A Ghostly Good Week

Me holding the two Maggie certificates with my mouth open because I'm still in awe over winning the Maggie Medallion!

I can’t believe it’s already been a week since Ghost of a Chance came out! I was lucky enough to be in the U.S. to celebrate the release and do some fun book events. Thank you to everyone who came out to see me — I loved meeting readers and chatting about my whimsy-goth heroine, cinnamon-roll hero, and Judge Judy–loving ghost!

I kicked off my trip in Atlanta, where I gave a workshop on how to keep sparks alive throughout an entire book. There was a brief moment of hijinks when the microphone stopped working — and I was so tempted to pretend a ghost was to blame, but I wasn’t quite brave enough to pull it off!

Dinner at Dominicks with Susan Sands, Teri Wilson, Bryn Donovan, myself, Roe Valentine and Sasha Summers

While in Atlanta I got to hang out with some of my favorite author friends over a truly gigantic serving of lasagna, plenty of wine, and endless laughter. I also met so many wonderful new-to-me authors who are now friends. To top off an already perfect weekend, I was honored (and totally stunned!) to win the Maggie Medallion for The Bookbinder’s Guide to Love.

After that, my daughter and I road-tripped back to Chicago, where she lives — and along the way, I got to experience Buc-ee’s for the very first time. (We stopped at two, of course.) The first one was nearly empty since we were up so early, so I shopped to my heart’s content and picked up the cutest little ghost mug — plus the most delicious sausage biscuit. I really miss biscuits living in the UK! Over there, they call cookies “biscuits,” and they just don’t compare to a proper Southern buttermilk biscuit.

Coco & I at Oktoberfest...I'm drinking wine.

Coco and I spent the week shopping, laughing, and indulging in our shared silly sense of humor. She treated me to the Russian Tea Room as a belated Mother’s Day gift, and we had a perfect fall day wandering through Chicago’s Oktoberfest. Then she surprised me with tickets to Drunk Dracula— a hilarious show where one of the actors performs very drunk. (Normally, it’s Drunk Shakespeare, which she’d already seen.) It was such a riot — highly recommend if you’re ever in Chicago!

Myself, Molly Harper, Mollie & Arianna from Love's Sweet Arrow.

On Saturday, I visited the indie romance bookstore Love’s Sweet Arrow for a Ghost of a Chance launch event with the amazing Molly Harper. She’s every bit as delightful as her books — we had so much fun talking ghosts, witches, and writing. Thank you to everyone who came out to see us. It was lovely to meet you all!

Then, just like that, my time in the U.S. was over. I’m a chronic overpacker who insists on bringing a pillow and blanket on every flight, so I looked like a hobbit leaving the Shire for the first time. 😆 With only twenty minutes to make my connecting flight in Atlanta, you can picture me sprinting through the terminal — pillow, blanket, and ghost mug in tow!

Now I’m back home in the UK, happily writing my next novel, but the adventure (and all the laughter) is still with me. 💜