Debut Spotlight: Heidi Stephens

Today it's my pleasure to be shining the spotlight on Heidi Stephens on the paperback publication day of her debut novel Two Metres from You. 

© Nick Cole

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your writing journey started?

OK, let’s start with the introductions... I’m Heidi Stephens, I’m 47 and I live with my boyfriend, Pip, in Chippenham in Wiltshire. I have two children, both grown-up and flown the nest, and an 18-month old Labrador called Mabel.

My writing journey began at work, as is often the case for people like me who came to writing novels a little later in life. I’ve made my living in the marketing and advertising industry for over 20 years, including working as a copywriter for lots of brands and advertising agencies, covering everything from vacuum cleaners to face creams, whisky and sex toys.

Since 2008, I’ve also freelanced as a journalist, primarily liveblogging TV shows for The Guardian. Bake Off, Strictly, Eurovision ... all the good stuff.

So, I guess writing, in one form or another, has always been a profession, but also a passion for as long as I can remember. Reading and writing stories were all I ever wanted to do as a child.

If you had to give an elevator pitch for your debut novel Two Metres from You, what would it be?  
It’s a 2020-set romantic comedy about a 32-year-old woman called Gemma who flees her cheating boyfriend and ends up spending lockdown in a west country village with her dog, Mabel. It’s the story of a life-changing six weeks for Gemma and the people she meets in the village – romantic, uplifting and fun.

Love might be closer than you think . . .

Gemma isn't sure what upsets her more. The fact she just caught her boyfriend cheating, or that he did it on her brand-new Heal's cushions.

All she knows is she needs to put as many miles between her and Fraser as humanly possible. So, when her best friend suggests a restorative few days in the West Country, it seems like the perfect solution.

That is, until the country enters a national lockdown that leaves her stranded. All she has for company is her dog, Mabel. And the mysterious (and handsome!) stranger living at the bottom of her garden . . .

Two Metres from You is set during the early days of lockdown, were you worried about how readers would react to a novel set during a pandemic?  
Honestly, in the beginning I never gave it a thought, because it genuinely never occurred to me that this book would ever be published. I’d been furloughed from my job at a marketing agency in London, so it started out as an experiment in ‘can I write a book?’, mostly as a way to fill the time. I chose a lockdown romance because it really helped me navigate a challenging time – somehow documenting what was happening through a fictional lens gave me some kind of control over it.