I used to hate January and was convinced for years that I suffered from SAD. This January however has been kind and thrown all sorts of exciting events my way.
Starting with my interview for our village paper, The Norley News, was such a positive experience. Reflecting on my journey as an author over the past six months helped me gain perspective on just how far I’d come and how far I wanted to go!
Next came me being “the guest of honour” – ahem! At the cheat sheet book club in Manchester. This was a truly wonderful evening hosted my good friend Dr Hina Abbas, who even grilled me on the way into town on the book club questions! I’m afraid I failed the first question as my ‘book brain’ is too invested in Book 2 at the minute! Ha ha! The gorgeous ladies really helped me appreciate my book from a different perspective and offered excellent ideas and plot twists for the next one. Thanks #cheatsheet.
The fabulous Bob Stone @writeblendbooks in Waterloo, Liverpool, hosted my second book signing which was a great success mid-way through the month and helped to inject some fresh interest into Confide in me with his clientele. Loyal as ever, Bob has spent the month promoting indie authors such as myself and encouraging customers to take a chance on unknowns. Thank you, Bob, for your continued support!
TAUK Publishing hosted an author celebration for all their friends and collaborators, and I felt very privileged to be invited. It was sad to say goodbye to Sue Miller, who even in our short time working together was a huge support with the production of Confide in Me. From the send-off she was given, I could clearly see what an impact she has made with fellow authors and illustrators; she will be sorely missed. However, this had led to an exciting opportunity for the superb Estelle Maher to steer @TAUK into a new era and I’m excited to work with them again on my second book.
I was fortunate enough to have a lunch ‘date’ with two immensely interesting local authors from completely different genres to my own and at different stages of their writing careers. Firstly, established and hugely successful author Sally-Anne Martyn (The Clinic) gave me some valuable tips about marketing and getting more involved in the writing community. She told me about her own journey into writing and the peaks and troughs she has found over the years. Put simply, don’t listen to the haters and keep doing what you’re doing as your books will always resonate with someone. The links to festivals and other writers on social media will help build my brand and confidence in what I’m doing hopefully! Nicola Bartley (aka nicolaawrites) was an absolute joy to meet too! She is a flash fiction writer on the cusp of making that leap into publishing her first novel. Hearing her experiences was reassuring to me as a debutant and her bustling enthusiasm assured me that this was a profession I should be a part of. I do hope that this will become a regular catch up as I learnt a huge amount in that hour and a half, and it was lovely to feel I have more allies in the writing world.
My own reading has moved up a notch too since joining the local book group! I do think it's hilarious that I'm known as 'the author'. We also have a 'script writer' in our group too so we do feel quite superior! Ha ha!
Currently reading White teeth for pleasure but it's not proving to be at times. A good book however, not an easy one! Book group want to read Taste by Stanley Tucci which I'm quite excited about so we'll see how we get on.
So that’s January done, Wow! It was busy. What will February bring?...