A HORSELL author is putting such famously prolific writers as Danielle Steel and James Patterson to shame as she completes her second novel in little more than two months.
Abigail Cole, a 28-year-old teaching assistant, has made the most of her time at home by writing what she describes as “an adult fantasy romance”, and its sequel.
And if that isn’t impressive enough, she has done it while home schooling her two children, working from home and writing in the evenings. She has designed the covers of both books too.
“I’ve recently published my first novel, The Exiled Heir,” Abigail said, “and I’ve just finished the sequel, The Privileged Heir.
“The first book took me around five weeks from starting to publishing, and the latest one I’ve worked on since 10 April. I’ve managed to race through this one a lot quicker since we’ve been at home every day. And I’ve already designed the cover.”
Abigail has lived in Woking most of her life, other than a short stint in the Caribbean, where she completed high school. She attended Woking College, taking double applied art and art history.
“I have two children, aged 9 and 5, who really inspire me to be an example that no dreams are out of reach,” Abigail said.
“Along with my incredible husband, Martin, all three have supported me throughout the entire process and they were as excited to receive the first paperback copy as I was.”
Abigail explained how she was drawn to the subject, and how a relative’s illness prompted her to begin writing.
“I’ve read this genre for about seven years now, since I stumbled across my first fantasy romance book at Woking library,” she said. “In that time, I’ve built up quite a collection of paperbacks and met a few of the authors in person.
“My auntie was diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer last September, so I lent her a few books to read during her chemo sessions. She was also quite taken with the genre, and was really the first person I could share the stories with, and talk about them.
“So I decided that I would write one for her since her strength and perseverance is a huge inspiration to me.
“I’ve always been a vivid daydreamer, but this was the first time I thought I may be able to actually put them into words that others might enjoy.
“I would quickly write down a paragraph when it came to me, at work in my lunch break or just before I went to sleep at night.
“Soon enough, I found myself becoming engrossed in the story. I didn’t have a clear journey for the characters in mind and I’m glad that they seemed to take on a life of their own.
“The trials they face would come to me randomly and be as much as a surprise to me as I hope they are to others!”
Abigail has a series of five books in mind, and even an idea for a spin-off.
“At the moment, I’m writing as a hobby, so I’ll see how it fits around working in the long term,” she said. “I’m throwing myself into writing just now as I won’t have this much time at home again for a long while.”
The Exiled Heir is available exclusively on Amazon at £9.99 in paperback, £2.99 on Kindle or free on Kindle Unlimited.