Alan Nixon asked Joy Ellis:

During the lock down I have read all your books on my Kindle, however just one thing that annoyed me in all of them was the number of times someone ran their fingers through their hair, I am now 75 years old and in all my working life have never come across anyone who does this. Apart from that I can not wait for 30th November when your next book comes out?

Joy Ellis Oh dear, it's so simple to repeat a gesture or an action within a long stretch of dialogue, and I know it's irritating! You get fed up with writing 'she said', 'he said', 'he answered', 'she replied', etc and add a few mannerisms apparently too many of the same, sorry! I have two friends who always run fingers through hair when they are stressed. One pushes a floppy fringe back, (pointless exercise as it always flops back!) And the other just combs her hair with her fingers repeatedly. However, I promise to stop my characters doing it, Alan! And I'm very glad you like the series.

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