A Brighouse author has told how her “wildest dreams” are coming true after releasing her debut novel.
Jennifer Burkinshaw’s first book, Igloo, hit the top of Amazon’s ‘hot new holiday releases’ e-book list, just days after unveiling it to the world.
Jennifer never saw writing a novel in her future, having spent over 20 years as an English, drama, and classics teacher.
But Jennifer’s festive coming-of-age novel has earnt rave reviews from well-known influencers on TikTok and her growing fan club in America.
Now she hopes to inspire others self and indie-published authors to reach for the stars.
Jennifer said: “I’m in my late fifties and spent a long time learning the writing craft through an MA in Creative Writing for Young Adults, writing Igloo with an editor and finding my indie publisher.
“Over the last two months, I’ve worked obsessively to create for my book everything an author with a big publishing house would get – a bookshop launch party, signings in Waterstones and a dozen other bookshops, school visits, library events, a blog tour, podcast interview.
“I was absolutely petrified it would be a flop.
“Igloo’s success is beyond my wildest dreams.
“You don’t know how it’s going to go when it’s released. It has really amazed me how it’s gone.”
Igloo sees sixteen-year-old Nirvana’s world turn upside down on a surprise Christmas holiday in the French Alps.
As tensions with her parents reach the limit, Niv skips ski school and heads towards the forest, where she discovers a hidden igloo.
When its builder, Jean-Louis, finds her trespassing, he suggests they share the igloo. The pair soon realise they are each other’s perfect Christmas gift.
But when Niv returns home to Lancashire, their battle to be together becomes infinitely harder.
Inspired by her career as a teacher and time living in a French chalet, Jennifer hopes her writing will help every teenager feel heard and understood.
“I love going to schools and talking to teenagers,” Jennifer, a former teacher at Bradford Girls Grammar School, said.
“There’s a lot of things in the novel they can connect with. The igloo in the novel is a refuge for the two main characters. A lot of teenagers need a place to be themselves.
“I hope that it makes them think they’re not alone.”
She is now writing her next book for adults, Going West.
Igloo, published by Beaten Track Publishing, is available to buy in bookshops and online via Amazon.
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