Transatlantic sister-act return with second novel (From Redhill And Reigate Life)

Transatlantic sister-act return with second novel

11:40am Thursday 6th August 2009 in Local News

Transatlantic writing sisters Pam Burks and Lorraine Campbell have returned with their second novel.

Pam, from Reigate, and Lorraine, who lives in Colorado, USA, have just had their book, When Good Friends Go Bad, published by Arrow Books under their joint pseudonym of Ellie Campbell.

A story of four school friends who, after a period of falling out, reunite to help one of their number in a test of loyalties, with lots of plot-twists along the way, the 472-page novel is again the result of Pam and Lorraine teaming up online to defy the distance between them.

They only meet up a couple of times a year and when they do, they seldom write together.

Pam said: “She will be at the bottom of the house doing chapter ten onwards, and I will be at the top doing chapter one onwards.

“You can let your ideas flow without someone saying, 'I don't think that's a good idea.'”

Pam, who is married with three children and works as a learning support assistant at East Surrey College, Redhill, said she thought their transatlantic team-up was “quite unique.”

She said: “It makes it fun – what with the time difference.

“It's nice to wake up in the morning and a couple of chapters have been done, or a really difficult bit has been done – suddenly it's done for you. It's great – like little elves and a shoe-maker.”

She said writing the second novel was easier than the first.

“I think we've got into a bit of a routine with the second one. I think we know more what we're doing now,” she said.

She and Lorraine are already some 35,000 words into their third offering.

“We've planned it all and are chugging through the chapters. We're getting there slowly,” she said.

When Good Friends Go Bad is available, priced £6.99, from bookshops. Website: www.elliecampbellbooks.com