A bit of a ramble this month.I am so excited to see Richard and Rose back on the shelves, virtual and physical! I know they've been around forever, and in several different incarnations, but I am so proud of these books, the first success I ever had as an author.
I started writing them when my children were little, as a respite from the nappy changing, wheels on the bus singing and Thomas the Tank Engine reading. I loved them, but I did need some time to myself. So I made space. When they were napping, at nursery school, in the very brief snatches of time I had, I wrote. I'd always written, always made up stories, but for myself. As far as I knew, Richard and Rose would be the same. Until I got the opportunity to see them published, and boy, did that start something!
I told you it waa a bit of a ramble, but sometimes rambling is the best thing ever. Setting out to wander, without knowing where you're going to end up, when the journey is more fun than getting there. I try never to forget that part.
This month I've been doing a lot of planning. Books and real life. I'm plotting a new series that I'm sending to Kensington. The Shaws finish at the end of the year. I'll have no unmarried Shaws left! I do have characters in the Emperors that have yet to find their stories, but I've been fired up with devising an entirely new series, set in the same era, but with a new set of characters. What do you think? Should I do it?
Of course that depends a lot on my publisher. I want to write, and I resent any time taken away from writing in order to promote and so on. But I have to do it, and the contact I make is at a comfortable level for me. I guess I don't have the entrepreneurial spirit. I should beg you all for reviews, mentions, spread the word, all that, but really, all I can bring myself to do is to say enjoy the books, and if you genuinely want to spread the word about them, I'd be very grateful.
I'm not offering bribes, making promises or buying reviews outright. Yes. times are tricky. but not impossible, and while I can write and publish the stories I love, I'll continue to do so.
So just - thanks. For being here, for reading and for making the author community such fun.
Other plans? At the end of this month I'll be in the USA! It's a winding journey, one I should chronicle more thoroughly, but I'm too busy having fun to write it all down! I'm going to be in New York, then in Washington, DC, then Reno for RT Booklovers' Convention, and Los Angeles. It all takes a lot of planning and I'm woefully behind in doing it. I have the flights booked, and a few of the hotels, but not all of them.
If you're in those areas, let me know. Perhaps we can meet up!
I'm very excited to go to these places. I've been to all of them before, and I always find them vibrant and enthralling. So here's to seeing you in May!
By the way, for those of you who review books, Dauntless is now up at Netgalley. It's out at the end of June, and one step closer to saying farewell to the family that has engrossed me for the last four years.
