Six months of The Seawomen

I can’t believe it’s been six months since The Seawomen was published. It’s been an incredible time and I wanted to share with you my highlights and what’s next!

Publication Day

I’d been prewarned by friends that publication day can feel a little flat, and considering I’d had my book launch party the week before (my brother’s wedding and my publication day happened in the same week so I moved my party!), I planned a celebratory meal with my mum which was a nice, lowkey way to enjoy the moment. When I got home, it was lovely to see messages of support online and I’d received so many cards and gifts even my postman asked what was going on!

Readers and reviews

Of course, as soon as the novel was published, I began to get reviews, meet readers and receive messages from total strangers who had loved The Seawomen. I don’t tend to read reviews these days as it’s something that can be difficult to read, but speaking to readers and hearing their thoughts - be it in person or on social media - is one of the most rewarding and incredible parts of the whole process. Thank you if you are one of those people who have got in touch!

Bookshop events

As you can imagine bookshops are a haven to authors, so where else feels more magical to spend time doing events? I did a sold-out local event in a brand new bookshop, a signing in a local Waterstones and more recently a Q&A event at Waterstones Canterbury. Bookshops, especially those local to me in Kent, have been warm and supportive and it was a particularly wonderful moment to see my book displayed in the window of several stores.

Festivals

One of my first events as a published author was the Margate Bookie festival. Having attended several of their festivals, it was amazing to go back as a fully-fledged author and be interviewed by one of my brilliant author friends, Susannah Wise.

Then in September I went to Devon for a long weekend for the wonderful Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival where I took part in a sea themed evening of music and readings and then a panel talk for female debuts, alongside Joanna Quinn and Sophie Irwin, interviewed by Cathy Rentzenbrink. This was one of my favourite experiences of the whole year. Cathy put us all at ease and then meeting festival goers afterwards as they queued for signings was so special.

Podcasts

Not only has my own podcast, Confessions of a Debut Novelist, gone from strength to strength, I’ve also been fortunate to be a guest on several other podcasts too. Hear them below:

Going back to the University of Kent

It was an honour to be invited back to the University of Kent twice in these past six months. First, I spent an evening at the School of English being interviewed by my former tutor and writer Amy Sackville answering questions from enthused students. I’m December I was invited to give a talk at the Templeman Library and received a great response from attendees.

Mentoring and Judging

It’s been a dream come true this year to work for two fantastic writing organisations - The Literary Consultancy and Curtis Brown Creative - as a mentor. I’ve been mentoring two incredible writers on their fantastic work-in-progress novels. It’s so rewarding and really good fun to spend time analysing their work and helping them resolve issues. There’s so much about writing that’s solitary so any time you get to collaborate it’s a real pleasure. If you are interested in being mentored by me, read more here.

I’m also a judge for the Society of Authors’ ADCI (authors with disabilities and chronic illness) inaugural prize which I’m very much looking forward to taking part in.

Writing Book 2

You might remember at the beginning of 2022 I wrote a blog about creative burnout and how I was taking small steps to start writing again. I’d been writing something new in November last year but after a few months I realised the story idea I had wasn’t working. In January I started working on a new idea. That idea turned into an 8000-word plan (sorry pantsers!) and now I’m 37k into writing a first draft. I’ve had moments this year where I wasn’t writing at all. I’ve been suffering with an unexplainable pain this year and my motivation took a kicking. I’m August I set up a weekly Zoom writing club inspired by an online retreat I did with my friend and fellow author Jennie Godfrey. Then in August I took a historical fiction course run by Imogen Hermes Gower which really inspired me. My agent is very enthusiastic about my new novel and I’m excited too! I’m hoping to have reached 50k by February - about halfway through - and have a full draft ready for editing next year. I can’t wait for you all to read this one!

What’s next?

The paperback of The Seawomen comes out in May and it’s getting a brand-new look! The designers will be working on the new cover in early 2023 and I’m so excited to see it and share it.

I hope the paperback will reach new readers or perhaps those who are unable to afford or don’t like hardbacks. But if you have an e-reader, Kindle and other ebook versions of The Seawomen are currently 99p until December 23rd.