Contemporary Authors

• Bridesmaids Pocket Books (London, England), 2008
• Nearly-weds Pocket Books (London, England), 2009
• My Single Friend Simon & Schuster (London, England), 2010
• Girl on the Run Simon & Schuster (London, England), 2011
• All the Single Ladies Simon & Schuster (London, England), 2012
• The Wish List Simon & Schuster (London, England), 2013
• The Mini Break Simon & Schuster (London, England), 2014
• The Little Things Simon & Schuster (London, England), 2015
• Summer Nights at the Moonlight Hotel Simon & Schuster (London, England), 2016
• The Time of Our Lives Simon & Schuster (London, England), 2017
• You Me Everything Pamela Dorman Books/Viking (New York, NY), 2018

• Jane Costello - http://www.janecostello.com/bio

  ABOUT JANE

  Jane Costello was born in 1974 and is the author of nine best-selling novels. She was a journalist before she started writing books and continues to write for a number of newspapers and magazines.

  Jane lives in Liverpool with her husband Mark and three young sons.

  In 2016 she announced that her tenth book, You Me Everything, will be published under the name Catherine Isaac.

Print Marked Items
Isaac, Catherine: YOU ME EVERYTHING
Kirkus Reviews.
(Mar. 1, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text: 
Isaac, Catherine YOU ME EVERYTHING Pamela Dorman/Viking (Adult Fiction) $26.00 5, 1 ISBN: 978-0-7352-2453-7
Jess finally calls it quits with her unfaithful boyfriend, Adam, when he fails to show up for the birth of their son. But 10 years later, she wonders.
Maybe her son needs to know his father after all.
Working as a creative writing instructor at a local sixth-form college, Jess has been raising William on her own. Her parents adore William, who
worships his grandfather, and Jess vehemently disavows any suggestion that William might need more than the occasional visit from Adam. After
all, Adam always said he didn't want children, and his inappropriate presents--baby toys for a 5-year-old and an enormous bike for an 8-year-old--
just underline how little he knows his son. But when Jess' mother falls terminally ill and tells her it's her dying wish that William get to know his
father, Jess relents and packs up their Citroen for the 825 mile road trip to Dordogne, France. Ensconced for the summer at Chateau de
Roussignol, a grand castle that Adam has restored into a glamorous resort, Jess sets about orchestrating a relationship between Adam and
William. Despite the glorious environment, her task is filled with obstacles, including Simone, the latest in Adam's string of young girlfriends;
death-defying day trips; and Adam's own evasiveness. Isaac--a new pseudonym for author Jane Costello (The Time of Our Lives, 2017, etc.)--
skillfully captures Jess' oscillating emotions: Determined to make Adam love William, she's also still angry at him for emotionally abandoning
them, a bit wistful about being left out of their budding relationship, and on her guard against falling in love again with Adam herself. Yet behind
her hopes that Adam will become a real father to his son, Jess has a much more important motive for finding Adam--one that may spell life or
death.
A witty, light romance from a welcome new voice.
Source Citation   (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Isaac, Catherine: YOU ME EVERYTHING." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Mar. 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A528959986/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=046f897b. Accessed 15 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A528959986

• Catherine Isaac website
  https://www.catherine-isaac.com/blog/
  Word count: 7250

  Making it into 'Britain's biggest book club'
  JULY 25, 2018
  I consider myself pretty good at keeping secrets. Tell me about your affairs, your face lifts, your clandestine liaisons with Barry in Client Services and it will go no further. But knowing that ‘You Me Everything’had been selected for the latest Richard and Judy Book Club and not being able to say a word about it for months . . . well, that’s been a challenge.

  It was back in the spring when my editor Jo Dickinson phoned to deliver the news that my book had been selected. As I’ve been longing to make it onto this list for years, my first instinct was to shout it from the rooftops. ‘One thing though,’ she added. ‘DO NOT TELL A SOUL.’ That’s the rule, until the day the list is announced by WHSmith, who run the club exclusively. So I’ve spent the last few months only being able to discuss my most exciting book news of 2018 with my agent, editor, husband and the dog.

  The Richard and Judy Book Club is a big deal for authors, but the reasons for my own excitement go beyond the sheer number of readers that it can reach. As an avid reader and one-time book club member myself, I’ve been devouring virtually everything the pair have recommended for years. Their picks, along with Simon Mayo’s on the Radio 2 Book Club (RIP), were my go-to choices before any holiday, a stamp of quality and reliability that has never let me down.

  Some of my favourite novels of the last five years were ones I first picked up because they were on this list: The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry. Me Before You by JoJo Moyes. I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. And the book I’ve loved most in 2018 so far: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng.

  Taking part has been a wonderful experience too. I was invited to London earlier this month to be interviewed by Richard and Judy for a WHSmith podcast that will be broadcast in August. I can faithfully report that they are every bit as warm and charismatic as on television, but what I most loved about them is how passionate they are about books - and the selections for their own club.

