Looking Forward to 2023

Looking Forward to 2023

Looking Forward to 2023

Now December is here, I’m getting ready for Sarra Cannon’s brilliant planning system, HB90 Bootcamp.

It kicks off on the 11th of December with a livestream, and course enrolment is open until early that day. If you’re a writer, or just a busy person who needs to inject some planning into their life, take a look.

I can’t recommend Sarra’s courses highly enough. HB90 is a game changer.

You can find more information here.

*I’m not currently an affiliate, but I may be in the future.

Mugs of hot chocolate in front of a blazing fire

So, once the course starts, I’ll be planning for the first quarter of 2023. Here’s what I already know:

  • Book 2 of Not the Same River, From Tangled Roots Come Twisted Wings, will be released on January 27th (it’s already available for preorder).
  • A historical spinoff novella, featuring my MC’s neighbours, the Merryweather coven, will be released some time in March.
  • I’ll be prepping Book 3 of Not the Same River, Of Blood & Oil, for its release in April.
  • In March, I’ll be doing HB90 again for Q2. This planning stuff is neverending!
  • My writing projects are as yet undecided.

This has not been a writing year for me. Last year, I wrote eleven books. This year, I’ve written one, which I steamed through during NaNoWrimo, and finally finished on December 4th, which would’ve been my grandad’s 100th birthday. If he was immortal. It was a desperate race to the finish line, but it’s done. In the bag.

To be fair to myself, I also wrote a 40k bonus story for members of the Th1rt3en Club, which is what I call my monthly newsletter to make it sound fancy.

It is fancy. Come join us!

So, no. It has not been a writing year for me. At least, not as much as usual. But, I did rebuild my website, which was a huge undertaking given the state it was in. And I did set up my newsletter, which included a tonne of automations, thanks to that 40k bonus story I mentioned up there. I also formatted and published a novella, which is also free and exclusive for members of the Th1rt3en Club. And I published my first book. It’s not like I’m slacking over here.

Self publishing is hard work. You have to be all things. I outsourced my cover design and editing, but I did everything else myself. I’m a fiction writer, a formatter, a proofreader, a website builder, a marketing manager, a copywriter, a publisher, a business owner. It’s a lot, and I hope it’ll turn out to be worth it.

I’m proud of my achievements this year, and can’t wait to see where next year takes me. What I do know is this: by next December, I will be the author of seven published books instead of one, and I’ll be back here to celebrate with you.

However you spend the holiday season, I hope you have a wonderful time with the people who love you.

WIP Snippet #6

WIP Snippet #6

WIP Snippet #6

Puddles in the Pavement

 

In honour of British Puddings Day, I bring you a snippet about my pudding-scoffing archangel sleuth, Uriel, from Puddles in the Pavement. Here, he’s just hoisted the newspaper and his pudding from the ground to his upstairs window by way of a bucket. This is the first story in which you’ll meet Uriel in the flesh, unless you subscribe to my newsletter and read the bonus story. Uriel will make a detective of you yet. And he’ll stuff you with pudding. Spotted Dick is not what it sounds like.

character art of Raven Albright. Young man with long black hair and makeup.

WIP Progress

Puddles in the Pavement: draft complete, 30,046 words

Series: Tales from the Noctuary (#2)

Stage: edited, ready for publication

Projected publishing date: Summer 2023

“They’ll be lining up from here to Bishopsgate if you keep giving them half a crown for a pudding,” said Bel.

“How do you know it was half a crown?”

“Please! I can tell exactly which coin and exactly how far down the bucket was. I have a knack for these things.”

“Pointless things,” Uriel huffed.

“You’ll be financing her move to Pimlico. Then who will make your puddings?”

“The boy needs new shoes. If he doesn’t have them within the week, you and I are going shopping.”

“You can buy my new boots while you’re at it.”

Uriel threw the newspaper at Bel. “Christ, it’s still warm.”

Bel let out a long sigh. “These rooms are stifling, and the sun’s barely up.”

“Yesterday you complained about the rain.”

“Why must the British weather try to fit in every meteorological phenomenon in a single month? It’s supposed to be spring.”

Uriel did not respond.

“I hate it here,” Bel tried.

Uriel remained silent. There were only so many times he could listen to his brother beg to open the Mayfair house before he gave in. Of all his brothers, Bel was the most persuasive and his favourite, two factors which, when combined, usually had Uriel giving in quickly. Just this once, he was determined to stand his ground.

He settled by the window, his breakfast bowl already waiting on the small mahogany table. He carved himself a portion of the steaming pudding with a giant spoon and doused it in custard.

Bel waited for Uriel’s first moan of delight before giving him the news. “There have been twelve reports of missing persons over the last two days.”

Want a free ARC?

Want a free ARC?

Want a free ARC?

A Storm of Paper Starlings is now available as an ARC at BookSirens

character art of Raven Albright. Young man with long black hair and makeup.

A Storm of Paper Starlings is now available to read and review for free at BookSirens.

When an accident lands Violet in hospital, her mundane life in a London children’s home is disrupted by relatives she’s never heard of—the Penhaligons—and a mysterious visitor who disappears into the night after claiming he’s the father of the twin sister she never knew she had.

With her long-lost sister, Amethyst, to find, Violet turns to her new family for help. But the Penhaligons are far from ordinary.

Power and magic lurk at the priory, Violet’s new home in the Oxfordshire countryside, and she learns fast that nothing is ordinary there, least of all the hostile new neighbours—a coven of vampires, vaewolves, and demons.

As Violet grapples with family secrets, four powerful new brothers, and latent abilities of her own, Amethyst and the man who raised her find themselves in mortal danger—a danger that draws Violet and her family into a battle to save them.

