This is fascinating! I’m so excited you will be bringing us into the other homes. I’m adding The House of Broken Promises to my TBR…
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Hi Izzy,
I just wanted to drop you a note to tell you how much I enjoyed reading THE HOUSE OF THE HIDDEN LETTERS. At the beginning I thought how I would love to escape to a beautiful isolated island off Greece. How fun for Skye to win the lottery for an 80 year old cottage. It was an amazing read full of romance and suspense. I enjoyed Skye’s style of renovating the cottage of 80 years and especially the mystery when she found the hidden letters. The duel narrative of the main characters in the two time periods showed the similarities and contrasts of Katerina and Skye. The contents of the letters inspired Skye’s strength, and her determination to keep the cottage was a romantic anchor for the story.
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Thank you!! I’m yet to see a jacket for the US edition, but I’m excited. My team did such an incredible job with Hidden Letters. I actually found the exact viewpoint while I was in Santorini and sent my editor a selfie!
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Hi there, Lynne 
Thank you very much for such kind words. I’m so thrilled you found plenty to love about the book. I’ve (not so) secretly wanted to live in a cottage on a Greek island for a good few years now. I almost made it, in fact. This was over 10 years ago, before I’d written my first novel. I had a house lined up to rent, my dog had a passport…and then I won a short story competition and my life changed overnight. I never did make it over to Greece then, but I still hope to…one day!
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I’ve always found the ‘what if’ question helpful. Without it, writing your all-important hook becomes trickier. So far, I’ve had: What if…you inherited a share in a French guesthouse; What if…you met your soulmate days after getting engaged to someone else; What if…you flew to the other side of the world to track down your biological mother, only to discover upon arrival that she’s done the exact same thing in the opposite direction, and What if…you ran away to work in a hotel in the Italian Lakes only for your ex to book in as a guest with his new girlfriend. They’ve all been great fun to explore, but I think my favourite (other than Hidden Letters, which I loved) was this one: What if your life worked out perfectly…for someone else. The someone else in that book, The Summer Trip, is the sister of my protagonist, who’s only gone and married the love of her life. Juicy! And it was set in Corfu, Greece! A definite writing highlight.
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You’re absolutely right. My backlist are available via general release, but Hidden Letters was the first to get its own deal. The day I heard, I was trapped in my car for hours, driving from the east side of the UK to the west for a bookshop event. My literary agent was desperately trying to reach me! When I finally checked into my hotel and picked up all her messages, she was about to burst. Honestly, it was a dream-come-true moment for me. I knew the book was special, but this elevated it to an even more thrilling pedestal. When I visited New York in March and saw the book in Barnes & Noble… Well, that moment is up there with one of the best of my life.
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There was a fire inside me while writing this novel. While I’ve always had passion for every novel I’ve done, this one did feel different. I think it was the historical element. I hadn’t attempted it before and honestly, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to pull it off. Once I started, however, the story seemed to flow out of me. I couldn’t get the words down fast enough. Katerina, in particular, was a very forceful voice in my head, urging me on. She had a tale to tell and was impatient for me to help her. I know that sounds entirely absurd, but that’s how it felt! 
I, too, had a book as a kid that had to be removed from our house! A little bear got stung on the nose by a bee and it just made me so sad. Guess you could say I am still not fond of bees or bears!
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What a great idea! And thank you for not waiting years in between before releasing #2 and #3 books. I tend to forget what I read in the first book if I have to wait too long for the next or I lose interest during the delay. So thanks!
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I don’t think that sound “entirely absurd” at all! Many of the authors I’ve spoken to talk about a character taking over - insisting on telling their story, which is different than the one the author thought they’d be telling. With the next two books, then, will you continue inserting historical fiction as you did with The House of Hidden Letters? Or was that Skye’s story, and the other lottery winners aren’t impacted by that time period?
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You mention that your life got turned completely upside down when you won the short story contest for The Wedding Speech. How much writing had you done before that story? It’s also a big leap from creating short stories to novels. What made you decide to concentrate on creating a full-length book? Were you employed somewhere at the time, and if so, how did you carve out the time?
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What’s your writing process like? Do you make a point to write every day? Do you use an outline or just wing it?
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It sounds like getting The House of Hidden Letters accepted by an American publisher was super exciting. How did that all come about? Had your agent tried to get any of your other books accepted in the US? How is working with American publishers and audiences different from working with those in the UK?
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Oh, bless you! I had another one about the eruption of Vesuvius in Pompeii, complete with illustrations of people running for their lives. That one stayed with me long into adulthood – so much so, that when I was in that area of Italy and had the chance to visit the Pompeii site, I didn’t go. The idea of it is just so…arrrgh.
I always say that as long as readers want them, I’ll keep writing them! And with this particular project, it hasn’t felt at all like a hardship. I’m every bit as excited as my readers to find out what happens next
Well, thank you! It’s good to know I’m not alone 
I’ll definitely be continuing with the historical element, yes. The property lottery winners are still in the process of renovating and discovering buried treasures in and around their homes, while in the second book (The House of Broken Promises) clues turn up elsewhere, too… I enjoy weaving together the past and present, allowing my modern characters to learn lessons set down by those who lived before. There’s still the mystery of who is buried in the garden of the final house. Do you have any idea who that might be??
The Wedding Speech win happened completely by chance – or so it felt. I was working at a magazine in London at the time (this was 2014) and saw the competition pop up on Twitter. The closing date was that same evening, so instead of catching the bus home, I walked the hour back to Camden and tried to think of an idea. Once home, I sat down, wrote it, then sent it off before I could change my mind. It never occurred to me that I’d actually win!
I’d been writing since a young age and had attempted a novel or two, though nothing that I felt was good enough to show anyone in the industry. Once I won this competition, though, I started to wonder if I could, in fact, create something worthy of publishing. I had more confidence in myself and the support of those who made decisions about such things, so I went for it! I got up two hours early every day and wrote from 5-7am every morning; worked at the magazine from 9.30-6, then edited my morning words in the evenings. By sticking to that routine, I had a first draft of what was to become my debut novel in around three months.
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SUPER exciting is the word! I have my team at Penguin in the UK to thank, as they offered a world rights deal and made the initial introductions between myself and my US editor, Esi Sogah. We hopped on a Zoom and chatted about the book and ideas for future titles in the same series, and I was lucky enough to receive an offer shortly afterwards. I would say the main difference is just how vast your market is over there. The UK is tiny compared to you! Over here, the book was published straight into soft cover, whereas Berkley went for the hardcover. Everyone in my team is unfailingly professional and driven, with a huge amount of passion and persistence. I’m honestly awed by how great they are and feel enormously fortunate to be working with them.
Good news. My library only had your book in digital formats, but there is a feature where you can request books. I did that and they are purchasing a print copy (or copies?) of House of Hidden Letters for for those of us who still like a physical book.
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That is the very goodest of good news! Thank you so much for both requesting and letting me know. There’s something so special about holding a book in your hands. Whenever I have a stressful day, I get in the car, drive to my local bookstore and simply breathe in all that wonderful paper and glue 