Well, it’s that time of year again! I know I’m not the only one to be making New Year’s Resolutions, but I do think I’m unusual in taking a cold, hard look at what my resolutions were for last year…and asking whether I lived up to them.

So, what were they?

1. Sell a non-fiction book! I now have an agent, Kate Walsh with United Agents, and we’ll be going out on submission with a non-fiction book in the coming weeks. Watch this space!
2. To continue to diversify my publishing income. I love everything I do right now, but I never want to be so dependent on one source in case that collapsed.
3. I want to improve my editing skills. It’s something I’ve really been working on recently after such useful insight and feedback from my publishers, so I want to write even cleaner manuscripts for them.

So, how did I do?

Number 1…has been completely successful! I sold REGINA: THE QUEENS WHO COULD HAVE BEEN to The History Press and it will be coming out in October 2024. I’m so excited about this, a dream of mine that I have achieved. Thank you so much for your support on this 🥰

What about number 2? Well, I most definitely have continued to diversify my publishing income. I now write for both Dragonblade and Harlequin/Mills&Boon (HarperCollins), as well as broadening my client list for line edits and proofreading. I’ve also taught a lot more this year than any year before, and have loved every minute of it!

And thirdly, number 3? I’ve been working with a different editor at Dragonblade this year, and a new editor (to me!) at Harlequin/Mills&Boon, and it has challenged me in new ways. It’s funny: I always find it so easy to see what another author should do with their manuscript, but it’s so much harder to critique your own…

But I do think I’ve made good progress. We’ll just have to see if my readers agree!

So. What about my resolutions for 2024?

Actually…I’m not going to make resolutions for 2024!

😅

Curveball!

I have found the last three years that making New Year’s Resolutions actually really stressful. It puts on even more pressure than I’ve already got, and so this year…I’m just going to love what I do, and do it the best I can do.