Louise was born in Sheffield but has lived in North Somerset for the past 20 years. She has three beautiful sons, and lives with her partner, who works in construction.
Although she’s earned her living through writing for years, firstly as a journalist and, more recently, copywriting for a variety of clients, her dream has always been to become a published author.
In 2006, the opportunity finally arose. “My partner was working away during the week and my sons had all reached an age where they didn’t need, or want, my constant attention. I thought: ‘it’s now or never,’” said Louise.
She took a postal course in fiction-writing and began work on The Love of my Life, sitting at the kitchen table for at least a couple of hours every evening, after work. It took six months to finish the book, and Louise then submitted the first three chapters to agents. A little later, the highly-regarded Irish literary agent, Marianne Gunn O’Connor called to say she liked the story and very soon after, thanks to Marianne and her co-agent Vicki Satlow, Louise had a contract for two books with Pan Macmillan.
“When Marianne called to tell me the news, it was the best, most exciting single moment of my entire professional life,” said Louise. “I said to Marianne: ‘things like this just don’t happen to people like me,’ and she said: ‘it just has!’ I know how lucky I am, but I hope my experience will encourage other writers to persevere.”
Louise still has her day job, which she thoroughly enjoys, and she has continued to save her fiction-writing for the evenings when the words seem to come more easily. She has never been a morning person.
She says the best thing about the past few years has been meeting, learning from and working with some inspirational and hugely professional people in particular Imogen Taylor, Trisha Jackson, Thalia Suzuma and Helen Guthrie at Pan Macmillan, Marianne and Pat Lynch at the agency and the talented, kind and helpful author Milly Johnson.
The true loves of Louise’s life are her family and friends. She enjoys reading, drawing, evening classes, drinking wine, cooking, listening to music and especially walking.
“My third book is set in Somerset, so I’m thinking about the story while I’m out with the dog in the Mendips,” she said.
To read more about the books, please click the titles below.
“I miss him with every breath and heartbeat. He should have been my happy ending. Instead, he is the sad beginning to my story.”
Olivia knew she could never love anyone like she’d loved Luca. He was everything to her, her whole world, and now he’d gone. They had grown up together in a bleak, northern seaside town, where his family ran Marinella’s restaurant and, when they eloped to London, his mother never forgave Olivia for taking him away.
As she begins to try and come to terms with Luca’s death, Olivia realises that she has to return to Watersford where he is buried. It is in a chance meeting with his twin brother, Marc, that she realises his loss is almost as painful as her own. Their desolation leads them to follow a path which has no future, and which will prove to have devastating consequences for the entire family.
The Love of My Life is a stunning novel that beautifully portrays the innocence of childhood and the dynamics of love and loss.
“Sad and lovely. I’m now having trouble finding a book good enough to fill the very deep hole she’s left,” - Milly Johnson, author of The Yorkshire Pudding Club.
"Before I started writing this story, I didn’t know the title, or the names of most of the characters, or where it was going to be set, or how it was going to end. I knew two things though: I wanted the book to be an intense and honest love story, and although I wanted readers to empathise with her, I didn’t want my main character, Olivia, to be a conventionally ‘good’ heroine.
"By the time I’d finished, the book’s title was The Moth’s Kiss which looks fine on paper only is impossible to say aloud without lisping. It was Imogen who came up with the perfect name for the novel."
This is another love story, set in the beautiful city of Bath, which is about ten miles from where Louise lives. The main character, Fen, is guarding a terrible secret. She’s so afraid of the past that she can not live a full life, and dare not risk getting close to anyone. Sean has just found out that everything he believed in was built on a lie. Their quiet friendship slowly builds into something much deeper, but just as they find happiness, it looks as if the past will tear them apart.
It was published in 2010.
Buy Missing You from Amazon by clicking here.
Glastonbury 2008, which was the inspiration for the story for the second book.
"After a disastrous first attempt at a second novel, I picked up something I’d started earlier. It was originally going to be the story of how a man befriended a young Eastern European and became a mentor to him, and then fell in love with his sister, only times have changed since I started it and better writers than me have covered similar ground.
"So I went back to something more straightforward and ended up with a love story that’s set in Bath and which takes place over the course of a year.
"I enjoyed almost every moment of the writing – I hope it shows!"