New Horizons

It's not writing news, but then again it might be in a few months time... I've moved. I've gone from the outskirts of East London (ish) to the Essex coastline so my evenings should look a lot more like this:

So far I've had to put writing to one side whilst I open a mountain of boxes. This is a slow process as I am also heavily pregnant so moving, bending, stretching, lifting, carrying and decision-making of any kind is just not happening.

But then again, I get to go and have lunch whilst looking at this:

I'm banking on all that fresh air resulting in bags of inspiration. Either that or I'll build a cardboard box fort. Fun all round really.

Cover Reveal - The Rose Thief

I am thrilled and delighted to share with you all the cover for my new book, The Rose Thief.

Designed by the very talented Ian Bristow, you can view his portfolio on his Deviant Art page.

The Rose Thief is a humorous fantasy novel. Ned Spinks, Chief Thief-Catcher has a problem. Someone is stealing the Emperor's roses. But that's not the worst of it. In his infinite wisdom and grace, the Emperor magically imbued his red rose with love so if it was ever removed from the Imperial Rose Gardens then love will be lost, to everyone, forever. It's up to Ned and his band of motley catchers to apprehend the thief and save the day. But the thief isn't exactly who they seem to be, neither is the Emperor. Ned and his team will have to go on a quest defeating vampire mermaids, illusionists, estranged family members and an evil sorcerer in order to win the day. What could possibly go wrong?

You can read the first chapter here - make sure you sign up for my newsletter for future updates.

The Rose Thief will be released on the 10th November 2017 - save the date!

Yay it's Autumn

Whilst we may not have the crispy leaves to kick about in wild abandon yet, I'm fairly certain the Christmas decorations are in the shops so it shouldn't be long before we get our gingerbread lattes (we don't really do pumpkin spice stuff in the UK) and everyone will be talking about who they're dressing up as for Halloween.

It's also a great time to reflect on what has happened in a year. This time last year I was an unpublished author. Today I have two books available to buy, The Gaia Effect and Tales from Suburbia; two short stories coming out in anthologies, A Quantum Soul and Tales from the Underground; and my new book, The Rose Thief, due out late Autumn. And there was me thinking I hadn't been very productive! Sometimes you just have to take a moment to step back and see how far you've come.

I've read 79 books so far this year, well on my way to achieving my 100 book total for the year and I have read some fantastic books this year by traditionally published authors and indie authors. You can follow me on Goodreads to see what I'm reading right now and of course let me know if you agree with my reviews or not! 

For someone who reads so voraciously, I actually find reviewing books quite difficult. I know how important it is, especially for indie authors, to get reviews of their books but I want to make sure I'm being helpful as well. It's a learning curve so I am constantly trying to improve. Read my post from February, 'Whatever You Do, Write a Review' to see how you can help support your favourite authors. I also decided to add a new vlog segment to my YouTube channel with a monthly round up of the books I've read and reviewed.

My latest book, The Rose Thief, is with beta readers and I am really looking forward to hearing their thoughts and getting my teeth into the next editing round. I have had some difficulties with finding the right person to create the artwork for my new book but I hope to be able to share some fantastic artwork with you all soon. 

Share with me your favourites things about Autumn and I promise not to mention the 'C' word again until at least December!