  Every one of the novels that appears on the list has been read and personally chosen by them. As such, their questions felt particularly insightful, they delved into the choices I’d made as an author and made some candid observations about the book’s themes. (As a side note, although my own interview isn’t broadcast until later in the summer, I’d highly recommend the series to anyone interested in good books and writing).

  While this has been quietly happening in the background, along with lots of planning meetings with my publisher and agent, I have done as asked and not told a soul. But, now the news is out. I can finally do that rooftop shouting (sorry neighbours) and tell the world that I’m in fine company on the latest Richard and Judy list - with Joanna Cannon, David Baldacci, Rachel Hore, Leila Slimani and Greer Hendriks and Sarah Pekkanen. You can read about their books on the WHSmith Richard and Judy blog. And if you’re discovering my novel for the first time through the club, or any of these authors', may I wish you a fabulous summer and many hours of happy reading.

  Catherine x

  A Blanket Of Stars
  JUNE 25, 2018
  Beginning a new novel can be a daunting experience. Yet, I read an interview with the novelist Kate Atkinson recently who said that, in the twenty years in which she’s been writing, one thing has changed: ‘I spent more time worrying then. Now, I don’t worry because I think, “Well, I’ve done ten novels, surely I can do another one”.’

  I have a similar pep talk with myself at the beginning of every book. And even though I’ve just put the finish touches on my eleventh novel, for me it feels just as necessary, for I’m afraid impostor syndrome is alive and well within the walls of my writing room.

  Part of the reason for this is that all authors like the idea that we’re improving. We want every book to be better than the last. We really are our toughest critics, harsher even than that Amazon reviewer who declared my book ‘utter tosh’ but gave five stars to a potato peeler.

  Having made the leap and changed both my name and writing style for You Me Everything, I was also conscious that some people would wonder if this was a one-off. The book that came next felt more like that difficult second novel than my eleventh one. The big question was: could do it again?

  The answer to that is that I seriously hope so, for reasons that go far because the fact that I have a mortgage to pay and three children to feed. And I am now at the stage of having in my possession a fully, completed novel, one that I’m actually permitting myself to get excited about. It’s provisionally titled A Blanket Of Stars and will be published in the UK in 2019 by Simon & Schuster.

  At this stage I can’t reveal too much about it except that I hope it has all the ingredients that readers enjoyed in You Me Everything – namely: a big concept, an emotional storyline and lots of twists. It goes without saying that it’s all set in a glorious location, in this case Lake Garda. And, as you can see from the pictures, that has to count as my toughest research trip to date.

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  WRITING, WRITING INSPIRATION, ITALY, LAKE GARDA, BOOKS, CATHERINE ISAAC, A BLANKET OF STARS, SIMON & SCHUSTER

  The US edition of 'You Me Everything', on sale today. The New York Post called the novel a 'must read', while Marie Claire said it will 'stay with you long after you're done'.
  The US edition of 'You Me Everything', on sale today. The New York Post called the novel a 'must read', while Marie Claire said it will 'stay with you long after you're done'.

  'You Me Everything' goes stateside
  MAY 01, 2018
  FOR the first time ever, from today I have a book on sale in the USA. For someone who’d been writing for over a decade and had nine bestsellers in the UK, none of which ever made it over the pond, I’d reconciled myself with the idea that this day might never come.

  So the fact that You Me Everythinghas an American publisher is special enough. That I got to work with an editor who published some of my favourite books of the last twenty years was pinch-yourself stuff. If you're a keen reader with tastes that are anything like mine, the likelihood is that you’ll own a novel that Pamela Dorman has worked on, whether it’s Me Before You, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Bridget Jones’s Diaryor The Secret Life of Bees. My over-whelming feeling when I learnt that we would be working together was to be flattered, excited and, I’ll admit it, daunted. How would I ever live up to the standards set by the authors of those incredible books?

  We spoke on the phone on the day Pam acquired You Me Everythingand she was warm, enthusiastic, passionate about her job and her ambition for my novel left me tingling long after we’d ended the call. Over the coming months, as we communicated via email - and on the phone if a plot query was proving stubborn - she was everything a writer could wish for in an editor: rigorous, insightful, encouraging. That’s not to say the edit I undertook for Pam was a doddle. Far from it. It involved months of work on the original novel – lots of restructuring, tearing things up and adding sections that she felt would enhance the characters’ stories. But while I might have needed a long lie down in a dark room after I’d finished, it was worth every minute. The novel became the best it could be, so much so that the version I produced for her formed the basis of that ultimately printed in other countries, including at home in the UK.

  One of the most exciting stages of having a book published is seeing your cover for the first time. And it’s no exaggeration to say that when the jacket for the US edition of You Me Everything landed in my inbox it took my breath away. Just LOOK at it! It’s so vivid, escapist, classy; beautifully presented in every way. Despite this, one of the big questions in my mind was whether an author who was completely unknown in the US would ever catch the attention of book reviewers and bloggers. But the team at Viking came up with an inspired publicity and marketing plan which has generated interest, not just on social media but in the press too. Marie Claire gave You Me Everythinga fabulous review, describing it as: ‘Equal parts wry comedy and touching family drama, it’s ultimately a heartbreaker that’ll stay with you long after you’re done.’ Meanwhile, the New York Post called it a ‘Must read.’

