Rachel Pattinson

I grew up in the north west of England, surrounded by lakes and fells, and where it's constantly raining. I loved it. I loved waking up and being able to see such a dramatic landscape every day, and I think this has definitely impacted on my writing. Not only do I love writing dramatic scenes, I also love bringing the world I've written to life - I want to draw readers into my world, just as much as I was drawn to all those lakes and mountains. Plus, the north west of England is fairly isolated, so I was forever coming up with new story ideas as I tramped around the countryside. I strongly believe that if I hadn't been brought up on a farm in the middle of nowhere, if I hadn't had that time and space to come up with all those ideas, I wouldn't be a writer today.

If I'm completely honest, I never thought I'd ever become an indie author. The topic for my major project in university was 'How viable is self-publishing for a first-time author?' and I had to look into indie publishing in a lot of detail; by the end of my project, I decided it sounded like far too much work! But there was a period after university when I couldn't get a job no matter how hard I tried, so I turned to writing to keep me sane. After being rejected not only from job applications, but from literary agents too, I decided I had to take my writing career into my own hands.
I can't tell you how much I absolutely love indie publishing. Yes, it's A LOT of hard work - even more than I originally thought during my major project - but I love it. I love writing at my own pace. I love writing my own stories. And most of all, I love the indie community - everyone is so friendly and helpful and there's no way I could've done this without them. It's so much fun, and at the end of the day, that's all I've ever really wanted from my writing - to have fun doing it and to have the opportunity to share it with others.