How my new book began… I had written a series of fantasy books, a 3-part story, each book being a novella, and just under 30,000 words. Although there had been some interest in the online community and I had made some sales, I was finding it hard to get visibility for my books. I had almost put the writer part of me away, suddenly realising that having an idea for a book and a series was more challenging than I thought it would be.

I’m not going to lie… I assumed that if I got my ideas on paper, worked hard at creating a fantasy world, and developed and honed my characters in this world, that would be enough. People would love the story I had created, and the books would sell themselves.

What people don’t tell you as an independently published author is that it is really difficult to get your books the attention they deserve. The book market is saturated with new authors like me, who have wonderful ideas and want to share them with the world, but making your work stand out isn’t quite so easy.

Although people told me they loved my fantasy series and that my lovely descriptive writing style drew them in, getting those people to review it was a task in itself. I gave up in the end as ‘reminding’ them to review my books wasn’t something I would hound people over. But honestly, the lack of reviews despite the number of sales I made was disheartening.

I decided to review everything I read, now recognising that the reviews were as important as purchasing the book itself. I also thought about how to reach an audience. After finishing my series, one reviewer spoke with me privately and told me it wasn’t their usual genre but that they had really enjoyed the world I had created. She could empathise with and feel my main character’s and protagonist’s emotions like they were her own. I knew I could not give up on writing, and although sales had not been as good as I had hoped… people enjoyed my work.

I remember vividly the Sunday morning almost a year ago when I was lounging in bed with a cup of tea, preparing myself for the day ahead, when a flash of a scene entered my head. It was cinematic, and it captured my attention. I realise now that is how I write… I see the scenes in my head and then write them down in as much detail as possible.

I could see the cobbled village street… old and not of my period. The quaint buildings with an abbey in the background and a young woman in a dark cape desperately trying to escape… something! The ideas flashed in my head, and I had to write them down in note form. I wasn’t sure where this was going at that point, but I felt I had been sent my first idea for my new novel. Call it cosmic, but the idea was firmly planted in my mind!

I felt excited and reinvigorated, and I knew I had to make this into something tangible. I worked nonstop researching and developing my themes, plots and tensions. I thought about nothing else and dedicated all my free time outside work to bringing this novel to life. It felt like a proper book… a real achievement as my 70,000-word story came to life on the page. It was a blend of fact with fiction, a historical fiction novel linked to a town close to where I live, and suddenly, The Last Coven was written.

I have much more to share about my writing journey and will trace every aspect of how my books have made it to the self-publishing shelf. The Last Coven has literally just gone live on Amazon and is available on Kindle Unlimited. Sorry for the obvious self-promotion, but it seems silly not to mention it, given the blood, sweat, and tears that went into making this novel a reality.

I will post again soon…

View my book here: The Last Coven