End of year report

As we're in December, I suppose now would be a good time to look back at my writing year. I started off with a first draft of the fourth book in my DI Bernie series called Rewind. It took a lot of hard work to get it published and I'm indebted to my editor, copy editor/proofreader and cover designer/formatter. I'd love to say that it reached the top of the Kindle charts but sadly, that's not the case. It's currently on a Kindle Countdown though so it's available for 99p in the UK and 0.99$ in the US. But hurry - this ends early on Sunday 8th December!

Click here for UK

Click here for US

I was finally able to have a book launch! My other books came out during Covid so it wasn't possible to celebrate. I'm so glad I finally got a chance to thank my family and friends and to do so in my local library was extra special.

I also published a short story that links books three and four in my DI Bernie Noel series, called Last Bus Home. It was part of a promotion that's ended now but I intend to get it out to more people soon. I'm so proud of this cover as my daughter created it for me.She's done a huge amount for me this year with building a website for me and setting up a newsletter.

I've done a couple of author events at my local library this year with Graham Bartlett and Biba Pearce in June, and Joanna Wallace and Janice Hallett in November. I also started a monthly writing group at the beginning of the year at the library and we're still going strong!

 

And a week ago, I wrote the two best words in writing - The End! The first draft of my new MS is complete. Of course, it's not really the end. Now the editing begins! To start off, I'm just reading it through and adding comments on sections that will need changing. That first read through is quite scary because this is where you find out if it all hangs together and makes some kind of sense. So far, it does but I haven't reached the part where I had to stop and restart after a six week break. Trying to get the momentum back was difficult and I don't know how much the writing suffered yet - hopefully not at all.

I spend so much time worrying whether my writing is any good and checking sales figures and royalties, that I forget to focus on what I've actually done. So, all in all, I think I can be quite proud of my achievements this year. What will 2025 bring?