Straight on Till Morning

by Lynne Barrett-Lee

On a date with destiny that was almost a near-death experience, Sally picks up the man who almost killed her. Funny yet poignant, this is a novel about infidelity and falling in love when you don’t mean to.

Genres: Chick Lit

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2004

About the author

Lynne Barrett-Lee


Born in London, I began my writing career as a teenager, when I was ‘discovered’ by a London-based literary agent, Annie Hallam, via a fan letter I sent to an actor who was her friend. Though life and love took precedence and I didn’t actually achieve publication then, I returned to my first love in 1994, as a mother of three, newly transplanted to Cardiff. My first paid-for piece of writing was a short article about being a mature primary school teacher training student, published in the Times Education Supplement. My world changed that day; I have yet to work as a primary school teacher.

I have been a full time author since the mid 1990s. My latest novel, a psychological mystery/thriller, called CAN YOU SEE ME?, probably constitutes one of my proudest achievements as a writer, since it’s a return to the genre I started writing in as a teenager - dark, edgy, ‘underbelly’ fiction, where nothing is as it seems.

I haven’t always been dark though. I also have eight romantic comedy novels and over a hundred published short stories to my name, most of the latter (which is how I learned my craft) appearing in UK Women’s magazines. I have also published two ebook guides to writing fiction, based on the short courses for adults I have taught for Cardiff University since 2009.

I also write a weekly column for the Western Mail Weekend magazine; something I have done since June 2006, with only a week off per year for good behaviour.

I began ghostwriting in 2007 and have since ghosted 26* full-length memoirs, most of which have been UK Sunday Times bestsellers. My titles include Giant George; life with the world’s biggest dog, and The Girl With No Name; the incredible true story of a girl raised by monkeys, which has now been published in 27 countries and is also the subject of a National Geographic documentary. It also led to me being asked to give a TedEx talk – about what it’s like to be a ghostwriter - possibly the proudest, and definitely the most terrifying day of my professional life.

Recent publications include On Duty For The Queen, for former UK Royal Press Secretary Dickie Arbiter, and the heartbreaking story of the Rebecca Aylward murder, Bye Mam, I Love You, which has garnered over 700 five star reviews. I am also the co-writer of the Julie Shaw series of gritty Bradford-based crime memoirs, the first of which, Our Vinnie, went straight into the bestseller lists. The fifth title, Bad Blood, published in October 2016, charted at number one in the UK in its first week.

My most recent ghosted work (and probably my personal favourite) is Fabulous Finn, the story of a now famous police dog, who was stabbed, almost fatally, when on duty with his handler Dave Wardell. Finn (now retired) has gone on to win multiple prestigious awards for his bravery, including a PDSA Gold Medal (the civilian version of the Dicken Medal – see Able Seacat Simon, below) and, most recently, the 2019 Crufts ‘Friends For Life’ award. Finn is also the RPD behind the campaign for Finn’s Law, to strengthen current legislation to protect service animals. It has just passed its third reading in the commons.

(Modesty usually forbids me from shamelessly plugging books I’ve ghosted, but I always make an exception for Finn. It’s a remarkable, heartbreaking, uplifting story, and I’m honoured beyond belief to have been the one to help tell it. )

CAN YOU SEE ME? is published by Thomas and Mercer, and is out on 01.01.20

For more information about me and my work, please visit
www.lynnebarrett-lee.com



Full list of published full-length works

*As well as the titles listed below, I am also the ghostwriter of a series of fostering memoirs (the author name is pseudonymous for confidentiality reasons) for one of the UK’s leading publishers. The first was published in 2011, and the nineteenth title will be published in May 2020.

Psychological thrillers

Can You See Me? (Thomas and Mercer

Reviews

[Mrs Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read it once that was enough

[Kathleen Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Page turner

I would recommend this story. It was such a page turner. I could not put it down. Well crafted...good descriptions and believable characters. The plots kept me on the edge of b my seat. I felt I was in the story.

[Lucy McLaurin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this.. Has been sat on the shelf for a few years, but well worth the wait!

[Priya · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is an underlying sense of intelligence lining the backbone of this 'chick-lit'. Be it in the development of our protagonist from the very start; her permeating sense of "quiet unhappiness" shining as empty and vast as the starry sky she gazes at in her sleepless nights, or the way the characters around her are a symptom and cause of her own very situation; be it the superimposition of 'reality' vs. 'fictional expectations' within this specimem of fiction itself; the undeniable and yet inexplicable chemistry between our girl and Mr. Brown -- Barrett-Lee, has such a way of writing (did someone say wit?) that I cannot but give her a salute.

[Leigh Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good enough story about a woman who falls in love after a chance meeting with a handsome stranger who then turns out to work for the company taking over the one she works for.

I liked the characters though the husband seems to take her for granted and is really quite rude to her while expecting her to run around after him. So he kind of deserves what happens in the end.

I found the formatting on this kindle edition awful as it had underlined text through a lot of it which was quite distracting.

[Biliwiz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rambling Rubbish. It was as if the author had verbal diahorrea and was trying to fit in every funny line she possibly could, 20 per cent of the way in and I'd already started skimming whole, pointless paragraphs. And still no story to speak of. Binned.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chick lit, but well written. I was gripped from the first page. I'm looking forward to reading her other books when the occasion calls for something undemanding.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really my bag, interesting characters and a good ending.

[Jo Notary]

276pgs, she is out late at night, headlights are coming at her, she has no time for this near death experience, no matter how handsome the man is