Charlotte Butterfield

I wrote a story called The Magic Umbrella when I was around eight, got my Dad to photocopy it at work and then I sold it for 5p at school the next day. So it’s fair to say that being a writer was plan A, B and C for me from a very early age.

After studying English literature at Royal Holloway, I did a masters in Women’s Studies at Birmingham and became a journalist and moved to Dubai. Like a lot of journalists or people who write professionally, I always wanted to see if I had a book in me, and while on my maternity leave with my third child I used his naps to write a short story, which morphed into a novel because he really loved his sleep!

I self published this book, and on a whim entered it for the Montegrappa First Fiction award at the Emirates Literature Festival in Dubai for unpublished or self published writers. I came second. One of the judges, literary agent Luigi Bonomi signed me, and got me a three-book deal with One More Chapter at Harper Collins. After publishing Me, You & Tiramisu, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, and A Beautiful Day for a Wedding, my next two books are published by Hodder, By This Time Tomorrow  and You Get That From Me.