I got an interesting email on Saturday night. My husband and I had just gotten back from a jaunt down to Kerry for a belated anniversary hike (Kells Bay Gardens and Valentia Island are highly recommended) and we were settling onto the sofa for a night of Final Fantasy XIV. I took a quick glance at my phone and saw a startling email.

“We are pleased to announce that,The Serpent and the Swan,is a winner in the 2021 IAN Book of the Year Awards!

When judging completed, The Serpent and the Swan, was selected as a finalist in one category: ‘Novella.’ “

I think I stared at it for a good long while until Tom asked me what as up. He got excited right away. It took me a little longer.

Like most artists, I make a lot of excuses when it comes to accolades. ‘Oh it’s just finalist,’ or ‘just a ‘novella,’ and so forth. I set a high bar for myself and every time I meet it, I raise it higher. Which is why Tom forced me to sit down and write this blog post and tell everyone about it.

I wasn’t going to say ‘I won an award’ because of the whole ‘finalist’ thing, but it’s right there in the email, so here goes: My book won an award. Wow. For a debut novella, that feels pretty damn good. It still feels cheeky to call myself an ‘award-winning author’ – I’ll save that for a Hugo – but this step in the right direction takes some getting used to. And as you all know, I’ve struggled quite a lot with confidence and burn out this year. And as I set out to write the Serpent and Swan trilogy, it’s just the self-esteem-boost I needed. But an author is only as strong as the people who helped her along the way, and I particularly want to thank my editor, Emma O’Connell of Emma’s Edit. She has a brilliant mind for development edits, and is the perfect blend of supportive and constructive. I look forward to years of work together.

And thank you to all my readers who loved the book, those who left reviews, and especially those who reached out to me because it meant something to them.