Books 4, 5 and 6

Well, a three book deal was signed so I'd better get on with it! Book 4 did, eventually, end up in a primitive first draft in ten weeks but only with about fifty extraneous characters and few descriptions, mostly because they would normally go in the next edits. It was painful sending a poorly finished draft off, especially as the editor (naturally) noticed all the flaws and nonsense that had crept in. I just hope it gets sorted out in the structural edit, although I have less time to turn that in as well. They wanted book 4 to come out on 18 July, which seems unnecessarily quick to me. I'm used to waiting a year for my favourite authors to throw out the next book! 

So at the moment (4 April) book 3 (Dreams of the Cottage by the Sea) has just come out, Book 4 (Coming Home to the Cottage by the Sea) is up for preorders and book 5 is in outline stage ready to start writing it. It feels like there's an awful lot going on in my head! 

They do look like a proper series, even if all the stories are independent. 

I'm enjoying the process and I'm starting to see some financial benefits, especially as books 2 and 3 have been commissioned in audiobook as well. But it's very hard to make a living from writing, as everyone who has ever tried knows, so I'm still working to keep the series going. I am getting fretful about my crime book which is so nearly finished, and hopefully I can get into the last few chapters at some point in May and send it off to an editor to spruce it up. 

Meanwhile, I have computer woes. i hate using the Mini Mac I bought last year, Word doesn't work the same and I'm an unsophisticated creature of habit. So I'm looking out for a new PC, which my son might build for me. The last one he did (only overwhelmed by all the new software that it had to take on) lasted for ages and loads of books. But it's too old for Windows 10 really, and can't cope with all the track changes in the new version of Word so needs a reboot. 

New book deal, just trying to keep up

I was thrilled to be offered a new three book deal in January. I wasn't so thrilled to find out I had to write all three in 2023, hand in dates 31 March, 31 July and 30 November. Ouch. Especially since I didn't start the first book until 16 January so I only had ten weeks to write what will be book 4 for Bookouture. 

At least I don't have any edits to do for the other books as Dreams of the Cottage by the Sea (and no, I don't make up the titles) comes out on 4th April and is all done. It's so lovely to come to it all polished and I even was able to enjoy a story I know inside out. Sometimes you're just sick of a book, to be honest!

Book 4, which doesn't have a name yet, is coming along nicely (up to 55k words) but I never know if they are any good until I've had a proper edit and hard prune, before I hand it in. I made the mistake of trying to write alternate chapters (two separate timelines) but I think the characters work better if you invest in the 100% and write two separate stories, linking them up through editing. Deep down I'm a novella writer, I just link two stories together.

Interestingly, book 1 has received all the publicity and has sold really well. It's also come out in audiobook and I was thrilled to find out yesterday that Memories of the Cottage by the Sea and Dreams of the Cottage by the Sea will both get the same treatment, and I get a lovely advance as well. Hooray! It's available on Audible too. 

For those of you who have asked recently, Bookouture now has a SFF imprint and had taken on its first writers. I'm looking forward to seeing if there's a place for Finding Noah, my unpublished contemporary fantasy. Who knows what will happen after book 5 and 6 are done?

New book, new year

Well, where has the time gone? I'm loving how book 2 is finding its own way in the world and book 1 has sold well. It seems like it's sold well to me, anyway! 

I'm working on a new one, while putting the final polish to Dreams of the Cottage by the Sea. I'm still not in love with the titles, to be honest, but i can't come up with good titles so bow to their greater knowledge. It's selling in pre-order very well, so I'm pleased that readers who liked book 1 have followed up. 

 Marketing is still a mystery to me. I thought they would launch book 2, Memories of the Cottage by the Sea, but instead they gave a boost to book 1. And it worked, they used Bookbub to bump book 1 into the 31 on Kindle in the UK and 32 in the US. I actually have no idea what Bookbub is but - yay! Great.  

Meanwhile, back at the desk... I am trying to get my head around a new computer. Worse, it's a Mini Mac (why, why?) that has MS Word on it. It's been a challenge just trying to find everything, but i think I'm there. My old one hasn't handled the many upgrades to new versions of Windows and Word very well, it no longer copes well with track changes and sometimes just stops working. I can't remember why I thought going for an Apple computer seemed like a good idea. I don't have an I-phone or I-pad or anything. But the new book is rolling off onto that and the old computer is finishing off book 3. 

I now feel like a proper commercial writer, writing stories (sort of) to order but being able to come up with stories, shape the characters and largely not stick to any sort of formula. I finally got paid - not very much, just one month's money - so I can donate all my pre-order money to the Children's Hospice SW. As the sudden breadwinner, I can see that over time, I'll have enough revenue to replace my husband's unexpectedly whisked away income. 

I still yearn to write crime books though. I'm going to have to pay(!) for a structural edit of the crime book I have almost finished. I like the idea of developing my main characters, they seem so real now after several years of working with them. Anyway, back to checking the final files of book 3 then - whoosh! off it goes. It's released on 4th April 2023, and it's £1.99 on Kindle.