Gina had fallen for Matt Hooley when they were both teenage rebels. Together, they were going to save the world - until their mothers put a stop to it, and made sure they never saw each other again. Now, fourteen years later, Gina still regards Matt as 'The One'. No one else has ever come close to measuring up. All of her other boyfriends have eventually stumbled at some hurdle or other, cursing 'Saint Matt' as they fell. Gina's always had a daydream that one day Matt would come back and carry her off on his obligatory white charger. But never once in her fantasies did he ever arrive complete with an ex-wife and three kids! Worse, her teenage rebel has become thoroughly respectable. Well groomed, wealthy, middle class - he could even pass for an accountant! How can her Mr Right have gone so wrong...?
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
I think I decided that I wanted to be a writer at the age of five, while queueing in the freezing rain for the school outside loos. Perhaps it was all down to the romance of the location... But by the time I went home that night, I'd come to the conclusion that it wasn't a very realistic ambition, and I considered being a pixie instead.
Yet even when reality struck and I had to start earning money, the old dream died hard. And when I won 'Secretary of the Year' in 1987 and was asked to co-write a book about secretaries, it was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to me (yes, even better than the Blue Peter competition badge I won when I was seven).
As time went on, I did everything I could to dig myself a foothold in the writing world, doing everything from writing jokes for greetings cards to articles about sewer-cleaning machines for 'Construction News'. I started translating French erotic novels, then began writing my own; and from there, I worked my way into more ... er ... mainstream fiction, first as Sue Dyson and then as Zoe Barnes. I still use the name Sue Dyson when I translate and when I sing professionally.
I'm married to Simon, and my dad, Jack, lives with us - along with five cats known locally as The Furry Horde. Please go out and buy a Zoe Barnes novel (or three) and ensure that they're a happy, well-fed Horde!
Zoe
xx
