Sunday 27 July 2014

Blog Tour: Not Quite Perfect by Annie Lyons

Happy sunny Sunday

I am so pleased to be able to host the talented Annie Lyons on my blog today. Annie's book, Not Quite Perfect, published by Carina, is now available as both paperback and ebook. As well as bringing you some information about the book I am thrilled that Annie has written a guest post called Keep Calm and Channel. I hope you have a great Sunday and enjoy reading this guest post from Annie.

Not Quite Perfect


The Blurb:

Sometimes having it all isn’t enough…

Emma has everything she’s ever wanted. Her boyfriend’s just proposed and her career has finally taken off. And so what if her latest client just happens to be downright gorgeous? She’s getting married. Isn’t she?

Rachel’s married with 2.4 children (well, actually, 3) and life is all about trying to leave the house in a non-stained top. Once it was about skinny cappuccinos, cocktails and dynamic ad agency meetings. She wants her old life back, but can it ever be the same?


A sparkling, funny tale of two sisters and how often you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

To purchase via Amazon please click here

Keep Calm and Channel Anne Tyler

Picture the scene. A slightly dishevelled woman sits at a laptop, her brain infused with a mixture of caffeine and fatigue. The washing machine hums comfortingly in the corner. The reassuring sound of Peppa Pig distracting her four year old daughter enables her to relax a little. She stares at the computer screen and desperately tries to channel her inner Anne Tyler. Always good to aim as high as possible, she tells herself. She blinks at the word count figure. Twenty thousand words. How is she ever going to get past twenty thousand words? A squeak from upstairs causes her to flick her eyes from the screen to the clock. Twenty minutes. It’s only been twenty minutes for Pete’s sake. She pretends she didn’t hear it. Only persistent wailing will distract her from her task. She holds her fingers over the keyboard and types. The words come quickly and then she stops. She reads them back to herself and sighs. Another squeak. This is definitely the squeak of wakefulness. She deletes everything she has written and sighs again. The squeak has become a,’Mamamamamamamam,’ very clear and very definite. She glances again at the twenty thousand word count figure and closes the document.

‘Mum!’ cries her daughter from the other room. She gets up from her computer and pauses in the doorway to the living room.

‘Yes darling,’ she asks wearily. ‘What is it?’

The baby is getting a little impatient now, his shouts constant and insistent. ‘Mam! Mam! Mam!’

                The little girl’s eyes do not leave the television screen. ‘Baby’s crying,’ she says.

Picture the scene five years later. A slightly dishevelled woman sits at a laptop, her brain infused with a mixture of caffeine and fatigue. The washing machine hums comfortingly in the corner. The reassuring stillness of a quiet house, because the children are at school, enables her to relax a little. She stares at the computer screen and desperately tries to channel her inner Anne Tyler. Some things never change, she tells herself. She glances at the pictures surrounding her desk showing the covers for her three published titles and at the framed picture with the Not Quite Perfect cover at the centre and ‘Forty Fantastic Reviews for a Fabulous Forty Year Old’ that her best friend gave her for her birthday. She smiles. Everything has changed. You just have to get past the twenty thousand word mark. And drink a lot of coffee.

About the Author


Annie Lyons is the best-selling author of Not Quite Perfect (now available in paperback) and Not Quite Perfect Christmas (A Short Story). Her new novel Dear Lizzie is published by Carina and is available as an eBook. 



Twitter @1AnnieLyons


1 comment:

  1. Thank you Jill xx ..and Well done Annie! I look forward to reading your books. I have heard all good about them :-) xx

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