This week at the loch - 20/06/2025

Four weeks in a row! I’m quite pleased that I’ve actually managed to stick to doing these round-ups for that long. I’m very guilty of letting all of my work for other people (including the unpaid and/or domestic kind) come before the work I do for myself. I suspect I’m far from the only person who does this.

It’s been a bit of a disrupted work week here, with lots of family things pulling me away from my computer. It’s also been a challenging week, health-wise, with symptoms from my long-term health conditions flaring, and a fall on Wednesday exacerbating that.

On Monday, I had the great pleasure of running tech for the BFS on the Writing Queer People, Editing Queer People workshop run by Trip Galey and C.L. McCartney. It was really interesting and useful, especially as a reminder that ‘queer’ is a large umbrella and even though I might feel like I know a fair but about the community, there are always going to be references I miss and stereotypes to be wary of.

This morning, I sat down and added up the sales figures on all of my royalties statements for the first year of publication for The Heart of Winter and I was pleased to discover that it has passed something of a milestone. It’s one of those things that feels kind of difficult to talk about. When you see things like ‘more than 10 million books sold worldwide!’ branded across the front of the latest big name bestseller, it can make the types of numbers the rest of see feel really insignificant. It’s almost impossible to get a standard ‘most writers can expect to sell x copies’ because it’s all so incredibly changeable and no one in publishing really knows if any given book will sell 10 copies or 10 million.

My milestone number is not huge, but it’s significant to me, it’s enough for me to know that it’s not just family and friends picking up a copy to be supportive, but that actual strangers are out there buying it (and hopefully enjoying it!) which is a great feeling. I can only hope the trend continues with Daughters of Nicnevin…

What I’m working on - I’ve finished the copyedit I was working on and have spent the week on a developmental edit of a really incredible book. I can’t wait until I can talk more about this one, it’s just gorgeous. I’ve also spent a lot of time thinking about the opening of my next novel, finding the door into the story, ready to start writing as soon as I come home from my holiday.

What I’m reading - My Other Husband by Dorothy Koomson. I haven’t read anything by this author before, but I’m thoroughly enjoying it so far. Very tense and compulsive reading.

What I’m watching - Really enjoyed Heretic last weekend. Some great performances from all involved, especially Hugh Grant. Unsettling and creepy throughout without resorting to jump scares and gore (although there were a couple of violent scenes, as you would expect - something to be aware of if blood bothers you). Highly recommended.

What I’m listening to - I’ve been listening to some of Epic: The Musical, which has some breathtaking songs in it. Haven’t had time to listen all the way through yet, but I hope to soon.

Something Interesting - I really enjoyed this short story from Neil Williamson: The Death of Abigail Goudy

Coming Up - Tomorrow, the team behind World Fantasy Convention 2025 and taking over BFS Online with a full day of panels, readings, guest spotlights, and information about the upcoming event in Brighton. It’s going to be great fun, and I’ll be moderating a panel on Fantasy worlds and worldbuilding. Tickets are free for BFS members and £5 for everyone else. Find out more