It's that time of year again when most people want to do better in the coming new year than they did in the one just gone. It's a strange beast this need to make resolutions and promises to improve ourselves. I'm not one for religiously making New Year Resolutions but I always feel a sense of optimism and a desire to get going, to be more motivated and organised as one year closes and another begins. And this year is no different. I think I worked very hard over the last twelve months. I've certainly written a lot of words and when I totalled up the amount I had written I was very surprised by my productivity. The end result has not produced a finished and polished novel, but I have achieved more than I ever thought I could: two completed first drafts and a couple of novels that are about a quarter of the way through. That's quite an accomplishment. Now what I want to do is to take that a step (or two) further. Myself and two of my CPs have already set ourselves each a deadline to have a working draft completed by the end of February and I still intend to work to that. What I should be doing next is polishing that draft and... *takes deep breath*... submitting it. I'm not promising that submission is what I will do, but I shall make the effort to get to that stage. That sounds like a cop out, doesn't it? Yeah, well, maybe it is or maybe I'm just being realistic and taking it in manageable steps at a time. We'll just leave it there for now.
I'm not a prolific reader although I'm always reading something, and there's usually a book tucked in my handbag - just in case. Sadly, I just can't read terribly fast and much to the distress of me and my credit card, the to-be-read pile just keeps growing at a rate not in keeping with the speed at which I read. So, the intention is to try and reduce the ever growing pile over the next year.
Of the books I have read here is a list (not exhaustive):
TOP READS
Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James (Faber & Faber)
Flirting with Italian by Liz Fielding (Harlequin Romance)
House of Silence by Linda Gillard (Kindle)
Inherited Bride by Maisey Yates (M&B Modern)
Not Fit for a King by Jane Porter (M&B Modern)
Ordinary Girl in a Tiara by Jessica Hart (Riva)
To Marry a Prince by Sophie Page (Arrow Books)
Taken by the Bad Boy by Kelly Hunter (Riva)
The Ice Prince by Sandra Marton (M&B Modern)
Secret Princess by Jessica Hart (Harlequin Presents)
Starting Over by Sue Moorcroft
BOOKS READ AND ENJOYED
A Mistake, A Prince and A Pregnancy by Maisey Yates (M&B Modern)
Cavelli's Lost Heir by Lynn Raye Harris (M&B Modern)
Innocent in the Ivory Tower by Lucy Ellis (M&B Modern)
Girl in the Bedouin Tent by Annie West (M&B Modern)
Molly Cooper's Dream Date by Barbara Hannay (Riva)
Once a Good Girl by Wendy S Marcus (M&B Medical Romance)
Tempted by Trouble by Liz Fielding (Riva)
The First Night of Christmas by Heidi Rice (Riva)
Tortured Rake by Sarah Morgan (M&B Bad Blood series)
Strangers in the Desert by Lynn Raye Harris (M&B Modern)
Surf, Sea and a Sexy Stranger by Heidi Rice (M&B Modern)
