Summer Update

The update is there is none sorry

Wow surprise!!

So, this newsletter has been on hold for a while. I took an initial break last Winter because I was busy promoting Snowed In and writing my next book. I then decided to continue that break until we announced the aforementioned next book, but then it was decided not to announce for a while, so I was like, okay, ‘Indefinite hold!?’

No! I choose chaos. Here’s a random summer newsletter.

A lot of people are new here because you all signed up for the Holiday Romance short story, but you should also know that my newsletters are great? Just very interesting stuff. You can read all my past ones on my Substack page. I genuinely spent a lot of time on them and hopefully helped some people!! Read them and stick around if you like, but if you just wanted the free stuff, I don’t judge you. I love free stuff.

Anyway, let’s get into it.

***There will be no new book from me this year.***

I wanted to say this now because I think a lot of people understandably assume there will be. But there isn’t! I did write another one (Let’s call it Book 6. That seems catchy) and we’re in the middle of edits right now. Hopefully, we’ll be able to share more news after the summer. Real talk, I would like to thank everyone for being very patient with me on this. I know I’ve set an expectation of a quick publishing schedule, but I’ll be slowing down in the future for reasons I’ll explain below (tl;dr I am tired).

Burnout and Balance

One thing you should know about me is that I’m a fast writer. Not everyone is a fast writer, but I am. If it’s a rom-com, I can probably get you a first draft in eight weeks. It won’t be a good one, but it will be something. It’s just that as well as a fast writer, I’m a big carer. I care maybe too much about my books. I want every single thing I put out into this world to be the best I can make in the time that is given to me. This means that when writing a book, I often become obsessed with it during the editing process. Long after my agent and editors have given the thumbs up on a draft, I am still moving jokes around and swapping words. I read it over and over and over again until I need to go scream at the moon or like have a nap or something. I will never change on this. It’s how I work. But it is exhausting. And it exhausted me.

I’ve spoken before about how, around the time Holiday Romance was published, I started finding things very tough. This was because of two things. One, I was working extremely hard and had reached the burnout stage. Two, I was furious with myself that I was burning out at all. After years of trying to get published, things were actually going well, and becoming a full-time author surely meant I should be writing more, not less. (Yes, I am the eldest daughter).

The burnout didn’t go away. This is because I kept working through it (dumb!) and was terrified of failure. I have always lived with anxiety, but my work schedule tipped that into a panic disorder that I’m still climbing my way out of. (I am happy to say I am much, much better than I was.) I pushed through because I knew I had to. I got The Matchmaker out and went straight into Snowed In. I should have taken a break between those two books (my agent and publisher were more than fine about me doing so) but I made a financial decision that it would be best for it to come out quickly to pair with Holiday Romance. This decision paid off. Snowed In was a hit. I took a step up the invisible career ladder. I got an accountant. I bought a handbag. But it meant to keep that success going, I couldn’t take a break.

I wrote Book 6 in November/December last year while in the middle of promotion. I worked on my holiday. I cancelled plans. I was up at 5 a.m. on Christmas Day, writing chapters. I spent all of January in my apartment editing it. Again, my decision paid off, and there are a lot of exciting things to come. However, the most exciting thing that happened to me in the last few weeks was the moment I realised I was finally where I promised myself I would be. I was in a position to slow down. I knew this was the right choice when the thought of starting another book filled me with horror. That’s not an exaggeration. It’s also something I’d never felt before. So I slowed and here I am. Writing you a newsletter to tell you I have no news. And I feel great.

I’m still writing every day, but I’m also reading a lot more. I’m seeing friends a lot more. I watched a whole series of a television show. I’m trying non-rom-com projects for the first time in years because I finally have the space to fail again. I’m taking sick days and not feeling guilty as sin about them. It’s a whole new world, but I had to make some big, risky decisions to get here. This isn’t me telling you that I shouldn’t have worked as hard as I did. I wouldn’t be where I am if I hadn’t. But maybe remember this the next time an author takes some time off or goes quiet for a while. Or maybe when you’re dreaming of the day you’ll be able to write full-time. Even the easiest of reads are labors of love, and sometimes dreams can be as hard as real life.

Next month will be my three-year anniversary as a published author. In that time, I’ve achieved more than I ever thought I would, but I still feel like I’m only getting started. I’m so incredibly excited about what’s to come and all the stories I want to tell. There will be a lot more news in the next few months, but for now, thank you for sticking with me and, as always, thank you for reading.

ACTUAL UPDATES

The Rebound paperback is now available in The Works in the UK. Thank you to everyone who sent me pictures! Very cool!

Snowed In will be available in paperback in US stores this Christmas and also in the UK and Ireland. More on that when I have it! It’s also been sold in 12 languages so far and some of those covers have cropped up online! I love this one from my Dutch publisher.

Okay, that’s it! I spilled some soup on my keyboard while writing this my fault for having soup in the summer. Goodbye!

C x