Author Julie has write stuff with book deal
A West Lothian-born author is celebrating after her popular series of books was snapped up by a major publisher.
Julie Shackman’s bestselling Scottish Escapes series has been acquired by HarperCollins division One More Chapter.
The four-book deal will see Armadale-born Julie’s The Bookshop by the Loch published in Spring 2024.
The first title in the series, A Secret Scottish Escape, published in 2021 and has been a bestselling novel and collectively the series has now sold over 100,000 copies across all formats.
The Bookshop by the Loch follows book lover Lexie who is bereft when she discovers that her beloved local bookshop is up for sale.
Desperate to save the shop, she takes things into her own hands, but not everyone is happy with her enthusiasm.
And when the owner’s nephew Tobias arrives on the scene with some ideas of his own, the two are not happy at the prospect of having to work together.
Julie, who went to Armadale Academy, said: “I am thrilled and delighted to be continuing my writing journey with the amazing One More Chapter. They are a firstrate team and it really is just like being part of one big happy family. I can’t wait to bring more romance and mystery to the readers with my Scottish Escapes series!”
She has previously told how it took nearly five decades of rejections, thwarted dreams and determination to break into the big league.
Now all those years of pounding the keyboard in her sons’ old playroom have paid off .
Writing books is what she wanted to do since she was a little girl.
Julie had worked as a journalist for a couple of years but always wanted to write fiction, adding: “I loved creative writing at school.”
But life got in the way and Julie worked in the civil service for 20 years and had two boys,Daniel and Ethan.
It wasn’t until she was made redundant that she had the time to give it a proper go.