First Book Anniversary!

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This week a year ago, my debut novel for Harlequin Mills & Boon was published! The year has flown by so quickly between writing and my various day jobs but on another level it's been such a rapid learning curve.  While I'm still a newbie compared to some authors, I know a lot more now than I did a year ago.

I'd been writing for fifteen years by the time I was published in May 2022, and while I submitted to M&B every year, my deadlines and my writing schedule were at my own pace.  Since then, with two consecutive two-book contracts, I've had to adjust the way I write slightly. Gone are the luxurious days of writing as much - or as little - as I want; now I'm much more focused on a daily word count of 1000 plus, whereas before I rarely did that in a morning's writing session, although I used to hit 500-800 words on a good day.

It's still important to not sacrifice quality for the sake of quantity, and this is especially true for an historical author, even when that deadline is coming nearer and nearer.  Having an editorial deadline, as opposed to my own, does however tighten up one's writing and helps sort the wheat from the chaff, aka the important stuff from the waffle!

I've also discovered that rough first drafts are not for me.  I've tried this with my current and fourth book, having got very bogged down in the middle of my third book and having to rush to finish it. But I realise that I do need to get to know my characters first rather than get the plot down, so for the next book, it's back to editing and layering as I go along. 

And, as well as writing lessons, I'm a whole lot more clued up on marketing and promotion now, especially on social media, and I really enjoy the interaction with other writers, readers, reviewers and bloggers.  Best of all, I've met and become friends with a lovely group of fellow historical authors, all relatively new like myself, who are a wonderful, supportive and fun group of people that I feel truly blessed to be part of. Thank you UK Newbies 💓


To celebrate the first anniversary of The Welsh Lord's Convenient Bride, I'm doing a GIVEAWAY this bank holiday weekend. One signed copy (UK only) and two digital copies (world wide).  To win, just message me on Facebook or Twitter with your preferred format and I'll pull the lucky winners out of a hat on Sunday! Good luck!!

https://www.facebook.com/lissamorganhistoricalromance/

https://twitter.com/LissaMorganAuth




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