We’re now nearing the three months to publication (ah!) which is both terrifying and exciting. February also marks one year since I took a leap of faith and submitted my manuscript to my publisher. After quite a few rejections from literary agents, I wasn’t sure how my book would be received when submitting directly to a publisher. On Feb 4th I submitted the first 10,000 words and a query letter. By the 21st, I received a full manuscript request. And the rest is history! It is extra special to be working on marketing my book on social media this month. Trust the process, you never know what might happen next!
I’ve been working behind the scenes on character artwork and goodies to include in my ARC (advance reader copy) packages sent to reviewers – sign up for an ARC here. There are so many things that I’ve been working on and I wanted to share some. As a reader I love character artwork and anything that helps visualise these characters that I’ve grown to love, so being able to create my own is surreal to say the least. I’m really happy with how the artwork of both Cornelia and Adrien have turned out – check out my social media for reveals!
At the end of last year, I finished writing the sequel to Cornelia Fairfield and the Darkened Heart and I love where the story has ended up and the romantic tension has certainly heated up! I like to think that I’ve taken a lot on board from the professional edits from book 1 and applied to this to book 2. Over the last two months, I’ve been working hard on editing book 2 and can confidently say I’m happy with the plot, character arcs and general vibe that expands on the events of book 1. I still have a few rounds of edits to go, but I hope to have these completed before May – fingers crossed. In my mind I always saw the book as a duology with the potential for a prequel but now I’m having other ideas on how I can extend the series and go on more adventures with Cornelia and Adrien. I hope readers enjoy the books as much as I enjoy writing them! Last March I also started writing a new series where a royal archivist and a shadow wielding assassin must work together to save the kingdom from a deadly curse. I can safely say that I’ve also started plotting the sequel to that book – I hope I can start writing that this year too.
Next up, I’ve started writing my FOURTH book (yes, I’m shocked too!) and this is a rebellion themed novel branching out into the Adult fantasy realm with a princess who must keep her identity a secret and a rebel leader who finds it hard to trust anyone – that’s all I will say about the plot for the moment. But I can share that I’ve written a rough plot outline and have already started writing about 5,000 words as of the end of February. As previously, I’ve set a daily goal of writing 2,000 words which should be about 10,000 words a week (with weekends off) and this in turn should mean I will have a first draft by mid April.
By then we should be full steam ahead in ARC reviews and gaining as much exposure around CORNELIA FAIRFIELD as possible. The next few months are looking busy, but I cannot wait to see where Cornelia and Adrien will take me next. At the start of the year I signed off the second round of edits and the book in now being prepared for printing! It’s very hard to believe that in a few months time my high stake pirate adventure will be nestled on bookshelves waiting to sweep readers off on an epic quest of magical bargains, deadly curses and much more!
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Amy is a writer and reviewer and her action-packed debut novel, CORNELIA FAIRFIELD AND THE DARKENED HEART is set to be published on 19 May 2026! Available in paperback here: WATERSTONES, AMAZON (ebook here), FOYLES,HATCHARDS. For more content read Amy’s book reviews, short stories and updates on Amy’s writing journey posts.
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