Louise Ross

LJ Ross, author of the Amazon UK Kindle bestseller ‘Holy Island’, will be celebrating the launch of her new book ‘Sycamore Gap’ at As You Like It this Saturday, November 21st.

Sycamore Gap was at first released as an e-book on September of 2015, and is now available in a paperback edition.

The novel follows Detective Chief Inspector Ryan, the lead character of the novel, in another crime-solving adventure, when after 10 years, the skeleton of a young woman has been discovered inside Hadrian’s Wall.

Ross was born and raised in Northumberland, and started her career as a lawyer in London. After her son was born, she took some time off to write, a break that became permanent when she decided she wanted to become a full-time writer. Now she lives in Bath with her family, but she comes back to the region at least once a month.

“The book Holy Island was inspired while I was on a train between Newcastle and Edinburgh. I remember looking outside and thinking: ‘God that would make perfect scenery’”, Ross told JesmondLocal.

Ross was offered a contract with publishing organisations, but took a leap of faith and chose to become a self-published writer, through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

She refers to her new book as “a crime novel with a sprinkling of romance and a sprinkling of humour, but without overshadowing the story”. She added that part of her motivation in writing came from the landscape of Northumberland, underlining that often people forget how beautiful this region is, when in fact they have the coastline, a fantastic countryside and Hadrian’s Wall.

When asked what message she would like to send to her readers, she said:

“I would like to thank them for their support, the books had a very warm reception. I never, ever had any expectations that I would do so well and for that I want to thank them. Also, if there are people who are interested in writing, I would definitely encourage them to follow that dream. There is nothing worse in life than the regret of not having actually tried.”

The book launch party will be held this Saturday at 7:30pm at As You Like It. Ross will be also giving away 43 paperback copies of her book on a first come-first served basis.