What’s the difference between The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle?

Imagine a question haunting you through time. Imagine it stalking you through realities. Always behind you, waiting. This, my friends, is that question. We changed the title in the US to The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle to avoid anybody getting the book confused with the wildly more succesful The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. It didn’t work, and it’s failure created this question which will be etched on my tombstone. Funny story, I was once approached at a book festival by a lovely old man who’d bought The Seven Deaths, The 7 1/2 Deaths, and The Seven Husbands thinking they were a trilogy.

Is The Last Murder at the End of the World related to the television series A Murder at the End of the World?

Nope, not remotely. I just have the worst luck naming things. Thankfully, I didn’t actually call my second book Avengers: Infinity War. That would have been embarrassing.

Is it true you sound like Ringo Starr in real life?

Erm, yes.

How did you get published?

The idea for The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle hit me on a plane to Qatar. Six months later, I’d quit my job as a travel journalist, left Dubai where I’d been living, and moved to London. I rented a small flat above a children’s nursery, and wrote to the smell of stinky nappies and crying babies for nearly three years. After it was finished, I sent a submission to five agents, had three of them request to read the full thing, and two of them offer representation. I chose Harry Illingworth at DHH Literary Agency, who took my book to Alison Hennessy at Bloomsbury Raven, and now you’re reading this. In real life, this was all a bit more dramatic.

Any tips for getting published?

Finish your book. Walk away from it for three months, then go back. I guarantee the break will give you insights you’d never have considered otherwise.