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Another Year (nearly) Over….
Another Year Over…
As we approach the end of another year I wonder as ever where the old one went. Time goes faster as we grow older and in a world where we cram in as much as possible even when we’ve retired from full-time work, it goes more speedily than ever.
So, looking back as always over the previous year, I find that I have achieved quite a lot. This time last year I had just finished writing my novel “I know you, don’t I?”. I spent the early months of 2019 submitting it to publishers and literary agents and in May I was thrilled to be accepted by a publisher.
In June I took part in the ever-ever-popular Ilminster Literary Festival. I had a good receptive audience and was pleased to introduce them to my career as a writer and the books I have written.
While on holiday in the Lake District in late June I suffered a violent relapse of my medical condition Lupus which forced me to spend most of the summer either in bed or in my armchair. Holidays for the rest of the year were cancelled.
Luckily I was just about well enough to attend the Taunton Live Literary event in July where I gave a presentation and sold some of my books.
My enforced rest gave me plenty of time to write and I decided to start work on a book I had been planning for some time: a historical novel based on the three years that Coleridge lived in Somerset. This went far better than I expected and by the autumn I had finished writing it and began submitting it to publishers. I was delighted when it was accepted by Wallace Publishing, the same publishing house who accepted “I know you, don’t I?’
So I have a couple of interesting years to look forward to: the publication of one novel nest year and another in 2020.
I have just started writing a new book, which I should finish by spring of next year and then I will start work on a sequel to the Coleridge novel covering the next four years of his life when he moved to the Lake District.
Exciting times!
Bethany Askew is the author of eight novels: The Time Before, The World Within, Out of Step, Counting the Days, Poppy's Seed, Three Extraordinary Years The Two Saras and I Know You, Don't I? She has also written a short story, The Night of the Storm, and she writes poetry. Two more women’s fiction books have been accepted for publication in 2020 and 2021 respectively and she is currently working on a new novel. In her spare time she enjoys reading, music, theatre, walking, Pilates, dancing and voluntary work. Bethany is married and lives in Somerset.