Merry Christmas, One and All!

As well as celebration, Christmas is a time for reflection and looking forward to the year ahead, and so here is my (small fanfare)

Not quite the 12 Days of Christmas. 

1 Book Award (An Unknown Woman, Writing Magazine’s Self-Published Book of the Year.)

1 book shortlisted for Book of the Year (An Unknown Woman, Book Viral)

1 new release. (My Counterfeit Self, 1 October 2016)

2 book cover awards (An Unknown Woman, designed by Andrew Candy based on a concept by Jane Davis)

#4 highest ranking on Amazon.

5 authors discussing historical fiction. (Chairing the historical fiction panel at Triskele Lit Fest)

25 books given away for World Book Night.

35 beta readers!

36 books read.

48 authors interviewed.

130 new 4 and 5 star reviews from happy readers. (Thank you so much if yours was among them.)

557 copies of I Stopped Time given away to newsletter subscribers.

33,000 copies of A Funeral for an Owl given away in a single day. 

Thank you for being part of my year. Every email, comment, download, purchase and review meant the world to me. I couldn’t do it without your support.  

A Christmas Offer

I received an invitation to a Blue Christmas service at my local church last night. It is aimed at ‘those for whom, Christmas, this year, is sad and they are finding it hard to celebrate.’  An Unchoreographed Life is my Blue Christmas Novel and I have reduced the price to 99p/99p until 6 January.

‘The whole novel had a compelling honesty; I never doubted that things happened exactly as described, right to the very last word. I have discovered a new favourite author.’ ~ Jean Gill, Author and Photographer

‘Davis is a writer at the pinnacle of her craft. A damn good read and, dare I add, important.’ ~ Linda Carol

‘Beautifully written, engaging & heart-breaking. I loved every minute of it.’ ~ S M Spencer

‘The child’s character was so cleverly written that I felt I knew her.’ ~ Amazon Reviewer

‘Best book by a country mile I have read for a long time.’ ~ Sue Darnell, Reader

I was a reader long before I became a writer. Here’s what I’ve been reading in 2016

1. Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout
2. Last Night in Montreal, Emily St. John Mandel
3. Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
4. Palestinian Walks, Raja Shehadeh
5. Human Croquet, Kate Atkinson
6. Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout (read twice)!
7. Nora Webster, Colm Toibin
8. The Secret River, Kate Grenville
9. Hampstead Fever, Carol Cooper
10. In One Person, John Irving
11. Mulgrave of the Marshes, John Peel
12. Cinema Lumiere, Hattie Holden Edmonds
13. How to be Both, Ali Smith
14. The Crimson Petal and the Rose, Michael Faber
15. Our Endless Numbered Days, Claire Fuller
16. Stoner, John Williams
17. The Slap, Christos Tsiolkas
18. The Glorious Heresies, Lisa McInerney
19. Who’d Have Thought It? Christine Webber
20. Haweswater, Srah Hall
21. My Name is Lucy Barton, Elizabeth Strout
22. The Bitter Trade, Piers Alexander
23. Where the River Parts, Radhika Swarup
24. Beach Music, Pat Conroy
25. Aurelia, Alison Morton
26.  How to Paint a Dead Man, Sarah Hall
27. Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
28. The Universal Theory of Everything, Adam Bethlehem
29. Ali Smith, The Accidental
30. Jules et Jim, Henri-Pierre Roche
31. Flaubert’s Parrot, Julian Barnes
32. Crow Lake, Mary Lawson
33. The Green Road, Anne Enright
34. Abide With Me, Elizabeth Strout
35. That Still and Whispering Place, Kathy Shuker
36. Haven’t decided yet!

How did I do on my targets?

23 books by women – v.g.

6 indie titles – could do better! 

Over to you

What was your favourite read of 2016?

And what are your targets for 2017?

Virtual Book Club will be back in the New Year. Meanwhile have a safe and peaceful Christmas.