Finally embracing the meaning of family, two questions burn at the back of Violet’s mind.

If vampires and demons exist, what are the Penhaligons?

And what is she?

~~~

A Storm of Paper Starlings is book one of six. Book two is coming in January 2023.

WIP Snippet #4

WIP Snippet #4

WIP Snippet #4

Legacies Unmasked

 

This is a little Halloweenish peak into book 5 of Not the Same River (no spoilers). It’s just a brief text conversation between Violet and her best friend, Leia, about the abominable Aunt Gretchen, who first appears in Of Blood & Oil, book 3 of Not the Same River.

Happy Halloween!

character art of Raven Albright. Young man with long black hair and makeup.

WIP Progress

Legacies Unmasked: draft complete, 177k (not sorry)

Series: Not the Same River (#5)

Stage: awaiting line & copy edits

Projected publishing date: October 2023

Leia:

Aunt Gretchen invited me over for dinner.

Violet:

Ew! You gonna go?

Leia:

Don’t have much choice, but it’s gonna be such a let down after Archer’s cooking.

Violet:

She can’t cook?

Leia:

She doesn’t even have a spice rack, let alone a spice cupboard like you’ve got. She’s just got table salt in a shaker that looks like Little Bo Peep, and a shepherd boy stuffed to the gills with white pepper. And I guess since it’s Halloween season, she’s probably got pumpkin spice disguised as a porcelain crone or something.

creepy halloween pumpkin patch

WIP Snippet #3

WIP Snippet #3

WIP Snippet #3

Puddles in the Pavement

 

Last week, I gave you a snippet from DeMobbed featuring Gabriel (you know, the one from the nativity). This snippet is from Puddles in the Pavement, the second book in the Tales from the Noctuary series, which is set in the late Victorian era.

character art of Raven Albright. Young man with long black hair and makeup.

WIP Progress

Puddles in the Pavement: draft complete, 30, o46 words

Series: Tales from the Noctuary (#2)

Stage: edited, ready for publication

Projected publishing date: summer 2023

Rosemont steepled his fingers together over his desk, eyeing his visitors with the sharpest of blue eyes. “To what do I owe the pleasure, gentlemen?”

Uriel and Bel shared a worried look.

Rosemont glanced at the man hovering by the door. “You may leave, Jelly.”

He bowed his way out. “Your grace.”

When the door was firmly closed and Rosemont was certain the man had gone back to his own desk, he said, “If you’ve come to turn my life upside down, you’re too late.”

The two men sighed as if they’d both been holding their breath.

Uriel quirked an eyebrow. “A bit bold for the workplace, isn’t it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Jelly?”

“Good grief, Uriel, it’s the man’s name. Do you think I routinely gift my employees with ridiculous terms of endearment?”

“Perhaps not routinely,” Uriel admitted. “His name is really Jelly?”

Rosemont massaged his temples. Oh, to have had just one week without a visit from this meddlesome pair.

“We’re here about Lord Farringdon,” said Bel.

Rosemont sighed. “I heard you two had been poking your noses in.”

“The man confessed,” said Bel.

“It’s a pity he cannot be tried twice,” said Rosemont. “We can have him up for perjury, of course, but—”

“The God-Wolf didn’t take him for the murders of five women,” Uriel said.

“He took him for the murders of eight,” Bel added.

WIP Snippets #2

WIP Snippets #2

WIP Snippet #2

DeMobbed 2

 

This snippet is from the second book of DeMobbed (working title), a duology that is my only series set in the U.S. This snippet comes close to the end of the book, but it’s not too spoilery. Gabriel features in the Not the Same River series, and Puddles in the Pavement, a historical spin-off in which I accidentally made him the Home Secretary.

character art of Raven Albright. Young man with long black hair and makeup.

WIP Progress

DeMobbed 1: draft complete, 87,283 words

DeMobbed 2: draft in progress, 108, 727 words

Series: DeMobbed duology

Stage: combined developmental edits

Projected publishing date: late 2024

Gabriel raised an eyebrow but didn’t confirm one way or the other. “The point is, Montero believes he has the stone, and he called in Ash Nightstorm.”

Indy froze at the name, which he’d always thought of as a dippy hippy name, but it was taking on a different complexion now, and he didn’t like that.

“Who the heck in a hat-stand is Ash Nightstorm?” asked Ursula. “Are we playing Dungeons and Dragons now?”

Indy kept silent.

“Do none of you know how to keep your peace?” Raphael boomed.

“Don’t you start with me, Thor. I’m supposed to be driving my ambulance right now, attending normal accidents like, oh I just fell on this cucumber, and my cheating husband just walked into this pitchfork, not whatever the hell this is.”

“I’m sorry to spoil your plans for tonight, Ms Fields,” said Gabriel. “And while they do sound fun, saving the world will look much more impressive on your resumé when you’re job hunting.”

“I like my job just fine, thank—” Ursula’s face fell. “They’re gonna fire me, aren’t they?”

“You absconded with an ambulance and a coma patient,” Gabriel reminded her.

Ursula pouted. “They made me do it.”

“I’m sure you can sing your way out of the consequences,” said Gabriel, “but Astaroth tells me you’re destined for greater things.”

Ursula sat a little straighter. “Really?”

Gabriel nodded. “Can we get on?”

Ursula waved her hand elegantly for Gabriel to continue.

He didn’t seem to mind, but as he drew breath to speak, Sunny blurted, “Okay, but who is Ash Stormcloud?”

“Nightstorm,” Indy corrected, swallowing hard. “And he’s my father.”