Exciting times!

 Hi all,

I hope everyone reading this is well and navigating the pressures of the festive season. Trying to add Christmas into an already packed schedule can sometimes feel a bit much, but then it is always worth it 'on the day'.

It's been a few months since I blogged so I have a resolution that my New Year's resolution (lol) will be to blog once a month. That should be doable in the grand scheme of things.

Watch this space.

Life in general has been a rollercoaster since August. Family members have faced, and are facing, various challenges, but with a great deal of fortitude, of which I am so proud. Mr G and I went on holiday a few weeks ago but it already seems somewhat surreal. I now can barely imagine sitting on a sunbed in 30 degree heat. There were a lot of sea days on the cruise and, before going, I decided I was going to start completely rewriting/editing 'Secret Santa', a My Weekly pocket novel that was published in 2012. It was also sold to Ulverscroft and went into libraries. On the ship, I managed to rewrite 88 pages, which was a fantastic start. Not quite halfway through, but not too far off. I am also formatting it for Amazon KDP as I go.

During the Black Friday sale, I took advantage of an offer and ordered 4 book covers from Getcovers and am delighted with the results. Three are for previous pocket novels and one is for a book of short stories, which will include my The People's Friend serial 'Sandy Stables'. I have managed to get through the KDP process with 'A Match Made in Heaven' and it seems like I might be ready to launch it very soon. Exciting and scary stuff! Then I will make my way through the others, formatting and going through the same process. 

Mid November, my The People's Friend pocket novel 'All The King's Horses' came out.  I loved the cover.

I sold a short story to The People's Friend a couple of days ago and had one in the recent Special.

My gothic novel is 88,000 words in and still on the backburner because of all the KDP work, which is obviously very time-consuming. Still, they say you can't push a rope. Indeed. Step by step and all that.

So, how is everyone coping with the demands of Christmas? Presents bought and wrapped? Cards written? (ahem). This year I decided that, as Mr G is retired, there was no reason why he couldn't write at least some of the cards.

No. I wasn't popular, by the look on his face. 

😄🎄🎅

Finally, so sad to see that Sophie Kinsella died. What a loss to the book world. What talent she had.

😭