Five Years, Seven Books

Five years ago it was April of 2014 and my first book, an MG fantasy-adventure called The Poison Boy was published... to very little fanfare.

Yesterday, after a final frenzied hammer at my laptop and a double-check with my co-author, I sent Storycraft to the publisher. Which, though I recognise it's far from finished, nevertheless draws book seven to a sort-of close.

In the last five years I've been hugely lucky. I struck another two deals for YA novels, got a gig with an educational publisher for a study-skills text-book, and managed to persuade them to publish a further two. Seven books in five years hasn't been easy, though.

And in between the successes there have been three abandoned novels that reached 30,000 words or so before being relegated to the Hangfire Smokehouse (the what? I hear you ask... check Hangfire for further details), there's been a change of career and a change of agent. There's been the small matter of raising a wonderful daughter - she's eight now - and staying afloat financially.

In short.... there's been a lot happening for a long time.

So I'm going to try and slow down for a little while. I've got a new book to be working on. I'll still be back here to share pedestrian observations and inane updates for the three or four of you who care ;-)

But for now, some time to reflect, decelerate and just write. Best wishes for 2019 - see you soon.