Debut author Zoe Allison’s first novel, Impervious, is published on 14th April by Totally Bound. A busy medic by day, she took time out to talk to us about writing her first book and what draws her to paranormal romance.
Welcome to our blog, Zoe! Tell us about your journey to publication.
I started writing around 4 years ago. I was looking for a creative outlet and initially I wrote children’s picture books, because with two small children that was all I was reading at the time! After that I got back into reading romance and a few things spurred me on to start writing my own romances. It was partly being inspired by other writers and also the feeling that if I was to write my own, it would be satisfying to be the master of the story’s destiny. I decided to give it a go and wrote my first, contemporary, romance.
I read about the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writer’s Scheme and felt it would be an excellent way to get professional feedback, which I felt I needed in order to grow as a writer. I therefore bided my time until the next intake of members and on the day in question sat with my finger hovering over the “send” button on my join request email, until the clocked ticked onto the time that applications would be accepted. As I had predicted it was an excellent opportunity. I had already started writing Impervious as that first manuscript went through the scheme and in my second year with the NWS, I submitted it. My feedback was so helpful and inspiring. I decided to make the suggested changes and resubmit the next year (2019). Whilst awaiting my critique another fantastic writer on the RNA Facebook group posted about Totally Bound accepting submissions in a few genres, including vampire and paranormal. I decided nothing ventured nothing gained, and submitted. They got back to me a few days later with the offer of publication and I ended up in shock for a number of days!
