life of a street dancer

It's officially winter time! Hello fur coat and scarves. I actually like this weather when it's crisp and the sky is clear and I was those annoying people moaning about the heat so I figured I should just enjoy the cold! This month was Breast Cancer Awareness Month and of course Black History Month! I did my annual post of the books that I have at home with a black main character written by a black author for children/YA and it has grown! There is way more to get but my to read pile is actually a joke right now. Actually my submission pile is a myth right now. I am literally whizzing through to make sure I don't miss any gems and I am reading a manuscript now for Hashtag BLAK and am really into it. Fingers crossed Helen feels the same! Our book Ticking off Breast Cancer by Sara Liyanage became a bestseller on Amazon and Waterstones!!!!!! I am so so happy for her and I think this is our 4th bestseller so I am well chuffed for our little pub house. We took part in #...

I am literally up to my eyeballs with The Author School. We are running our full day of classes on Saturday and you know when everything is calm and going to plan, then suddenly a few days beforehand, there is so much to do including my presentation! Our line up is truly epic. I'm so excited! Check out this interview we did for Virgin StartUp We have published all the books for Hashtag Press this year!!!!!! I am so proud of me and Helen for doing them and they all have done so well. So excited to get a new batch of manuscripts and re-create the magic. Submit to us at submisisons@hashtagpress.co.uk if you have a book. Looking for great stories to publish mid/end of next year. Finally Zarah got to redeem her J Cole birthday present from February. I'm not the biggest J Cole fan, I was even thinking about selling my ticket. I only have one album of his which is live but I know the words to like 3 songs but thank God I didn't. The concert was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! I even br...

October 13th will be a day that goes down in history. Hashtag Press launched at the same time we found out that we were FINALISTS for The Great British Entrepreneur Awards because of The Author School. I literally felt like I was dreaming! To launch something that has been one of my dreams for years and then to get shortlisted for an award, I had no idea that we even had a shot at was such an incredible feeling. The awards was yesterday and in the end Helen and I didn't go cause the tickets were too expensive, even with the discounts and we needed the money to book our room for March. I was stalking Twitter like a crazy person and unfortunately we didn't win the Micro business category. I am really not a good loser lool and I was so annoyed! I spent 3 hours the night before updating our website as well. I have no idea what you even win–bragging rights? At least we can always say we were finalists, that's still a massive achievement. On a positive note, my cover art for ...

Emily Knight 2 has officially been sent off to the editors. The ball is rolling people! I feel excited but nervous. There is something about putting a book out there that is so daunting. I think the story is good and hopefully the editor doesn't come back with 'this is crap' kind of notes. I am defo going to re-publish Emily Knight I AM and I am now in talks with a cover designer to re-brand the books. I am still always amazed that I actually released a book at 23. Talk about some balls. I am still in two minds about who I will publish the books with. I have a company in mind but let's just say that it will be an investment. A pretty big one, that could work out to be life changing but I'm still debating. My other issue was the title. Initially I wanted to stick with the I AM theme but I didn't like any of the other I AM titles so that went out of the window. I have got a name that I think is cool and makes sense to the book but all will be revealed very soon...