A SELF-PUBLISHED author has spoken about the "surreal" experience of seeing her first book for sale in Waterstones.
Paula Johnston released her debut novel, The Lies She Told, on Amazon in August 2020 where it quickly climbed up the best sellers list.
The psychological thriller reached number 13 in Romantic Suspense and number 48 in Psychological Fiction and has sold more than 10,000 copies.
Now, after more than a year of work, the East Kilbride author has spoken of the "amazing" experience of seeing her book for sale in Waterstones after it was released in the Glasgow Fort store on Monday, February 14.
Paula said: "It was gobsmacking, I honestly have not felt anything like that ever in my life before, it was just a very surreal feeling."
The 31-year-old wrote the book while working in an office doing admin, spending her lunch break writing before finishing it at home during lockdown.
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After a year and a half of writing, she took courses to learn how to self-publish the book and even designed the cover and did the marketing herself, realising a "lifelong dream"
Paula said: "I always wanted to be a writer when I was younger.
"From about five years old I used to write on A4 bits of paper and draw a front cover to go with it.
"I studied journalism at college, I dropped out, and just felt that there was something else I was going to do rather than do reporting and it’s just kind of stayed with me until I decided just to go for it one day and try it."
For The Lies She Told, Paula used her previous dating experience as inspiration for the book.
She said: "I had previous experience with online dating and I've spoken to a few people through there and it was just 'what could be the worst-case scenario if something got out of hand' so I just went with that."
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Paula found out shortly before Christmas, people had been going into Waterstones and asking if the book was in stock, helping to speed up the process of getting the book into the store.
She said: "Everybody’s been so supportive and I’ve found the reading community in general on social media have been amazing, they’ve really taken to the book and they’ve shared it everywhere and it’s really them that’s got it to where it is by spreading the word.
"I’m really thankful for everybody that’s got behind me."
A debut novel in Waterstones? Not bad for a self-published lassie from EK.
— Paula Johnston (@PJohnstonAuthor) February 14, 2022
Speechless, shookith, stunned. Aw the emotions right now.
An actual childhood dream come true, one I’ve had since writing stories in my granny’s hall. pic.twitter.com/pMQr1LBKmc
After the success of her first book, Paula is now writing full-time and says it's a little more "scary" writing her second novel.
She said: "It’s a bit slower than the first time just because I think there are more eyes on me this time, but I’m quite hopeful a lot of people will enjoy this one more.
"I think it might be my favourite so I’m hoping, fingers crossed, other people think so too."
The Lies She Told is available to buy as an ebook, audiobook, paperback and hardback from Amazon and Waterstones.
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