Whatever author and mum Katy does next ... the best is yet to come!
Katy Colins knows all about navigating difficult challenges. She hit the headlines in 2016 after being jilted just days before her wedding, selling off all she owned to travel solo around the world.
Her journey from heartbreak to happiness saw her dubbed the Backpacking Bridget Jones and inspired a legion of fans.
In a stunning twist of fate, she ended up falling in love with the journalist who broke her story with the world. They enjoyed a whirlwind romance and married in 2017.
Katy’s adventures also secured her a book deal for The Lonely Hearts Travel Club, a series of three novels based around her own globe-trotting tales.
Another three books have followed, her latest work The Best Is Yet To Come released last month.
You might think life has been kind to Katy, 35, but overcoming heartbreak hasn’t been the only obstacle she’s had to face.
In November 2017, five months after her daughter Everleigh was born, Katy’s father Colin suffered a fatal heart attack while pushing her pram. He was 62.
It is these rich, emotional experiences that Katy, who grew up in Southport, draws heavily on in her work.
She is the bestselling author of feel-good reads that have been published in more than 20 different languages.
You wouldn’t imagine she had been through such a journey when you speak with her. She is bubbly, funny and not nervous about shying away from the taboo subjects.
“As a society we don’t talk about grief enough. When I lost my dad and was faced with planning a funeral and sorting out his house and belongings I was completely overwhelmed. That was just the practical side of things,” she says.
“Nothing could have prepared me for the emotional rollercoaster that sudden death brings with it.”
This is the subject of her fifth novel How To Say Goodbye, an emotional but ultimately uplifting story about a funeral arranger who discovers something about one of the people she is caring for which leads her to look at her own life and where she’s heading.
“People often ask me where I get my inspiration from. A lot of my characters are inspired by people I’ve met or even snippets of conversations that spark an idea. I love to question if there is more to people than what they might present on the outside.”
The Best Is Yet To Come is very much inspired by her own experiences as a new mum and realising that the reality was very different from what she had imagined having a newborn to be.
“I’m worried I’ll lose who I am when I become a mum,” Katy vividly remembers confessing to her midwife.
“Having children was my choice after all. But yet noone prepares you for all you will gain and all you will lose.”
“Upon falling pregnant, every appointment and check-up starts with ‘how’s mum?’ A new title that seems decidedly unfamiliar.
“No matter how you’re feeling, the default answer is always ‘yeah, fine.’ But for many new mums, we’re not fine.”
NHS stats show one in ten new mums experience post-natal depression within a year of giving birth. The NSPCC put that figure as high as one-in-five.
PANDAS Foundation (Pre and Postnatal Depression Advice and Support) reported a massive 240 per cent rise in calls to their helpline and their email service jumped by 150 per cent.
Katy says: “I don’t know if I did have post-natal depression when my daughter was born, but I do know that I shied away from talking about how hard I was finding
certain aspects of motherhood.
“You don’t want to be the one to raise your hand and ask for help when all around you everyone else seems to be nailing it.
“And being a mother during a lockdown is a whole new experience. When every day is a replica of the one before it’s no wonder this is taking its toll on parents.
It’s something that the main character in The Best Is Yet To Come understands. Izzy is a new mum who has always taken everything in her stride but motherhood is proving more difficult than she could imagine. She keeps telling herself it’s just a phase but the dark clouds are starting to appear.
“Motherhood can feel claustrophobic but it can also feel incredibly lonely, despite the fact you’re never alone,” says Katy. “But speaking openly about all the dif
ficulties of being a mum is taboo. It’s as if there is an unspoken rule that you never utter the words ‘I miss my life before kids.’ Not out loud at least.
“I bottled up so much of how I was feeling, scared of being judged, convincing myself I was unworthy of having children if I didn’t feel anything less than blessed at all times. The guilt is unlike anything.
“The love I have for my children is overwhelming, but you can love being a mum and still miss your freedom too. I now realise you can’t cherish every moment and shouldn’t be expected to do so.
“There are just some times when I’d like to press pause for a while.”
Katy has had six novels published in just five years. A feat for any author, let alone adding getting married, losing her father, the birth of
her two children, and moving house into the mix.
She says: “I’m someone who likes to be busy! Even if I didn’t have a publishing deal I would still write every day.”
Books offer escapism, especially given the current climate of restricted travel, the desire to get lost in the pages of a good novel has never been more important.
“I write uplifting feelgood stories that will make you laugh, cry and reach the final page with a smile on your face,” says Katy.
“There is something really special about forgetting your worries and being taken on an adventure with a cast of characters who can overcome their problems, I’ve had some lovely comments from readers who had been inspired to make changes in their own lives after reading my books.
“I’m working on my seventh novel, which is a love story with survival at the heart of it. The pandemic has slowed down my creativity, it’s not easy to find peace and quiet when the house is full. But it’s not only finding a physical space to write but clearing some of the mental noise that I think we’re all carrying at the moment.
So, what’s Katy’s advice for any writers in the same boat?
“If you can, then time management helps. I get up earlier than the children and try to have an hour dedicated to me and my characters before the day properly starts.
“These small steps really do add up. Mostly I would say it’s important to cut yourself some slack. The fact we’re all still standing after the past year is an achievement.”
The Best Is Yet To Come is out now with HQ Stories and available on all good retailers and e-retailers. Find out more by visiting her www. katycolins.com website.