New romantic brings love of writing to book
AFTER leading a double life in Cheadle Hulme for 10 years, romance author and mum-of-two has ‘outed’ herself after securing a book deal for her debut novel, Her-ForgetMe-Not-Ex.
Johanna Grassick, 41, writes under the pseudonym Sophie Claire and began writing when her eldest son, aged 15, was just a year old.
Disheartened by rejection, Johanna vowed only to tell close friends and family about her hobby until she became published.
She said: “I’m thrilled to finally see my book in print and I hope others will take heart from my experience - if you keep learning and trying, it’s possible to fulfil your dream.
“It’s hard to keep pick- ing yourself up but what spurred me on was that within the critiques, they kept telling me that I was nearly there.”
Fitting in fiction around her two sons, aged 13 and 15, Johanna writes during the silence of school hours and when they were little would work while they napped.
She said: “As far as everyone else knew, I was a stay-at-home mum who did the school run and worked part-time proofreading academic papers.
“In reality, I was proofreading at night and I wrote from 9am until 3pm every day. Although I hadn’t earned a penny from it, I treated writing as my job and that was all I wanted to do.”
A contemporary romance novel, the story follows florist Natasha on a dramatic journey to France when her ex-husband Luc turns up out of the blue, pleading for help.
Previously shortlisted for the 2014 Sophie King Prize, which supports new romantic writing, and member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Johanna is inspired by love.
She said: “I have read a lot of genres but there’s always been a romantic element in what I enjoy reading and I just find romance uplifting and optimistic.”
However, with a modern languages degree from Oxford University, where she studied French and German, she said being a writer was ‘slightly frowned upon’ by some.
She said: “Sometimes I get raised eyebrows because people know my academic background and they’re surprised by that.”
Her-Forget-Me-Not-Ex is now available on Amazon.
For more information visit johannagrassick. com.