Half a Million Pages
Half a Million Pages in Under a Month: Persistence, Collaboration, and a Hint of Time Travel
On 12 August 2025, my eleventh book, The Deadly Life of Diana Penn, was published as part of Shawn Inmon’s Middle Falls universe. Less than a month later, the book has already surpassed 500,000 page reads on Amazon.
That number still makes me pause. Half a million times, readers have chosen to step into Diana Penn’s world. For any author, it’s an incredible milestone. For me, it’s also a reminder of just how far the journey has been—and how powerful collaboration can be.
The Power of Collaboration
When Shawn invited me to write inside his Middle Falls world, it felt like stepping through a new kind of creative door. Suddenly, I was meeting new readers, telling stories in a shared universe, and connecting with the energy of a community much larger than my own.
Collaboration, I believe, is the way forward in publishing. It brings fresh perspectives, wider reach, and opportunities that one writer alone might never find. The Deadly Life of Diana Penn is proof of that.
Eleven Books Later
But this didn’t happen overnight. Diana Penn is my 11th book. Each of the ten before it taught me lessons—about writing, about publishing, and about resilience.
Back in 2017, I tweeted about my dream of seeing my books hit the big lists. To my amazement, Ken Follett—yes, the Ken Follett of Pillars of the Earth fame—replied:
“If it’s any consolation, Kirsty, I wrote ten misses before I had a hit. Good luck!”
Seven years later, those words ring true. It really did take ten books before the hit came. Was Ken Follett a time traveller? How else did he know? 😉
Gratitude and Persistence
Most of all, I’m grateful. To Shawn, for welcoming me into his world. To Ken Follett, for planting that seed of persistence. And above all, to the readers—those half a million page turns belong to you.
Here’s to persistence, to collaboration, and to the next milestone. Maybe a million pages isn’t too far away…
📖 The Deadly Life of Diana Penn is available here: