A LITTLE ABOUT ME

updated November 2024

The mother of 3 children and 5 grandchildren, I've been an author since 2015 after retiring from my career in safeguarding.

I began by writing and illustrating 42 phonics-focused picture storybooks for small children followed by my memoir, ONE SMALL WORD - SURVIVING CHILDHOOD ABUSE and its sequel, NO. These are for sale on Amazon.

I now write novels, which follow the turbulent journies of children trying to escape from various forms of abuse:

The first, SHATTERED PIECES CAN STILL SHINE follows Georgie and her escape, first from sexual abuse by her stepfather, and then forced prostitution.

The second, THE PRICE OF WORTHLESSNESS follows Petra, trying to escape from a sex-trafficking ring.

Again, these are available on Amazon.

I have since written a third novel, NOT A PROPER ANYTHING, about Patsy's escape from familial physica abuse. But this time I'm following the lengthy route of traditional publishing (see more about that below). However, whilst doing this, I'm writing my fourth novel that highlights a type of abuse that is surprisingly prevalent but hidden and feared. My working title is FLAME'S STORY - more about that in the future.

WHAT IS TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING

Normally, an author cannot approach a traditional publisher direct but must go through a literary agent. So, the first hurdle for an author is to find a literary agent who is a good fit, and wants to represent their book. They do this by sending a query letter to their chosen agent.

 
Writing a query letter that will hook an agent is an art that must be learned and refined. This is usually a long process.

Different literary agents represent different book genres at different times. Sometimes they are open to queries, and other times closed. Sometimes they change the genres they are looking for. There are various online tools for finding and researching appropriate agents. Most authors query many agents over a long period before finding an appropriate one.

The job of the literary agent is to pitch the author's book to an interested publisher, who will pay the author up front for the rights to their book. The agent then receives a percentage of this payment.

The publisher has complete control over the book title and when it is published.