Friday 11 December 2015

Debut Spotlight: Rebecca Thornton

Today it's my stop on The Exclusives blog tour and it's my pleasure to be able to introduce you to debut author Rebecca Thornton and find out a little more about her publishing journey with Twenty7 books, an imprint of Bonnier Publishing.  

Rebecca Thornton previously worked as a freelance journalist covering a range of topics from showbiz articles to working as a undercover reporter in Kosovo. She has worked in a range of countires from Australia to Jordan throughout her time as a journalist. Rebecca eventually decided to devote her time to her real passion, writing, and enrolled in  the Faber Academny writing-a-novel course, where she was tutored by Esther Freud and Tim Lott. The Exclusives is the novel that came out of that course, which draws on her own experience of the pressures of teenage friendship and her reflections on the British boarding school system.

Rebecca lives in London with her husband and two young children.

Hi Sharon – thanks so much for having me! 

When I got my book deal, my agent told me that my book would be published first in ebook and six months later, in paperback. 

At that point, I had only seen this done once before, with The A to Z of You and Me by James Hannah and I thought it was a great way to try and generate a buzz before the hardcopy.  

It’s been amazing to see how it all works – and there have been things I had never thought of that applies specifically to ebooks, like designing the book cover with a ‘thumbnail’ image in mind. 

During all of this, I’ve been lucky enough to join the ranks of some amazing debut authors, who are all housed under Bonnier’s Twenty 7 imprint. The imprint was created for debuts only and it’s meant that all of us under the Twenty 7 name, have formed an unbelievable support group. We speak often, sharing good news and anxieties and organising parties and get-togethers.  For me, and thanks to my publishers, it’s become so much more than just the writing. 

The Exclusives is out on December 10th in eBook and in paperback, 7th April 2016.

1996. Freya Seymour and Josephine Grey are invincible - beautiful and brilliant, the two best friends are on the cusp of Oxbridge, and the success they always dreamed they'd share.

2014. Freya gets in touch, looking for a conversation Josephine has run away from for eighteen long and tortured years. 

Beginning with one ill-fated night, The Exclusives charts the agonising spiral of friendship gone wrong, the heartache and betrayal of letting down those closest to you and the poisonous possibilities of what we wouldn't do when everything we prize is placed under threat. 

And in the end, as she realises she cannot run for ever, Josephine must answer one question: is it Freya she cannot face, or is it her own darkest secret?

1 comment:

  1. Oh. It's out on my birthday - I'll drop a few hints to my family!

    ReplyDelete