https://completelynovel.com/books/exactly-23-days
Hi everyone, wishing you a Happy Christmas, Happy Holidays etc, whatever denomination of faith or not as the case may be, if and however you celebrate, I send my best wishes to you for the holidays was well as wishing you the very best of health and happiness for 2017 and if you are in the midst of chasing dreams, then stay focussed and keep chasing them.
What did 2016 bring for me?
It brought hard work marketing my book because as an indie author I have to market my work myself as I have stated previously. I continue to send my words out there via social media, emails and by sending signed physical copies for marketing purposes. In 2016 my book landed in Australia, Brazil, The Philippines, Spain, The USA and Morocco to name but a few. My blog traffic continued to grow both in numbers of readers and geographically. I devoted a lot more time to Instagram and less time to Facebook, as I find Facebook to be less of a successful tool for reader/author contact. I hope for continued growth in 2017 and marketing will remain on my daily agenda. I entered competitions for my book and I also wrote a children's Christmas book which I intend to publish and I will begin a second adult novel in 2017. I will also continue to seek ways to grow as an author and hone my craft by seeking workshops and creative writing classes.
Commonalities in my life and my book.
For those who have read my book Exactly 23 days you will know that it is dedicated to women and the need to support each other especially in times of trauma. You will also know that the protagonist experienced betrayal on two separate occasions in differing ways throughout the plot and so it was an uncanny co-incidence for me to find myself at the mercy of betrayal in reality in 2016 and this time via a long standing girlfriend. I am not an instigator of trouble, never have been, BUT to quote a lyric from one of my favourite songs, 'I have a right to defend' and it continues, 'over and over again' . And so it has been for many months now that I have chosen to defend myself against one of my ex best friends attempts to continually sabotage my reputation in order to try to ensure that she appeared somewhat 'cleaner' than she actually is. Inevitably in these scenario's, people will jump onto one team or the other or even sit on the fence, which I find both enlightening and frustrating in equal measure. The enlightening aspect being that you get to realise 'who' people really are at their core, as they expose the real them. The frustrating part comes when you can quite clearly see from afar the web they have chosen to enter, in order to leave your life and become trapped in the silken snare of the betrayer. Several people have done that in either a blatant or cowardly manner to me this past few months. Their playground behaviour merely exposes their weaknesses and lack of moral fibre and courage and therefore enhances for me, the realistic core of human beings of very many years standing, that I choose to have in my life on a daily basis. Playground behaviour isn't for me but 'defending my name, my reputation and my integrity' ALWAYS will be. I have defended myself directly with the culprit and in an assertive and dignified manner at all times, without verbal or physical altercations. I will never, ever accept anybody trying to blame me and lie about my reputation as a woman in order to cover up their own behaviour. I have come away from all of this still being able to sleep soundly at night, having the support of my loved ones and my great network of women being at the core of my daily life. Not only do we choose wrongly at times in love relationships but also in friendships too. As is the case here. I am however, emotionally savvy and sound enough to see it for the reality that it is, rather than to dwell upon it as any great loss. I am extremely grateful for the lesson it has taught me and once again the 'wood for the tree's' scenario presented itself to me, albeit 18 years too late. The behaviour was always there but I was just too nice to see it... until I was betrayed and then my right to defend, over and over again kicked in.
I hope that my protagonist Fi, from Exactly 23 days would be proud of me, as she too is a woman of honour and dignity in the aftermath of betrayal. I also hope that this blog posting touches somebody who needs it. Somebody who maybe questions themselves, doubts themselves and struggles to 'defend' themselves in the aftermath of betrayal, be it from a lover, family member or friend. I say to anybody in that position, in your minds eye, just imagine yourself stood atop of a hill, overlooking the mess going on beneath you and if you truly know in your 'gut' that you HAVE been betrayed, then simply walk away, in your mind, in your heart, in your core being and leave them all to it. We are here on planet earth for such a minute aspect of time, within the billions of years the universe has been around and people who choose to TRY to hurt or betray you are really not worth your inner and outer beauty. Whilst they remain at the bottom of the heap sowing havoc, you get to stand at the top of the hill admiring a different, beautiful ever changing view and take it from me, life is so so peaceful from where I'm standing right now.
Be there for you, be there for the GOOD people in your life and remember to be there for someone who doesn't always feel that they 'have a right to defend'. Nice begets nice.
To my fans worldwide I say thank you for buying my book, for reviewing my book, for sharing my book with others and for reading my blog and following and getting in touch with me on social media. Once again a very, very happy 2017 to everybody. Jayne.
