The One with the Ridiculous Peace Offering

Abigail Yardimci
Mar 30
6 min read

I've been burning the midnight oil lately. Or, to be more exact, I've been burning the 5am oil because - as is my personal MO - I have inflicted some foolish deadlines upon myself.

As much as I don't want to come over all cookie-cutter writer, I can actually imagine you rolling your eyes right now. You might be whispering under a heavy sigh, 'What is it this time, Abi? What have you got yourself into?'

Well, I've got myself into a gloriously unrealistic yet thrillingly creative project that I just can't leave alone. Let's just say that if I was a movie franchise, this would be the seventeenth one and the trailer would have a voice-over of ever increasing frenzied exhaustion.

So, cast your minds back if you will, to the Spring of 2023 where I stopped dead in the harbour streets of Brixham, Devon - mid annual pirate festival - struck by the inspiration to write a swashbuckling murder mystery. I went away and wrote said novel (of COURSE I did) but also set myself the goal of writing it, editing it and publishing it by the following year's pirate festival so that I could launch it there.

Abi, a white woman with short blonde hair, is dressed as a pirate and standing next to her book stall at Brixham Pirate Festival — Me, looking mighty pleased with myself, launching my book at Brixham Pirate Festival 2024

I mean, I did it, but scarcely live to tell the tale.

Murder at the Pirate Festival has, to be fair, opened up a whole new world of readers for me. With its ADHD teenaged sleuth (#welovepaulie), pirate festival vibes and inclusive cast of characters, I have started a beautiful thing and I'm not sorry for it. This book is officially the start in a new series called the 'Berryport Mysteries' and I have like, a squillion ideas for it. However, if you asked me, 'Abi, how are you getting on with the next book?', I'd slink away with murmurs of a bus to catch.

Then I'd probably catch that bus - even if I had nowhere to go.

A mere flick through the last year or two's blog post titles and you'll probably guess why the sequel hasn't been written yet. Burnout, life changes, chaos - they all feature in the excuses list. A full-time working, full-time mothering and full-time neurodiversing profile does not make for good novel-completing prospects. Or so I'm realising.

And with this year's Brixham Pirate Festival fast approaching, I was worried about - yet again - meeting requests for the next book with stark and empty hands. For the last two years I've rocked up with my Murder at the Pirate Festival book stall and I can honestly say there are only so many times you can turn away impatient Jack Sparrows and aggravated sea witches.

Crowds fill the streets at Brixham Pirate Festival — That year when hardly anyone turned up

I knew I wanted to set up my stall again this year and yes, the hope is that I'd find new readers. After all, new people discover this incredible festival every year. However, I just couldn't look another Blackbeard dead in the eye and admit I was yet to release the sequel.

So, rather than write, edit and publish the novel in 8 weeks flat (even I know that's not a goer), I called on my melting pot of so-called talents and thought about what I could create instead. I looked at my slowly growing collection of books and landed on the Life is Yours Self-Care Journal.

A woman's hands holding the Life is Yours Self-Care Journal - a hardback, peach coloured book decorated with little white stars and the book title — Book Baby Number 6

If you've got a copy then you'll know that it's a beautiful hardback companion to the Life is Yours series - an uplifting set of novels with Jess at the centre of them - a woman who unwittingly transforms the grief and torment of heartbreak into the most magical time of her life. The journal offers a private space to reflect on some of Jess's learnings whilst rediscovering your own voice, peace and power. Compiling this journal was a real labour of love for me and I've been so thrilled with the reviews and responses.

Even as I was creating the Life is Yours Self-Care Journal I knew it wouldn't be the last one. I'm a huge advocate for journaling and you only have to take one look at my socials to see I'm a bit of a Canva enthusiast. Graphic design has always been a passion of mine and when you marry it with writing and philosophy? I mean, what's not to like?

Now you may be starting to understand where the burning of the 5am oil is coming in. Yep, you guessed it, I have spent the last few weeks planning, creating and positively obsessing over a . . . Pirate Wisdom Journal.

Once I started, I just couldn't stop:

'I'll just start tentatively researching pirate quotes' AKA 'I will gather pirate quotes like my life depends on it and hoard them like Captain Barbossa on a caffeine binge.'

'I'll play around a bit with some pirate imagery' AKA 'I'll scour and sketch and spawn an image gallery that would terrify Captain Hook into submission.'

'I'll just start playing around with cover ideas and see what happens' AKA 'I will obsess over and fixate on the cover design, forcing every single member of my family to coach me tirelessly until the perfect visual assemblage has occurred.'

And, my friends, I am pleased to tell you that the perfect visual assemblage HAS occurred and the Pirate Wisdom Journal will be published imminently!

The front cover of the Pirate Wisdom Journal - the title displayed across an ancient-looking map background, with a blue wax seal decorated with a skull and crossbones in the centre and antique pirate coins spilled across the bottom — Isn't she a beaut?

Ok, so I may be experiencing some unpleasant flashbacks of 5am alarm calls, but I am HAPPY with the result. I mean, if pirate philosophy isn't enough to inspire you then I don't know what is. With quotes like these to draw from, this journal has practically created itself (it hasn't really):

'A merry life and a short one shall be my motto' - Black Bart

'Even pirates, before they attack, hoist a black flag' - Béla Király

'It isn’t that life ashore is distasteful to me. But life at sea is better' - Sir Francis Drake

And it's not just quotes - I've packed the journal with affirmations, prompts and reflections so that everyone - pirate enthusiast or not - can spend time navigating their thoughts and face life's storms with more courage and conviction. Here's a sneaky peek of a few of the pages:

The journal also includes a 'Deep Blue' meditation which I'm going to record over on my Kofi page - so if you'd like to be guided by yours truly (pirate voice not included - nobody wants to hear that) then all you have to do is sign up to my £2.50 per month membership. It's all very exciting.

Just yesterday I ordered the proof copy and once I've tweaked away any small imperfections, I'll be whacking this journal out on the Amazon marketplace like a bottle of rum on the Captain's table - sloshing with joy and brimming with wisdom, I really think you're going to like it.

It's a strange feeling when you've just completed a project that - to all intents and purposes - you just didn't have the time for. I feel wired and cheerful, satisfied and exhausted. I know I can't keep living my life like this forever but I also know it's part of my life blood. An ADHD diagnosis last year gave me a few clues about why I sometimes do things this way and maybe just for now I can embrace it. I need a rest, yes, but I can embrace it.

A huge black pirate flag displaying a skull and crossbones flying against a setting sun and the Brixham town landscape

So, if you're anywhere near Brixham from 2nd - 4th May then come find me and my books! I'll be at Bertie & Crew on the Marina from 10am - 3pm on the Saturday and Sunday and at Another Chapter at 13 The Quay from 10am - 3pm on the Monday. I'll be selling and signing copies of Murder at the Pirate Festival and (as some kind of ridiculous peace offering until the sequel) the Pirate Wisdom Journal too.

Otherwise, keep an eye on my socials and sign up to my newsletter - then you won't miss it when the Pirate Wisdom Journal is launched!

As always, thank you to everyone who follows me and cheerleads me no matter how outlandish my methods may be . . .

Go well,

Abi

xxx

P.S. If you enjoyed this blog post then make sure you sign up to get ALL my bookish news as and when it happens. You'll also bag yourself a FREE copy of Life Is Yours - the first book in the Life Is Yours Trilogy. Sign up here

P.P.S. If you liked what you read and want to help me keep on writing (it's a tough old world out there), then you can support me for literally just a few pennies over on Kofi. You can also become a member and hear me share my words with the passion, energy and meaning they were written with.