East Kilbride author to release new book after successful debut novel

Paula Johnston, from East Kilbride, will release All In Her Head in July almost four years after the release of The Lies She Told.  

Described as compulsive thriller with a supernatural edge, All In Her Head tells the story of a girl from Glasgow with no friends.  

"She decides she’s going to become a kind of self-proclaimed psychic," Paula explains, "and she meet someone and ends up telling a lie that gets her into a lot of trouble. 

"It’s about how she navigates that and where it ends up."

Paula says she was inspired to bring a supernatural element to the book after reading Colleen Hoover’s Layla.  

The 33-year-old said: "It was a bit supernatural, and I’d never read anything like that before.  

"I really enjoyed it and I thought I’d like to write something like that with that kind of vibe.   

"I was a fan of tarot cards, crystals, and going to see a psychic as well so I thought it would be good to put in some of my own interests into a character."   

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The Lies She Told was released on Amazon in August 2020 where it quickly climbed up the best sellers list reaching number 13 in Romantic Suspense and number 48 in Psychological Fiction.  

Paula wrote the book while working in an office doing admin, spending her lunch break writing it before finishing it at home during lockdown.  

After a year and a half of writing, she took courses to learn how to self-publish the book and even designed the cover and did the marketing herself, realising a "lifelong dream".  

The experience of writing her second book was "totally differen" and "quite a lot harder" for Paula this time around.  

"There was a lot more pressure because you know that people were waiting to read something by you and they had expectations of you," she says.  

"It was definitely a longer process because of that because I was always second thinking it, but I guess that’s what makes it a bit more rewarding in the end."

She continued: "I was getting quite a lot of messages from readers asking when the next book was going to come out. They’ve been so supportive."

Paula initially signed with an agency and was due to release All In Her Head traditionally, however she decided to self-publish again as she "poured a lot into it" and "wanted it to be read by people". 

She revealed: "I went through the submission process and went to a lot of publishing houses and received great feedback from all of them but it wasn’t the right fit for a publishing house to take on.  

"But it has a sentimental value because my grandad passed away last year but before he passed away we spent a lot of time talking about this book and he said ‘if nobody picks this book up I would really love you to do it yourself again’.  

"So, at the start of the year I decided I was going to self-publish again so I left the agency."

All In Her Head will be released on July 1 in E-book format before the paperback edition is published on August 31, which will also be available in some local Waterstones stores. 

"The first time around I had absolutely no expectations," Paula says, "and this time around I know the success of the first book and I’m hoping it matches it at the very least. 

"So, it is very nerve-wracking."