I have a photo somewhere of me with my very first book in one hand - and a three week old baby in the other. Both were conceived, nourished and birthed in about the time frame and both were about as painful as the other to bring to life.

Actually, no. That's not true. Nothing, NOTHING, I tell you, will ever beat the pain in my hip caused by a certain child's massive head during an emergency caesarean delivery, but that is beside the point. The point, dear, lovely, reader, is that books are like babies. They both take a lot of time, nausea and energy to bring into existence. But you love them both like your life, you dream and worry about them, you feel totally inadequate to be their parent most of the time and you'd do anything to help them succeed.

This is why I've been a little preoccupied lately.

My third novel, Invincible, is coming out today (TODAY!) on Amazon and I've had very little else in my head except 'how am I going to get people to read this?' and 'Crumbs, this trying to be an author gig is so tricky. If I read one more article about How to Promote your Book and Build a Readership of Thousands in only 30 days I think I'm going to cry.'

Regardless of the pressures around trying to market and promote and create platform (a buzz word all aspiring authors should know) I actually think my novel is pretty good. (So does this reviewer, thank goodness.) I'm proud to have it out there. I think my writing has improved since I wrote the first book in the series, Invisible and I'm excited to be able to give my readers what they've been asking for since Invisible was published - a sequel. 

Have I told you how much I love writing fiction? I love it. I totally, totally love it. (If I told you how much I loved it, really, you'd be bored and stop reading here, so I'll keep it short). It's hard, it's delightful and it's a challenge. One of the greatest pleasures in my life is finding a book in which I can lose myself and characters I can cheer for. It's an even greater pleasure to provide the same experience for someone else.

I'm really, truly lucky that lots of my readers write to me and tell me how much they've enjoyed the stories, or loved Jazmine, the main character in Invisible and Invincible. It's humbling and a total privilege at the same time. (Again, just like having a child.)

In the country I grew up in, people give away sweets when a baby is born. So I thought I'd do the same thing. I've got a giveaway going for the next few days. You can win an autographed copy of Invincible and/or a book of your choice. Have fun entering and I hope you win.

lso, just for fun, I did a few little graphic quotes with some pithy phrases from the book. You might like them.