Shiny, shiny books!

Summer is here. The swallows have returned and the cuckoos are calling – it’s a beautiful time of year. I have lettuces and cabbages thriving in the garden, the tomato plants are starting to flower in the tunnel, and I have an array of seeds – hairy basil, kale, sprouts, chillies and peppers – starting to poke their heads through.

And even better, copies of my second book, Caramel Hearts, have arrived. Actual. Physical. Copies. It feels really fast but very exciting, and I’m still convincing myself that it’s real. That this is all actually happening.

However, before I sound like I’m on top of everything, please note: I have completely lost the art of conversation. I’m way behind the usual vegetable planting and I’m struggling to find some time to catch up. I haven’t seen most of my friends in a long, long, time (sorry everyone). And our grass has got so out of control, we’ve had to move some cows in to fix it for us. They’re very gentle neighbours, and as well as fantastic gardeners (the vegetables are protected), they double as great alarm clocks!

My favourite thing about this time of year is that the days are long. It’s light until almost 10pm, and dawn breaks before 6am. When you live somewhere with no streetlights for miles, this means freedom! Lots of extra daylight hours for walking, gardening – and maybe, dare I say it, finally catching up with friends? – as well as all the usual writing and freelancing time. This morning, I even edited outside, in the sun, and then had a paddle in the bracing Atlantic. What more could I ask for?

Happy tomatoes 🙂

When you do these things during the day in winter, you lose most of your best working hours – I’m a person who thrives on light and finds it difficult to write when it’s dark – but if you don’t, you go stir crazy! And yet, despite the long winter, and my aversion to writing in the dark, I’ve managed to get this far.

This far meaning Caramel Hearts is completed and *almost* here (publication date May 19^th) and The Book of Shadows – Nine Lives II is also completed; I’m just finishing up the proofs. My busiest months for festivals and events have passed (there are many more though, with Wexford next – check out my events page) and I’m about to start the final book in the Nine Lives Trilogy. Phew!

But first: I’m going to celebrate Caramel Hearts. I’m going to enjoy releasing it into the world (even though it’s a little bit terrifying)!

Publication day is a strange entity. It means that your books are officially ‘out there’ but other than that, it’s a bit of a damp squib. The buzz is all around the launch, which comes later. However, I’ve decided that I’m going to follow the advice of the lovely Mariam Kobras and make publication day more of a ‘thing’. It’s easy to get caught up in deadlines and forget to celebrate, but you only release your book once and so I’ve decided to ‘cop on’ as they say in these parts and enjoy it.

So, on May 19^th I’m having an all day long virtual ‘publication day party’ on twitter, facebook and this blog – and you’re invited! It’ll start around 8am and I’d love you to stop by and join in. It’s a bit of fun, a way to get some conversation about the book started, and a chance to win some goodies!

Hope to see you there 🙂