Friday 5th July
book tour, juggling edits, and a Twilight movie marathon
Hi folks,
Well, June was BUSY!
My new enemies-to-lovers romcom THE REUNION is out now, and in June it was Waterstones Welsh Book of the Month, so I had the joy of visiting Waterstones across Wales to sign copies and do a few events (with the brilliant Helen Comerford, author of THE LOVE INTEREST). It was such an honour to be Book of the Month, especially as it’s apparently the first time they’ve picked a romance!
THE REUNION is also only 99p on Kindle right now, so don’t miss out!
To celebrate my new book, I hosted a launch party at Kate Spade in Covent Garden - there was prosecco aplenty and I had the loveliest of nights ‘reuniting’ with so many bookish friends. (And, I did leave with two new handbags. Whoops?)
June was generally pretty hectic month between some edits, a mini book tour and book launch, but also with plans with friends! Perks of being self-employed: I basically got to spend a week with different groups of friends celebrating one getting engaged, spending a day in London to see Sister Act (brilliant and hilarious!) with another, and then enjoying a trip to Six by Nico and Ogmore Beach with others.
We also had a Twilight movie marathon for a friend who’d never seen the movies before. We were up until 1.30am. It was so worth it. Would absolutely recommend, the collective nostalgia value did not disappoint.
THE READING CORNER
I didn’t read a whole lot during June, but I did absolutely devour Bea Fitzgerald’s upcoming sapphic Trojan War reimagining THE END CROWNS ALL, a dual-pov romance following Helen and Cassandra which had me laughing, sobbing, and everything in between. It’s out July 18th and a must-read for romantasy lovers.
ALSO, in very fun news, I’ll be chairing a panel in Cardiff on July 25th with Bea Fitzgerald, A.B. Poranek and Molly X Chang - grab your tickets here, and we’ll see you there!
SCREEN TIME
I finally caught up on the new series of Doctor Who with Ncuti Gatwa! I adored Doctor Who but did drop off early in the Capaldi era - but now, the show feels well and truly BACK. This new series with Ncuti as Fifteen was joyful, emotional, whimsical and tense. It felt very reminiscent of the Tennant era, in the best way.
THE WRITING DESK
June has been a busy month of edits for me! I had the first round of edits due on my next adult novel (a multi-pov romcom) which was actually a lot less painful than I anticipated - edits often feel like hard work compared to writing the first draft to me - and I’ve also been working on the line edits for my new YA romance. I documented both on TikTok, so you can find out more about the editing process for the adult romcom here or the line edits for my YA romance here.
If you’re wondering about the different stages of editing, here’s how it generally goes: firstly, my editor sends me an ‘edit letter’ with overarching notes about the storyline/structure/character arcs/etc, and the next stage is line edits. Line edits involve rewriting certain sentences, deleting paragraphs, adding small scenes/a few lines of dialogue that are missing, that kind of thing. After that is copy edits (my personal hell) where you look at the grammar, consistency of timelines/hair colour/etc, then finally proof reads, which is dotting the Is crossing the Ts and checking any typos. Publishing houses have designated editors, copy editors, and proof readers who also go through each stage with you.
Speaking of editing…
AND A WORD OF AUTHORIAL ADVICE…
Since I talked a little more about editing stages this month, let’s carry on the theme. Getting feedback on your book can be a little rough, but remember that it isn’t a personal attack: your editor is there to help your book be as good as it can be. And, it should be a collaborative experience - if they make suggestions you really disagree with, talk them through!
WAIT, BEFORE YOU GO!
Looking for a romcom read to add to your summer wishlist? My next novel THE REUNION is a multi-pov enemies to lovers romcom about a high school reunion, or there’s my multi-POV YA book THE SUMMER SWITCH-OFF for some sun, sea and sangria vibes.
There’s also my fake dating adult novel FAKING IT - that one spans a whole year of events, so is perfect whatever the weather!
My grumpy/sunshine YA romance SINCERELY YOURS, ANNA SHERWOOD is out now and you can order here!
AND, I’ll be in Cardiff on Thursday 25th June to chair a panel with fellow Penguin YA authors Bea Fitzgerald, A.B. Poranek, and Molly X Chang. Grab your tickets here!
