Here is wishing you a fantastic 2019, wherein all your dreams come true and you go on many adventures both in person and in good stories.
First, I give you my round up of 2018:
Last year was a cracking year for me. I deliberately use the word cracking and as the word suggests, there were both positives and negatives.
On the downside, reality bit in the form of a number of health scares, both for myself and a couple of people very close to me. That anxiety and stress is not something I would wish to go through again and I really hope that with the dawn of the New Year we will rise to happier and healthier times. Thank you to my lovely close friends and family for your support during those difficult days.
On the upside…
In the early summer, I spent a delightful long weekend at “Camping Out” in the beautiful Devon countryside. Such good fun among really friendly people and definitely an experience I can recommend. I was there last year, flogging my wares and enjoying light-hearted conversation in some pretty good UK sunshine. Look out for me and my books in the market on the last day again this year.
The middle of the year was marked by the usual LFEST weekend shenanigans, this time in Llandudno, Wales. Sadly, last year there were no author panels to be seen, but I have it on good authority that the good lesbian authors of the UK will be back in 2019, reading from their latest novels, signing books and partaking in this wonderful weekend’s activities, once more to be in Wales.
LFEST coincided with the publication of my third Sam Skyborne novel — a psychological thriller called “Alice” (http://Dukebox.life/Alice). This is the second of my PI Toni Mendez adventures and is set in the lovely Cape Town. I am very proud of this novel. The feedback and reviews I have had and its reception by you, my lovely readers, has really wowed me. Thank you!
At the end of August, I had the privilege of participating in my first EllCon (European Lesbian Literary Conference), held in Bristol. What a fantastic event! It was well attended by a number of the best lesbian writers, who I had the honour of meeting and appearing with on a few panels. They were all were absolutely fantastic – so helpful and supportive of new writers. This is truly a community that I am proud to be part of.
From Ellcon, I flew out to Lesvos, to spend a few weeks in the sun in beautiful Skala Eressos while I crunched out the first draft of my next book. It was a truly wonderful few weeks of early rises and hard but fruitful work, followed by a rewarding swim in the crystal Aegean and a couple of hours of basking in the glorious sunshine. During the Sappho International Women’s Festival I had the privilege of reading at the wonderful Karolina’s fantastic Wine Women and Word evening – always a fabulous experience.
On my return, I was proud to participate in the first Lesbian Author Panel at Tower Hamlet’s Idea Store’s WriteIdea Festival — another very memorable and rewarding experience – shared with talented authors Clare Lydon and Veronica Fearon: so there was a little bit of everything for the lovely lesbian fiction audience.
Each one of these events has been a complicated and enriching mixture of fun, laughs, effort and most importantly lessons learnt. All, I hope, helping to make me a better author and a better indie “authorpreneur”.
In the autumn, I also had the great good fortune of having all three of my books win awards in the (New York City) NYC Big Book Award and in addition, Risk also took a finalist award in the National Indie Excellence (NIEA) Awards. I have been shy of submitting my books for any awards or competitions before this. I guess we all have our insecurities and my worry that they might not be good enough held me back. Now, however, I am absolutely delighted with this recognition for my stories!
I want to send a very big thank you to everyone, in particular my readers, who have advised, supported and in their own way contributed to helping me along on this exciting journey. I think it is worth it, and I appreciate every comment and every suggestion.
Finally, once again, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or with feedback on my books, my website or my blogs. I really look forward to hearing from you.
And, if you are not already on my mailing list, and you’d like to hear about any promotions and news, then please subscribe here: http://Dukebox.life/Subscribe
I hope you have a truly fabulous 2019 and may all the stories you read be good ones!
Kind regards,
Sam Skyborne x
Born in Germany, Henriette-Mercedes works as a cinematographer and camera operator in the Netherlands and the UK. After finishing her studies in Film & Television at the University of Amsterdam, she began working for several Dutch TV channels and was one of the main camera operators for a Dutch TV show. As Director of Photography she is now focussing on short films, features, documentaries and experimental films. Henriette-Mercedes worked on two feature films in the Netherlands, ‘Kink’ and ‘Lenteveld’, and a number of short films in the Netherlands and the UK. Many of these films have been shown at film festivals and ‘Lenteveld’ was released commercially on DVD in the Netherlands.
Ellie’s passion for filmmaking developed after receiving a video camera for her 21st birthday. In the years that followed she worked on several short film projects including a promotional film for a local restaurant. Since finishing university, Ellie has gained practical experience working for a German television company as a Sound and Production Assistant and has been involved in a number of projects with VolVentures and Whipped Cream Productions including “Cat Sitting” (2014). She has also made two independent stop motion animations “Nobody” (2011) and ” The Dog Song” (2014).
Born and raised in Canada, Mark made his first short film when he was 16. Thereafter, he put his film dreams on hold when invited to tour Canada as a lead actor, singer and dancer in a multi-million dollar production commissioned for Canada’s 125th birthday celebration. The show lead to a ten-year career as a professional actor, touring Canada, the States and Europe before finally making his home in London, UK. Wanting to return to his first love of writing, directing and producing film, Mark spent the past few years preparing by honing his business skills. Working within the head office of one of the UK’s largest retailers, he carved out a successful financial management career. Whilst working in finance he trained at The Metropolitan Film School and most recently The Central Film School where he directed his first short, “The Factory”. Now turning his energies full-time to film, he has just completed his second feature screenplay “Standing Still” and is working on several projects in various stages of development.
Helen Ibach’s passion for film started early in her life after receiving her first camera at the age of eight. After studying photography and enjoying the magic of story-telling through her writing, she became interested in merging her interests and her love for film was born. She recently discovered the art of film making and is now fulfilling her ambition with like minded women at Whipped Cream Productions where she is enthusiastically gaining both skills and experience.
