…I am terrible at keeping secrets and this one has been burning a hole in my draft blog file since August when the lovely Larissa Edwards (my publisher) rang, wanting me to sign on with Simon & Schuster for another two books.

That means books three and four of my plan (read: dream) to see my Seasons Collection in print will actually come to life in 2015 and 2016. (Now my Facebook friends will understand my fascination for trees (thanks Patricia Franks) and my new little logo thingy showing four seasons.)

To say I am excited is, well, a massive understatement. I am also a little daunted as my previous experience has been along the lines of: write two books, sub two books, edit two books. It wasn’t until I saw the contract front page had books three and four listed as “UNTITLED NOVEL” did the significance of this offer hit me and I decided wine was required. (Quite liked the Two Fathoms label for two books. Any excuse really!)

Sincere thanks to my followers, my friends, family and especially my readers. And to those of you who have already popped reviews on retail & review sites (Amazon, Goodreads) here is a big (((cyber hug))). Contrary to popular belief, happy reader reviews do NOT give authors massive heads. They let authors breathe and enjoy the dream.

Such a dream come true too. I’m feeling a little country magic right now and am so glad I can finally shout out my news. The wait has been killing me, but I wanted to have the contract in my hands before I told anyone and there was a delay as it had to go through the S&S USA contracts process. As a result things were a tad more ‘involved’ so I am grateful for Clare and Annabel at Curtis Brown for their expertise and guidance.

But wait! There’s more…

No, not the steak knives. It’s the B format** of House for all Seasons. (And look at this lovely praise.)

S&S are bringing it forward from March next year to Christmas – in time for Chrissie stockings, folks! (and with a snazzy teal-coloured title!)

To celebrate I will have some House for all Seasons giveaways to announce soon – I will do so here or on Facebook. So if you are not subscribed to my blog as yet (or Facebook) now might be a good time if you wnat a chance to win a copy before Christmas.

**To those readers unfamiliar with the publishing jargon, the B format is the smaller  version book that generally comes out around the same time as an author’s latest release. BTW – ‘Back List’ (what the biz calls an author’s previous titles) is another word I never thought I’d associate with my name!