Annie Lyons

Dear Reader, thank you for dropping by to visit my Amazon page. I am the author of eight novels and one novella. My first book, Not Quite Perfect was a Kindle number one bestseller and my 2020 novel, featuring octogenarian Eudora Honeysett, was a USA Today bestseller as well as being nominated for the RNA Contemporary Novel Award. My latest book, A Girls' Guide To Winning The War tells the story of whip-smart librarian Peggy Sparks, who is determined to bring her brother Joe home from the war so jumps at the chance when she's offered a job in the heart of the war effort. However, she finds herself working under the fanciful socialite Lady Marigold Cecily, who is keener on dancing at the Café de Paris than ending the war. Writing accounts of her daily life is the only thing keeping Peggy's hopes alive. But when her inner-most thoughts are accidentally published by the Ministry of Information, Peggy realises she needs Marigold's help to save her job, and to bring her brother home. Like my previous novel, The Air Raid Book Club, this is a story which pays homage to books, reading and the written word. Both novels are particularly special to me as I’ve spent my life around books, from trips to the library with my Mum as a child to my early career as a bookseller on Charing Cross Road and then over ten years in publishing and now as a writer and creative writing teacher. When I’m not writing or reading books, I like nothing more than to lose myself for an hour (or two if I can manage it) in a library or bookshop. I love the quiet calm and the smell of books, old and new. My favourite writers are Anne Tyler, Ruth Hogan, David Nicholls, Rachel Joyce, William Boyd, Katherine Heiny and Maggie O’Farrell but I love anything that makes me laugh and cry. I try to reflect this in my own writing and for me, it begins with the characters. I work to get to know them as well as my own friends and family as I write and allow them to lead the story. My aim is to write stories which are uplifting and ultimately hopeful as these are the books I love to read. My stories feature families, friendship, grief, love, happiness, singing, loss, betrayal, forgiveness, death, hope, books, joy and plenty more besides, and they invariably include a beloved family pet! My favourite thing about being an author is when readers contact me to let me know that a book has touched them, made them laugh or just served as a companion for a while. I recently received a card all the way from New York from eighty-four-year-old Rita in praise of the story of eighty-four-year-old Eudora and that was my week made. If you would like to get in touch, you can also find me on social media (links below) where I mainly talk about books, writing, my garden and my black Labrador, Nelson. I’d love to hear from you. Similarly, if you would like to receive notifications about my new books, you can click on Amazon’s yellow ‘follow’ button. Happy reading! Annie x Instagram: @annielyonsauthor Twitter: @1AnnieLyons