We last heard from June Taylor in 2015 when she hosted our Meet the Agent event with fellow Leeds lass and literary agent Shelley Instone.
What’s been happening since then? We hear you have some news for us …
Yes, I do. At last! A book deal with HarperCollins @KillerReads. It’s for an e-book initially, then six weeks later a print-on-demand version is available. The title is Losing Juliet.
Sadly, I’m no longer with Shelley Instone. She had to close her agency for personal reasons. I have to thank her for everything she put into my writing. It was like doing a bespoke MA in novel-writing with Shelley. Such a brilliant editor. But she’s delighted about the deal!
So it’s a psychological thriller?
That’s right, and it seemed to fit the Killer Reads brief as they are looking for books across the crime fiction genre. Losing Juliet is a psychological thriller in the vein of Rebecca I would say (I wish!). Personally I prefer that subtle, uncomfortable creepiness that gets-under-your-skin sort of a thriller to an all-out chiller or detective novel.
What is Losing Juliet about?
So it’s told from a dual mother-daughter perspective. When a mother’s ex-best friend gets in touch after nearly 20 years it provokes a series of questions and an account of a traumatic road trip to France in the 1980s. The daughter learns some terrible truths, with some serious consequences. After all, no truth is ever simple, filtered through memory, distorted over time and manipulated for one’s own agenda.
It’s a psychological thriller about toxic friendship. I hope it makes the reader question: what would I do in their appalling situation?
Sounds intriguing. When can we read it?
I’m now working with a lovely editor at HarperCollins, the fantastically talented Lucy Dauman. The aim is to launch towards the end of 2016 or early 2017. I’ll keep you posted!
Photo by Steve Evans.
You can find out more about June here: www.junetaylor.co.uk and she tweets @JoonLT