It’s that time of year once again, January rolls around once more with its dreary grey skies and snow flurries and the question on everyone’s lips is: what will 2026 be like?
I often dread the start of a new year and the thought of twelve month looming ahead. This year, instead of dread, I want to look at the next twelve months as an opportunity for anything to happen. I have my debut fantasy adventure book, CORNELIA FAIRFIELD AND THE DARKENED HEART publishing on the 26 May and I cannot wait – although a little terrified – for everyone to finally read the book that has consumed my every thought for the last three years! Time really flies when you’re in a state of perpetual editing, writing, querying and worrying about whether the book is actually any good or if anyone will ever read the words that you have spent hours labouring over. The answer is now: yes, they will be read it! This also means, as the clock is counting down to May, I have my work cut out marketing and getting to grips with social media and inevitably shouting into the void that is the algorithm in the hope my content appeases the social media gods. A few days before Christmas I announced the cover of my book and shared the links to pre order from major retailers like Waterstones, Amazon, Foyles and Hatchards. I even saw my book advertised on a German book site, which really blew my mind. I don’t think anything can quite prepare you for seeing your book become an actual book that people can buy and even more so seeing your name on the internet. I’m incredibly grateful for all of this and I hope readers will resonate with Cornelia and her escapades.
As 2025 came to a close, I had many achievements to be proud of. One in particular was the writing and editing a new fantasy adventure book set in a different world to Cornelia Fairfield. This one is heavy on the fairytale vibes and follows a royal archivist and a shadow wielding assassin on a quest to save the kingdom from a deadly curse. I spent the best part of 2025 working on this book and really love the story and characters. I really hope that one day this book will see the light of day. I also plan to work on the sequel to this book this year and maybe plan the third book, so it becomes a trilogy – hopefully, fingers crossed.
In other news, I started working on the sequel to Cornelia Fairfield at the end of last year and shocked myself with the fact that I wrote the whole first draft in just six weeks. I often wonder whether I could top that level focus that was through sheer determination and consistency that this book fell out of me. I aimed to write 2,000 words a day and this quickly turned into writing about 4,000 words – one day I wrote 6,000! It was a fairly easy process in comparison to writing the first book because the world and characters were already laid out for me, so it was like returning to visit old friends. That being said, I still have a lot of hard work ahead of me with editing and hunting down those pesky typos and smoothing out any bumps in the plots. When I’m writing I like to listen to music and this rarely impacts my work or the general vibe, but on this occasion I listened to the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack and I can absolutely confirm this was a contributing factor to why this book was written so quickly! I highly recommend finding a good playlist with powerful instrumentals that really help shape those emotional scenes. One scene in particular had a massive battle with ships and cannons and all the good stuff that should be included in a sea battle and it is one of my favourite moments of the whole book. These are small goals that can be dealt with throughout the year such as writing and editing, but I would also love to sign another book deal this year – *sending good vibes into the atmosphere* – and offer readers a deeper dive into the tense relationship of Cornelia and Adrien and expand this world that I’ve grown to adore.
Now on to reading goals, I hit my reading goal of 40 books in the nick of time in December and I admit I did have to change my goal form 45 to 40 because realistically it wasn’t going to happen. The amount of times that I’ve read drafts of my work I feel could adequately make up for the five I missed out on. Alas, that is the curse of the fiction writer – too busy reading your own work and not enough time to read the exciting new books looking longingly from their to-be-read pile. I have so many books I cannot wait to read this year and many are the next in the series, which is always so much fun to return back to already established worlds.
Happy New Year! I hope 2026 brings you new bookish obsessions and fictional characters to drool over. I too will be hoping for such a thing. It would mean the world to me if you decided to add my pirate fantasy to your to-be-read list, it features a strong rebellious heroine, magical bargain, a deadly curse, a ridiculously handsome yet superstitious MMC and lots of adventure.
Available in paperback here: WATERSTONES, AMAZON (ebook here), FOYLES, HATCHARDS.
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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 26 May 2026! For more content read Amy’s book reviews, short stories and updates on Amy’s writing journey posts.
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