Patricia's new three-book deal signed

Patricia Gibney has signed a further three-book deal with Bookouture which means readers will be able to get their teeth into seven books in total from the Lottie Parker series.

And there’s even more great news for the bestselling author of The Missing Ones, The Stolen Girls and the forthcoming The Lost Child, with the announcement that Bookouture’s fellow Hachette division Little, Brown Book Group will be publishing The Missing Ones in trade paperback in February 2018, to be followed by a mass market paperback in summer 2018.

That means the Mullingar author will be on the shelves of every book store across Ireland and UK come next year. There’s even negotiations to publish her books in foreign languages.

Jenny Geras, publishing director at Bookouture said: “Readers adore Detective Lottie Parker, Patricia’s hard-living and emotionally troubled heroine. We are thrilled to be publishing three more books in the series.”

Bookouture published The Missing Ones in March, this year, and since then it and The Lost Child have sold almost half a million copies.

“I am delighted,” says Patricia. “Everything’s going so fast at the moment I can’t keep up with it. You’re waiting so long for something to happen, and then everything happens so quickly.”

In recent weeks, Patricia has appeared on TV, radio, and every newspaper going, all citing her as ‘The bestselling author that you’ve never heard of’ – but that is about to change!

“I’ve sold over half a million copies of The Missing Ones and The Lost Child. So at least half a million people have heard of me,” says Patricia, who talks of her first television appearance on TV3’s The Six O’Clock show. “It was my first time to do live TV, so it’s good to have that under my belt.”

 

On stage

Patricia is due to appear at the Town of Books festival in Graiguenamanagh, on August 25-27, and will also appear on the Word Stage at Electric Picnic on Sunday September 3.

“I’m really looking forward to Electric Picnic as I’ve never been to it before,” said Patricia, who is writing book four in the Lottie Parker series. Her third book, The Lost Child, is due out on October 27 and she’s hoping to have a local launch, and a party to celebrate her success.

“You don’t know with this business. Yes I’ve signed the contract, but it all depends on how the books sell, how they are received by the readers.

“It’s not as if I’ve sold a half a million books and I’ve a half a million in the bank. They’re sold so cheaply on Amazon, and then there’s percentages to be taken out of that, so it’s not like I’ll have a Ferrari sitting outside the door any time soon. It’s all relative.”

So it’s fair to say Patricia is keeping her feet firmly on the ground.

“I’m keeping my head, certainly, but it’s great to have something to focus on. When you’re writing, you can just leave reality at the door and enter a whole new world and that’s what I’m enjoying most about this whole process.

“Readers of my books published so far have given me the confidence to continue writing Lottie Parker novels. I look forward to creating new stories and mysteries featuring Lottie, her family and her colleagues. The town of Ragmullin is in for a torrid time! Thanks to my agent, Ger, and all at Bookouture and Little, Brown for this amazing opportunity.”