This is me...
I'm a working-class writer, editor, and former indie publisher. As a child, I was bussed into a local comprehensive school from my tiny north Oxfordshire village (the real "Lark Rise", no less). My school had zero ambition and aspiration for its pupils, which was not uncommon in the 1980s. I left at sixteen and didn't do A levels or go to university. I did eventually get one A level in English Literature (I took the exams while heavily pregnant with my oldest child) followed by a literature degree via the Open University at the age of forty-two, after twelve years of studying.
I've read for most of my life, apart from a few years in my late teens and early twenties when other interests took over... It wasn't until I reached my forties that I realised I could write a novel. A lack of confidence prevented me for too long. If you're working-class you will probably understand that feeling.
I'm the author of:
Mrs Sinclair's Suitcase (Hodder 2014)
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A Life Between Us (Louise Walters Books 2017)
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The Road to California (Louise Walters Books 2018)
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The Hermit (Louise Walters Books 2022)
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We Are Family (Louise Walters Books 2024)
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I founded Louise Walters Books in 2017. Facing the prospect of turning fifty in the November of that year and, clock ticking, I remember thinking, I need to do this now, if I'm gonna do it. So I did. Getting older brings its advantages; a certain recklessness and determination...
LWB was very small and proudly independent. I was fortunate in finding seven talented authors. I was a one-woman band; I project-managed the publication of each title and I edited all of them. I worked with a talented team of freelance professionals who designed my covers and interiors, and helped me with copy-editing. I fitted the publishing in alongside my own writing, and my freelance editorial work.
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Imposter syndrome was a constant battle. I found myself operating in a world I wasn't really born into. The publishing industry is overwhelmingly middle-and-upper-class. Often I felt I didn't belong, and I think there is truth in that. My publishing, my titles and authors, were frequently over-looked. But I did it, for six years, with passion, commitment, and excellent taste, if I say so myself!
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All content on this website is human-made and AI-free!
© Louise Walters 2017-2024
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