In 2019, I was on a book tour with WHSmith, doing book signing events in their major stores in London and the South East. Thanks to everyone who said hello, especially the eight hundred and more shoppers who bought one (or two or three!) of my books.
At the Hastings LitFest I ran a self-publishing workshop for authors who wanted to give their books the best chance of success. It was a very detailed look at how to make a finished manuscript look as professional as possible, with some practical tips to maximise sales of both eBooks and paperbacks.
As we begin to come out of lockdown, I've started taking part in literary festivals again, both on-line and in person. Here are photos of me at the Cranbrook Literary Festival, along with fellow psychological-fiction writers, Helen Matthews and Katharine Johnson.
At the 2023 London Book Fair, The Maids of Biddenden was shortlisted for the prestigious Selfies Award for best independently published adult fiction. Although it didn't win, it was a great experience being part of the award ceremony.
Since the launch of The Maids of Biddenden, I've been taking part in agricultural and craft fairs in Kent and Sussex, and it's been great to meet so many people who already had the book. I'll be at the Heathfield Show, Biddenden Tractorfest and the Ardingly Winterfest in 2024, so if you are at any of these events, come along and say hello.
There's been so much interest in the real story behind the Biddenden maids that I've been invited to do talks about them all over the south east, sometimes with fellow author Elena Kravchenko asking me questions about Eliza and Mary. Future talks are at the Ashford Women's Institute on August 12th and Bredgar Historical Society on November 27th.
Proudly wearing my medal for The Maids of Biddenden winning the historical fiction category at the 2024 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Now in its eighteenth year, this is the largest international awards program for indie authors and independent publishers and the award ceremony was in San Diego last night. I wasn't there in person, but I celebrated anyway!
Arden has been placed third in the 2024 Yeovil International Literary Prize, with the competition judge, the award-winning novelist AJ West, describing it as ‘clearly very well researched with fine detail and a lightness of touch reminiscent of C.J. Sansom’.