It’s been a slow week on the day job front, which has allowed me to focus on my writing and marketing. My goal for January and February is to work on my edit every weekday morning until I finish book four.
I’ve also set myself a time goal of 21 hours of editing a week, which I track using the free Toggl app. I’m not usually so geeky, but as I use Toggl for client work, it’s now a force of habit that’s proving handy for my writing, too. Toggl has recently introduced goal tracking, so having this pop up is a nice little boost – especially as I’m still only on chapter 26! 🙄
Book marketing jobs
In other book related news, I’ve been catching up on the jobs I planned to do over Christmas but had to postpone thanks to flu. One of which was updating the homepage of my Shopify website. I’ve been meaning to add an explanation of how to buy eBooks directly from my site for ages and it’s finally done! Tick!
I’m as guilty as the next person for opting for convenience and going to the usual suspect to buy eBooks, but when you realise how easy it is to use BookFunnel to buy direct from authors, it really is a game changer. Do give the homepage a look and let me know what you think.
Speaking of the website, I also penned a blog post on my reluctant break-up with caffeine this week. I’m sure there are health benefits, but I really wasn’t planning on giving up my only vice in 2025! Maybe I should start drinking hard liquor instead 😂
Other jobs included tinkering with my covers, dipping my toe into Bluesky, and sorting out more author events for the year. I was planning on two a month, but on reflection, I think that was a bit ambitious. As much as I love meeting readers, I also need to get book four finished and earn a living and, if I’m honest, I exhausted myself last year trying to do it all.
Connecting
This author lark can be a lonely old business, so it was lovely to catch up with The Thames Valley Wordsmiths on Saturday (see pic below) over a cuppa, and romance author Jon Crawshaw for a natter on the phone on Tuesday. Do check out their work if you can. 
Enjoying the wins
A wonderful five-star(!) review and a lovely email from a reader also made me smile like the Cheshire cat this week. I paid it forward by going into my Amazon purchase history and rating/leaving reviews for all the books I’ve read and loved in 2024. 🥰
Feeling the fear
I ended the week with my first new writer accountability call on Friday, which was a lovely opportunity to share goals and talk about some things I wish I’d known back when I started scribbling. It also helped me realise that most of us share the exact same blocks and fears when we start out. Alas, the fear never really goes away, (at least it hasn't for me) but the more we write, the more resilient we become.
That’s it from me. Have you been writing this week? Do leave a comment or drop me an email if you have and let me know how it went.