  Between this and the Instagram posts I keep seeing – of my book in all manner of glamorous American locations – it’s fair to say that excitement about publication day is running high in my household. But, of course, hype is one thing, now it’s over to the readers. And to those in the US who’ve reviewed or pre-ordered You Me Everything, I’d like to say thank you for generously giving this British author’s work a chance. I truly hope you love it.

  PAMELA DORMAN BOOKS, YOU ME EVERYTHING, VIKING BOOKS, NEW YORK POST MUST-READ, CATHERINE ISAAC, US EDITION

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  Publication day finally arrives in the UK!
  APRIL 24, 2018
  The last seven days have felt like the week before my wedding and not just because publication day also involved flowers and quite a lot of cake. I’ve had that similar bubbling undercurrent of adrenalin, when all the detail that’s been in the planning for more than a year finallycomes together.

  First came the reviews. It had been months since my publicist Jess Barratt sent out proof copies of YOU ME EVERYTHING to key journalists, reviewers, bloggers and literary editors. This week, the verdicts were in. I’d hoped people would be kind. In the event, they were so kind some brought tears to my eyes. ‘A heart-breakingly real and poignant story of love, regret and second chances,’ said HEAT. ‘This is one of the books that everyone will be talking about. Make sure you’re one of them.’

  And…

  ‘Fans of Me Before You will love this heart-tugging novel and with film rights already sold, You Me Everything is destined for big things’, added Red. The novel was reviewed by Bella, Cosmopolitan, Closer, Fabulous, Good Housekeeping, the Sunday Mirror, Prima ... and to my surprise and delight they still kept coming. Between these and the advertising posters that began to appear on station platforms, by Thursday – publication day – my calm, collected veneer cracked. I was giddy and I couldn’t hide it. THE DAY HAD FINALLY COME!

  I woke at 5.30 to find the first ‘happy publication day’ Tweet on my phone and, from that point, didn’t stop all day. After dropping the kids at school (because mum duties don’t stop even on days like this), I headed straight for the BBC Radio Merseyside studios to chat to presenter Sean Styles live on air. You can listen to the interview here. Then it was back home to respond to a mountain of well-wishes on social media… all of which I hope I managed to reply to personally, but please forgive me if I missed anyone.

  I tried to do some ‘proper’ work for the rest of the day, honestly I did. But between the Instagramming, preparing speeches, getting my hair done and my general state of high excitement, I didn’t achieve much. And before I knew it, it was time to head to the official launch event at Waterstone’s, Liverpool 1, where I was joined by around 100 readers, friends, family, publishing colleagues, media, bloggers and fellow authors, all of whom had come to celebrate with me.

  The evening began as all good events do - with fizz and cupcakes - then I took to the stage to answer questions from my friend, journalist Dawn Collinson (the next Lorraine Kelly, according to my mum). I read from two very different sections of the book, one funny chapter and one sad, then took some fantastic questions from the audience.

  After signing lots of books, a few friends and I finished the evening with a drink and a bite to eat in The Club Housein Liverpool One, before I crashed into bed with one final thought in my head: ‘You Me Everything’ is now finally on the bookshelves. And this is where it all really starts.

  BBC Radio Merseyside
  Heat magazine
  The advertising campaign
  Book signing
  The official launch
  The next Lorraine Kelly
  The books
  The authors
  Dream team
  (L-R) Clare Mackintosh, author of Let Me Lie, Catherine Isaac and Milly Johnson, author of The Perfectly Imperfect Woman
  More authors!
  Pub day flowers and gifts!

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  The power of books
  MARCH 19, 2018
  The ability of books to change lives in subtle but powerful ways has always been a source of wonder to me. The way they take you on journeys beyond the scope of your circumstances or budget; or allow you to see the world through the eyes of others and make sense of events in ways you previously hadn’t considered.

  As someone who’s had a love affair with reading since childhood, it’s hard to pick out a single book that affected me most, but I could give you a long list of novels that stayed with me afterwards, by authors ranging from Daphne Du Maurier to Stephen King.

  The question of which book had the most impact on me that I wrote is easier. ‘You Me Everything’ is my tenth novel and it’s no exaggeration to say it affected me profoundly, in more ways than the book and film deals, or even my change of name.

  I’d been writing romantic comedies under the pseudonym Jane Costello for ten years when I had grain of an idea for the story. The mother of someone I know had recently been diagnosed with a neurological condition and the news had devastated not just her, but the entire family. I couldn’t stop thinking about them, but dismissed writing about it at first. There was no way I could do justice to such a difficult topic within the genre I was known for.

  Then my agent Sheila Crowley suggested I should try writing something with more emotional depth, something that would take my writing to the next level. Even though I’d built up a loyal following for my Jane Costello novels, I knew she was right.

  Still, the decision to depict a life-limiting condition came with the important proviso that I didn’t want to simply write a book about a disease.

