JULY 2026 WRAP-UP

I've just got back from a lovely 2 week holiday to Italy, so if you've come on here on Aug 1st, eagerly awaiting an update, sorry it's late (although I pretty much believe these ramblings are purely for me, however they keep me on track so I'm fine with that).

July has seen progression on the middle grade children's book I've been working on. Illustrations for the inside pages have been coming in week on week, editing is nearly at the end AND I've been working on a cover.

The goal is to have this book fully edited and formatted, ready for ARC distribution during September. So, keep your eyes on the socials to get any updates as and when they're ready.

Once again, Andy and Rebecca from Pages in the Wind are back on the road in August, with 2 upcoming events. They were at Warrington on August 1st and are heading out to the makers market in Uttoxeter on 22 August.

As usual, they will have physical copies of What? No Cheesecake?! up for grabs, along with lots of other books by independent authors.

I've started recording some conversations for season 2 of Shivers and Spines the podcast and I have more scheduled throughout August. I'm expecting to release these fortnightly on a Monday morning, as I did before, starting either late August or Early September.

The conversations I've had so far have been great, and I'm looking forward to chatting with more indie authors through the month. Expect the usual spooky-related books but also some extra insight from indie fantasy writers and even a publishing house.

That's it for now, I need to apply more aftersun and start cracking on with the (fingers crossed) September deadline.

See you soon!

June 2026 WRAP-UP

It's been a quieter month in June, but a lot behind the scenes work going on...

My current online safety children's book is in the hands of some BETA readers who are also KS2 teachers. This is to make sure the message is relevant to it's audience. I'm expecting to recieve all feedback soon and start working on some more edits.

I also have an illustrator working on the inside images, I've seen the drafts and I'm liking the vision and excited for it to all come together. I will hoepfully be able to post some more about the details this month!

I'm also currently reaching out to authors for, what will be, season 2 of Shivers and Spines the podcast. Hoping to get some conversations had and recorded this month to start dropping in August. Watch this space!

The super cool people at Pages in the Wind are back out in July, with not one but 2 events. They are heading to Stretford on July 5 for The Makers Market and then back out to Heading out to St Luke's Bombed out church in Liverpool on July 19 for another Makers Market.

As usual, they will have physical copies of What? No Cheesecake?! up for grabs, alongside lots of other books from independent authors.

And finally, Bone Sweet Bone has, so far, been a success with some great Goodreads reviews coming in. If you've read it, please go and drop a review as it all helps spread the word.

That's all for now, so until next time, see you soon!

MAY 2026 WRAP-UP

At the end of May, my short, YA appropriate, horror story Bone Sweet Bone, was released, and you can download that free, yes, free from this site. It's also available on Kindle for a small price, but if you fancy a freebie, head over to the 'Spooky Stories' section and download. All I ask is a Goodreads or Amazon review.

This is the intro to my slightly older spooky fiction set in the village of Silvervale so watch this space for more entries, hopefully soon.

My fourth children's picture book is in the process of being drawn, Tom Poyner, whom I worked with on What? No Cheesecake?! has sent me over some character designs, and they look great.

At the moment, we haven't got a timeline for this to be completed but we have discussed the possibility of another Kickstarter campaign to get it off the ground. More details to come.

Pages in the Wind are back on the road in early June. Heading out to Buxton For Books on 12 & 13 June, they will have physical copies of What? No Cheesecake?! up for grabs, alongside lots of other books from independent authors. So, if you're in the area, go and give Rebecca and Andy a visit.

And finally, the book I have been working around online safety is nearly at the end of its first draft. We are now looking for an illustrator to get sketching whilst I finish up and move on to edits.

I'm keeping a lid on what the story is for the time being but I can say it's a chapter book for children aged between 7 and 11, and it's been a lot of fun to write so far.

So that's it for May, a lot done and a lot more to come. Until next time, I'll see you soon.

April 2026 WRAP-UP

I started this month planning to continue work on my two ongoing WIPs but things didn't go exactly as planned. This wasn't a bad thing though...

At the start of the month, I caught up with Tom Poyner, the amazing illustrator of WHAT? No Cheesecake?! and we discussed another children's book.

It's a children's picture book that has been sitting on my shelf finished for over a year. Luckily, Tom loved the story, so I've finetuned it, and he is currently working on some character designs and storyboards to see if we can make this work. That's all I'll say on this at the minute, but expect to hear more on this as it unfolds.

This started a bit of a chain reaction, as it led to me looking through some of my other unfinished works. Amongst them I found another story I wrote last year. It was a short horror story which was submitted to a short story collection. Unfortunately, it didn't make the cut, but I couldn't help but read back through it, update it and adapt it. I was really happy with the end result so I sent it out to a few trusted BETA readers who gave it some good feedback.

I will be releasing this as a free short story in May titled Bone Sweet Bone. This will be the first small taster into my horror stories which will all take part in the village of Silvervale.

Another unexpected opportunity presented itself to me in May too. I have been reached out to, to ask if I could work on a brand new story focusing around digital inclusion, specifically around online safety for children.

It's to help support a national digital safety campaign. It will be my project but provided to them to help to promote online safety, and with having 3 young children, it's something very close to my heart. I had to say yes and I've got to work on what I think is a pretty cool idea for a middle-grade chapter book.

In none writing news...

The awesome people behind Pages in the Wind are going to be stocking WHAT? No Cheesecake?!

I have a featured space on their site alongside some other awesome independent authors, and they will be selling copies at their stall at an upcoming event on 9 May in Warrington. For all the details and to check out other authors, head over to their site www.pagesinthewind.co.uk.

So, very little progress on the two ongoing WIPS, but 2 new, very exciting opportunities, a short story release next month and another place championing WHAT? No Cheesecake?! Not a bad month all in all I reckon.

See you soon!

MarcH 2026 WRAP-UP

Welcome to the new website. It's been a long time coming, but it is finally here.

On 5 March, World Book Day, 'WHAT? No Cheesecake?!' was finally released following the successful Kickstarter campaign I ran in late 2025.

During World Book Day week, I was lucky enough to be invited to schools across my home county to read through the book with KS1 children and host Q&A assemblies with KS2 kids.

It was an amazing experience and one I hope to replicate year on year, there was even work assigned to one school about the book and Steve the cheese giraffe which was so cool.

In the background, I have been continuing work on 2 WIPs, continuing the slow progress on my YA vampire novel and the other, well that's currently under wraps.

The rest of the month has been spent looking at ways I can get 'WHAT? No Cheesecake?!' out there, far and wide. The distributor I've used has got the book on some great online stores such as The Great British Bookshop, Waterstones and Amazon but I now have a Tik Tok shop where you can get books directly from myself. I also have copies in the local independent bookshop 'Vellichor Books', an awesome litte bookshop if you are ever in Stoke On Trent.

I think that's it for March. This is my first one of these updates, and who know's if I'll be able to keep up with doing one a month, but I'll give it my best damn shot. Until next time, I'll see you soon.

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