Hello everyone, and huge thanks to the #VWG for asking me to take part in the brilliant #HowIGotMyAgent series. So excited to be here! It might be a good place to start by saying that - as wonderful as my recent news is - it's not been an overnight thing BY ANY MEANS.1/20

I say this only to encourage writers everywhere to hold their nerve and keep going. It has genuinely taken me 20 years, and four novels, to get to this point. My creative background is originally in screenwriting, and I was lucky enough to complete a postgrad @NFTSFilmTV. 2/20

Although screenwriting is a different discipline, it does give you some crucial skills: unfolding a story with a decent pace; constructing visual scenes; the psychology and nuances of character. Writing creatively is HARD and learning the craft is so important! 3/20

My graduation film went on to win a couple of awards which led to meetings and then commissions with both the BBC and some indies. Let me add that I knew NOBODY in the business at the time, and being a mixed-race, working class woman from a comprehensive school was tough. 4/20

As is often the way, however, the projects were never green-lit and so began my first foray into rejection and disappointment! I was also skint, so during maternity leave, I wrote a non-fiction book for expectant parents on a low income which was immediately picked up. 5/20

Still, despite loads of great press and publicity, it didn't become the instant bestseller we all dream of - haha! I have an autistic son which necessitated a break from serious writing for a few years (family comes first, always!) but even so, I still LONGED for the craft. 6/20

I began writing a novel and three years later received two stellar offers of rep. The only caveat was that I turn the book into a psychological thriller!! By this stage I was desperate for an agent, but I also knew what sort of writer I was and wanted to be in the future. 7/20

My first love has always been literary fiction, although I read widely (top tip!). I also think that as a debut novelist you're setting out your stall for future readers, so, with a heavy heart, I turned down both offers and set to work on another novel. 8/20

The next one got quite a few full requests but no offers. My voice was "too quirky"; my characters "too marginal for the current climate." And just in case you're wondering how you can possibly change your voice for the market, please let me tell you DON'T. 9/20

Your voice is what makes you, you, and it is wholly subjective. Fast forward another year and I was working on a project which I loved but couldn't quite get a handle on, story-wise. I won a place on a @cbcreative 6 week course, convinced this would be the one. 10/20

Fate had other ideas, however and a few months later, I began work on a very urgent story that came to me rather serendipitously (another tale for another day).For the first time ever I wrote without stopping to edit, completing a 127K word draft in 3 months. 11/20

At this stage, I'd stopped thinking/caring about the end result, other than to complete what was to become the most personal of projects. I confided my first pages in the wondrous @juliarkelly2 who texted me to say "this is THE ONE" which gave me the courage to continue. 12/20

I started subbing the 1st draft to competitions and was gobsmacked when others responded to it in a really wonderful way. I began to be longlisted and then shortlisted; I won a place on the brilliant @DHAbooks Open Writers week and started to believe this WAS "the one". 13/20

15 months later I'd completed 4 drafts (it's a complex dual narrative/timeline novel with loads to juggle) and reached a point where I couldn't "see" it anymore objectively.I gave it to a handful of my closest writer friends who thought it was good enough to send to agents. 14/20

That's okay, I thought, I'll have at least 3 months to tinker in case anyone wants the full! (don't do this!) Literally, within the hour, I started getting full requests. I'd only subbed to 6 agents because they were the ones I absolutely knew would be a dream to work with. 15/20

The full requests turned into incredible emails asking for meetings, but I didn't dare think they were about rep (the years make you cynical!!). After each one, I'd go back to my writing tribe (yay #VWG) and say "holy shit! X offered me representation" and then cry a bit.16/20

And my tribe were LEGENDS. They all knew how much I wanted this; how long I'd worked and waited patiently, and their support was priceless. By the end of that week I had 5 offers of rep and 1 meeting in hand. Already, I felt like I couldn't choose, as they were all awesome.17/20

And then I met Peter Straus and @cmlwilson at @rcwlitagency over Zoom and something incredible happened. I can only describe it as magical, like when you come home from a long trip and see your own bed waiting for you! When Peter told me I was a writer to my bones, I CRIED! 18/20

In the end, I was lucky enough to have six amazing offers, and as much as I kind of knew who I was going to sign with it was still SO HARD to press send on that email. Literally, I would have loved any of them, and I feel incredibly privileged for the faith they had in me. 19/20

If I can give any advice it would be this: 1. Never give up 2. Write as though you have nothing to lose 3. Read everything 4. Perfect your craft 5. Find your writing tribe 6. Learn to love your own voice. One day someone will hear you. I wish you all the luck in the world! 20/20