My first year as a full-time writer – reflections

Some of you might not know that I am now a full-time writer. Well… I am. I left my job at the end of December 2022.

It was a hard decision. I liked my job, loved my colleagues. It paid well. I had written two full novels, a novella, and started the third book in the Gael Song series all while working. 

One half of me thought, if you’ve managed to do both so far, why not keep doing that? 

But the other half realised it just wasn’t possible. Something had to give.

Working in a job with strict deadlines and turnarounds is stressful when that’s your only focus. Doing it while also raising three children and keeping to a writing contract was a whole other ballgame. To quote my father, who said this to me often in my teenage years, I was burning the oil at both ends. Fatigue was catching up on me. 

I talked it over with my husband. We decided to give me two years of full-time writing to see where this adventure went. I had an advance, after all, a safety net. It wasn’t as much as my wage, but once I took out the work-related costs (childcare and petrol) it didn’t leave us with a crazy deficit.

The deal was, however, that if in two years I wasn’t making any money or the books had flopped, that I would return to work. 

And yet, I already knew I didn’t want to get another finance job. I wanted to be a writer. Determined, I knew I had to find ways to make this author-thing a success. 

That’s tricky.

Honestly, it is. I still don’t know if I’m doing everything right. Talking about myself is difficult. Saying nice things about myself (or by extension, my books) makes my eye twitch. Other authors seem better at handling social media that I do. Others have better sales, others are better writers. There are lots of things I could improve. But I guess, that’s all part of the journey and I’m enjoying learning how to improve.

I will say, I have gone into this all guns blazing. I think that energy has paid off. I have signed a couple more deals since my original one. (Sorry that I can’t talk about these, I’ve even had to sign an NDA for one) That means already I’ve been able to extend the ‘two years’ to ‘four years’. I have lots of ideas. My creative brain is in complete overdrive. Even my agent, the lovely Ed Wilson, who himself is a bundle of energy, looks at me like I’m bonkers when I explain what I want to do.

As 2023 ends, I look back and I’m glad I made the decision I did.

The books might still flop. Everyone might hate my ending. The other ideas I have could suck. 

I am fine with that. Failure doesn’t terrify me the way it once did. 

I will happily find another job. My top priority is my children and I do not want them to suffer or go without simply because I want to pursue my dream. Writing is an essential part of who I am, and I will always do it. The time afforded it is the only thing that might change.

And yet, I do dream that four years may become forever.

And I’m happy right now to embrace that possibility.

Thanks for reading this – I’m being honest and open about life as a writer. It’s amazing, but also hard. There is so much competition out there, so many other books to be read. Luck is involved in this industry, too.

If you wanted to help me (or any author you support) do try to preorder books, give ratings, or write reviews. Do put photos up on your social media. Share tweets and posts and links. It all does help boost visibility. It really does. I can literally see the TBR numbers on Goodreads soar if my book gets a lovely review.

Thanks so much to all of you who have already done that. 

And onwards we go and into the new year…

I have lots to be excited about. The release of the third book in the Gael Song trilogy – The Land of the Living and the Dead comes out – as well as two novellas. The first of which comes in the spring of 2024 and is called Dreams of Fire.

Thanks for everything! I’ll be keeping you updated – either on Twitter, Instagram or even better, via my newsletter.