A red letter day for Keri Beevis

14th March 2013

Keri Beevis, Contracts Controller at The UK Holiday Group, has achieved her life’s ambition by seeing one of her novels published.

A gripping story of a serial killer on the loose, her thriller Dead Letter Day is now available on Amazon and in some bookshops.

The plot features the ‘Alphabet Killer’, Professor Rodney Boone, who murdered eight students and rookie police officer Rebecca Angell, who is thrown headlong into assisting an FBI investigation.

The novel was the runner-up in the 2012 Rethink Press New Novels Competition, meaning Keri won a publishing contract with Norfolk-based publisher, Rethink Press.

But the success story nearly didn’t happen – she had lost two thirds of the Dead Letter Day manuscript from her computer and only had a paper copy. 

Taking a chance, she submitted the first 10,000 words and rallied family and friends to help retype the rest of the book. 

Keri says: “I have learned two important life lessons: never give up on your dreams and always back up your work.”

Keri wrote her first novel at the age of 20 and bombarded every publisher and agent she could find: some sent rejections; others told her she had potential and to persevere. 

Four more novels followed and more rejection letters. 

However, her luck changed with Dead Letter Day – but she only entered the competition because she was persuaded by a colleague from reservations.

When she heard she’d been chosen as runner-up and was going to be published, she was “ecstatic… tinged with relief and also disbelief”.

As well as promoting her book, she is also focusing on writing her next novel.

“I already have a plot and am currently working on the finer details of the characters and the twists,” she says.

“Dead Letter Day has a great twist and I am still trying to work out how to better that.”

To find out more about Keri’s win, visit http://rethinkpress.com/novelcomp/ and follow her on Twitter @keribeevis