Hachette UK: Kim Nash on starting a writing career at the age of 51

As a small girl, I wanted to be an author. Inspired by Enid Blyton and then later Danielle Steele, I wanted to craft stories that transported readers to another world. 

When I was 38, I lost my wonderful Mum.  My world was blown into devastation and I started to write about how I was feeling and what I thought she would say to me from heaven if she could. It was incredibly cathartic and no one had to hear me drone on about my grief, when they were going about their lives, forgetting that mine had changed so dramatically. 

 

Kim Nash

 

Years later, a busy mum myself, my book blog had taken off, I had started working in the publishing industry and was mixing with people who were making their dreams of being an author come true.  And then it hit me. If I wanted to be an author, I had to write a book! Not rocket science really.  So I went back to those words and started writing. 

Eventually, I created a first draft which turned into my debut novel Amazing Grace, published in Spring 2019, the year after my 50th birthday.  My second book was published later that year. 

An idea had been forming in my mind.  I wanted to explore slightly older characters, all having real-life experiences and wrote my third book which was published in June 2020.  Sunshine and Second Chances is about four friends, who made a pact when they were 21 to get together to celebrate their 50th birthdays with a holiday.  

Debs’ husband had left her for a younger woman, Fiona was a carer for her mum who had dementia, Samantha was a widow experiencing empty nest syndrome after her son had gone to University, and on the surface, Liv had a perfect life, but was unhappy and wanted more. I wanted to explore what happened when you put four strong women together; how they inspired and motivated each other, supported and raised each other up and helped their friends live their best lives. 

The reception that this book got was incredible. I had so many emails and social media messages from readers who were loving reading about older characters and the relatable troubles that they were facing on a daily basis. It was one of 5 books shortlisted for the Amazon Kindle Storyteller award. 

 

 

I wrote two further novels with a slightly younger character, but then when I submitted my next book to a publisher, the editor I met with asked me what I loved to write. “Easy!” I said. ‘Characters my age.’  She encouraged me to do that and Hopeful Hearts at the Cornish Cove was published in March 2023. Meredith, approaching her 50th birthday, decides to change her life, and spontaneously clicks ‘buy’ when viewing a derelict lighthouse on the internet. 

Despite industry professionals telling me that readers want younger characters, the many messages I’ve received along with the reviews are showing that again, readers are loving the older central characters and multi-generational relationships.  

I’d like to think that my bookworm Mum is looking down on me, proud of her youngest daughter becoming an author, writing about women whose age is a plus, not a minus.   

Kim Nash

 

About Hachette UK

Our mission at Hachette UK is to make it easy for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment and opportunity.

We are one of the UK’s largest publishing groups, with 12 autonomous divisions and over 50 imprints with a rich and diverse history. We are the market leader in e-books and publish a range of bestsellers in audio format, the fastest-growing part of our business.

We publish thousands of new books across the group every year and our authors include Michael Connelly, Alice Oseman, John Grisham, Val McDermid, Stephen King, Stieg Larsson, Nelson Mandela, Stephenie Meyer, Ian Rankin, J.K. Rowling and Malala Yousafzai.

Our award-winning adult publishing divisions are Little, Brown, Orion, John Murray Press, Dialogue Books, Hodder & Stoughton, Headline, Quercus, Bookouture and Octopus. Hachette Children’s Group publishes a diverse range of books for children of all ages and Hodder Education is a market leader in resources for both primary and secondary schools. In 2022, we welcomed Paperblanks, the second-largest premium stationery brand in the world, to our group.

We have offices around the UK, including our headquarters in London and the Hely Hutchinson Centre (HHC) for distribution in Didcot. We have subsidiaries in several other regions, including Australia, India, Ireland, Jamaica and New Zealand.