@zoeleawriter
Probably drinking tea right now and ready for a natter about books. Closer Than She Thinks digital book is out and paperback next year. Visit me at www.zoelea.com Sign up to the newsletter https://zoelea.substack.com/
It's going out tomorrow morning, link in the usual place, and inside you'll find a formula that works for every genre, every creative thing you create, and every business, so you don't want to miss it!
Subscribe to The Writer's Guide To... which has a free Wednesday Win all about how to solve the problem of subject lines and make it so your emails actually get opened, read and people start looking forward to them.
I can almost guarantee that it's the subject line that's killing your email and Substack open rates.
So what can you do?
See also: 'Author Update,' 'From the desk of...' and just plain old 'Newsletter.'
You're a writer, and a bloody good one at that, so why, for the love of all that's holy, are you giving your brilliant emails the subject line of 'September Newsletter?'
Delighted to be in the Daily Express, annnnnd they put it up in the 'celebrity section' so, technically, we're now celebs and trust me, I will be acting accordingly.
Thanks to @MattNixson and @daily_express, and my besties, @Lauren_C_North @Mrssmithmunday @LauraPAuthor
But then I met these wonderful people, and we've been chatting daily ever since.
This weekend, we're back where it all began, armed with our new books! As, for the first time in six years, we all have books out around the same time, how amazing is that?
I went to the @HarrogateFest Crime Writing Festival in 2019. It was my first time there as an author with my psychological thriller, The Secretary, just published, and it was my first time going there alone.
I was terrified.
I've been lucky enough to know Keris for years and she's one of the nicest people, so if you've yet to discover her - go now!
PS. I used an en dash and feel like I have to say it's me writing this! Me! Not Chat GPT, I just like an en dash.
Chatting to the amazing @kerisfox on Substack today and if you've signed up it just hit your inbox. She talks about the best advice for writing, setting up a Substack and all things books and bookish.
Oscar’s Journal: Part 4
I never meant to lie.
But you can’t tell someone the truth when they’re not ready to hear it.
Besides, people only ever believe what they want to believe.
And Louise?
She wanted the fantasy.
I just gave it to her.
— O.
Louise’s Diary – Part 4
Oscar asked if I ever wanted to disappear.
I laughed. But the kind of laugh that hides a scream.
“No,” I said.
I lied.
— L.
Oscar’s Journal: Part 3
She started asking questions.
About me. About us.
About her.
That’s when I knew I’d have to be careful.
People only dig when they’re looking for something they don’t want to find.
— O.
Louise’s Diary – Part 3
I saw someone today.
Or maybe I didn’t.
A flash of a face I didn’t know, or one I didn’t want to recognise.
They were standing across the street.
Watching.
I told myself it was nothing.
I’m still telling myself that.
— L.
Oscar’s Journal: Part 2
Everyone thinks they know what a mistake looks like.
But it doesn’t always come with flashing lights and sirens.
Sometimes it walks into your life married and bored.
— O.
Louise’s Diary – Part 2
I told Paul I was at Spanish lessons.
Instead, I was doing something bad with someone else.
I didn’t even flinch when I lied. That’s what scared me most.
It felt… easy.
— L.
Friend: “How do you sleep after reading something that dark?”
Me: tucks book under pillow
Like a baby.
Some people read thrillers to solve the mystery.
I read them to judge everyone’s life choices with a snack in hand, like a suspenseful little goblin.
Oscar’s Journal: Part 1
She looked at me like she wasn’t sure she was allowed to.
Like no one had looked at her that way in a long time.
I didn’t touch her hand.
I didn’t have to.
The spark was already lit.
— O.
My brain while reading a thriller:
“He did it. Wait, no — she did. No wait — OH MY GOD WHAT IF I DID??”
Louise’s Diary: Part 1
I shouldn’t have looked at him that long.
I watched him, transfixed and I became someone else.
Someone curious. Someone reckless. Someone alive.
I didn’t plan to see him again. But plans are funny things, aren’t they?
— L.
Sometimes I write relatable posts.
Sometimes I write about affairs, surveillance, and psychological collapse.
Today, I’m doing both.
Because nothing says “authentic author brand” like emotional whiplash and a book launch.
My newsletter, imaginatively titled, 'Not even sure how to title this tbh' because it's a personal one, and I literally had no idea, has just gone out! Have a read here:
https://f.mtr.cool/cewqrqhtqn
You say red flag.
I say plot development.
If you’ve ever:
– Spied on a partner’s phone
– Overheard something in a café and built an entire backstory
– Said “I wouldn’t, but I get it…”
Then you’ll vibe with Closer Than She Thinks.
Read it. Judge no one.
Reading thrillers has prepared me for:
– watching people too closely in cafés
– over-analyzing vague texts
– knowing where the exits are at all times
If a man ever says, “You can trust me,” and the book is a thriller… YOU RUN. YOU SPRINT. YOU DO NOT LOOK BACK.
People: How do you write thrillers and parent at the same time?
Me: Easy. I’m always sleep-deprived, suspicious, and terrified someone’s behind me.
Also me: launches a book
You: reads it with the lights on
My book has:
✔️ An affair
✔️ A woman who’s lying
✔️ A man who’s definitely lying
✔️ A third party watching everything
✔️ A twist you won’t see coming
You know, just your classic “romance-meets-creepy-cam” energy.
Reading a thriller is 20% plot, 80% yelling “BABE NOOOO” at the main character like they can hear me through the pages.