NEW BOOK in a year!

 I have just signed a contract for the publication of my next book. Feels pretty great... only wrote this in October 2021 so this is the fastest anything I have written has moved from my computer screen. 

Will share more news when I am able, but it looks like this book will have pictures!!! 

And of all my titles so far it has the title I love the best... I was struggling for the right title and went for a long walk far away from people and computers and phones. Lost in my own thoughts - which is sometimes an absence of all thought - it came to me, like a hawk dropping out of the sky... and I knew it was perfect. I had to keep saying it over and over - out loud and in my head - so I did not lose it before I got home (that can happen!!!).

My BIG BIG BIG News!!!

 My wee book is on a big list! Announced today is the 13 strong longlist of books for the very prestigious Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2022 – Hilary Mantel won it last year! It is that big. And my book, Blue Postcards, has found its way onto the list. Look at the other books and the other writers on the list, every one of them… this is great company to be in! And these other books are pretty amazing… go read them.

Hopefully this listing will put my book in front of a lot more readers, which after all is what you want for a book!

https://www.walterscottprize.co.uk/2022-longlist-revealed/

2022 longlist revealed

7th February, 2022

The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction has announced its 2022 longlist.

Thirteen novels are in contention for the £25,000 prize, with settings spanning from the 8th century BC up to the 1960s, and from all four nations of the United Kingdom to Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, the West Indies and the Punjab.

The longlist is: 

BLUE POSTCARDS Douglas Bruton (Fairlight Books)

SNOW COUNTRY Sebastian Faulks (Hutchinson Heinemann)

ROSE NICHOLSON Andrew Greig (Riverrun)

MRS ENGLAND Stacey Halls (Manilla Press)

THE BALLAD OF LORD EDWARD AND CITIZEN SMALL Neil Jordan (Lilliput Press)

THE SUNKEN ROAD Ciaràn McMenamin (Harvill Secker)

THE FORTUNE MEN Nadifa Mohamed (Viking)

NEWS OF THE DEAD James Robertson (Hamish Hamilton)

CHINA ROOM Sunjeev Sahota (Harvill Secker)

FORTUNE Amanda Smyth (Peepal Tree Press)

LEARWIFE J.R Thorp (Canongate)

THE MAGICIAN Colm Tóibín (Viking)

STILL LIFE Sarah Winman (Fourth Estate)

So, I Can Say This...

 I have two bits of news under my hat - one I cannot let out until next week, but the other I can say something about. I subbed a new work to a publisher a month ago and this afternoon we talked over the phone and they would like to publish the work in 2023... It was something I wrote quite quickly... over a period of 6-10 days. I wrote it for the joy and because it was an idea that would not leave me alone. I did not intend it for publication - I do not think I did - and, although I was encourgaed to send it out there, I did not really expect it to find a home; now, it seems, it has. That's it. That's all I can let out for now. Hat firmly back on my head. The other news, the big news, comes next week sometime. Thanks.

Good things come in threes?

I still cannot let the cat out of the bag just yet - that is, I cannot divulge the good news I am holding like a winning hard at cards, holding very close to my chest. But less than a week to go and I will let it all out, I promise.

And today I may have just received some more good news... I might know more tomorrow. Phone calls to publishers to discuss the project... eek! However, at this stage I can say that I am pretty blown away by the news and can't wait to share this also.

They say that good things comes in threes... can't think what the third piece of good news will be but I will keep an eye out for it.

Tahnks for reading and thanks for your patience. x