Authors OnLine -

It is with deep sadness that we have to announce the death of two of our most prestigious authors, Enid Michael and Betty King.

ENID MICHAEL

Enid Michael was a writer first and foremost, with a passion for story telling both fiction and non-fiction. Starting with the local newspaper in Plymouth for all of her working life she stayed in journalism, building an illustrious career with both Fleet Street and later The Manchester Guardian.

But her passion was novel writing. Her first novel, The Runaway National, published by Corgi in 1981 was an instant best seller and was considered by Disney for a major film, which unfortunately never made!

Her second novel ‘Beyond Pendowry Water’ was published by Authors OnLine under its prestigious imprint Kempton Marks in 2005. It was set in the fictitious town of Trefoy, a thinly disguised pseudonym for the beautiful fishing village of Fowey in Cornwall, an area Enid knew well and where her roots were.

Authors Online took ‘Beyond Pendowry Water’ to the annual Daphne Du Maurier festival in Fowey in 2005, where, much to our surprise, it was the top selling book of that year’s festival. We all stayed in a fishing cottage over looking the town for the week and Enid took great delight in showing off the various places where her characters had acted out their roles in the book. It will forever be a fond memory, which felt more like a holiday than a business trip.

Recently she had been working on a new book with a war time setting and entitled ‘The Moon on The Chimney Stack’. Always a detailed researcher and perfectionist Enid told us a month ago the book was still only two thirds finished - Sadly the half completed drafts in our office will now remain such. She was a good friend and supporter of the company and we will all miss her enthusiastic approach to novel writing and her infectious personality.

Enid Michael Died 17th October 2007 after a short illness.

BETTY KING

Betty King was a successful main stream historical and romantic novelist who was at her most productive in the 1970’s and 1980’s, publishing some 20 novels during that period (many of which are still available in current large print editions) including:

THE BEAUFORT SERIES:- Owen Tudor, The Captive James, The Lady Margaret, The Lord Jasper, The King's Mother, The Beaufort Secretary, The Beaufort Bastard, The Rose Both Red and White, Margaret of Anjou.

Nell Gywnn, Emma Hamilton, Boadicea, Mountains Divide Us, Bright is the Ring, Claybourn, The White Unicorn, The Flight of the Merlin, We Are Tomorrows Past, The French Countess.

65 Rabbits or Romans, Mortals or Maltsters, Gadding With Gran.

She lived in Hertfordshire and publisher her last two novels With Silken Lines and The Secret Beach with Authors OnLine in 2002 and 2005 respectively, often visiting our original quirky offices over the Dark Horse brewery at Adams’s Yard in Hertford during their production.

Betty King died Jan 2007