This is the 19th of 25 blog posts to celebrate my 25th published novel, A Skye Full of Stars. Enjoy this takeover from my agent Juliet Pickering…
Hi everyone!
I’m Sue’s agent and I thought I might share my speech for Sue’s 25th book party, below, to explain why Sue and her books are so special, and what keeps her in the bestseller lists…
“Sue and I first met in March 2014, when she had written seven novels, a novella, a book about writing and more than 130 short stories. She was also Vice Chair of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. In short, she was already a powerhouse!
Since then, we’ve published a further eighteen novels together, with Avon at HarperCollins, and Sue’s books have been translated into thirteen languages and published in the US and Canada, growing her readership globally. She has been the Kindle no.1 bestseller, and been in the Times bestseller charts, as well as having been shortlisted and won several prizes in the UK and US during that time too.
Staying successful in this crazy, fickle, unpredictable world is no mean feat, especially as an author! But Sue has built a steady and loyal following, readers ordering her next book as soon as they finish the last, desperate to see what may happen next in the village of Middledip, or in the hills of Umbria or the mountains of Switzerland, to name just a few of Sue’s fabulous settings – and now on the beautiful island of Skye. But it’s not only the locations that keep readers coming back, but the incredible characterisation. Sue writes proper people – that might sound like a statement of the obvious, but it’s a real skill to write characters that lead regular lives and yet have something extraordinary about them too. Sue’s other key skill is to write romance so well that we root for her characters but we’re never totally sure whether things are going to work out for them. Sue puts obstacles in their path that feel completely authentic and worryingly obstructive, so it’s not until we turn the final pages that we can breathe a sigh of relief and celebrate true love, at last. And it’s always worth the journey to get there!
Sue is the hardest working author I represent. She writes two novels a year and I’ve come to keenly look forward to every March and every September, when Sue delivers her new novel. I’ve even got used to reading snowy Christmas scenes, in April sunshine, and summery beach settings as the leaves fall from the trees in October!
It has never been anything but a pleasure to work with Sue. She is fun, open, pragmatic and committed, working hard not just on her own writing but also to keep up with and understand the readership she writes for. She’s an author I never stop appreciating and one whom I’m very proud to represent. I’m so delighted to be celebrating Sue’s 25th book – a remarkable achievement!
Congratulations Sue, and here’s a toast to the next twenty-five novels (and more!)”
A Skye Full of Stars is out now!
