Portobello Book Blog

I’m pleased to welcome Fiona Perrin today who is going to share #TenThings about herself and her writing. Her first novel for Aria, The Story After Us, is available now. I must say, I highly approve of number 8!

Here are #tenthings about me…

Thing 1: The eleventh commandment in my house is ‘thou shalt not take the mickey out of your mother’. I am a mum and stepmum to four teenagers. It’s necessary to lay down the law like God.

Thing 2: After a fairly full-on career in industry, I now have what people call a ‘plural’ job – part Board member, part sales and marketing consultant, part author. This is heaven after writing in the evenings and weekends for as long as I can remember.

Thing 3: I’m divorced (and very unconsciously uncoupled a long while back) but The Story After Us is not my story. It is however, inspired by my very modern blended family full of step-parents and kids who are all quite good mates mostly.

Thing 4: My dog is called Soppy Wagster and she is a springer spaniel. I intend that all my books will feature a springer spaniel.

Thing 5: My cat is called Ducky von Fluffy and she mostly kills things that are bigger than her (rabbits, crows and similar) and brings them through her cat door. My books will not feature a cat like her.

Thing 6: I love reading and like to think of myself as ‘high brow/low brow’ which means that I’ve done an English degree but read a lot of books that people are snotty about for no reason.

Thing 7: I really like parties. Particularly those which involve several hours on a dance floor.

Thing 8: Travelling is a bug. I have recently made it a THING with my husband that when we come back from one trip we need to book another one straight away. I’m not sure he gets that this is a THING yet.

Thing 9: I love writing so much. Being able to sit at a desk and write the comedy and drama of a whole bunch of made-up people that start to seem real, is just great. I feel very lucky.

Thing 10: I find Instagram a very confusing place even though I think I’m down with the kids. My own children spend a lot of time laughing at me squinting at the screen and asking about filters, therefore violating the eleventh commandment (see thing 1 above).  

My thanks to Kelly at LoveBooksGroupTours for inviting me to take part in this tour. The Story of Us is available now in paperback and as an ebook. At the time of writing, the Kindle edition was only 99p (but please check before you buy). You can order that here: The Story After Us

From the back of the book

Sometimes the end is just the beginning…

If she tries very hard, Ami can remember when she used to have a dynamic and exciting career and a husband who she loved more than life itself, and who was equally smitten with her…

Now she has two children, a terrifyingly large mortgage, and no idea who she has become – or why she and her husband can’t even be in the same room anymore.

With life as she knew it in tatters around her, Ami is heartbroken, and in no way pulling off ‘consciously uncoupling’ like a celeb. But she’s starting to wonder if she just might come out the other side and be… happier?

As funny as Helen Fielding, as poignantly touching as Marian Keyes, Fiona Perrin’s dazzling debut is a story that is as much about finding out who you really are again, as it is about the exhausting balancing act of motherhood. Unmissable for women everywhere.

About the author

Fiona Perrin was a journalist and copywriter before building a career as a sales and marketing director in industry. Having always written, she completed the Curtis Brown Creative Writing course before writing The Story After Us. 

As a mother and stepmother to four teenagers while holding down a fairly full-on job, she wanted to write grown-up commercial fiction about messy, modern love and families – with all their heartbreak, humour and hope. 

Fiona grew up in Cornwall, hung out for a long time in London and then Hertfordshire, and now writes as often as possible from her study overlooking the sea at the end of The Lizard peninsula.

She is currently writing her second novel for Aria.

Twitter @fionaperrin

FB: fionaperrinauthor

Insta: fionaperrin

Web: www.fionaperrin.com

Amazon link: https://amzn.to/2pIBbMn

Follow the rest of the tour