  First and foremost, I wanted to write a book about people, about hope and about love, in all its forms. And, even if readers got through a box of tissues on the way, I wanted them to feel uplifted by the time they turned the last page. But it was only as I began writing that the real messages of the book began to crystallise. Messages about living life in the moment, cherishing those you love and not taking anything for granted. It gave me a lot to think about.

  I’m as guilty as anyone of letting stress get to me. When the pressures of work and domestic life collide it’s hard not to collapse into bed each night feeling frazzled and fed up. But each morning after I’d dropped my kids off at school and settled in to a corner in my local coffee shop to write, I found myself gaining some precious perspective on everything that had been troubling me. This wasn’t any single great moment of epiphany. Just a daily reminder of what’s really important in life, none of which had been the things keeping me awake at night.

  On the weekend when I wrote what turned out to be a very emotional ending, I wiped away tears, walked home and gave each of my boys a big hug (even if my eldest thinks he’s too grown up for them these days).

  Of course, the breathless chaos of juggling work and home life hasn’t stopped. My house is the antithesis of zen-like calm. But, if things are ever getting on top of me, there are still moments when I’ll take a few deep breaths and remember how I felt when writing You Me Everything, a book that turned out to be special to me in more ways than I can express here. If a little bit of this rubs off on those reading it, I’ll consider my job done.

  Behind the scenes with 2 months to go
  FEBRUARY 27, 2018
  You might assume that, if a writer comes up with a brilliant idea for a novel and executes it masterfully, the result will be a guaranteed best-seller. But one of the things I’ve learnt in years since becoming an author is that a great book is merely the minimum requirement for terrific sales. You also need a magical combination of factors that includes, among others, a hard-working sales team, compelling publicity campaign, inspirational marketing and widespread, strategic distribution. You need your book on the shelves in all the right places and glowing reviews from readers who’ve loved it enough to spread the word. All of this takes creativity, passion and hard graft by a whole team of people. And it means that, whether a book ever threatens the top 10 is, to some extent, beyond simply the author’s influence.

  Of course, that doesn’t mean that our job is over once we’ve produced the goods in the first place. As publication approaches, it’s time for an author to do their bit to promote a novel – and that’s exactly where I’m at right now. With fewer than two months before You Me Everything goes on sale in the UK and Germany, followed swiftly by the USA and a dozen other countries, I’ve had to come out of hibernation, i.e. lift my head up from the Macbook. Instead of spending each day holed up in my writing room with nothing but the dog and my own brain for company, there have been lots of train journeys, meetings, events and feature writing, all designed to raise the profile of my novel.

  One highlight of the last month was a media breakfast with authors Louise Candlish (Our House), and Catherine Steadman (Something in the Water). Aside from a spectacular breakfast at the Riding House Café in London, we met journalists from Red, Cosmopolitan, Bella, You, Look, Good Housekeeping, Radio Four, Marie Claire and Fabulous. A formidable list of publications, I’m sure you’ll agree, but somehow it was a very relaxed affair in which we all got to talk about our passion for books over excellent coffee and scrambled eggs. (As a side note, I must tell you that Louise’s and Catherine’s books are brilliant. I loved both, but Our House is my stand-out read of the last 12 months, so do check it out when it’s released in April).

  Next was a trip to Swindon to meet the books team at WHSmith, along with fellow Simon & Schuster author Sarah Vaughan, whose thriller Anatomy of a Scandal came out last month. The WHSmith team were an impressive and friendly bunch, whose knowledge and passion for books really shone through. It was fascinating to hear about the way books are presented and marketed to readers in their stores, and it was a real privilege for Sarah and I to answer all their questions about how we each came to write our novels.

  I’ve also been doing a little feature writing recently for my publicity teams in the US and the UK. As someone who spent many years as a journalist before I became an author, I always enjoy this – it feels like a treat to be able to end a piece of work after 1,500 words, instead of the usual 100,000 I write for a novel. For my US publicity department at Penguin, I’ve written my take about blended families in the light of my own experience. I have three sons, two from a previous marriage, and they all live with me and my husband Mark, who is such an incredible step-dad that my two eldest boys actually prefer his company to mine. I’ve also written a piece for YOU magazine about what it was like growing up with a mum who was wheelchair-bound. I thoroughly enjoyed writing that one and it’s due to appear in April, so watch this space.

  FICTION, CATHERINE ISAAC, CATHERINE STEADMAN, SARAH VAUGHAN, LOUISE CANDLISH, RIDING HOUSE CAFE, SIMON & SCHUSTER, NOVEL WRITING, BEST-SELLER

  Are we nearly there yet?
  JANUARY 16, 2018
  There was a time around the start of last year, when it felt as though 2018 would never arrive. Despite the fact that I’d written a first draft of ‘You Me Everything’ a century ago (two years actually), my various publishers decided that the best date for it to be released worldwide was Spring 2018. There were lots of important scheduling reasons for this, but anyone who’s ever seen me waiting for my nine-year-old to get his school shoes on in the morning will be aware that patience is not one of my virtues.

