Hello!

I meant to have this post up a couple of days ago, but while the booster jab didn’t make me ill like the second one it did make me tired and I’ve been crashing whenever I haven’t been working, so apologies for the delay.

As some of you have noticed the pre-order for The Ravyn’s Words has been cancelled. This was a decision I agonized over, but which ultimately I am happy with. It is just a delay, and there are several reasons for it. The first was that as I was doing the final read through and check, it felt as though something was missing – not that it wasn’t done or whole in and of itself, but it didn’t hit quite how I wanted it to. Part of that is because I have been reviewing my favourite books of the year and what stood out for me, and it’s made me want to push myself more. It won’t be perfect – it’s a debut and I do know that (although I want lie and say that imposter syndrome hasn’t been a constant in the back of my mind), but there is a specific impact I want it to have and I feel as though it needs a little more tweaking. It’s more a gut feeling – the same I get from reading – but that is what makes reading and writing for me, and so I decided that I would rather lose the pre-orders and delay than have any regrets about what I release. But, I do want to say a massive thank you to those who did pre-order, that meant the world to me, and you are all amazing.

The other reason – and one that has also influenced my mood towards it at the moment is that the last month has been incredibly bad in terms of pain. Chronic pain is something I’ve learned to live with, and I know to expect the winter months to be worth and I factor that in, but this year has been something else, and it has been virtually impossible to find a position that I am comfortable in for more than a few minutes at a time, which makes it hard to focus on writing and editing. It took any fun out of the process, and has overshadowed it completely.

So, I am delaying. Taking until the New Year to rest, and to not worrying about having to sit through the pain and work, and then I will come back to it with fresh eyes and highlight where I need to tweak. My plan is to aim for the first couple of months of next year for it’s release, and I am also working on my blogging and writing schedule for 2022 because if possible I would love to share my sapphic, hanahaki witches book with you next year as well.

There are a handful of reviews to come on the blog next week, and a 2021 rewind post will be up on the 31st. And then it is onward and upwards into 2022 and hopefully a better year for everyone, filled with lots of awesome books.

Until then have a very happy holiday.

Rowena