My new book is published this week. It feels like quite a long time ago that I finished it, so it’s nice to see it released into the wild at last. Run free, little book! May you prosper out there!

My heroine, Kate, has lost pretty much everything in her life when the book opens. Her marriage is over, her career’s at a dead end, and she’s got nowhere to live except her dead granny’s ugly bungalow which no estate agent can sell. 

The one thing she has left is her dog, Minnie. Well, she’s a puppy really. Minnie even makes it onto the cover, thanks to clever designer Jo. The puppy was partly a plot device - Kate can sometimes be quite an unsympathetic character, and I wanted to show that she could be kind and thoughtful towards her dog, if not to anyone else. But it was also, I can’t deny it, a bit of wishful thinking.

I’ve wanted a dog forever, and having a heroine who owned one allowed me to indulge in a puppy-owning daydream of countryside walks and faithful companionship. Only I think I perhaps let the dream take over a bit. I couldn’t help myself.

Meet Bill.

Bill is very much not a plot device. He’s my own puppy; isn’t he delightful? And I owe it all to Kate’s Minnie - if you write it, it just might happen…

Please excuse me while I go and write a new novel about a heroine with untold riches and extraordinarily good luck in everything.

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