I was told I was useless by my teacher and now I am a best selling author

An award-winning Lancashire author has recalled the moment she was told by a teacher she wasn’t good enough to write.

Having the last laugh, Caroline James from Garstang is now the author of 10 romcom novels and writes for Harper Collins.

She also has a new book - The French Cookery School, which will be published on Thursday, April 25.

Even more impressive is the fact that her writing journey started out in later life.

Caroline always wanted to write, but instead of taking a literary route, she followed a career in the hospitality industry, which included owning a pub and a beautiful country house hotel and as a media agent representing many celebrity chefs.

She said: “My writing journey began in later life after being told at school that I would never be good enough to become an author and the best I would amount to was a till job - now I am a best selling author!

“When I was 15 the teacher at Congleton Girl's Grammar School in Cheshire asked what we wanted to do as a career, I put my hand up and said I wanted to write novels. She told me I would never amount to anything and should consider shop work.

“I was told to sit at the back of the class so I didn't hold the others back.  “But I never lost sight of my dream and, in my early 50s, I knew that if I didn’t glue my rear to a chair and fingers to a keyboard, I would die wondering.

“After more than 80 rejections, I self-published my first book. It shot to number three in women’s fiction on Amazon and was eBook of the week in The Sun newspaper.”

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With her huband Eric and West Highland Terrier dog Fred in tow, she has travelled around France and Spain in her campervan Venus over the past 18 months soaking in the culture and food to provide inspiration for her latest book - The French Cookery School.

It tells the story of fictional larger-than-life, Blackpool café owner Fran together with an eclectic group of guests, on the French cookery course, as they all experience a life-changing holiday.

One of her other novels - The Cruise which was published in 2023, features three Lancashire ladies from Garstang who decide to put their troubles aside and embark on a life-changing Caribbean cruise.

In 2023, the book was in the Amazon Top 100 for nine months and was the fifth best-selling novel.

She added: “I like writing about older characters having the best time of their lives.”

To pre-order The French Cookery School book click HERE.