2025 has been a year of change. Home, country, job… It’s been a lot of great things but they have taken a lot out of me. I’m ready for a shiny new year. Finishing Gates and on to shiny new projects!!

I just made prawn cocktail , for only the second time since I made it with Covid lack of taste and smell. I still vividly remember my poor husband trying valiantly to eat something that must have been entirely inedible n my attempt to be able to taste it!

I’m at my desk… and I found a little snippet as I started to write. Who do you think it is about?

So… I guess I had better finish Gates. I feel a little like Elissa-but wrangling words… ‘In all her days in Dragonsbreath, at no point could she have imagined that one day, she’d be enticing reluctant dragons into places she wanted to go.‘

Today has been a ‘day.’ I am going to drink mulled wine, eat cheese , and play Wanderstop, which thanks to @sennydreadful.bsky.social apparently I had the premonition to buy in advance of today!!

If I owe you returned contact, or a job or task, it’s on my list and I’m frantically working through it! Hopefully I’ll have caught up with everyone by Friday. If i made a promise of an interview, or anything else and you haven’t heard by then, please message me.

I teach from home. I have a dog. She is quite protective over our house. The gas board are digging up my drive this morning. This is going to be ‘fun.’

Why… Why do Word and pages have different numbers of lines per page? This is driving me mad.

Recognising when to stop is just as important as pushing through. Tired editing is going to need checking twice. As this last check through appears to be proving to me.

Daily Challenge 8: Out Of This World - Share a science fiction book you loved! Reply or repost with your answer to enter, and remember to include the tag #AMoRaR

I wrote a repugnant character with a good heart. Friend 1 - I love him. I wrote a guy whose entire obsession in life is power. Friend 2 - I want to be his friend .

It's A Month of Rain & Reads, and it's Tuesday, which means it's Interview Day. Today, we hear from British multi-genre author Julian M. Miles (@rafellin.bsky.social), about the life he's lived, the stories he's told, and tales yet to come: www.readindiefantasy.com/amorar-inter... #AMoRaR #BookSky

It’s been a short rest between cons… but I’m about to re-pack. Bristol was amazing. Thank you to everyone who came, it may have been smaller than usual, but it was still perfectly formed. If I didn’t get to say hi, let’s try to next year!

A round of applause please for @hannafordjenny.bsky.social for flying the indie flag with such effortless grace @bristolcon.bsky.social and thanks to everyone that came for being collectively amazing!

Oh, there's picture proof of me surviving a panel on #SPFBO at #BristolCon! The wonderful guest of honor @hannafordjenny.bsky.social moderating, @tomunro.bsky.social and @patricksamphire.bsky.social jumping in at the very last minute! The whiskey definitely helped with smoothing nerves...

You need this wonderful book in your life… just saying… Psttt it’s out today ! #cosy #fantasy #adventure #ownvoices #autism mybook.to/magicmapsand...

Time to pack!! Swarmrest is edited and with betas.

www.instagram.com/p/DQFytWsCPc... We’re coming…

Amazing!!! I’m looking forward to getting my hands on this anthology. Time for stretch goal!!

At World Fantasy Con, Brighton next week, we have a table as Indie Syndicate! If you’ve wanted a physical, signed book by any of us, now is your chance!! @robjhayes.bsky.social @grahamaustinking.bsky.social @aliciawanstallb.bsky.social @fantasticphil.bsky.social @davidgreenwriter.bsky.social

I am SOOO excited to see so many friends over the next couple of weeks starting with Bristol Con then World Fantasy Con!! Because of our move, I haven’t seen most people since last October. And I can’t wait to HUG you all!! And I know I’ll get to meet some people I have never met in person too!

Queer urban fantasy with Celtic mythology? As a treat? And less than £1 for either ebook or audiobook? You deserve it 😘 shop.ravenswordpress.com/products/jac...

It’s coming in for spooky season… and I have a cosy, witch novella about a group who lose their familiars, just before the intervillage games… Trouble is brewing in Unfamiliared, with a few soggy boots! 📚🐉 #cosyfantasy #autumn #witch #book

See this face? And this shell? Cariad has once again found the snail out of the tank… and nursed it until I realised he had it, and put it back in! As for the ‘innocent’ in this situation. I only took the coaster off the open tank corner last night! #friends #frenemies #dog #runaway #snail #pets

Who is excited for Bristol and Brighton this month? Who do I know coming to either of them? #bristoncon #worldfantasycon #books #fantasy

Welll… Offering a tickerisation prize leads to some funny emails I suppose. How would you like to die today? And in which world. What shall I call you as I arrange your (literary) departure? 😂

How did I get this far into the month, before remembering it’s #Inktober? I haven’t hit any new hectors prepared this year, but I love looking at the posts.

So tired that I just got into a yawn-off with my dog!

I know it’s outside my usual content. But big boobed girls, GO AND GET FITTED properly. By a bra shop. Yes it’s expensive to get the expensive bras… BUT My back ache is gone, I have to stand properly now, ( better for posture !) Plus I can’t remember when they last looked this flipping good!

My job for today appears to be the annual… ooops I haven’t updated my website for a year day

The new book has gone to alpha readers… Now, I wait.

I had a chance to catch up with the Southern Selkie pack in person on Friday. It’s great to see they are doing so well. Gar sends his love to all his fans. #fantasy #selkies #books #author

It’s Con season… And it’s getting cold. So, Hector is here to warm you up! bit.ly/4nMgOJL

I may have treated myself to a new Hector hoodie for the annual Con Season… It may have a pumpkin on it

Where to find me next month. It’s going to be a busy one, especially with a book to edit too!

So. Thanks to a wonderful friend sitting next to me, as I wrote. Swarmrest is done. Yea there are lots of edits to go, but the hard part. That’s done. What does this mean for Gates3? It’s next on the table it is 30k words in, and well underway. It will be with you next spring. #fantasy #books

Hmm, I’m not sure she is a fan of that last paragraph

Don’t you just love it, when a new character, you didn’t expect just rudely inserts themself into a scene that was not going THERE. And now… now I have to deal with someone turning up early. Maybe a whole book early. #author #fantasybooks

One more chapter done today. Five left. 📚🐉 #writing #author #books #fantasy

Killing major characters in my new book over morning Coffee? Never me. Or is it? #writing #fantasy

WIP sneaky peek? I lifted her into my arms. Her blood ran down my pristine cloak as she gasped for breath. It almost certainly created a dramatic vision of selflessness.

Well, this definitely sounds like a Tru Skies book… 😍

Scattering creatures like confetti in the new World for Friday’s D&D campaign beginning

I’m finishing this book this month. It won’t be ready for @bristolcon.bsky.social , but maybe I can read a teaser from it… This creature has a role in the new series. Sometimes wildlife is stranger than fiction

Mistakes have been made. Why did I sign up for a gym today? I could have just tried to make Mash from new potatoes…

Slow and steady… 1k words written today. It’s time to start building back to a steady pace and get these books finished!!

How, and why does my dog smell of soy sauce? She is covered in drips!

I have enough of my new D&D world built that my players have all had pre first session notes for our new campaign. I’m Getting excited now.

My son has just finished the last Skandar book. He’s loved every bit, from the first page to the last. He’s in a heap on the floor about leaving your world. He covered up the last full stop so he he hadn’t finished and it wasn’t all over. @afsteadman.bsky.social Thank you. He’s loved this journey

Post lunch snooze-threat is too real today! Time To get physically moving. Writing will have to wait. Maybe I should have had less cheese on toast ? #snooze