Spotlight on Guest Author Jackie Ladbury

This week I’m pleased to welcome Jackie Ladbury, who writes both contemporary and historical novels and had The Potter’s Daughter published by Ruby Fiction earlier this year. I asked her to tell us a little about herself, over to Jackie …

I don’t remember wanting to be a writer when I was young, although I do have a dog-eared book of angsty poems that I wrote in my teens – so some kind of urge must have been in there. It wasn’t until I read the brilliant Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks that I finally had a lightbulb moment – I was going to write books like his!

So that night, I opened a bottle of wine (priorities!) set my glass down next to it, smoothed out my brand new note book and picked up my sparkly pink pen. I gazed around my little flat for inspiration, glanced down at the gleaming white blank page, poured my wine and stared some more. Hmm, inspiration nil, words written nil.

However, being an air-stewardess afforded me many long hours of thumb twiddling while hanging around waiting for passengers (mostly onboard a stationary aircraft, sadly, rather than basking in the exotic locations of my dreams) and I eventually started penning little love stories between pilots and ‘hosties.’ Okay, not quite up there with Seb, but you gotta start somewhere.

Once I’d begun writing in earnest I couldn’t seem to stop, but I also couldn’t seem to finish one story – from start to finish. Got bored – started another – and before I knew it, I had half a dozen ‘unready’ novels sitting on my hard drive. Next phase of knuckling down was to finish one of the blasted things.

Eventually, I paid an editor to look over one of them (for any aspiring writers, to my mind, it’s the best way forward). After much huffing, faffing and re-writing, Air Guitar and Caviar was shortlisted in Choc Lit’s Search for a Star competition. Validation. Finally.

Fast forwards to my fourth published book, a historical romance set in the Midlands where I grew up. The Potter’s Daughter was published by Ruby Fiction in February and I could not be more thrilled. One day I’ll have Liam Hemsworth as Daniel the doctor, and Dakota Blue Richards as Maddie, the Potter’s daughter playing the parts – Netflix here I come! Okay, the accents might need a little work, but Dakota will be up to the challenge.

Recently ‘life’ has unfortunately interrupted my writing flow, as life is wont to do, but I do have a book set in Sorrento on the back-burner, one of my many ‘stuck on the hard-drive’ books calling out to me, and a Christmas book which I loved writing, being a total sucker for Christmas is on track for a 2019 Christmas release. You can’t keep a good writer down, apparently, even when life tries to nuke the heart out of your words!

Thank you, Morton, for letting me waffle on – hope I’ve given your readers a taste of my writing life and haven’t sent them to sleep.

Very interesting. Thank you, Jackie.

About The Potter’s Daughter

Is love powerful enough to cross the class divide?

When Daniel Davenport saves Maddie Lockett and her young brother Tom from drowning, an immediate bond is forged between them.

But Daniel is an aspiring doctor and son of a wealthy manufacturer, whilst Maddie is a potter’s daughter from a poverty-stricken area of the Potteries. Even a friendship between the two could be frowned upon, let alone anything more …

But Maddie and Daniel want more, and as they grow closer gossip and prejudice look set to spoil their blossoming romance. Do the young couple stand a chance when there are those who would stop at nothing to keep them apart?

Purchasing Link : The Potter’s Daughter

About the Author

Jackie Ladbury writes heart-warming contemporary and historical women’s fiction that is always guaranteed a happy ever after. From spending many years as an air-stewardess and seeing that it really is love that makes the world go around, she determined to put the same sparkle and emotion into her stories. Her life is no longer as exotic (or chaotic) as it was in those heady days of flying around the world, as she lives a quiet life in Hertfordshire with her family and two cats.

To contact Jackie use the following links:-