Okay, I admit it. When I released The Garden Plot in May 2020, I was hugely excited, but didn't really think it would change my life.
Nearly a year on, I've written three books in total and I'm just about to release a fourth. So my writing might not have changed my life yet, but if I thought this was a hobby that might capture my interest for a bit - I was wrong.
It's slow going, of course. I'm no JK Rowling. But I have sold some books, received some lovely (and some less enthusiastic) reviews and I feel as if the people on my mailing list really want to be there.
Little acorns, and all that.
But at the end of May, I'll have been an author for a year and I've done what millions of people spend their lives saying they're going to do. I have written a book. Several, in fact, and with lots more on the 'slate'.
Often, we don't give ourselves the credit for the time, effort and love we put in to create things - whether it be a book, a relationship, building a business, building a home. But on this occasion, when I realise what I've done in the last year, I feel some pride in my achievement.
For which I'm taking a bow. In these tough, tough times, reflect and if you find yourself looking back and thinking - 'Blimey, I've done a lot!' - you should take a bow too.
PS: My coming launch will be for The Glasshouse Effect, the next in the English Garden Romance series. Originally three books, it's now going to be four, as my characters got away from me!