An author friend on social media recently decided to take an online hiatus; she had been tirelessly marketing all of her indie-published books, running free promotions and giveaways, and wrote a rather dejected post about how she was reaping very little for all her hard work, including getting only a handful of post likes – to the point where she decided on a complete digital detox to refocus her author career goals.
I can relate.
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My goals for 2024 are different. I want to focus much more on having a positive mindset this year rather than having X number of books published, reading X number of books, or losing X number of inches off my waistline. I want to focus on the here-and-now rather than dwelling on negative things in the past, which admittedly consumed me a lot last year. I want to make positive changes to the things I can control and accept the things I can’t (and doing so without regret would be good too). I want to spend more time out of my head and in reality with people I care about and not slip into a negative mindset focusing on bad things that have happened.
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Why not borrow my books, if you want to read them, but money is tight? When you borrow books from a library, it also means the author still gets paid a small amount for each borrow – and you support libraries in the process. Pictured above are two of my books available on the shelves at Ormeau Road Library in Belfast – I’m glad to see that the others are out on loan! I always enjoy stopping by to check up on my books while I borrow others. They’re also on the ground floor of Belfast Central Library in the ‘Irish Writers’ section and on the second floor in ‘Heritage’.
Continue readingHappy New Year, dear readers. I hope 2024 is a good one for you – and for me. Don’t you just love a blank slate, though? A brand new year to make a fresh start? Whether you’re goal oriented, like me, or whether getting by is simply enough (and that’s okay too, I’ve had years like that and surviving is sometimes hard enough) it’s nice to take a moment to see a fresh perspective.
This year, I have a few vague plans in mind. I say vague because I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. Making a commitment, then not achieving it, can be disheartening. I like to set a vague goal, and then aim, roughly, in that direction. Here’s what I have in mind for 2024:
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It’s New Year’s Eve and so another year draws to a close. In order to make a plan for the year ahead, I like to summarise the good, the okay and the bad for the year, to see where I am at. With that in mind, here is my 2023 reflection:
THE GOOD
Books published in 2023:
I published three books: my third full poetry collection, Toebirds & Woodlice; my first short story collection, Diabolical Dreamscapes and my fifth novel, Matthew’s Twin.
Award wins in 2023:
The Blue Man won a Chill with a Book Premier Readers’ Award in March 2023 and The Fairy Lights won an Author Shout Reader Ready Award in the category of Recommended Read 2024.
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Non-bookish post today. The end of the year always brings with it some time for reflection. Since doing keto during lockdown in 2020, and losing 42 lbs/18 kg/ 3 stone, my weight has tended to yo-yo and I have found myself putting on up to a stone (14 lbs) in the winter months each year, only to lose it again in the months leading up to summer. Exasperated with this recent annual pattern, I have decided to do something different this year.
Why I decided to take action
Since July I have put on 7 lbs/ 3 kgs. I found this out while doing my monthly weigh-in on December 17th and decided that I needed to take strict action. During the winter months, I have a tendency towards emotional eating. Having colds and flus generally makes me feel sorry for myself and seek comfort in carbs. Not just any carbs either, but some of the worst processed junk in the form of convenience snacks.
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Merry Christmas…if you celebrate it, that is. The date falls within the 12 days of yuletide, so it’s one of the days in our household where we share gifts and eat far too much. What I love about this time of year is focusing on the seasonal stories. Folklore is important to me, as a writer, but also as a mother. I know, and I value, the power of words. To that end, what I’m going to say next may shock you, if there are any little ones in your family…
Continue readingThe shortest day of the year falls between 3-4am this year on December 22nd, and that means it’s officially winter here in the northern hemisphere. As has been the custom for thousands of years, we also celebrate the return of the sun. Of course, this was more significant in ancient times, when famine was prevalent throughout winter in Europe, as crops couldn’t grow. Sacrificing a cow for the ancients meant you wouldn’t have to feed it during the coldest months, and could have a feast providing sustenance for your entire tribe. Win win!
These days, we still do the feasting and the merriment. But, what of the other old traditions?
As a former archaeologist, I value history, and human traditions. I enjoy celebrating Saturnalia (Dec 17) and Yule ( this year Dec 22) as I like the aspect of welcoming the sun back into the world. Lighting candles is a fun way I like to do this.
Continue readingI don’t tend to do many live author events, mainly because I find that pouring my advertising budget into sponsored ads on Amazon reaps most sales, compared to buying author copies and selling them at signing events. But, this winter, I made an exception by doing the annual Christmas Fayre in my hometown, Belfast.
As an introvert, it takes a lot of energy to chat about my books and sell copies live to customers. I must admit I prefer checking into my KDP or Ingramspark dashboards and seeing new sales, or Kindle page reads appear, rather than selling directly to customers in face to face events. That’s not to say that I can’t be sociable while in the midst of an author signing; it just takes much more energy for me to organise and participate in physical events.
This Fayre was a lot of fun, I have to say. I enjoyed having complimentary coffee while selling my books, and getting some of my own seasonal shopping done from the other stalls at the same time.
I promised an update on my 1st December post about the Author Shout Reader Ready Awards and I have great news – The Fairy Lights has received a ‘Recommended Read 2024’ award! I got the exciting news yesterday by email from the Author Shout Awards team, which was a lovely surprise. The full list of award winners can be read here.
This is my second award win, since The Blue Man won a Chill with a Books a Premier Readers’ Award in February this year, and also jointly Book of the Month. That makes 2 out of 3 award-winning books in my Belfast Ghosts trilogy. Hurray!
Another of my books was prize-nominated but didn’t win; A Model Archaeologist was longlisted for the Melita Hume Poetry Prize 2014, which led to a contract in 2015 with Eyewear Publishing. After 5 years, the rights reverted back to me, and I’ve since released A Model Archaeologist as a full collection.
The Fairy Lights is still on a 99p Kindle countdown deal for one more day, if any UK readers want to grab a promotional priced copy. It’s a fantastical yuletide novel that’s a good fit for Christmas if you’re looking for a seasonal ghost story – so why not grab a copy while it’s on a discount!
