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I'm counting days now, instead of weeks or months. It still hasn't sunk in fully. The strange mixed feelings persist: happiness, excitement, but also anxiety. But since there is so much to do in the coming days, I have to keep busy. There will be a small release party in my teashop on Saturday, 17th January from 2-4 pm. I'll bake cakes and scones, of course, and also offer teablends inspired by the novel. Leading up to release day on Thursday, I'm planning to run a giveaway o

So I've received my 200 author copies in the mail, and now it's on to signing them, packing them, and sending them out on January 15th. It's a weird, mixed feeling of anticipation, accomplishment and dread. Is my book ready for the world? I know I've done everything I could, and my publisher also gave a helping hand, editing and correcting, but still doubts remain. This story, and the universe in which it exists, has been with me for over a decade now and feels very personal.

I can't quite believe it's here. How odd to hold it, read it and smell it in printed version for the first time. It took me days to get over the strangeness of it all. But now I'm quietly proud and am filled with a feeling of belonging. Although surreal, it feels very natural to me at the same time; maybe because I've seen myself as an author / writer for decades now. I spent the weekend re-reading the entire book. I swear I probably read it for the 50th time! But I needed to

I'm thinking about putting together book boxes once my novel releases. The simple book box should contain a signed copy of my book, a matching bookmark, two character cards, and a map of 1863 London with marked novel locations. The more extensive book box will contain all of this, as well as a keychain (four different ones with motives from the book) and a special teablend (inspired by the book). What do you think of this idea? Lately, I've been seeing what other authors are

Okay, I'm officially bonkers. I just had the idea to write a novella (might as well call it fanfiction for my own book series) set between the first and second books. There is a 1.5-year time gap between these books, and I often wondered what the characters did during this time. I briefly touch on it at the beginning of the second book, but wouldn't it be nice, actually, to flesh out a few scenes? To show what occurred to make the characters change and develop further. I've a

So it's finally done! I've sent off my finished print cover, along with my fully edited and set book manuscript, to be printed. I'll hopefully receive my proofread copy within the next few days. I can't wait! Though I've published books before as ebooks, I've never held a printed version of my book in my hands. Am I getting too excited? I think I am, but rightfully so. Because I've been working on this book series for over a decade now, and the world with its characters seems

The cover for "Death of a Victorian Gentleman", the first book of my historical series, is finally taking shape. The designer sent the first draft yesterday, and I was thrilled! Of course, some changes have to be made, but the overall look is spot on: Victorian in style, yet with a contemporary twist to hopefully appeal to the modern reader. I can't wait to reveal it to the world, but not yet. Hopefully, the final cover design will be finished very soon. And then it's straigh

While I'm waiting for the release of my first book, I've decided to go ahead and fully edit my second book in the series. Although I...

Recently, I've noticed that many authors on social media claim their books are 50k-60k in length, while an 80k-word book is considered...

First of all, why does it always seem to get longer? My to-do lists tend to do just that. Or I'll start one, work my way halfway through...

I'm getting a professional book cover! When I had given up all hope and already considered creating my own book cover, I finally found a...