2021 WINTER NEWSLETTER

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It feels odd to say ‘happy new year’ when 2021 has not started in the way we all hoped! Unfortunately, viruses don’t have any respect for our delineations of time and this one has refused to stay confined to 2020. Equally, I am not allowing my optimism to be crushed, and I remain hopeful that by the summer, things will be looking up as the vaccine is rolled out further and wider. I’m clinging to the vision of sunshine and smiles; shops, businesses and schools open once again. In the meantime, hunkering down and sending love to all the health and key workers out there who have no choice but to bravely keep on going is the best I can do.

I am delighted to announce that People Like Us has been shortlisted for the prestigious Romantic Novelists’ Association, Goldsboro Books Historical Romantic Novel Award 2021! The RNA’s awards are the only U.K. national literary prizes recognising excellence in the genre of romantic fiction. A picture of all the shortlisted books is at the bottom of this newsletter - as you can see, I’m in some fantastic company! In normal life, I would have been invited to attend an awards evening at the Leonardo Royal London City Hotel in early March when they would announce the winner of each category. I’d have had the opportunity to fan-gaze at some of the famous authors who would be there, and chat to other authors, agents, editors and other industry professionals. Sadly, thanks to said virus, I will be on my own at home attending a virtual event in front of my computer screen on 8th March! Do keep your fingers and toes crossed for me that night. 

On 4th March, the paperback of People Like Us is released here in the U.K. and my publishers, Head of Zeus, have come up with a beautiful new cover for it, which I have shared at the top of this newsletter. To celebrate, I am going to give away a signed copy of my new paperback. To enter, just send a brief reply to this email saying you would like to enter the competition, and I will enter you into the draw. I will let the winner know by email on 4th March. UK only on this occasion I am afraid! With any luck, shops will be open soon! In the meantime, it is available for pre-order from Amazon, Waterstones, Bookshop.org, Hive and all other booksellers. As mentioned before, independent booksellers are really struggling and sadly many will not re-open. But we can all support them by ordering our books through Bookshop.org and hive both of whom source the books delivered to your door from independent book shops. 

People Like Us/Daughter of the Reich has now secured eleven foreign translation deals, the latest only a couple of weeks ago in Brazil. I am enormously grateful to my literary agency Hardman & Swainson for spreading my book-baby further and wider than I ever dreamed possible. Below are just a few of the covers (some are a sneak preview as they haven’t been released yet) for upcoming editions in Spain, Russia, Portugal and Italy. Don’t they look wonderful together?

I now have publication dates for my second novel, The Hidden Child, which is 2nd September in the U.K. and 12th October in the USA and Canada. I will have cover reveals coming very soon, so do look out for them on my Facebook page or on Twitter and Instagram. Proofs will be going out to other authors and reviewers in the spring, and I plan to give one away to a lucky subscriber - details in my next newsletter! I can’t wait to share this book with the world. It was not an easy book to write, but I’m delighted with the result. My focus is now on my next book. This has required a good deal of research, which is on-going and not made easier by the lockdown we find ourselves in. Ideally, I would be visiting the locations in which it is set, but this isn’t currently possible. I hope to be able to do this in the summer. 

One benefit (if there are any!) of lockdown is that a number of literary festivals are going to be virtual rather than physical again this year. Whilst being able to go in person would be wonderful, being on-line makes them accessible to anyone both geographically and to people who might otherwise find it hard to attend. Do check them out! Many are free to attend and cover the full gambit of authors and literary interests. I will be appearing in a historical fiction panel at the Stay-at-Home Literary Festival, run by the fabulous author C J Cooke. She ran it last year too, and some 15,000 people attended from all around the world. More on this and other events in my Spring newsletter.  

Having given a little plug earlier for independent bookshops, now a little plug for less well-known authors and their books! Reading, perhaps not surprisingly, has seen a resurgence in popularity over the last year. This is great news for the book industry and for authors in general. However, the books most read are those of either already well-established and popular authors, or celebrity authors new to the scene. It is particularly difficult for non-celebrity, new or less well-known authors to be seen or heard in the current conditions. There are some incredible books and enormously talented authors out there to be discovered and enjoyed. Do look out for them! I’m attaching here a link to the page in Bookshop.org set up by a group of us whose books came out last year, or early this year. There is a huge range and something for everyone! If you don’t choose one of these, do take a look around for other, less well-known names and give them a try.  You won’t be disappointed!

So, for now, all that is left for me to say is, do take care, stay safe, and keep your fingers crossed for me on 8th March!

With much love,

Louise