NEWLSETTER – June 2010

When I was a child, people were always giving me diaries because they knew I wanted to be a writer. Not the kind you use to keep appointments, obviously, but the glossy, shiny books with locks and a brand new page for every day upon which to record your thoughts.

I hate diaries. All that expectation is so intimidating. I’d always start well, filling every page for the first week or two, but inevitably it would tail off, and I’d be left with that nagging feeling of guilt and failure as my entries dwindled to a line or two every ten days, until I finally gave up.

Which is why my website doesn’t have a blog. Starting one would just lead to disappointment, frustration, and broken crockery (wait, sorry, I’m thinking about marriage.) And I’m a writer: I can’t just throw off a few paragraphs without agonising over the placement of every comma. It would take me half a day to manage a page, and my books would never get a look-in. So forgive me: I love talking to you and getting your feedback, but I’m just not up to the emotional commitment of a blog. Can we just say I’ll write to you when I write to you, and leave it at that? And I’ll send my newsletter to everyone who signs up so you don’t have to keep checking back on my website to see if I’ve bothered to get up in the morning.

But I hope you do check the website now and again, because we’re relaunching it and I’m thrilled with the new look. No credit to me, I’m afraid, but to my brilliant web designer, Eileen Dougherty, who is getting married next month and still found time to turn my vague ideas (‘I thought something kind of girly but not too chick-lit and by the way we need to have at least two versions for the US and Europe and can you link me in to Twitter?’) into reality. I hope you like it as much as I do; let me know if you have any suggestions or peeves, and I’ll drag her back off her honeymoon to fix them.

It’s been a really hectic few weeks, actually, with the publication of my latest novel, What’s Yours Is Mine, in the UK in April, and the upcoming paperback publication of Beat the Bitch! How to Stop the Other Woman Stealing Your Man in June. We’re also getting ready for the US launch of Who Loves You Best (previously published as The Cradle Snatcher in the UK) in late July, so all in all, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind.

For those of you who haven’t yet had a chance to read it, What’s Yours Is Mine is the one about two sisters who share a little too much, and I’m thrilled to say it’s had some amazing reviews. The publicity tour has been fun, too, and I can’t tell you how exciting it was to see a double-decker bus go past me on Oxford Street in London with my book on the side. (You can see the photo at the top of my website home page.) I had a really Carrie Bradshaw moment, only thankfully without the puddle. Or tutu.

We’ve also had some really exciting news about Who Loves You Best, which I’m dying to share with you, but we have to keep it under wraps for a little longer. Suffice it to say, the marketing and publicity for this book is going to be bigger than anything we’ve yet done in the US, and I’m fizzing with excitement!

While I was in London last month, I also signed a new contract for three more novels, and am already hard at work on the first of them, which is called The Wife Who Ran Away and yes, it does what it says on the tin. I’m loving writing it so far, and getting to meet the new characters. It’s always an adventure at this stage, and I spend as much time making decisions about which path to take next as I do actually writing. My deadline is October for publication in April 2011, so I’ll keep you posted on its progress.

As I said, it’s always so nice to get feedback from you all, so please do email me back with your thoughts and ideas. I always try to answer everyone personally, though it may take me a few days if I’m travelling.

So there we are. Newsletter Number One. And now it’s time to get my nose back to the grindstone, so take care, and talk soon,