Hello, and welcome to the pity party that is my author career so far. Just a quick recap on the nightmare fuel I have encounter to date:
I was sold ISBN's which were registered with a publisher, which I didn't consent to being attached to my books.
I had ghost copies of my books duplicated on Amazon with incorrect metadata and lower prices than my own paperbacks, which Amazon were never going to physically fulfil.
Amazon cancelled all pre-orders for Road to Eden's e-book, days before release.
I got scammed by an ai 'artist' and had to cleanse my social media, while loosing hundreds of pounds to printed materials I could no longer use.
So yeah, I've had cause to quit––several times since I began this venture in January 2026. But this weekend goes to show how quick things can change. Within a week I had two mega career altering announcements to make. A wild climb up the rankings, and not one, but TWO award nominations.
Missing Girls & Lost Boys was nominated by Book Bonanza for BOOK OF THE YEAR and ROMANCE OF THE YEAR! Sweet baby cheeses! (<--A Modern Family reference, IFYYK.) Urgh! I don't even know how to react. Blown away, flabbergasted! The nomination was a shot from the dark horror I've been emerging from recently, and it's just been a perfect reminder of how much this book is beloved.
THE NEXT THING...
Missing Girls & Lost Boys had an influx of orders of the weekend. So much so, that we entered the top of the Amazon ranking. By the end of the weekend, I was in tears to find out that MY first book baby hit the following achievements:
Position FIVE in Amazon US Dystopian chart!
Top 1000 in the US Kindle store!
Position THREE in Amazon UK for Sci-Fi Romance!
Position FIVE in Amazon UK Romantic Suspence!
AND NUMBER TWO IN UK DYSTOPIAN RIGHT BESIDES 1984!!!
I mean, what the hell? How do I even understand how my little old book gets sat besides THE dystopian classic. My husband is a massive Orwell fan, to the point that he has a leg sleeve tattoo of 1984, and I know he's proud of me, but to see me besides his favourite book was just a pure joy to see play out on his face.
And to think it had been just over a week since I was rolled up in a duvet like a sad burrito binge-watching Off Campus while dealing with the 'ai artwork' scam. I'd given in, and then this weekend of intense validation made all that misery seem miles away.
