Joanna announces the forthcoming release of a spooky new Libertà anthology
Many of you bought (thank you!) and enjoyed the first Libertà six-story anthology, Beach Hut Surprise, written by the members of the Libertà hive, plus two multi-published writing friends, Louise Allen and Lesley Cookman. Very sadly, Lesley died in 2025. For this new collection, we have the original five authors plus another prize-winning writer friend, Janet Gover. So it will contain six novellas, as before.
For this new anthology, we’re leaving the beach and travelling to the wilds of Cornwall, to a remote village called Trehallows. (And yes, we made it up, just as we invented Little Piddling. But, in case you were wondering, Trehallows is on the south coast of the county, not all that far from Fowey.)
In Beach Hut Surprise, we had stories ranging across the 20th century and into the 21st. For our new venture, we’re setting our novellas in six different centuries, from the 16th to the 21st. Bit of a challenge for some of us who had to write about periods we’re less familiar with. But good to exercise the writing grey cells, no?
And speaking of grey cells, the first novella in the collection features a certain mystery lady called Agatha.
Hauntings at the Black Cat Inn
Beach Hut Surprise was intended to make you laugh. Hauntings at the Black Cat Inn hopes to make you shed a tear, even as you smile. And perhaps feel a shiver, too? Because it features hauntings — ghosts and other spooky happenings in the Black Cat Inn on the cliffs at Trehallows.
Everyone knows that black cats are unlucky, don’t they? (Which is a bit tough on a cat that happens to be black, I’d say.)
Well, when you read our new stories, you’ll discover that there are shades of luck and unluck* where black cats are concerned. And it pays to remember that ghosts are not to be ignored or to be underestimated. Especially at Trehallows.
[*The word “unluck” doesn’t exist. I made it up. I’m a writer. That’s what writers do.]
Cover Reveal for Hauntings at the Black Cat Inn…
Here’s the cover of the new anthology.
Notice anything about that inn sign?
Yup. The inn is called The Black Cat, but the inn sign features a black ship, not a black cat. If you look closely, though, you should be able to make out a cat sitting on top of the inn sign. They get everywhere, cats. Especially ghost cats.
Why a sailing ship on the inn sign?
Sorry. Afraid you’ll have to wait for Hauntings to find out the answer to that one. But you can, at least, read the short blurb for the anthology:
The Black Cat Inn, looming over the wild Cornish coast, is notorious for weird and spooky happenings. Yet, over the centuries, many famous travellers have found themselves there by strange twists of fate. You, too, are welcome to enjoy the inn’s renowned hospitality but, while you do, try to ignore the sounds of its lost souls. Who knows the truth of them? Perhaps only a ghostly feline presence…
Publication date and preorder for Hauntings at the Black Cat Inn
Hauntings at the Black Cat Inn will be published on Tuesday 13th October. Yes, we know 13th is supposed to be unlucky, but as I said before, there are shades of luck and unluck, so we’ve deliberately gone for 13th. Tempting fate?
Maybe.
But then again, maybe not…
The good news for readers is that the ebook of the anthology is now available from most outlets at the special preorder price of only 99p or 99¢. After Halloween, the price will go up to £2.99 or $2.99.
So we’d suggest you get your order in quick. The preorder price is an absolute bargain for six novellas by six favourite authors. What’s not to like, as they say?
And if you can’t wait for months to get reading…
We know that more than two months is a long time to wait. So in August, we’re also publishing a free e-booklet of recipes from the six centuries that the new anthology covers. You can see the e-booklet’s cover here.
Yes, some of the recipes will sound a bit weird at first, but most of them have a modern translation. If you’re brave, you can even have a go. Do you fancy Wiggs? Or maybe a Green Goose Pie? Or a Satan’s Whisker? You’ll find them all in Recipes from Hauntings at the Black Cat Inn.
You’ll be able to sign up for the free download as soon as the e-booklet is available. We’ll publish the date and the link here on the blog, but the first people to hear will be our newsletter subscribers. If you’re not already getting our monthly newsletters, you can add your email here. [You can unsubscribe at any time. And we promise we never share our subscribers’ details.]
We hope you enjoy the free recipe e-booklet next month and, come the darker nights of October, our new spooky anthology, too. If you like our stories, please do leave us a review at your usual website to help others to find our books. Thank you.
Happy reading from the Black Cat Inn
and not too many shivers…
