I am absolutely THRILLED to share the gorgeous cover from my forthcoming ‘Amelia Henley’ novel – ‘The Art of Loving You‘.
The response to my debut contemporary fiction novel ‘The Life We Almost Had’ was so positive I feel excited rather than nervous to be publishing my second standalone love story this summer, although I expect that to change on the lead up to the big day…
For those of you who fell in love with Adam and Anna, prepare to meet Libby and Jack. My editor says this story broke her heart and then put it back together again.
I can’t wait to share more details over the next few months, particularly when it comes to Sid, the eighty year old man who was meant to feature briefly in the story but had such a huge personality he kind of took over (although he was such a joy to write I didn’t mind).
‘The Art of Loving You’ will be available as a paperback, ebook and audiobook and you can pre order right now. Find it on Amazon here, Waterstones here, or any other digital or indie bookshop.
For now, I’ll leave you with the blurb: –
They were so in love . . . And then life changed forever . . . Will they find happiness again?
Libby and Jack are the happiest they’ve ever been. Thanks to their dear friend, eighty-year-old Sid, they’ve just bought their first house together, and it’s the beginning of the life they’ve always dreamed of.
But the universe has other plans for Libby and Jack and a devastating twist of fate shatters their world.
All of a sudden life is looking very different, and unlikely though it seems, might Sid be the one person who can help Libby and Jack move forward when what they loved the most has been lost?
The Art of Loving You is a beautiful love story for our times. Romantic and uplifting, it will break your heart and then put it back together again.
* * * *
Praise for Amelia Henley:
‘A love story with a definite difference . . . intensely emotional’ Best
‘Beautifully written and plotted. Get ready for the final chapter – you have been warned’ Candis
‘Intriguing, unusual and intensely romantic’ Sunday Mirror
Last night was the HQ Stories New Voices Showcase. An evening where over 70 journalists and bloggers would gather in the impressive function room at the Harper Collins Offices, with the sweeping panoramic views of London, to listen to authors pitch their forthcoming novels.
We were given sixty seconds each to talk about our plot or the inspiration behind our stories. When I read the brief I thought sixty seconds wasn’t long enough to talk about my forthcoming Amelia Henley love story, ‘The Life We Almost Had.‘
I was wrong.
Some of you know I once had a phobia of public speaking – not a touch of anxiety – but actual fainting or vomiting or sometimes both. Some of you know I had a course of hypnotherapy to overcome this phobia when I was asked to talk at Althorp Literary Festival about my thriller (you can read about that here.) I’ve spoken at many events since my hypnotherapy – I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the panels and the Q & A’s I’ve taken part in.
I was aware that this pitch would be the first time ever I’d be on stage alone but it was just sixty seconds. It would just pass in a flash, I’d thought.
I was wrong about that too.
Patiently I waited at the side of the stage for my turn listening to the other authors pitch their books, some with humour, some with true stories behind them, all with a confidence I did not feel. As I listened to them I knew I wanted to read each and every one of their books.
It was my turn to talk about ‘The Life We Almost Had’. The walk to the podium felt extraordinarily long. Eyes weighing heavily on me as I began my polished pitch only suddenly it wasn’t so polished. I was talking about something personal, my family, and voicing aloud for the first time the sad inspiration behind my story brought with it an onslaught of emotions that I fought to keep in check. Sixty seconds felt like the longest time but when I’d finished I realised I’d missed out a vital sentence in the middle of my pitch and thought without it, it might not have made sense to anyone.
On the train, I was furious with myself all the way home. Sixty seconds. How could I have messed up sixty seconds when my story means so much to me. When my characters Adam and Anna mean so much to me.
At home I opened Twitter. I’d received a lovely message from a book blogger. “When you said at the end of you speech ‘At the beginning of the book Adam and Anna question whether love can be eternal, by the end of their story they have their answer’ has made me desperate to read it.”
Tearfully I replied, that was the reaction I had hoped for. That’s when I realised. It was because I cared so much I was angry and that was something that all of the authors in that room had in common last night.
We cared.
Our stories might be in different genres but we were all passionate about the worlds we had created. We all wanted to share those worlds and it was that passion that made me desperate to read every single book I’d heard talked about, it wasn’t necessarily what the author said (or didn’t say in my case). We all spoke from the heart and are all immensely proud of the books we have written and ultimately that was what shone through and made the evening such a special one.
