Living the #amwriting Life - March

Yesterday, I was in two minds as to whether I should carry on with this feature. As we're all living life in #lockdown was it going to be worth it? Then I remembered the commitment that I had made to myself to celebrate the little stuff as well as the big and decided to go ahead. I would be letting myself down if I didn't, and I was only 2 months into starting.

So... March… it was all fun and games for the first couple of weeks. The month kicked off with the Romantic Novel Awards ceremony in central London. Poppy's Recipe for Life was nominated - which was a huge honour in itself - unfortunately it didn't scoop the win, but the evening was a triumph nonetheless and it was wonderful to catch up with everyone. There weren't many pics of me from the night, but I love this one taken with my wonderful friend, Annette. And in case you were wondering, we were practicing our world famous ventriloquist and dummy number!

Just a couple of days later, it was World Book Day and I had a wonderful surprise. My friend Stephen is a high school librarian and to celebrate the day he created book themed worlds, in miniature. The students had to guess what the book was from the things he included. He enjoyed making them so much, he created one including my books, just for me. Isn't it gorgeous?

The following week Jenni Keer and I had a wonderful event in Eye library in Suffolk. You may have seen the post I shared about it? The turnout out was a huge surprise - standing room only - and very much appreciated. As always, it went on far longer than billed and looking back now, it kind of feels like it was the last hurrah ahead of things starting to change.

By the weekend, I had decided that going out wasn't the best thing to be doing with a vulnerable person in the house so I confined myself to barracks a good few days before we were all officially told to. That said, in spite of my diary suddenly emptying and many fabulous future events being cancelled, it didn't put a complete stop to the #amwriting Life.

I'm still in touch - through the joys of Zoom - with my RNA pals, agent and publishing team and of course, I'm still at the keyboard every day, working on the next book. More details to follow about that very soon. There's also The Secret Seaside Escape publication day virtual celebrations to plan. We all want to escape right now, don't we? I'm hoping wonderful Wynmouth on the Norfolk coast is going to be just what you need!

And last, but by no means least, the news broke that I have signed another contract with Simon & Schuster and this is a big 'un! 4 more fabulous books are going to be coming your way in the next couple of years and that will take the grand total to 15. 15! How amazing is that?

So there we have it. All things considered, March hasn't turned out too bad at all. Here's hoping that April is as enjoyable as it can be. It's my birthday on the 8th but I'm not making a fuss about it. I thought I might stay home, celebrate with a cuppa and maybe allow myself an extra sheet of loo roll to mark the occasion!

Stay safe my darlings and please, please, stay home!

H x