New Beginnings

AUG 2023

It all begins with a few words on a page.

My first blog, which I pressed publish on over fourteen years ago, and my non-fiction books, The Happiness Habits Transformation first and second editions, started just this way. I never expected to be a published author but then you never know what life is going to bring you, do you? Sharing my journey and the lessons I learned along the way was and still is such a privilege and I’m so grateful for the wonderful reviews that readers have left on Amazon and Goodreads.

But now there’s a new book on the horizon, something very different!

Wait, let me back up a bit. I’ve always loved books. I LOVE reading. In fact I almost love it more than writing (shhh don’t tell). I’ve read to both my children from a very young age and there’s nothing better than snuggling up and sharing an swashbuckling adventure or a funny story. But a few years ago I noticed that my son wasn’t making the transition to excitedly reading on his own.

‘Why don’t you read to yourself tonight?’ I’d say. ‘Nooo Mumma, I want to read with you. It’s more fun. I don’t like reading on my own.’ He’d reply.

It broke my heart that he hadn’t found any books that he wanted to read himself, so I made it my mission to find some. I thought about his favourite things and gaming sat pretty much at the top of the list. So off I went to Amazon’s search bar ready to find gaming-related stories that I could fill my basket with. But when he read them he just wasn’t grabbed by the storylines.

‘Why don’t you write him a story to read?’ My daughter asked one day. Could I? It’s been years since I wrote any fiction. Decades even. And my only full-length novel had been sitting in the bottom drawer gathering dust since NaNoWriMo 2009. Could I dust off my imagination cobwebs and write something that would keep him turning the pages?

And so the fiction project was born. It’s taken WAY longer than I’d have liked but I’m almost finished with a first draft and I can’t tell you how much fun it’s been. At the moment it’s shaping up to be a three-book fantasy adventure series, set in a well-known gaming world. My main character, Tom, loses his younger sister, Alice, in an incredible way. Can he battle an evil villain and his own fears to rescue her, before his parents realise she’s missing?

I should also say; welcome to this new blog. I’ll be sharing my bookish journey here, some writing perhaps and book reviews. Who knows, there might even be an interview or two with authors I admire. I love new beginnings… let’s see where this one takes us, shall we?