My secret project

I am now at liberty to tell you about my secret project, the one that occupied most of my time for the first couple of weeks in December.

I was checking the presents and making sure I'd given equally to everyone when I realised that GrandDaughter1 was short by a little present. She didn't have much on her list and I couldn't think what to get when I remembered something she'd said.

When my book, This Year Maybe, was published she grumbled because her mum wouldn't let her read it as it was too grown-up. 'You'll have to write a book I can read, Granny,' she said.

She said she liked books in diary format and, when I asked, she said the main character should be called Alysha.

So, instead of buying a present, I wrote one!

On Husband's birthday, December 1st, we went for a walk and we brainstormed. I had an idea for a story but Husband's usually quite good with ideas. This time though his suggestion of talking animals didn't really hit the mark. Then he decided it had to be about a donkey. Again, sadly, there wasn't a place in my story for a donkey but next time maybe.

For the next week I wrote like a woman possessed. Twenty-two thousand words in six days. And in many ways that was the simple bit. The difficult thing was designing a cover.

Time was running out. If I were to get it in paperback form I had to get a move on so finally settled on a cover and began the submitting to the Amazon self-publishing machine process. It failed a few times each fail taking away an extra day or two, so it was with huge relief that we finally got there, it went for sale on Amazon and delivery was guaranteed before Christmas. 

It still needs a few tweaks but here it is:

GrandDaughter1 is eleven, the book's suitable for young teens, and it's available on Amazon!