  It could have been torture. Except that in the interim period, an awful lot has been happening - not least a movie option, a promotional trip to Norway and the writing of another novel (more on that later). I’ve also established new Catherine Isaac social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, a brand-new website and – after a decade writing as Jane Costello - have had to get used to answering to the name Catherine.

  Only now, Spring 2018 is ABOUT TO HAPPEN. It’s within spitting distance. In case I was in any doubt about this, the behind-the-scenes activity surrounding ‘You Me Everything’ has ramped up massively. This week involved a big meeting with my agent Wonder Woman (aka Sheila Crowley) and the team at Simon & Schuster UK. We talked sales plans, promotional activity, book club collaborations, media briefings, the AMAZING book trailer they've made (see above) ... and also where Sheila got her much-coveted handbag from.

  I then swept home to Liverpool on the train, where – between my publishers and Waterstones – we are planning the official, publication day launch. I am experiencing a few nervous ripples about this as, despite having written nine published books * whisper this * it’s my first ever book launch. Seriously. I’ve always felt a little uneasy about the idea of celebrating a novel before you know whether anyone’s a. bought a copy or b. thinks it’s any good. As a result, I’ve bottled out entirely before now, which in some ways goes entirely against my nature – usually I barely need an excuse for a party.

  This time, however, is different. ‘You Me Everything’ is too much of a big deal to me to not do something wonderful. So . . . The event takes place in Waterstones Liverpool One on April 19th at 6.30pm, tickets are available HERE and I have a big favour to ask. Please don’t let me turn up to my first ever book launch and find only my mum and the dog there.

  I’d love it if you could join me to raise a toast, sign a copy or two and let me tell you a little about the book that changed EVERYTHING for me. #YouMeEverything #April19

  BOOK TRAILER, BOOK CLUBS, FICTION, SHEILA CROWLEY, YOU ME EVERYTHING, SIMON & SCHUSTER, WATERSTONES LIVERPOOL ONE, BOOK LAUNCH

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  The calm before the storm
  DECEMBER 06, 2017
  With three kids, this time of year - for me and every other working mum - involves a long round of nativity plays, Christingles, Christmas jumper days … and so many school events that you’re tempted to dig out a sleeping bag and not bother coming home. But, on the writing front, this December feels like the calm before the storm, as my novel You Me Everything prepares for UK and worldwide publication in Spring 2018.

  Despite this, 700 miles across the North Sea in Norway – the only country in the world where the book is already out - it’s a different story entirely. There, there is no such calm; my publisher Bastion Forlag is currently working hard to make You Me Everything, or Her Nå Alltid, THE novel to buy for Christmas. The book debuted there in September and, after a five-star review in VG, Norway’s influential national newspaper, it went straight into the top #5 and has maintained a firm spot in the bestseller lists ever since.

  Now, as Christmas approaches, there is a two-week TV advertising campaign, it has been Book of the Month in Norway’s biggest retail chains, it is the subject of a prominent podcast by two female celebrities, is feature book on Scandinavia’s largest online book shop and is still receiving incredibly flattering reviews . . . and that’s just a flavour of what’s going on!

  Even from this distance, it was clear that there is a buzz around You Me Everything unlike anything I wrote under my pseudonym Jane Costello. Despite this, it took a message that arrived this morning to really bring this home to me. It was from an old friend called Hege, who I met many years ago through my work as a journalist in Liverpool. She now lives in Oslo and contacted me on Facebook with a photo of a giant stack of copies of Her Nå Alltid, adding: ‘I just had to send you this. ALL the bookshops look like this at the moment – it’s brilliant!’

  All of this has added to my excitement about the launch elsewhere in the world in April and May, for which each of my publishers are busily preparing behind the scenes. It’s been fascinating and thrilling to see the work in each country, particularly the different approaches they’ve taken with my covers. In the UK, Simon & Schuster opted for a stylish, striking and clever image whose true meaning only becomes fully clear once you’ve starting reading the book. In the United States, Pamela Dorman Books produced a stunning jacket that depicts the rolling countryside and vivid sunshine of the novel’s all-important French setting. In Germany, Rowohlt have gone for something different again, a look that is modern, warm and really conveys the emotion within the story.

  They’re just a handful of the languages into which the book will be translated after my agents at Curtis Brown sold the foreign rights around the world. And with every day that draws closer to Spring 2018, we’re receiving further updates about promotions, outdoor advertising campaigns, early positive reviews, audio book production and social media campaigns. All of which suggests that 2018 could be a very busy year in all the best ways!

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  The puppy, my muse
  OCTOBER 31, 2017
  Writing books is a pretty solitary endeavour. In that sense, the life of an author is very different from other professions. We have no team briefings or ideas workshops and the closest we get to an HR strategy meeting is texting our other halves to ask them to pick up some loo roll. While publishers do let us out for good behaviour and the odd awards soirée, you basically have to get used to your own company. In the olden days (what my kids call anything pre-2005), an author might have found themselves a muse. Yeats had Maud Gonne, Dante had Beatrice Portinari. But writers these days don’t usually have muses to inspire and provide company. They have Twitter. Which might be a great place for authors to connect, but being online just isn't the same as old-fashioned human contact.

