An author’s insight on writing lessons learned while marking a few milestones, a book birthday, with some llamacorns along for the ride…

Today marks the day on a few milestones. It’s the 6th-year anniversary date of posting my first blog on my first (long-forgotten) website, my 10th full-sized novel is about to be released, and it’s WINTER’S WALK’S birthday. Here is an insight behind that story where I wish I’d known this then…

The original Winter’s Walk

Back when I believed in llamacorn’s pooping magical jellybeans of fortune for writers everywhere, I’d penned WINTER’S WALK as a short story.

I’d believed it was perfect for this anthology that would rocket launch my author career where I’d have book agents thrusting contracts at me to sign. Time was spent daydreaming of floating streamers and glitter falling from the sky, as I stalked the marching band down the red carpet to the premiere of they-made-my-book-into-a-Netflix-series.

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Riiiight.

Putting away my cloudy crystal ball to stare at the real world, it failed miserably.

The publisher hit splitsville, with their business partners legging it to the other side of the country. What they’d left behind was a group of aspiring authors trying to make a go of this clunky anthology. We’d all believed the concept was a great idea, but it ended up becoming a poorly executed crash-landing that they should have made into a meme!

Writing Lessons Learned:

🏷️ Always ensure you read the fine print on contracts

🏷️ Canva is king for book promotions

🏷️ Llamacorns are way cooler than unicorns.

Where did Winter’s Walk title come from?

The publishers didn’t like the original title I’d offered and decided on something else. Their title of choice was so ugh (look at me pulling out the big words) it’s truly not worth repeating.

I was in hospital when the contract came through, so while under the influence, I put it to a vote with the hospital staff. I even did an elevator pitch at the elevator while precariously balancing on a pair of crutches. I kid. You. Not.

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Writing Lessons Learned:

🏷️ Avoid getting too attached to a book title.

🏷️ Never do an elevator pitch when using crutches in a hospital elevator while under the influence of prescribed pharmaceuticals.

The Makeover Party Begins

I had the publishing rights returned early because the publisher never sold a single copy.

Yep, you read that right.

When I got this short story back, disappointment and I were tight. Mate, we were bromance buddies! Disappointment and I wallowed in our own pity party, losing any and all chances at hanging out with llamacorns wearing street glitter – not to be confused with stripper glitter! But it also felt like I’d gone and disappointed the characters in this story as well.

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So, I put down the ice cream, switched off the TV, slothed around in my socks to sit at my desk to breathe life back into a story that had to be told.

With the original title back in play, I soon fleshed the story out to a novella size and created a cover that was an amazing adventure itself.

Writing Lessons Learned:

🏷️ Familiarise yourself with how to get your publishing rights returned and set a calendar reminder for the contract’s expiry date.

🏷️ Rewrites are where the story is at.

🏷️ Librarians are amazing book gurus.

🏷️ Lamacorns do the craziest dance when suffering ice-cream brain freeze—oh, wait, that’s me!

Why Winter’s Walk became a novella

I had contemplated turning this story into a full-sized novel. It certainly had the potential. Instead, I went for a novella because I listened to my friends and the many other readers out there.

The reason is time is precious in this modern world, so finding a new author you can trust is a challenge, so I kept the story short purely for today’s busy women.

This story is perfect for the lunch break as you try to squeeze in some valuable me-time. It’s for those busy mums, the wives, the girlfriends, and the llamacorn handlers who haven’t picked up a book in such a long time they’d forgotten what it’s like to dive into a story.

This story is for them. It’s for you.

Writing Lessons Learned:

🏷️ Know thy reader.

🏷️ Everyone loves a llamacorn.

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Winter’s Walk walks off the page

This novella squeezes into many categories as a sweet contemporary romantic hiking holidaying adventure story. (Say that in one breath!)

Most of all, it now belongs to the diverse category as it is about a woman living with a disability and the lifestyle challenges we face. We, being me.

It’s also inspiring.

So inspiring this story made international bestseller—the day I hit publish! And we did this crazy ice-cream brain freeze dance of the llamacorn in our own parade… around the kitchen table.

This tiny forgotten romance continues to win the hearts of women all over the world who loved the size, the story, and thankfully my writing style to then read my entire catalogue.

Writing Lesson Learned:

🏷️ Writing is easy – sharing your sh#t with the world is harder. (Hey, I’m trying to keep my G-rating, okay!)

Hold on to your llamacorn for this…

As it’s a birthday and a milestone of many moments in my writing career, I’m delighted to let you know that WINTER’S WALK is FREE.

That’s right, free.

Just as unicorns and llamacorns are different, it’s the same for a writer’s style. So by making WINTER’S WALK a novella, it’s the perfect bite-sized taste for you to try.

Being digital, this story is ready to read right now on your phone or tablet.

So go on, snatch some well-deserved time out for yourself, grab a coffee to nestle in with your friendly llamacorn, then download the story and I’ll…