Very soon my second book, about a whole other witching world, will hit the stores.

Even though I have been through the process once, it still feels like the first time.

My writers journey started in earnest in July this year. At that stage I set up my own publishing company and launched my debut novel, Loreless.

I believed in my writing and made every effort to perfect the manuscript before sending it out into the world.

It was quite a tumultuous time.

I had to learn an enormous amount in a very a short period. But I got there.

All the while I kept writing.

I had finished the final draft of Complicated Blue and was fighting my way through editing. Procrastination, fear—and doubt—hit me, just had it had with Loreless. The last stages of preparing a novel are torture.

Is the story good enough?

Will readers like it?

Does it make sense?

Have I found all the errors and corrected them?

I pushed my reservations aside, put my head down. I got through to the end of that particular journey.

Tomorrow, Miss Anaïs Blue will meet her public.

Complicated Blue will be launched. A little witch will go out into the world.

Loreless took me over twenty years of research and five years of writing to complete.

My second novel has taken one year from inception to completion. I am convinced the next one will take even less.

I feel I have hit my writing stride.

If I step back and look at the past year I have gone from nothing to everything.

It’s very fulfilling to realise that.

At the beginning you have no idea where you will end up. It’s rewarding when you suddenly see what you are truly capable of.

Much greater than the books has been the discovery that I am meant to be a writer.

I feel comfortable in the writer’s skin. I am committed to it. Most of all, it brings me great joy.

I have unlocked the door to my imagination.

Balancing the creative side with managing the business of publishing has been difficult.

Yet it is a journey I am also enjoying.

The independent writing community is a wonderful thing. It is reassuring to know I am not alone.

There are thousands of us out there, pounding away at keyboards and trying to find our way.

Most writers are very generous and finding good advice is never far away.

Taking the big step of putting my first book out there has helped open doors. It’s important to know that you should never be afraid to share your work. By doing that you help not only yourself, but others as well.

Stories are for everyone.