Happy New Year everyone! 2018 was a bit of a trial for me, a year of mourning after Mum died on my 50th birthday in November 2017. The first part was a bit of a blur; my memory of it shaky to say the least. They say you sleepwalk through grief just processing what is necessary to get through the days and I think this is what happened to me.

I do know that a book I had invested years in, both in writing and in getting published and marketed, didn’t sell. This was a major disappointment. Fifteen Minutes was shortlisted for two major awards and got some amazing reviews but nobody bought it. There are many possible reasons for this and sometimes it just turns out this way but throughout 2018 I did feel as though my Cinderella had done all the work and had her ticket to the ball only to be turned away at the door by the bouncers. It hurt – a lot – but I’m bored of feeling hard done to now, so onwards and upwards. Even with disappointment comes knowledge, I know what does and doesn’t work in marketing, I know that it’s not always my fault when things don’t happen, I know that I have done my very best.

As we welcome in 2019, I feel like I’m on the brink of new things. A couple of unexpected mentoring

alcohol beach break celebration

Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi on Pexels.com

jobs have come my way and I have applied to a few funding sources to get my new book researched and finished. The Brighton Prize is taking a break so we can dedicate the year to really putting it on the literary comp map. Next year could be very exciting indeed. This book is obviously the one, third time lucky and all that. Wish me luck and here’s to you.