I’VE BEEN AWAY FROM SUBSTACK FOR A WHILE

So, a belated Happy New Year to you all

Leading up to the end of November 2025, I was hell-bent on finishing novel number three before going on a Bucket List Trip to Australia for the whole of December 2025. I had planned to write while I was in Australia, but it takes time and full-on concentration to breathe in every wonderful moment while making new memories.

I hope 2026 is a creatively good year for all my writer friends and me. It’s a switchback out there, getting a break and losing it, which is what happened to me in 2025. So I am hoping for better things in 2026.

Things weren’t all bad writing-wise in 2025, though. The highlight being the launch of The Secret Lives of the Doyenne of Didsbrook in July.

And it’s done okay.

Plus, ‘The Doyenne’ started 2026 strongly with a fantastic review from the author Eve Koguce.

My main objective this year is getting my new novel, The Rebuilding of Freya Michael’s, out there.

I’m not entirely sure where Freya’s story came from. It’s a little darker than either The Secret Lives of the Doyenne of Didsbrook or Just Say It, but I’ve loved every minute of writing it. I believe you have to push beyond your comfort zone to grow as a writer, and I’ve tried to do that with Freya’s story—taking her from intimate emotional fallout into high-stakes suspense, and back again to what survival and connection really mean.

If anybody is interested in going to Australia, you can read my Bucket List Travelogue - 29 Days Down Under, over on www.tessbarrie.com.

Thank you all for your support in 2025, it means a great deal.