Brought To Book
Karen talks to Paige Toon about her first book thrill!
The Last Piece of My Heart (Simon & Schuster PB, £7.99) Nicole Dupre died leaving behind a bestselling novel and an incomplete sequel. Successful travel writer Bridget has plans to turn her blog about her failed relationships into a book. When asked to finish Nicole’s book she’s reluctant, but becomes immersed in Nicole’s notes and diary as she discovers Nicole had secrets with the power to devastate her grieving husband Charlie and little daughter April. Will Bridget reveal the truth – and will her growing attraction to Charlie lead to another piece of Bridget’s heart being broken? An emotional read with warm characters.
Although I’d written stories and poems ever since I can remember, my first writing break didn’t come until my early twenties when I landed a job in the offices of teen magazine Big! I was tasked with interviewing a very sweet, humble 18-year-old Jake Gyllenhaal. Although it was well before he became properly famous, I’ll never forget it.
In early 2000 I moved on to Heat magazine and in my very first week, the then-TV editor gave me two TV programmes to review. I was taken aback, but incredibly honoured – his trust meant a lot to me and gave me a much-needed boost of confidence.
Getting a book deal with Simon & Schuster in 2006 is one of the highlights of my life, not just my writing career. I’d always wanted to be an author and had an idea in my head for years, but fear of failure had debilitated me. An unbelievable nine days after I shared my idea with a publicist friend at S&S, I was offered a two-book deal. I’m still pinching myself!
When my idol, Marian Keyes, agreed to read my debut novel, I was so happy and excited, but soon afterwards those feelings transformed into terror. I’d loved writing Lucy in the Sky, but would anyone enjoy reading it? When Marian said she “loved it”, I was beside myself! Last year she quoted on my tenth women’s fiction book, TheOneWe Fell In Love With, and that meant the world to me, too.
When my Amazon reviews started rolling in, I was filled with indescribable joy. Complete strangers said that they’d felt the same way reading my story as I’d felt writing it. I still thank my readers first in my acknowledgements.