What is your role at the agency?

I work as Darley Anderson’s Assistant and am also building a contemporary and new adult romance list at the Agency.

How did you get into publishing?

This was actually my first role in publishing after university. I knew that I wanted to get into publishing, but I had focused my search on editorial roles and publishing houses. I didn’t know much about agency work until I started to widen my search. Once I saw the job advert for a role at Darley Anderson I knew agenting is where I wanted to be.

What’s the best part of your job?

I love how varied life is at an agency. From deal making, to contract negotiations, author relations, and editorial work, we get such a unique snapshot into the industry and publication process as a whole.

What do you look for in a book?

I want a book that pulls me out of reality for a moment. Something that captures my imagination from the first page, ideally with the introduction of the main character; even better with some witty dialogue and page turning drama. I want to fall in love with the characters and the relationships that they develop throughout the story. Messy, cheesy, heartbreaking, relatable, I want the characters and their story to engross me completely and have me reaching for it time and time again.

What’s on your “to be read” list?

I have such a massive list, but I am a chronic re-reader. Once I find a book I love, I can read it again and again and never get bored. Last year though I challenged myself to read 52 new books as part of the GoodReads Reading Challenge and discovered some incredible new authors.

One of those authors, and No.1 on my list at the moment is Taylor Jenkins Reid’s, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and Something Wilder by Christina Lauren. I’m also under strict instruction from my colleague Samantha to read Nora Ephron’s Heartburn, so might need to bump that up the list.

I’m also looking forward to diving back in Raven Kennedy’s Plated Prisoner series when Glow publishes in hardback next month! So I’m hoping to re-read the first three to refresh!

Who is your favourite fiction character?

I’m too fickle to have just one. It would probably have to be a series of characters. For me, Sarah J Maas does ensemble casts like no other. Overall, I would have to say the Court of Thorns and Roses series has my favourite cast of ride or die characters.  

That said, there is something so incredibly chilling and utterly hateable about JK Rowling’s writing of Professor Umbridge. I feel bound to give her a dishonourable mention.  

What is your go to reading snack?

I don’t tend to snack when I read as I get too distracted. Reading is probably the only time I can go longer than 5 minutes without considering my next meal. So it’s usually more a case of whatever food I can inhale the quickest, whilst making some tea. But if I’ve really done it right, I’ll hold out until someone else is making tea and get them to bring me some jaffa cakes at the same time!

What soon to be published book are you most looking forward to reading?

I’d sell my soul to read Elena Armas’ new title, The American Roommate Experiment.

What book do you wish you could read again for the first time?

That’s such a hard question because I’ve read some of my favourite books 15+ times. There are several books that I read time and again and yet it still feels like the first time. Each time I read it I discover something new and fall in love with the characters all over again.

Top of that list would probably be A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J Maas. The protagonist, Nesta, has so much depth to her character, each time I read it I find subtle intricacies that add a new dimension to the story.

Honourable mentions to A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd, and Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front.