Writing your first novel is a daunting task. You're on your own - well, you and the world of characters you've imagined into being - and spend day after day battling away at the keyboard, hoping that the words you put down are the right ones to make a good story. Sharing that first novel is an even more daunting task.
I was ready to give up on the Vagabond King. After eighteen months of writing and six revisions, I had grown too familiar with my story and my characters. I got to a point where I didn't think it was any good, and I didn't know how to make it better. Fortunately, it was around this time that I attended a writing retreat at Ty Newydd in North Wales. (You must go, seriously, it is a wonderful place). It was here that I met other writers who renewed my confidence in the project, and also where I met Rich Davies of Parthian Books.
A few days after the retreat I was delighted to hear form Rich, asking for a copy of my manuscript. A few of his team are fantasy readers and had expressed an interest in my novel. Within a week I received a message form Molly Holborn at Parthian telling me that she had loved reading my work. You should have seen the smile that put on my face.
Knowing that someone had enjoyed my work was enough to have made the process all worthwhile, but when some weeks later, I learnt that more of the Parthian team had read and enjoyed my manuscript, I was overjoyed to hear they wanted to publish my novel.
I'm incredibly excited to start working with their dedicated team and look forward to sharing the novel with the wider world when it's published next year.