  In the past, I addressed this by doing a lot of writing in coffee shops, at least during a first draft. While it’s a stretch to describe my local Costa as inspiring, there is something quietly comforting about being part of the ebb and flow of office workers and young mothers, of couples sharing cakes and the gentle old man who’d come in every day for a cup of tea and chat with the staff. The downside was that my lovingly-decorated home office often felt like a museum piece, a writer’s room without a writer.

  But in the last three weeks, everything has changed, because I now have a puppy. Which is arguably better than a muse, even if those aforementioned literary greats probably never had to break off for regular toilet training sessions. Maisie is a 11-week-old Shih Tzu cross breed. We’re not entirely sure what she’s crossed with as her mother arrived at the dogs’ home neglected and pregnant. So technically she could grow to be the size of a Doberman although, as you can see from the picture, that's unlikely.

  I’d never really wanted to get a dog, if I’m honest. I’d resisted the nagging of my three boys for years, on the grounds that, with a full-time job and a house full of kids, I had enough on my plate. I couldn’t tell you exactly why I finally gave in. Maybe they just wore me down, which is what usually happens. Either way, we didn’t get Maisie for me.

  Yet, it became instantly clear how nice it was to have her around as I write my next novel. She’s someone to snuggle up to when I’m struggling over a plot twist, whose little face is always pleased to see me, who loves nothing more than to snooze by my side while I tap away at my laptop. Playing fetch in the garden feels like a far better use of use of my screen breaks than putting on another load of laundry.

  If all of this sounds sappy, then I do apologise, but you’d have to be as hard as the Krays to write about this in any other terms. Because, when the kids have disappeared off to school and the chaos of our house has faded to silence, this little dog is a wondrous thing: company. Which could turn out to be this writer’s best friend.

  DOGS, SHI TZU, WRITING, MUSE, WRITING INSPIRATION, PUPPIES

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  48 hours in Norway
  SEPTEMBER 04, 2017
  ‘You, Me, Everything’ hits the shelves in most parts of the world in Spring 2018. But in Norway, readers will get a sneak preview – there, it’s out on September 20th. There are various important publishing-related reasons for this, but the best bit (from a brazenly selfish perspective) is that I was invited to jet off on my first foreign trip to promote the book.

  I love travelling and Norway has long been on my bucket list. I was only in Bergen and Oslo for 48 hours but, along with the dynamic (and downright lovely) team at my publishers, Bastion Forlag, not a minute was wasted. We promoted, we schmoozed, we presented and, basically, we didn't pause for breath. There were too many highlights to list them all, but a few of my favourites included:-

  * Learning to pronounce 'Her Nå Alltid' (You, Me, Everything) without making a moron of myself.

  * Travelling on Bergen’s funicular railway to the top of Mount Fløyen, to catch a spectacular view of the city and surrounding fjords.

  * Being interviewed for some of Norway’s top-selling magazines.

  * Take a selfie in Oslo during one of the most stunning sunsets I’ve ever seen.

  * Meeting scores of book-sellers who were passionate about fiction, books and writing - and, in the case of those who’d read an advance copy of 'Her Nå Alltid', said some very flattering things about it.

  * Dining on incredible seafood in one of Oslo’s celebrated restaurants.

  * Signing and dedicating scores of review copies of 'Her Nå Alltid'.

  * Zipping along the motorway in a posh electric car (definitely the thing to drive there).

  * Answering questions about writing in front of two tremendous audiences in Bergen and Oslo.

  * Marvelling at how brilliant everyone’s English was... and how terrible my Norwegian was.

  All in all, it was an unforgettable experience, even if I did need a long lie down afterwards.

  The interview
  The interview
  Catherine is quizzed about her writing in Oslo by Andre from Bastion Forlag

  Beautiful Bergen
  Beautiful Bergen
  This gorgeous city was resplendent in sunshine

  The team
  The team
  Catherine with Anja, Kaja, Andre, Erik and Cathrine from Bastion Forlag

  Beautiful Bergen
  Beautiful Bergen
  Another lovely shot of this stunning city

  Books and more books
  Books and more books
  Catherine signs proof copies of Her Nå Alltid for book sellers in Oslo

  Historic Bergen
  Historic Bergen
  Catherine's tour took in the historic centre of the city

  Sunset over Oslo
  Sunset over Oslo
  This glorious sight was quite a finale to the trip

  NORWAY, BASTION FORLAG, HER NÅ ALLTID, OSLO, BERGEN

  New Podcast!
  AUGUST 15, 2017
  I was interviewed this month by Sara-Jade Virtue, from Simon & Schuster, my UK publishers about writing, books, movie rights and You, Me, Everything.

