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 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 got 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 reminded 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.
