Curtis Brown

So I did that for six months, which was a great learning curve on how to write it, but also to meet some other people.

writers slash wannabe writers because I knew no one in the literary world so to speak and then I was lucky to get signed by my agent Sheila Crowley at Curtis Brown who's amazing and brilliant and you know a big agency rep some big authors like Jojo Moyes and Claire McIntosh and Louise Candlish so yeah got with her straight out of the gate and I thought this is going to be easy now I'll be publishing million million selling books in no time and um as is usually the case it takes a bit longer to rework it submit come back submit and um and finally two years later the book's out basically

oh congratulations though what a journey

Thank you.

And so in the weeks leading up to finding out that I'd been shortlisted, I started looking at all the agents' websites and trying to work out who I wanted to submit to and what their submission guidelines were.

And I had an email to Curtis Brown in my email drafts where I kind of followed the template of how they want you to talk about what your novel is about.

And then I found out I was on the shortlist and then Curtis Brown came to me.

And I never even had to send that email.

So that felt amazing and incredibly privileged.

That's definitely not true.

No, um, the blag was I dropped three, like a third of it off, um, at, uh, Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown-

Oh, yeah

... who at that time was just starting out, now obviously is the CEO of Curtis Brown, um, and a dear, dear friend and great agent.

So, oh, I, I think I sent it to the agency before I showed anybody else, and that's just because this was ...

I was sending it out to Curtis Brown, who had a window just in August.

Uh, it was March or it was August, and if you didn't get it in by the end of August, you would have to then wait till the following March.

So I thought, "Okay, it's almost where I want it to be.

... that's it.

If I don't get it in in August." So I got it to a point where I was pretty happy with it.

I knew there were changes that would definitely need to be made, and so I, um, sent it off just through Curtis Brown in, in, in their window, their August window, and I kind of thought, "Well, that was my long shot.

That's the only one I'll do for now because there's more work to be done, and I know there is, and I, I'll just, I'll now talk to beta readers and get their opinion and then incorporate more feedback before I approach anybody else." 'Cause there's time.

And so I, [laughs] I apply, I thought, "Well, I need a writer community." I've always had one wherever I've been.

And so I thought, "Well, okay, I'll sign up for this Curtis Brown three-month writing course." I didn't wanna sign up for six months.

That seemed like too much of a commitment.

Yeah.

It's a huge part of writing.

Um, and at the end w- they gave us a party, and they...

Curtis Brown was wonderful, and they, they invited all the six-month people and then the shorter, faster three-month people to this party.

And then agents, you've gotta really feel for them.