Friday saw the official reveal of the cover for my debut novel, ‘The Second Chance Tea Shop’ on the lovely Sophie’s blog at 23 Review Street. Thanks once again to Sophie for hosting it :).  My fab publisher, Aria, have done an amazing job at creating a beautiful design, as you can see:

There are many things I love about it, from the notices on the door of the cafe to the bunting to the colour scheme and the cakes. But the thing I think I love the most is the first thing I noticed, which is the blue jumper on the man in silhouette. This really does pick up on something in the book that was an early creation for me, and it’s so lovely to see it there, in pride of place.

The other thing that I’m excited to see is that it’s my name, yes, my name on the cover. Although I always wanted to write a novel, pretty much from when I discovered what stories were, for many years I never really thought it would happen. I’ve written so much over the years, immersed myself in many worlds of my own and other people’s making, but it’s fair to say that when these particular characters in this particular setting popped into my head, I knew they’d be the ones I’d stick with until the desire to write a novel was accomplished. And now here it is! The scary thing is, it’s going to be out there in the world in just under five weeks from today. People will (hopefully) buy it and read it, and they will form their own opinions about it independently of my own. I’d be lying if I said that didn’t make me just a little bit nervous. But mostly I’m excited, and I can’t wait to see what the reaction is.

I’m so grateful to everyone who shared the cover, and who have pre-ordered the book – I just hope it lives up to your expectations! Thanks so much for all of the support :).

So in the meantime? Well, I’ve got Little Somerby book 2 to crack on with…

The Second Chance Tea Shop is available to request on NetGalley at: http://bit.ly/2lSpHpt

And to pre-order using the following links: