THANK YOU

Good morning and a very happy Wednesday to all, Dear Readers. Today's flying post is to offer all of you a heartfelt thank you for your response to yesterday's post.

When I 'officially' announced that BAREFOOT ON THE WIND was available for pre-orders on Amazon and said that the more people who ordered it before publication, the better it would be, I really hoped that a few people would respond. But I had no idea that within twelve hours, I'd see this:

This makes me feel so hopeful and so grateful to you all, Dear Readers. On a personal level, it's amazing to know that people are anticipating something that you've created, that they want to share it with you. And, on a business level? It's not just me that will be happy and excited about this. Hopefully my publisher will be too, which, as I said before, increases the chances that there will be more books by me available for you to enjoy in the future. It can make such a difference, guys. YOU can make such a difference.

Massive hugs to everyone who read, RTed or shared yesterday's post, and massive hugs and smooches to anyone who scrounged down the back of the sofa to find the cash to pre-order BAREFOOT ON THE WIND. I really hope that you'll enjoy it :)

As a special thank you, here's a short sneaky snippet from the book (which I'm currently editing, so the final version may be a tiny bit different). Click the cut to read it!




The trees stirred unhappily as the wind gusted between them, sending dry leaves spiralling around me as I moved forwards. There is a monster in the forest, the forest groaned. There is a monster! 

Fear squirmed down my spine. I nocked the arrow and drew it, my eyes straining at the dark as I entered a hollow in the mountainside where there was a small clearing amongst the trees. The ground dipped steeply under my feet, and I could see glints of deep midnight blue – the night sky – among the wildly tossing leaves of the overhanging branches. 

A monster! 

The wind rose higher and higher, buffeting and shoving me back. My hands tightened instinctively around my bow. I pressed on until I reached what I sensed rather than saw was the lowest point of the hollow, and the centre of the clearing. 

Monster! 

I hesitated. The ground climbed sharply ahead of me, rising up to a dark crest many feet above my head. There was no way I could make it up that slope without both hands. But I very much did not want to move any deeper into this enchanted place without my bow at the ready. 

Monster! 

The trees were almost writhing now, their branches bending, trunks creaking, as if they sought to rip their own roots from the ground. 

MONSTER! 

I flinched – but all at once, as if that last tearing wail had exhausted their strength, the trees fell silent. The wind died and the leaves stilled. 

Silence rang like the chime of a bell.

On the ridge, far above me... something stirred.