  Blog-YME.jpg
  Judging a book by its cover
  JUNE 12, 2017
  Seeing the cover of your book for the first time can be one of the best things about being an author. It can also be one of the worst. Because what makes a cover appealing, original and representative of the story are all entirely subjective matters. A stunning package to one reader can be a turn-off to another. Ditto a publisher and an author. What makes this scenario tricky is that an author doesn't usually get the final say in what the jacket of their book will look like (although I think there's a general acceptance that life's easier for all concerned if they don't despise it). Although I've been lucky over the years with mine, I do know other authors who have been less than thrilled with the cover their publisher ran with.

  I must admit I didn't quite know what Simon and Schuster UK were going to come up with for 'You, Me, Everything'. I've been working with them from the start of my career as a novelist. But with my previous books - those written as Jane Costello - I'd had ten years to get used to the 'brand'. So although the cover style evolved and the illustrators changed, they'd always had the ingredients you'd associate with a romantic comedy book. Only this time, I'd given them a completely different kind of novel. I was writing under a new name. It wasn't a romantic comedy. With 'You, Me, Everything', we are making it up as we go along - in the best possible way. I knew we'd all want something compelling and tasteful, something attractive and true to the story; something that hinted at the emotion inside. I knew we all wanted something GREAT. But what was that exactly?

  I saw the cover for the first time over dinner with Jo Dickinson and Sara-Jade Virtue from S&S a few months ago. They took me by surprise over dessert, when Jo could wait no longer and produceda proof copy from her handbag like she was doing a magic trick. I am full of admiration for this high-risk strategy because if I'd hated it the rest of the evening could've been awkward, even accounting for the cocktails. Fortunately I did - and do - love it. It is a deceptively simple work of art; in particular, the monochrome images of my heroine and her son walking towards his father say so much about the story in the subtlest of ways. So, yet again, they've done me proud. And I can't wait to see the real thing when it hits the shelves.

  The call that changed everything
  MAY 12, 2017 IN BOOK DEALS
  Summers are quiet in the world of publishing. But even after the ten years I'd had to get used to this, it's still disconcerting when an author is dying to hear how a manuscript has been received. Particularly one that felt as risky as that which I'd submitted to my agent earlier in the year.

  As July and August 2016 passed in a blur of lacklustre sunshine and school holidays, my nights started to become distinctly restless as the phone failed to ring. If I'm honest, I was almost getting used to this low-level anxiety and was stocking up on Value baked beans in preparation for impending poverty (I'm an optimist like that).

  Then, one warm afternoon, I was just home from a run, when I took a call Anne Bihan, who was looking after translation rights for my agents Curtis Brown. She had a deal from Germany... but not just any old deal.

  This deal had been secured within literally hours of the novel being submitted to Rowohlt; their editor had stayed up to read the book overnight and made a pre-emptive offer first thing the next morning. And although I'm not vulgar enough to disclose details, I will say this: we did not dine on baked beans that night.

  A thrilling couple of months followed, in which auctions took place all over the world. 'You, Me, Everything' was sold to publishers in the USA, Norway, Sweden, Israel, Poland, Iceland, China, France, Brazil, Spain, Bulgaria, Russia, Korea, Italy, Serbia, Romania, Lithuania and Portugal.

  I was breathless by the end of it all, genuinely struggling with the idea that, after more than a decade of writing, this kind of thing was actually happening to me. And it got better. A few weeks later, my superwoman of an agent Sheila Crowley phoned to deliver the kind of news I'd never allowed myself to dream about (unless I'd had a couple of glasses of wine): 'You, Me, Everything' had been optioned for a Hollywood movie.

  John Fischer, Vice President of Temple Hill Entertainment - part of Lionsgate - had bought it for the studio that produced 'The Fault in Our Stars' and 'Twilight'. It was truly a 'pinch me' moment. But then, there have been too many of those to count lately...

  AUTHORS, BOOK AGENTS, SIMON & SCHUSTER, TRANSLATION RIGHTS, LIONSGATE, JANE COSTELLO, CATHERINE ISAAC

  Photo 11-05-2017, 14 50 19.jpg
  The year of writing dangerously
  MAY 09, 2017 IN NOVEL WRITING, AUTHOR
  So how did the craziest period of my professional life begin?

  It was Spring 2015 and I'd been happily writing romantic comedy novels for more than a decade, managing to pay my mortgage and feed my kids from the proceeds. I was very lucky. I didn't know anyone else who loved their job as much as I did. Nothing about this scenario would make any sane person want to rock the boat. I was, as the Instagram posts say, #blessed.

  Then I had this idea for my tenth book. Trouble was, it was clearly NOT the kind of novel for which I was known. The kind of novel I'd spent ten years actively trying to become widely recognised for and which publishers and readers paid me to write. This idea would be way too difficult. Too emotionally-charged. It would need more research than I'd ever tackled before - because I knew if I were to get any element of this subject matter wrong, there would be hell to pay.

  So I put the idea to one side and tried to come up with another romantic comedy concept. But for the first time ever, it just wasn't happening, because the Too Difficult Idea had by now swamped my head. I couldn't shake it; it was like an ear worm of a song that stayed with me even at 3 o'clock in the morning. I realised that, one way or another, I HAD to write this book. So I spent a year supposedly writing another romantic comedy for Simon and Schuster UK - my loyal and trusted publishers, who've been with me from the very start.

