My journey – 7 years published today & to celebrate I’m offering free mentoring to a new writer!

As a child I’d always dreamed of being an author but as I grew up the lack of knowledge (there was no internet!), lack of support and a lack of confidence dampened down my dreams, little by little until they disappeared.

The years rolled past. I was still an avid reader, still ignored the writer inside of me who had stories to tell, when an accident changed everything. In an instant, my life was almost unrecognisable. I already had a pre-existing health condition but the moment someone ran into my car things got a million times worse.

I lost my mobility.

My mental health.

Myself.

Moving forward again, this time to April 2014. I’d been diagnosed with clinical depression and chronic anxiety. My consultant told me to take up knitting. I didn’t want to knit (and if you’d been a member of my Brownie pack and seen the pitiful ‘squares’ I had made to contribute to a blanket, you’d understand why).

I did need a hobby though, not any of the things I’d enjoyed in the past – running, horse riding, aerobics – but something I didn’t have to move for.

Not much came to mind. I couldn’t paint. Didn’t have the patience for jigsaws but then I remembered that once upon a time I liked to scribble down short stories. Could I try that?

Slowly, tentatively, I began to write about two best friends, Grace and Charlie. My story grew and grew until it became a 90,000 word book. I couldn’t believe I’d written one (in secret). I read it back and it was… awful. Honestly, probably the worst book ever written, but I had fallen in love with my characters, fallen in love with the process, not exactly fallen in love with myself but I had begun to realise that perhaps life wasn’t so bleak after all.

Today is the 7 year anniversary of the publication of that story, my debut, The Sister. After submissions to and rejections by, literary agents, I was so grateful to be given a chance by a relatively new, small, independent publisher, Bookouture. (Who are great to work with and now part of Hachette – you can submit to them without an agent here)

I had no expectations, no idea what to expect. The Sister went up for pre-order and before it was even published it was in the top 40 in the UK and the top 100 in the US. Soon, it was No. 1 in multiple charts around the world, and that was it. I was suddenly a full-time writer.

Now, just 7 years later, I have had 11 books published, sold over 1.5 million copies, have been translated into around 30 languages. I’ve been nominated for several awards (and lost every single one…). My books have been optioned for TV & film.

In between writing my own books I’ve mentored new writers. They’ve all had the talent to succeed without me but I do feel proud that the majority of them have gone on to secure agents and publishing deals. 

Writing can be hard, solitary, lonely at times. Rejections are demoralising and it’s easy to feel despairing, like nothing can ever change, but I’m proof that it can, when you least expect it. 

I’m a great believer of paying it forward so I’d like to offer free mentoring to one writer who isn’t in a position to pay for advice. This will consist of reading the first 3 chapters (or up to 5k words in short stories) and any submission package (including synopsis), 2 zoom calls and a follow up read. During these calls feel free to ask any publishing/writing questions. I publish psychological thrillers and contemporary/book club fiction and also write an uplifting cosy series for a magazine. These are the areas I’m best able to feedback on. If you’d like to work with me please contact me via my website here with a little bit about you and what you’re writing as well as a sample of 500-1000 words. Applications to be in by 23/07/23.

You can find ‘The Sister’, the book that changed everything for me here and ‘The Fall’ my brand new release which is just 99p in the UK right now here. 

Lastly, thank you to all the readers who have bought, recommended and reviewed by books. I wouldn’t be able to do this without you.

Louise x