabra and The Rise of Sunken Madley
Amanda
Cadabra and The Hidden Depths
Amanda
Cadabra and The Strange Case of Lucy Penlowr
Amanda
Cadabra and The Hanging Tree
Amanda
Cadabra and The Nightstairs
Amanda
Cadabra and The Twilight Toxin
Prequel:
The Grange Trilogy - The Philip Rayke Mysteries
Prequel Short Story:
Tempest’s First Day (Free on www.amandacadabra.com)
Audio books:
Amanda Cadabra and
The Hidey-Hole Truth
Amanda Cadabra and
The Cellar of Secrets
Amanda Cadabra and
The Flawless Plan
The World of Amanda
Cadabra Shop
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