Members' News: Pat Spence

The YA paranormal romance writer landed a three-book deal
‘A recent press article billed my book as “The new Twilight without the vamps”, which was spot on,’ writes subscriber Pat Spence.
‘Blue Moon, published by Hashtag Books, is my fictional debut, a supernatural love story about a strange family, with an ancient secret, who arrive in an English village to renovate an old manor house. When local girl, 17-year old Emily Morgan, falls for the glamorous and mysterious Theo, she is forced to change every perception she has ever had about life, love, aging and death.
‘I read and loved the Twilight books, and felt there was room for a British equivalent, but with something different to vampires. Like Twilight, this is a story about young love, with a supernatural twist, but there the similarity ends. The supernatural element in Blue Moon is very different, taking its inspiration from the Victorian classic, She, by Rider Haggard, a story about eternal youth, which seems more appropriate than ever in our youth-obsessed society.
‘It’s thanks to Writers News that I secured a three-book publishing deal. I noticed an article in the February edition about the launch of a new independent digital and print publishing company called Hashtag Books, who were looking for genre fiction. I sent in some sample chapters and was immediately asked to submit my complete manuscript. A few days later, I received a phone call from Hashtag owner, Peter Buckman, saying they would like to make me an offer.
‘On its publication day, 25th March 2014, Blue Moon entered the Amazon paranormal & urban bestseller chart at number 24 and, since then, has held a steady place, attracting 5-star reviews.
‘Blue Moon is book one in The Blue Crystal Trilogy and I am currently writing book two, True Blue, to be published in the summer.’
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