'Another exciting milestone has finally arrived, 'A Christmas Wish' has entered Sainsbury's shelves! On Thursday, 19th October, I made an extra early trip to my local Sainsbury's store, purely to enjoy the moment and to ensure that I wasn't dreaming.

​I arrived early, which if you know me, you'll know is typical me, so had to wait in the car for fifteen minutes for the store to open. I have to admit, my heart was thumping loud and proud by the time I'd found the book section and there it was 'my book' sitting pretty on the shelf, next to Jenny Colgan. I felt slightly greedy taking two copies to the check-out till, but hey, I had to purchase on the first occasion of seeing her sitting on a shelf! Anyway, the nice cashier lady remarked 'Two of the same book?' I explained why. Bless her, she seemed thrilled to have served me, which added to my enjoyment. Though, it still feels very strange explaining to people that I'm an author...

I went straight from Sainsbury's to the day-job and had a wonderful day sharing my news with the folks. Throughout the day I received snippets and message updates regards the emptying of shelves at local stores and the quick restocking in others. All in all, I had a truly marvellous day.  

I had a delightful start to my Saturday morning, a postal delivery containing my new paperback cover. I literally squealed with delight on seeing the additional pink foiled font used for the title and my name. Eeeeeeekkk! I definitely have a secret magpie gene in my DNA mix as I love a little glitz and glam. I then spent twenty minutes simply stroking the embossed cover.  My new cover will be gracing the shelves of Sainsbury's supermarkets from Thursday, 19th October 2017.

My first cover will always be special to me, as I waited for many years to be lucky enough to secure a publishing deal. I won't ever forget the moment that I saw that beautiful image for the first time.

It seems ironic, given that it will be one year since I entered the final straights towards publication. On 18th October 2016, Katie Fforde informed me that she'd chosen me as one of two authors to receive her annual award 'The Katie Fforde Bursary'. One year and one day later, my debut novel has been published and enters Sainsbury's stores - wow, what a dream come true!