Katie Ward’s confident debut novel Girl Reading was finally published in May this year. It consists of seven chapters, each set in a different era, about seven pieces of art. It takes you from past to future and covers just about every subject it could in the process: art, religion, love, illness, politics and poverty. It is an incredible first novel and it came straight from the mind of someone living on our doorstep…

Katie arrives at the coffee shop and she looks and sounds exactly like a young novelist should: unusual clothes, colourful ballet pumps, tiny elephant earrings, intelligence and creativity binding each perfectly-formed sentence together.

After ordering an iced latte, awkwardly accepting a few compliments and expressing her concern about her cats being locked out in the rain, Katie tells me how she got published.

“It took me two attempts!” She says. “I have an unpublished book, hidden away. I wrote it over a period of about six years, ending with a seven-month career break to work on it full-time and finish it.

“About 30 agents turned the novel down flat, until one finally expressed an interest and asked to see the whole manuscript. I sent it off, feeling optimistic, but then a few days later they sent it back to me, saying they didn’t want it after all.”

Katie adds, “I then accepted that my first book would never make it to publication, and to be honest, I knew in my heart that it just wasn’t good enough.”

But there was light at the end of the tunnel. “By that point, I already had the idea for Girl Reading,” she says. “I had a lot of support from my husband and my friends, one of whom was an author; and they said that I should keep writing. In the end, I left another job, taking a second career break of eight months to work up another draft manuscript. And then I was very lucky to be recommended to an agent at A M Heath, who found me the perfect publisher in Virago.”

Statistically the average age of a novelist is 50* because that’s the time when you decide to ‘do that thing you’ve always said you would do’. It is uncommon that someone as young as Katie (31) has had the patience and persistence to produce two novels, especially after some serious rejection. So how long has she wanted to be a writer?

“I’ve always been interested in books,” she says, “but if you’d asked me when I was 15, ‘Could you imagine yourself as a published author?’ I’d have said, ‘No, absolutely not’. I would never have had the confidence to attempt a book back then, or the self-belief that one day I would do it.

“It wasn’t on my agenda either. I wanted to be a journalist and focused all my energies on that. However, by the time I got to university, I began to have doubts about my chosen career path and I became interested in fiction. My tastes developed from the age of 19, onwards; I read more novels and when I turned 20 started to think, seriously, that I wanted to be a writer.”

Katie uploaded an article on the IP1 website that she wrote a couple of months before her book was published. In it, she explains how she felt about being published, saying, “I feel reflective about it, as opposed to elated. Even anxious.”

So, have Katie’s feelings changed now her book is actually in the shops?

“Yes, fortunately! It’s still a bit strange to think that my book has got a life of its own now, that people I’ve never met are reading it. And maybe they’re enjoying it? Or maybe they aren’t? But it’s also started to feel slightly normal and more like a job, which I have to get on with and want to do well in.”

Judging from the reviews, I would guess that people are definitely enjoying it. So, what does a published author’s diary look like?

“Since Girl Reading was published I’ve given several author talks in various locations to audiences ranging from fewer than 10 people to more than 80 people. I’ve done some signings and interviews. I’ve also created a website and joined Twitter and Facebook, so I’m active on those. I’m currently researching my next novel and I’m almost ready to start typing it, I think.”

She had better get typing because I can’t wait! I ask Katie how her friends and family feel about her newfound fame in the world of words.

“I’m so NOT famous, but that doesn’t stop my friends saying it just to tease me! I don’t think writers are, generally, very well known at all – unless they do something extraordinary like winning one of the big prizes or creating a brand which is bigger than the books they wrote. My friends and family are delighted for me, of course.”

Katie has lived in Ipswich for eight years, after growing up in the West Country and moving to London to study a degree in journalism for a few years. I question why she moved from London, where there are lots of publishers and contacts actively looking for fresh meat, to Ipswich, where I would imagine there are very few.

“I think there’s a reason that so many authors live in Suffolk. It’s got rural and coastal landscapes, as well as urban centres, and it’s very close to London. And yet it’s also an affordable place to live (which allowed me to take career breaks). I’ve found lots of encouragement here, socially and culturally.”

She adds, “I’m a fan of Ipswich’s cultural output, like PULSE, Ip-art and DanceEast. And I’ve had fantastic support from the book community, especially Suffolk Book League and several of the local book shops.”

I would never have thought that Ipswich would actually be a better place to live than London for a young author, but Katie is living proof that this is the case. Before leaving Katie to rescue her cats, I ask her what advice she would give other aspiring young novelists living in the area.

“Make time to write because the more you do it, the better you will become. Writing is like music or painting; you improve through practice and experience. Choose an idea for a novel, which you really believe in, love and are enthusiastic about. When you are ready to approach agents, follow the advice in the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook, which is excellent; be professional about it; and please don’t feel discouraged by rejection, because all writers have experienced it.

“Finally, just do it. If you love to write, just do it. Don’t put it off.”

*77% of statistics are made up.

Photography: Dru Watts