Happy new words!
OK, so I’m a couple of weeks late, but the road to blogging is paved with good intentions. 2022 is lining up to be an exciting writing year, so here’s what I’m looking forward to most:
Book 2 – I read through the final typeset proof of Never Gonna Happen this week – it feels really exciting to see it laid out like a real book, and the next time it comes my way all 400 pages will be bound into a proof. The cover design is coming up soon too, so that’s the next milestone to look forward to. It’s out on 26th May in all formats and you can pre-order it now – I know it seems like a long way off, but pre-orders make a really big difference so thank you in advance!
Book 3 – the most recent round of edits for Book 3 went off to my publisher last week (it doesn’t have a name yet!), so that’s moving along too. Not sure on the release date for that, although it may be at the back end of this year. It’s definitely been a more challenging edit so it’s great to see it start to come together in a way that I’m really happy with.
Book 4 - my deadline for Book 4 is September, which is just as well because I only currently have the vaguest of ideas about what it might be about. Now that Books 2 and 3 are back with my publisher, I plan to spend the next month or two tinkering with the idea and scoping it out a bit, before getting my head down for 1000 words a day in March. I’d love to send the first draft off by mid-July and have a bit of the summer off, but we’ll see how it goes.
Eurovision – this year’s contest is in Turin in Italy in May (hello sunshine, great coffee and so much pasta), and I’m hoping to be there once again live blogging the full two weeks of rehearsals and live shows for Eurovision.tv. That’s not confirmed yet though, so fingers crossed they invite me back. Originally my publisher had suggested 12th May as the launch date for Book 2, but that’s the day of the 2nd semi-final and if I am in Turin I won’t have a minute spare to do any book promo stuff. So we’ve moved Book 2 back two weeks (they wouldn’t move Eurovision, how rude).
Strictly Come Dancing – also not yet confirmed is whether I’ll liveblog the next Series of Strictly, although that’s never decided until much closer to the time. If I’m asked I’ll definitely do it; I loved last year’s show and it reminded me how much I enjoy the pace and pressure of liveblogging, it keeps me on my writing toes! Will there ever be a Strictly as good as Series 19? It’s one hell of an act to follow.
Radio, Insta lives, podcasts and Q&As – I did a few of these in 2021, highlights being discussing the Art of the Liveblog on Radio 4’s Front Row and talking about becoming a novelist on the Write & Wrong Podcast. I love doing interviews and Instagram lives, so I’m looking forward to more fun/interesting chats in 2022.
What else is happening? Something exciting that I can’t tell you about just yet…but watch this space.