Big thanks to HQ for arranging the event and to everyone who came along and supported it. I loved meeting so many new people and am really grateful my editor invited me along. And a huge shout out to the incredible authors last night who stepped out of their comfort zones (and in my case my pyjamas) to share their stories. I had a fabulous time.
Book bloggers Linda Hill, Jacob Collins, Sarah Swan
Saturday was a very special day for me. I travelled to London to ID Studio to both observe the recording of the audiobook for The Family and to record my own acknowledgments, reader letter and book club questions.
I was met by Rebecca from the Harper Collins Audio Team who was super smiley and far too happy for somebody who had generously given up half of her weekend so I could cross something off of my publishing bucket list.
Inside the studio, the first person I saw looked so much like the Laura I had imagined as I wrote her it seemed too perfect to hope that she might be narrating her but she was! Helen Keeley said hello and thankfully I loved the tone of her voice because I am absolutely no good at masking my emotions.
Emma who works directly for the studio and is a whizz at everything led me to the booth and told me I’d be recording my bit first.
I was super conscious that due to the tight turnaround needed everyone was working the weekend and I was oddly calm (for me) as I vowed to do it in one take.
I didn’t.
Through my headphones, I could disconcertingly hear both myself (do I really sound like that?) and Emma in the studio who was giving me instructions.
The words I thought would phase me (why oh why did I put ‘totalitarian’ in my reader letter) didn’t but for some reason, I was rendered unable to pronounce ‘fifth’ and that word took three attempts. Emma had that wonderful Irish calmness and reassured me (lied) that I was doing okay. Voicing my acknowledgments, thanking my friends and family, as well as everyone who has been instrumental in bringing The Family to life, was so emotive. All too soon my part was over and it was time to settle back and watch Helen in action.
I left the booth and went into the main studio where I could both see and hear Helen. Emma told her to pick up where she had previously left off and… instant panic (I thought my lack of anxiety was strange). Sweat prickled as inside my mind looped the same six words.
Please don’t be a sex scene.
Please don’t be a sex scene.
Please don’t be a sex scene.
Fortunately, it wasn’t (I would totally have had to leave!) Instead Helen kicked off with Chapter Eight which is one of my favourite chapters. It’s the point in the book where Laura has reached rock bottom and this chapter is instrumental in her deciding moving to the commune is her only option. The emotion in Helen’s voice as she read was staggering – you can listen to the thirty-second clip I sneakily recorded below) and my eyes welled with tears (see above – I CANNOT mask my emotions).
Before long we’d reached the point in the story where Laura reaches the commune. As the story is set in Wales I had written the signposts outside of Oak Leaf Farm in both Welsh and English. At this point, Helen paused to listen to the correct pronunciations on her phone before she effortlessly parroted them but I felt awful for not considering as I wrote my story the potential difficulties a narrator might face. I WILL bear this in mind in the future!
After the recording stopped it was great to chat with Helen, Emma, and Rebecca about the audiobook process. I learned that it is the studio that sends over samples of narrators they think will be suitable for certain parts to the publisher (The Family has three narrators for each of the viewpoints). After narrators are selected it’s a case of liaising with their agents and scheduling their availability with studio availability, always bearing in mind the publication date of the book.
It’s quicker than I thought to record a book – roughly speaking a day is allowed per hundred pages.
As the narrator reads the text is checked by at least one person. While I was there both Emma and Rebecca were reading along to make sure Helen wasn’t inadvertently skipping words or sentences (she wasn’t) as well as catching any last-minute errors in the manuscript.
Every now and then, Helen would ask to redo something and Emma, using Protools software would skip back, deleting previous words. She regularly added markers for beginnings of chapters to make it easy for the next stage – the editing.
This is where the book is tidied up. Any background sound, breathing, swallowing, pops on the mike, etc. is cut out and the whole thing is listened to and checked again. Any last minute pick-ups can sometimes mean the narrators have to rerecord certain bits before it is mastered and finally turned into an audiobook which is sent to the publisher who sends it out to retailers.
I am so grateful to my editor, Manpreet, for arranging this experience – it meant such a lot to me, and for the team for putting up with me on a Saturday. It is genuinely something I shall never forget.
