Happy New Year 2023!

Newsletter #12

Happy New Year 2023!

January 2023

Confession time. Back at the back end of 2021 when I sent out the first few of these Newsletters, there was nobody in my Readers’ Club to receive them. I hadn’t told anyone about it, and was just practising (which is a shame, really, because #2, in particular, was great!).

Anyway, here we are at the dawn of 2023, and most of you have been on board for almost a whole year. In that time I’ve got the website up and running, shared three draft Chapters, and sent out a whole load of Newsletters. I hope you’ve enjoyed it all.

But I haven’t updated you on the important stuff – how much writing have I done. So, here’s a sitrep…

I have written about 35,000 words so far, which is six and a half chapters, and a lot less than I had hoped to have written by now. 

But it is still 35k, and I’m pretty pleased with what I’ve written. All I need to do now (ha!) is keep my backside on the chair, my fingers on the keyboard, and my mind focused. Sounds like a New Year’s Resolution to me. 

Only another 170k to go. Even if I pick up the pace, the first complete draft won’t be ready for another three years. That’s not news, but it is a trifle daunting. And it’s one of the reasons I’m considering splitting the book into three volumes. 

Would-be agents and publishers have been quite clear that 200,000+ words will be a hard sell, especially for a first-time author. So, maybe splitting it in three will help. We’ll see. I should have a polished first draft of the first Volume by the middle of the year and I’ll be sending it out to Beta Readers to see what they make of it (volunteer Beta Readers always welcome).

In the meantime, I’ll keep sending you nonsense Newsletters every six weeks or so. There’ll be another Summer Read, and maybe another Christmas Gift.

I’ll sign off with a special plea for New Year – if you’ve enjoyed being part of all this, and if you have like-minded, book-reading, story-loving friends who might enjoy it too, please do pass this on to them. They sound like just the kind of person I’d love to share this journey with.

Fingers crossed that 2023 turns out better than a few years I could mention. May the planet be a healthier, cooler and nicer place. May your friends and family be content. May your endeavours be fruitful. And may you be happy.

All the best, and a very Happy New Year to all of you.