New Girl

I’m the new girl in the gang, aged fifty-three. 

For years, I’ve wanted to join United Ghostwriters and finally, in December 2025, the door was unlocked. Philip sent me an email, we had a coffee, he reported back to the team and then next news, I’m on a train from Leeds to Kings Cross for their quarterly lunch in Bloomsbury. It was a bit like being invited to join the Delta sorority in 1992 in Tennessee, except I was spared from snogging a frat bro and given Malbec instead of moonshine. 

I did have to meet certain criteria to ensure my place at the table though. For one, I had to be a best-selling ghostwriter (check) and, I was later informed, I had to be quite nice (which was a relief to find out). Who knows what background checks were involved – I'm hoping they didn’t stretch as far back as Knoxville, because although life experience counts in this job, some misadventures are best left in departures. 

I was nervous before meeting the other ghostwriters. I’d done my due diligence days before Doncaster, so imposter syndrome had settled in by Stevenage. I knew they were all brilliant; most with tonnes of books under their belts and a few with film rights too. Blimey, I thought, I’m only from Bingley. But by the time we’d all ordered mains, I’d relaxed a little. 

What struck me most was their camaraderie; they clinked glasses over recent successes and re-filled them for failures or frustrations. It was a real breath of fresh air and gave me confidence to share a few things I’d been silently struggling with, which turned out to be standard gripes for ghosts. Phew. 

They know stuff, and they know people - and they’re not precious about sharing that knowledge with each other. I think this is invaluable in our largely solitary profession, where, after initial interviews with our authors at the start of each project, most of us then just retreat to mainline tea until the tome takes shape. Now though, I’m just a group email away from “Is this okay?” and a WhatsApp closer to “What next?” 

So, if you want to find out who my new friends are, and perhaps even reach out for a helping hand with your book in 2026, head to www.unitedghostwriters.co.ukand click Meet the Ghosts.