How to get through the fog of 2022 into 2023

Let’s face it – 2022 has been a weird year.

Coming out of the strict Covid regulations and try to recover a ‘normal’ (ha-ha!) book life, I planned a busy year. And so it turned out:

On 3 January, I published my husband’s fantastic book File of Facts about using personal organisers. (He is a world expert!)
On 12 January, I took part in an Amazon Book Chat Live on amazon.com (US and rest of world) to talk about my favourite books. It was great fun! https://www.amazon.com/live/broadcast/a2dc3d11-8d82-49e8-b884-de1acad34a81
6-17 January saw a blog tour for my second Mélisende French thriller, Double Pursuit.

February was planning, writing and self-editing (JULIA PRIMA mostly), plus promotions for INCEPTIO and AURELIA.

At the beginning of March, I announced the results of the ‘Authors you Love’ competition. That was revelatory!

Then the joy of live events with REAL people!

 

Portsmouth MysteryFest March, on two panels: Historical Mysteries (as substitute for Edward Marston) and Crime and Mental Health. First live event post Covid!

London Book Fair, April, when I volunteered on the Alliance of Independent Authors’ stand, spreading the word! https://alisonmortonauthor.com/2022/04/london-book-fair-2022/

CrimeFest Bristol, May, where I met up with writing friends I hadn’t seen for 3 years and made new ones. Also I checked out new book trends and met colleagues from the Crime Writers’ Association.

Eboracum Roman Festival June, in the bookroom with a clutch of Roman writing friends, but we escaped from time to time.

Colchester Roman Festival, July – the first one ever! I was on two panels: ‘Colchester, garrison town for 2,000 years. Differences and similarities, the Roman and British armies’ and ‘When does Roman fact become fiction?’ https://www.alison-morton.com/2022/08/08/colchester-roman-festival-2022-the-first-one-ever/

Oh, yeah, my new Roma Nova story, JULIA PRIMA, the first Foundation story, set in AD 370 came out on 23 August! 😉 There followed excerptsblog tour, special newsletters, reviews and a ton of all kinds of promotion.

Historical Novel Society conference, September, in Durham, UK, where I was on a panel called ‘Twisting Time in Historical Fiction – An Alternative Approach’ with Anna Belfrage and Christina Courtenay. We were just a group of time-twisters but we knew how to have fun with history… https://hns-events.com

October was a busy month! It began with a second blog tour for JULIA PRIMA, this time run by the Coffee Pot Book Club. Next, I was interviewed by the French regional press  La Nouvelle République. Slightly surreal as I don’t have any of my books in a French translation. But still fun! And then the local French language class where I help out as an ‘assistant’ decided to feature the article in two of its lessons. Talk about embarrassing…
In October and November, I hosted a run of other authors on this blog: It’s always fun to make others talk! Anna Belfrage, Jean Gill, Helen Hollick, Elizabeth St John

Towards the end of November, I was invited onto French local radio in Poitiers for a live interview. FranceBleu is part of a national network run by the French equivalent of the BBC. After nattering on for there-quarters of an hour in French, I definitely needed coffee!

In December I was appointed Ambassador of the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) here in France. I’m still learning what it entails, but I feel honoured!

Oh, and in between I found time to write a few lines of the next book and plan a special project.

So how does this help with 2023?

  1. 2022 provided me with reconnection with normal writer’s book life. Apart from writing books, we make connections, meet agents, publishers, fellow writers, service providers and genre experts, but above all READERS. We learn and exchange, we swap techniques, run ideas past each other and share a glass or two of wine. Having had such a frenetic 2022, I feel I have re-established this part of my life.
  2. Reassured me I have not been forgotten. Imposter syndrome is rife in the writing world, however elevated you are and however many or few books you sell or however many five-star reviews you have.
  3. Released me to plan a calmer 2023. I don’t feel quite the same urge to dash all over the place.
  4. Allowed me to say ‘no’ to some opportunities. Nobody can do everything and ultimately it’s up to us to choose what suits us. For instance, wonderful that social media is to publicise our books and interact with readers and colleagues, we can’t keep up with everything or our heads will explode. I’m determined to do more saying ‘no’ in 2023.

 

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers –  INCEPTIO, CARINA (novella), PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO,  AURELIA, NEXUS (novella), INSURRECTIO  and RETALIO,  and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories.  Audiobooks are available for four of the series.Double Identity, a contemporary conspiracy, starts a new series of thrillers. JULIA PRIMA, a new Roma Nova story set in the late 4th century, is now out.

Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines and taste world the latest contemporary thriller Double Identity… Download ‘Welcome to Alison Morton’s Thriller Worlds’, a FREE eBook, as a thank you gift when you sign up to Alison’s monthly email update. You’ll also be among the first to know about news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.

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