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October 2024

Hey there,

The Guy from the Wedding comes out in thirty days (or 29 depending on which time zone you live in), and I’ve been reflecting on the journey this book has been on. My interview on DV Stone’s blog was what got me contemplating this. If you’ve been following my work for a while, you might remember when it started as a web serial on my blog, before suddenly going offline around Chapter 5.

That was about when my characters started yelling, “That’s not how it happened!” as if I hadn’t just made everything up (including them).

When you’re a writer, this is a perfectly ordinary, unremarkable and non-institutionalisable occurrence 😅 Something twigs in your intuition, the words you’re writing start to fight you, and you’ve gotta go hunt down the “real” story – even if it’s a complete work of fiction. And even if it takes months while you work on other things.

It was a confronting study. This book was intended to be a lighthearted and sugary romance, but ended up delving into the deep insecurities of each character, stemming from their past relationship failures. Why is Katrina so compelling even when she’s snarky? Why does Liam try so hard and get so frustrated? Writing their journeys forced me to confront many of my own insecurities in order to write true.

Look, I won’t go into what they are here, but if you follow the Somerville Downs series (and the odd blog post sharing some backstory), you can probably make decent guesses about the well from which I draw inspiration. My experiences are unfortunately too common among my generation. Maybe you’ve had similar experiences of your own.

A book I’ve enjoyed not-so-lately, but didn’t get to tell you about until now, was Keep in Touch by Rebecca Chase. I had the pleasure of beta reading this contemporary romance before it came out, and was so moved by how sweet and delightful it was. It’s about a second chance at first love, following a rocky coming of age, and features forbidden love, anxiety rep, and two lovely MCs who were a joy to get to know. Keep reading; you’ll find a link to Keep in Touch later in this email.

Peace,

Birdie 🐦

By the way, Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) of The Guy from the Wedding are now available on Booksprout. The review program will remain open until after the book’s release.

If you volunteered for an ARC through this newsletter, you should have already received your invitation and/or your review copy via email. Please reach out to me ASAP (just reply to this newsletter) if you can’t find it in your inbox.

From friends and around the way

Shutterbug Holiday by Lottie Morgan An overworked designer and a workaholic photographer meet on a luxury cruise. Romance ensues. Get a gift copy of this book with the author’s newsletter.

Match Made in Heaven by Eden Larsen Starting out as friends might be the best thing that’s happened to them both. This is the first 4 episodes of a romance serial now available as an ebook.

Keep in Touch by Rebecca Chase Can first love be forever love? A sweet contemporary coming-of-age romance for fans of Jenny Han and One Day by David Nicholls.

Sweet/Low Heat Romance
Delightful closed-door romances.

Some like it CLEAN
Clean and sweet romance books.

October’s Oodles of Books
Low-heat romances and cosy mysteries. Until 31 Oct.

You might enjoy this too:

A hopefully comforting article about regret, for those of us who’ve lived at least a couple of lives already. By psychologist Nick Wignall via The Friendly Mind:

The paradox of regret is that the more you try to minimize regrets the more likely your whole life becomes one. Or put another way… Not taking risks turns out to be the riskiest way to go through life. On the other hand, when you’re willing to face and live with difficult emotions like fear and regret, you can start building a more ambitious life—whatever that looks like for you.

Read the rest: 3 Reasons Regret is Good

By the way, reviews are a huge help to small-time indie authors. Both good reviews and bad ones help readers hone in on the books and authors they resonate with. If you’ve enjoyed one of my books, I’d love it if you would leave me a review or star rating on BookBub, StoryGraph or Goodreads.

The Guy from the Wedding – BookBub – StoryGraph – Goodreads

The Guy from the Internet – BookBub – StoryGraph – Goodreads

The Guy from the Library – BookBub – StoryGraph – Goodreads

The Guy from the Park – BookBub – StoryGraph – Goodreads

The Guy from the Flower Shop – BookBub – StoryGraph – Goodreads

Well, that’s it for now! Subscribe to my newsletter if you’d rather get these updates with pictures, sent to your email inbox. You’ll also get a little thank you gift for signing up.