Everything is Fine as ex-Biggleswade teacher's wait to be a published author is over

Gillian Harvey taught at Holmemead Middle School (now Biggleswade Academy) until 2009 when she moved to France.

Having secured a book deal, Gillian had been planning to return to Bedfordshire to launch Everything is Fine – a humorous look at lies people tell on social media – in person. But those travel plans were scuppered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Gillian, whose parents still live in Langford, said: “After years of trying, my first novel is due to be published by Orion on May 28 – it’s been a long time coming. My original plan was to celebrate and come over to Bedfordshire to see family and friends and have a book launch.

“I’ve been writing novels for years, including when I was teaching English at Holmemead (2005-2009). But never quite seemed to be able to land myself an agent.

“In summer 2009 I moved to France with my husband Ray. In 2012, I started freelancing for magazines and newspapers in the UK.

“My novel Everything is Fine is my first foray into humour - before my novels were quite dark. I was picked up by an agent, Ger Nichols of the Book Bureau in August 2018, and offered a two-book deal with Orion in January 2019. My publication date was set with quite a long lead, so I’ve been counting down the days to May 2020 for a year and a bit! Little did I know what I was counting down to…”

Originally, Waterstones offered to host Gillian’s book launch. Instead, she’s planning a live launch on her Facebook author page https://www.facebook.com/gharveyauthorShe added: “The book is a humorous look at the lies we all tell on social media. Jessica Bradley, the protagonist, takes this to extremes and gets caught up in her own fiction. The novel is about her attempt to keep up pretences in real life, which doesn’t always go to plan.”

Everything is Fine is available in paperback, e-book and audiobook through Amazon.

See https://www.gillianharvey.com for more details.