April is fast approaching, and with it the publication of my novel Burning Embers by Omnific Publishing. It’s an exciting time indeed; this is a milestone I’ve much looked forward to in my journey as a writer.

I first began writing Burning Embers years ago. The story and the setting and the characters had taken shape in my head, and I just had to put pen to paper. For so many days I wrote – on the terrace, in the garden, in my office – exhilarated by the growth of this book, my secret joy. Some days I felt visited by a muse, and the words flowed onto the page seemingly of their own volition. Other days my imagination ran wild and I had to tame flights of fantasy and pin down the dancing trails of the plot. And then came the revisions: hour upon hour of editing and reworking and cutting and rewriting – long, arduous work.

Then, finally, I was finished. Now came the time to find the courage to allow others to read the book; friends and family at first, and then (gulp) literary agents and publishers. Of course I was delighted when the offer of a publishing contract emerged.

Publication, for me, is an opportunity to share my writing with others of a similar mind. I know I’m not the only woman who sits on a garden bench on a summer’s afternoon, gazing at the vivid flowers in bloom and daydreaming romantic tales. Love, romance, attraction, chivalry, passion, happiness – these are what many women yearn for. Yes we’re modern women. Yes we can (theoretically) rewire a plug and change a tyre on the car and put out the dustbins; and we’re glad to do so, for we want equality with men. But at heart we’re also still little girls dreaming of fairytale endings.

I have always written for myself. I have written the stories I love to dream; the books I love to read. I very much hope that now, with the publication of Burning Embers, others may find the romantic world I inhabit a place that they, too, love to visit.