It’s no secret I normally do Nano and technically fail. I never seem to quite hit the target but generally I consider is a plus if I write more words than I have in the previous month or two. This last couple of months I have barely written at all, I have completed two short stories for long overdue projects that I will share over the next week or two but my mojo had definitely left home.

The problem wasn’t actually writing related, it was my dad’s health that has been my main concern, worrying about that made it hard to focus on anything else. On Friday he had an operation, one we weren’t happy he was being given but it seems to have turned out better than we could have hoped for, so now it is time to get back to the various works I have in progress.

The thing is I know I will fail Nano, I am away for four days in Wales for the Indie Love signing next week so that means down to twenty days to complete it, and while I normally fail anyway I do at least set out with the hope of succeeding.

So I have decided to set myself my own Nano target by running the dates from the 6th November to 6th December. It won’t count as an official Nano project but I will let you know later in the week if I have made a decent start on it.

And if you are NanoWriMo-ing good luck every one!

It feels like it has been far too long since I got to announce a new book, not only a new book but the start of a new series.

ONE MOMENT YOUR LIFE IS GOING TO PLAN, THEN THE NEXT THE RUG IS PULLED FROM UNDER YOU!

Nothing could ever have prepared Charlotte Morgan for the revelations awaiting her when she returned from work.

Her boyfriend had been beaten up by thugs he owed money to and she discovered he was in way over his head with the wrong people.

When he is taken before she can raise all the funds needed, she offers the only thing she can… herself!

The characters in this book first appeared in a short story as part of an anthology, it turned out that not only did I fall in love with them, but so did the readers. What was going to be a single book has developed into the start of a new series ‘Cel Tradat’ which translates as The Betrayed. Book Two will be available later this year and soon the question will be, who can be trusted?

If you want to pick up a copy of this book you can get one on Amazon or ask your local bookstore to order it for you https://www.amazon.co.uk/Paying-His-Debts-Cel-Tradat/dp/B0C6P4XQWK/ref=sr_1_2?crid=33EJC3D1NHURV&keywords=paula+acton&qid=1686303966&sprefix=paula+a%2Caps%2C217&sr=8-2

❤️ Twenty-six books
❤️ One day

To celebrate coronation weekend, twenty-six Indie Love signing authors have come together to offer up a special treat.

For one day only, you can get your hands on twenty-six eBooks for ZERO PENNIES!

Head over to our website to find out more and download books from your new favourite authors: https://www.indielove.wales

While I might not be hitting the targets I have set for myself personally I am doing better. The last few weeks I have written on at least three days each week and the number of words written has increased too. This week I am off work so I am determined to push on and get this book finished, in fact the plan is that next week I should be able to to give you the publishing date.

Everything is gearing up toward the Leeds and Sheffield signings which I have in June. There are a couple of giveaways and promotions running for anyone attending if you pop over to my Facebook page this week.

Yesterday I got to go visit Preeya, she is doing really well and the comfort I got from hearing how well she is doing means a lot. Letting go, even when it is the right thing to do is still hard but knowing that she is happy and settled means the world and makes it so much easier. I don’t want to even think about how I would have felt if she had not settled in so well.

Visit the Authors At The Armouries signing page on FB to enter this competition. The winners will get extra funds to spend at the signing on the day.

I am going to leave it there for today and get my newsletter out, that is on the list for areas to improve in, See you all next week.

I did a thing! Well more I went to a thing!

I was a signing author at #FFB23 Fiction, Fans & Ballgowns in Liverpool at St George’s Hall. I got to see some of my favourite people in the world, make new some new friends and meet some people who I had only ever interacted with via FB previously. I also got something money can’t buy and that was the passion to push on with my writing.

There were a couple of authors who had queues that lasted all day, was a jealous, maybe a little but more that that it was a reminder that with hard work I know I could have that. Now that isn’t bragging, honestly, but I know from the feedback I get on my writing that the quality isn’t the problem. It is me! Or more correctly it is the fact I let things drift, wasn’t consistent and just haven’t released anything new in forever. Last week I wrote over 2,500 words which isn’t a lot but it is a lot more than I have written in ages. This morning I wrote over 600 already. I got a new planner which I spent the weekend organising and am ready to push myself.