  The writing of this book was every bit as challenging as I'd imagined. I had moments of horrendous self-doubt; of convincing myself I wasn't up to the job; I couldn't do justice to the devastating condition that forms part of its story. I was deeply concerned about how it would be received and even more concerned that I was risking everything that I'd achieved writing as Jane Costello.

  I did however have my agents, Sheila Crowley and Becky Ritchie at Curtis Brown. I knew the day I met them how awesome they were; a dynamic duo that'd beat Batman and Robin any day. They were cheer-leading from the sidelines as I wrote, reassuring me, firing me up. Then I finished and submitted it to them with my breath held. I did not sleep well that night. I tossed and turned wondering whether they'd thought I'd pulled it off; whether they'd even LIKE it.

  In short, I had absolutely no idea what was coming next.

• Writing Garnet
  https://thewritinggarnet.wordpress.com/2018/04/07/review-you-me-everything-by-catherine-isaac-catherineisaac_-teambatc-simonschusteruk-bookminxsjv/
  Word count: 914

  THE WRITING GARNET
  A place to share a passion for wonderful books and writing!

  7
  APR
  2018

  #Review – You Me Everything by Catherine Isaac (@CatherineIsaac_) @TeamBATC @SimonSchusterUK @BookMinxSJV

  You Me Everything is a heartfelt and unforgettable story about the lengths we are prepared to go to for those we love. Guaranteed to make you laugh and cry, this is novel you will never forget.

  You and me, we have history.
  We have a child together.
  We have kept secrets from each other for far too long.
  This summer, in the beautiful hills of the Dordogne, it is time for everything to change.

  What does TWG think?

  Oh…..I don’t even know where to begin. How do you even review a book like this? I hadn’t even reached the halfway point before my heart decided to start breaking.

  ‘You Me Everything’ is a story which managed to capture my heart almost straight away. As a single mum myself, it was pretty clear that I was going to side with the main character and relate to her point of view a lot more. Yes, I’ll even admit that I was annoyed with the father of the baby and marked his card straight away. However, as more heartbreaking topics came to light as the story progressed, my opinion of the father changed drastically because I was aware of the uncertain future that lay in front of them.

  I’m trying not to say too much about the storyline as I don’t want to give anything away, but believe me when I say that ‘You Me Everything’ is extremely emotional. At first I thought the emotion was going to be because of Jess and her baby, William, but that really was just the tip of the iceberg.

  This book has one of the best blurbs I have ever read as it is so vague, yet it makes you wonder what on Earth is behind the front cover of the book. I was not expecting the complex storyline, colourful characters, or the heart-wrenching situations Jess and her family found themselves having to face.

  ‘You Me Everything’ makes you think about what you would do in Jess’ situation. It makes you realise that life can change in the blink of an eye, pushing you to make decisions about things no parent should ever have to make. Jess knew deep down that she had to live in the moment and enjoy her life, but how could she when devastation could land on her doorstep at any moment? What would you do if you had to live in fear every single day, preparing your loved ones for things that nobody can actually prepare themselves for?

  Catherine Isaac has written her characters very, very cleverly, enabling her readers to become in tune with their own emotions and adjust their viewpoints towards certain characters without actually doing anything.

  The levels of friendship in this book isn’t ‘typical’. It’s more than that. It’s….real. The themes which run through the storyline are bold yet devastatingly beautiful, capturing the true essence of love, life, friendship and being a mum. At first the book is simple where the author gently eases us into Jess’ life. As the storyline progresses, the author naturally brings another part of Jess’ world to life, making me feel as though I wasn’t just reading the book, I was also living it.

  My reaction to Catherine Isaac’s, ‘You Me Everything’, was a reaction I wasn’t prepared for. A reaction I never knew existed until then. Even though my heart was breaking, it took a long time for the tears to fall. I soon realised that my body was breaking with the shakes, feeling like an elephant was sitting on my chest, and a sense of loss, was my own way of reacting to the book – from the inside out. I was utterly broken, utterly devastated, yet full of hope due to the incredible and enchanting words my eyes devoured.

  I lost myself in William’s discussions. I lost myself in Jess’ emotion. I lost myself in every part of the storyline in a way that I will never, ever forget. Catherine Isaac talks to you via her characters, she brings them to life and showcases them in the most powerful way imaginable. If you’re picking up this book to just ‘read’ then be prepared to live and love alongside it.

  Near the end of the book, I had to read several of the pages more than once as my eyes were pouring a waterfall of devastation, grief, passion, and hope.

  I lived the lives of Catherine Isaac’s characters. I felt the love of Catherine Isaac’s characters. I believed in the hope that Catherine Isaac’s storyline covered me. This book is an unmissable, emotional, fulfilling, and untouchable novel which will hold your heart hostage in the most powerful way.

  There isn’t just Jess, William or Adam – there is ‘You Me Everything’ and I will hold onto the power this book has given me for a very, very long time.

  ‘You Me Everything’ will be published on the 19th April. You can pre-order your copy now from Amazon