2023 – Goodbye to another year…

WRITTEN ON FRIDAY 29TH DECEMBER, 2023

So here we are. The final post of 2023 has arrived at last. Although I’m sad to see the end of another year, I always feel full of optimism at what the new year will bring.

It’s official. Goodreads have notified me that I’m in the top 25% of reviewers for 2023. I admit that since my last novel was published in April this year, I’ve taken a step back from writing. The mojo seemed to have left the building…fled in fact. Not sure the reason, but the fact I’m looking at book number thirteen and am just a tiny bit superstitious might have something to do with it! Actually, it’s not really number thirteen as in 2019 I decided to update the last of my Little Court novels and The Other Side of Morning became Wicked Game. It means if you look at things in a slightly different light, I’m about to embark on book number twelve! Despite this, I took the rest of the year off, embedded myself in reading and reviewing, and it appears the forty books I set myself on the Goodreads 2023 Challenge, has expanded into 86!

I must admit I have enjoyed being able to escape into other writers’ fictional worlds and avoid the dreaded writer’s block for a while. Even after having written eleven books, it is still capable of putting in an appearance, and throwing a spanner in the works when you least expect it. I’ve also found some new writers I’ve become very much a fan of. Wes Markin, Sarah Goodwin, and Jenny O’Brien, all creators of either psychological thrillers or crime. These two genres are my stable favourite reads, but occasionally something a little different catches my eye and I think ‘yes, that looks interesting.’ And so I have added Rachel Burton, Phillipa Nefri Clarke, Anne Madden and Imogen Martin to my list of writers to watch. Looking at my TBR list for 2024 I have new books by three of these writers lined up and can’t wait to read them.

So what about my own writing? Well, I hit the buffers during 2023 and yes, I know, a book won’t write itself, and you just have to get up, dust yourself off and get on with it, but I just felt I wasn’t ready. I’d had several false starts. The inspiration was there but nothing I wrote seemed to work.  There were all sorts of reasons. The last two books had been part of a trilogy so the people and surroundings were familiar and the stories almost wrote themselves. Now here I was, with a new cast and new location. Whereas with the last two books I could easily decide that a character ‘wouldn’t do that,’ here I was in unfamiliar territory.  So I decided to take a step back for a while and have a rethink about the whole project. And I’m glad I did, because I’m ready – new year, new challenge. With my reading for the year over and the decision to limit myself to four books a month for 2024, my current plan is to get some serious writing underway from 1st January. Wish me luck!

And now my reads for December. Unlike some of the previous months, December has seen quite a slowing down, probably because the month is a busy one with Christmas just around the corner and the inevitable socialising and food organisation that comes with it. This month I chose three very different books – Crime, a Psychological Thriller and an historical novel set in Ireland. The latter has joined my list of favourites for 2023.

So that’s it from me. Have a Happy New Year everyone, and see you on the other side!

Best wishes

Jo xx