Luton author celebrates as debut novel is published in paperback

A Luton author is celebrating as her debut novel is set to be published in paperback tomorrow (Thursday March 30).

Jennifer Bibby’s novel The Cornish Hideaway was first published as an ebook in March 2022 – and was in the running for the Joan Hessayon debut novel award last summer.

Jennifer, a Stopsley High School student and graduate of the University of Bedfordshire's Creative Writing course, said: “The Cornish Hideaway has existed in several forms, originally starting life set in Renaissance Italy and was inspired by a BBC documentary on the life of Michelangelo. Gradually, the idea of a surly artist, Angelo, arriving in a small village and causing all sorts of artistic related havoc moved to modern day UK.

"A trip to Cornwall in 2014 provided me with the perfect seaside escape for a group of characters who are all trying to heal and move on with their lives. It was also important to have a strong female lead which led me to create Freya, who manages to turn her own career disappointments and heartbreak around during a summer of self discovery in Cornwall.”

Jennifer added: “As much as I love the first draft, getting all my ideas down onto the page and watching them grow, I think my favourite part is the second draft, where you have an entire novel written but you go back through and over it, discovering which bits don't work and need cutting and which bits really make the story come together. It's the polishing up of the whole idea that I enjoy. Of course, the daydreaming at the start of a project is always highly enjoyable too."

Jennifer’s advice to writers is to keep writing and not to be too precious about the work. “A lot of the hard work that shapes the story is done in the editing stage which requires being brave enough to cut out whole scenes or even chapters you may love but don't particularly work.

"If you're serious about writing I would recommend setting aside some time each week, even if it's just 10 minutes a day, to get some words down. It's exciting to see the word count grow. Write because you enjoy it and want to tell stories, publishing is just the cherry on top of the cake. Also, once you've written something, share it with friends and family and get it out there, you never know, you might also be lucky to catch an editors eye.”

When asked about future projects, Jennifer said: “I have a couple of ideas in the planning stage which I'm very excited about, both slightly different, but both romances. I'm plotting these out, developing the characters before I see which idea I decide to run with.”

A spokesperson for Stopsley High School said: “Everyone in the Stopsley High School community is sending congratulations to Jennifer on the success of her debut novel. It is always wonderful to hear what our alumni are doing and hope that more of our students will be inspired to become authors in the future.”