This week we spoke to the wonderful Sonia Velton, whose debut historical fiction novel Blackberry and Wild Rose was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Prize 2015 and published by Quercus in 2019.

Sonia’s second novel, a thriller, follows two strangers whose lives are brought together two traumatic events - cruel twists of fate that happen thousands of miles apart. The Image of Her will be released this Thursday, 22nd July, and you can pre-order from your local bookshop, or online at Waterstones and Amazon.

Could you introduce yourself and your writing?

I write books about women. I love exploring the relationships women form with each other, and the more interesting and unusual that relationship the better! Whether historical or contemporary, all my novels have at their heart a complex, and thought provoking, connection between two female protagonists.

My second book, The Image of Her, will be out in July with Quercus Books. It is a contemporary suspense novel about two women who never actually meet, yet nonetheless share the closest possible bond. Stella and Connie live completely different lives, one in England and the other in Dubai, but they share a poignant, and totally unexpected, common destiny…

Your debut novel, Blackberry and Wild Rose, was set in 18th-century London. Your second is a contemporary literary thriller about two strangers who form a compelling bond from opposite sides of the world. What inspired you to write The Image of Her, and what was it like to shift to writing in the present day?

I did intend to write another historical novel set in the 18th century, but try as I might to focus on corsets and chamber pots, another story entirely kept coming into my mind. It was inspired by something truly extraordinary that I’d heard on the news about two women whose lives come together in a tragic, yet awe-inspiring way. Writers are generally advised to write the same but different for their second book, so I sat on the idea for a while, unsure whether I dared tackle something that was not only a change of genre, but also a pretty ambitious and outré subject. In the end, I knew I’d write my best possible book about something that I was passionate about, so I pitched the idea to Juliet and was delighted that she supported me in telling Stella and Connie’s story, as it was definitely the one that was in my heart, asking to be told.

I really enjoyed writing a contemporary novel, but what surprised me was how many of the themes from my first novel are mirrored in my second. I suppose, on one level, not much changes and people, especially women, continue to face many of the same issues today that they did in the 18th century.

What have you learned from your journey as an author so far, and what advice would you give your past self?

Finish. Your. Book. Really, just write it already!  I spent the best part of a decade agonising about whether my writing was any good, crippled by self doubt. I wish I’d had more confidence, and believed in myself more. That said, much as I would have loved to have achieved publishing success early in life, I do think I appreciate it far more now than I would have done had I been able to finish it ten years earlier, and that now is the right time for me personally to be doing this.

I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned is that no one is going to make time for your writing, except you. It sounds obvious, but when I first wanted to write a book I almost felt like I needed permission to make writing a part of my life. In the end, you need to carve out time for it – sacrifice other things for it, with no guarantee of success – if you really want to make it happen.

What was your journey to gaining representation like, and what wisdom would you give to writers who are submitting to literary agents?

I wasn’t someone who ever sent out their completed MS widely (of course not, no one was allowed to read it!), I just spent ages tinkering with the first few chapters. Over the years, I became very good at writing novel openings, but not very good at writing completed novels, so I was pretty delighted to come across the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize which required only the first 20K words of a novel to enter. Being shortlisted really was an amazing opportunity for me, and led to interest from a number of agents whilst I finally cracked on and finished a full draft. Of course, every writer has in mind their ‘dream agent’ and for me that was Juliet Mushens, so my New Year’s resolution of 2017 was to send a query to Juliet, as I just had to know whether she might be interested in representing me before pursuing other options. On Valentine’s Day, I met Juliet for the first time to discuss her thoughts on my book! It was the stuff of dreams and still the most thrilling Valentine’s day I’ve ever had (somewhat sadly, this is actually true!).

In terms of advice to aspiring writers, I would definitely recommend entering your book into competitions for unpublished writers. A shortlisting for one of these awards really helps to get your novel noticed. Then, when you are ready to submit, give some real thought to who might be the best agent for it.  The agents who are representing books similar to your own are the ones who might like yours, and be able to find the best possible market for it.

What are you working on at the moment? / What are you writing next?

I’ve just finished writing the opening chapter of my third book, and I’m very excited about it! I’ve learned so much from both books I’ve written, and I’m hoping that my next novel will combine the atmosphere and immersive detail of Blackberry and Wild Rose, with the fast-paced suspense of The Image of Her…