As I left, I asked Helen what was the thing she most enjoyed about narrating audiobooks.
‘I get a chance to play parts I might not otherwise be cast as,’ she said. ‘Although in your story I’m Laura, in her point of view I have to sometimes portray Alex. There’s no way I’d ever usually get to play the part of a male, Welsh, cult leader.’
She has a point.
‘The Family’ will be published as an ebook on 25th September and on paperback and audio on 3rd October. You can preorder in all formats here.
Do join me at my live Facebook launch party where I’ll be giving away both singed copies of my books, as well as a bundle donated by HQ stories. I’ll also be answering your questions on writing and books. You can find the event here.
The UK eBook release of The Family on 25th September is just days away (you can preorder here) and to celebrate I’m hosting an online launch over on my Facebook Author Page on Wednesday evening at 7.30pm GMT and YOU are invited. I’ve hosted an online launch before and it was so much fun and it’s a great chance to connect to those of you who aren’t local enough to make the physical launch for the paperback on 3rd October.
On the evening, as well as chatting with you and answering questions, I’ll be giving away some books – as well as the ones I have written my publisher HQ Stories/Harper Collins are offering some exciting proofs which aren’t available anywhere else. You can find the event page here. RSVP you are coming and then leave a comment under the giveaway post. I’ll be drawing winners on the night as well as answering any questions that have been posted about my books and writing as well as any asked on the night via the live comments. I can’t wait to chat with you all about The Family – my darkest story yet. I will also be sharing details of my next thriller.
I was so excited to receive the paperbacks this week I forgot how to speak properly – you can see my reaction here: –
As well as the Polish paperbacks which are equally stunning: –
Here’s the blurb: –
ONCE YOU’RE IN, THEY’LL NEVER LET YOU LEAVE.
Laura is grieving after the sudden death of her husband. Struggling to cope emotionally and financially, Laura is grateful when a local community, Oak Leaf Organics, offer her and her 17-year-old daughter Tilly a home.
But as Laura and Tilly settle into life with their new ‘family’, sinister things begin to happen. When one of the community dies in suspicious circumstances Laura wants to leave but Tilly, enthralled by the charismatic leader, Alex, refuses to go.
Desperately searching for a way to save her daughter, Laura uncovers a horrifying secret but Alex and his family aren’t the only ones with something to hide. Just as Laura has been digging into their past, they’ve been digging into hers and she discovers the terrifying reason they invited her and Tilly in, and why they’ll never let them leave…
Authors are often solitary creatures, introverted. Much of our days spent alone with only a laptop (and in my case a cat) for company.
B A Paris & Louise Jensen
Every so often there’s a chance to get out, a literary festival, a bookish event, a party. Today, was my publisher’s author Christmas bash and it felt odd to be discarding my pyjamas in favour of real, actual, normal clothes (if you can call tinsel, Rudolph earrings and a present fascinator normal clothes.)
Darren O’Sullivan
Alice Feeney, Louise Jensen
An author party isn’t just an excuse for drinking (okay it is a bit). It’s a chance to catch up with old friends and make some new. To connect. To realise that however alone we can sometimes feel, we all have the same fears, not matter what stage of writing we are at; that we’ll run out of ideas; that our current book won’t be as well received as out last. We all have the same love/hate relationship with our current WIP.
Louise Mangos & Roz Watkins
After a civilised start to the evening, with a gorgeous meal in the London Bridge Hotel, we headed over to the News Building, which houses Harper Collins. On the 17th floor we were met by caterers with glasses of prosecco and canapés and gazing out across the stunning river views I felt a million miles from home.
Lisa Hall, Louise Jensen, Darren O’Sullivan
The writing community is super supportive and one I’m very grateful to be part of. Tomorrow even though I’ll be back in my editing cave, back in my pyjamas, I’ll know I’m not alone.
Louise Jensen & Darren O’Sullivan
Vicky Newham & B A Paris
Louise Jensen & Roz Watkins
Darren O’Sullivan, Lisa Hall, Louise Jensen, Alice Feeney, Mel McGrath, Louise Mangos
Phaedra Patrick & Lisa Hall
B A Paris, Phaedra Patrick, Louise Jensen, Diane Jeffrey, Sally Gardner
fabricating fiction 