I also went to visit Preeya in her new home…

She is happy, healthy, and seems to be well settled. I like to think she was happy to see me but it could just be she wanted to see what I had brought her. She performed her trick of bowing much to the delight of several young girls all of whom have promised to say hello to her when they visit. I have a feeling she might just end up being a favourite up there by the time she is old enough to be ridden.

The only negative since we last spoke was the evening event at Liverpool, no don’t get me wrong I had a blast and from some angles I felt I looked good but there is always that one photo that makes you realise that reality is not always your friend. I wasn’t even sure about sharing this photo but it is out there in the world in fact you can see lots of the fabulous outfits here http://gallery.liverpoolselfiemirror.co.uk/u/LiverpoolSelfieMirror/Fiction-Fans-Ballgowns

What I can say is that by next year I have no intention of looking like I am about to give birth to triplets, now the Easter eggs have been finished I am going to focus on healthier eating. I will leave you with a picture I do like from the evening I just wish my phone took better quality pictures.

Patience is a virtue I’m not sure I possess this morning.

I am sat at my desk organising and planning for the week ahead. The wind is howling outside but I am straining to hear over it, listening for a van to pull up. I am waiting on deliveries!

They are deliveries that should have come last week that were held up by the snow, or at least the claim they were because the man in his Amazon van still made it around. The most frustrating delivery is the box of books coming from Amazon but for some reason they sent them for deliver by Royal Mail, why when you have perfectly good drivers yourself would you entrust important parcels to a company who has a huge backlog due to their strikes?

They claimed my house was inaccessible on Saturday yet I managed to make it out of it at 7.30am to go to work, I think they just decided not to try. There was no card through the door so I am in limbo hoping they attempt delivery again today. If not then I will be on the phone to first Royal Mail to try to trace my parcels then failing that first thing in the morning to Amazon and demanding an immediate refund plus enough compensation to reorder with expediated shipping otherwise I will be signing scraps of paper next week. Okay that is an exaggeration but you get my point.

On the plus side I did get up this morning and get started straight away on being more productive, I hope by the end of this week to actually be ahead by a few days in terms of scheduled posts so that if I have a bad day at the day job I don’t get discouraged and fall behind.

Keep your fingers crossed for me and my parcels!

This is my road at 1pm…

As you can see the snow is starting to melt but I still couldn’t get a taxi or a bus to get to work. I technically live in what many people would think of as walking distance, but with a bad back it is really not worth the risk. One slip and wrong landing and I would be missing a lot more than the four hours wage I will miss out on from today. Some reports say it will reach minus 8°C which will mean I may struggle in the morning, ice skates may be required to reach the bus stop.

I mentioned that my beautiful girl would be leaving me, well, she has gone to her new home and I will visit soon and fill you in with new photos but this is one of her in her new home, it will be a huge adjustment to her being inside so much. I have been told she is having to get used to other horses coming past her as they head in and out but because she is young and so clever I have no doubt she will soon settle down.

Now as she begins a new chapter in her life, I have to begin one in mine. I have had a week feeling sorry for myself, a week where I may have eaten more chocolate than I should, I week where I may have cried on a daily basis for what has ended. But now, I have to pick myself up, and if you believe in fate or destiny, then I believe my gorgeous Ruby may have sent me a message in the form of a video I never remembered taking.

To move forward you have to let go, I have to plan for a future where I don’t have horses – unless I win the lottery or sell film rights to a book – and where I take control of what I want. I have dreamed about being an author for so long, and yes, to an extent I have got that, but I haven’t reached the levels I want to be at. I want to get on a bus and see someone sat reading my book. I want a random stranger to recognise me from the book cover, I want someone to recommend one of my books to me. The only way any of that happens is if I put in the work, that is my next chapter, one where I focus, I use the time I would have spent with my girls to create words for other to read.

Life might not always go the way we want, there are many things out of our control that we would wish we could change but we can’t. Instead we adapt, we grow and evolve. We have to take what is thrown it us and look for the positives we can find, and if you are wondering about the video of my girls well here it is…