Today I’m delighted to feature award-winning author for children and adults, Eve Ainsworth. Eve made her adult fiction debut with Duckling in 2022, followed by the emotional and heartbreaking Somebody I Used to Love. Her latest novel Pieces of Us was published yesterday.
Eve Ainsworth is a public speaker, creative workshop coordinator and award-winning author who draws from her extensive work with teenagers managing emotional and behavioural issues to write authentic, honest and real novels for young people and adults.
Her acclaimed award winning young adult novels explore real life, contemporary issues that are relevant to teens such as bullying, relationships and mental health concerns.
Eve has had short stories published in magazines such as Writers’ Forum and Prima and articles posted online for The Guardian, The Metro and Booktrust. Eve is also a champion for working class voices, has set up the Working Class Writers Network and is an experienced mentor.
Over to Eve :
Which five pieces of music/songs would you include in the soundtrack to your life and why?
Running Up the Hill – Kate Bush
This reminds me of being a child and playing. Being free and a little bit reckless. When I hear this song I immediately feel younger, happier and optimistic. It’s a wonderful song.
Karma Police – Radiohead
This reminds me of being at university, in the student bar, singing along with my friends and feeling quite emotional. There’s a part in the song “For a minute there, I lost myself…” and everyone used to sing that loudly together. It reminds me of those carefree times, but also about still feeling a bit unsure and scared for the future.
Together in Electric Dreams – Phil Oakley
This is mine and my husbands song. We both love 80’s music, and my husband in particular loves electronic music. We’ve always said that our love of music is a great connection between us, and that’s kind of what this song is about. I hear this and I immediately think of my first dance at my wedding, of my family and my connections
Ashes to Ashes – David Bowie
This song reminds me of my brother who I sadly lost to alcohol related illness in 2000. He was a huge Bowie fan, as I am, and just after he died I dreamed of him. This song was in the background and my brother started to sing over it “I’m happy, hope you’re happy too…”
I hope he us happy wherever he is now. I miss him very much.
Manic Street Preachers – A Design For Life
I think this song just sums up my life and how I’ve felt growing up, and as a grown up writing in a very middle class industry. It’s a song about being working class and trying to rise above the restrictions that are opposed upon us. It resonated with me a great deal – especially the ‘libraries gave us power’ line. When I play this song I feel inspired, motivated but also still frustrated that underrepresented writers still struggle in publishing today.
What five things (apart from family and friends) would you find it hard to live without.
My phone. Sadly I hate to admit this, but I have so many photos and memories on here. Also I need Google Maps to get to most places
My kindle! I still read books, but my kindle would be the first thing I would save as it has my favourites on there
My music – so if I can keep my phone, I’m guessing my headphones would be here, although I’d struggle to lose my vinyl collection
My favourite pillow – I’m a girl who likes comfort.
My lovely big bath – again, I’m a sucker for comfort.
Give five pieces of advice to your younger self?
Take more photos – I have so few photos of my teenage and early 20s years. If I could go back, I would have a camera always.
Believe in your own beauty – you are enough. I had such low self esteem when I was younger and this makes me sad now.
Do that English degree and not listen to the stuffy careers teacher (who told me it would be a waste). I was persuaded to do a business focused degree that I hated, because I was told that an English degree could only lead to teaching. Every time I told people I wanted to be an author, I was dissuaded, mainly because of my background. Now I regret not doing a degree in something I was passionate it.
Send my books to publishers earlier. I wrote so many great ideas when I was younger, but lack confidence to send them anywhere. I often wish I had started my career earlier.
Save – to be fair, I’m still pretty rubbish at this.
Tell us five things that most people don’t know about you
I can’t ride a bike
I’m terrified of frogs
I love doing improvisation in my spare time
I can’t eat cheese or chocolate (sadly)
I am one of seven children (I’m the youngest)
Tell us five things you’d still like to do or achieve.
I would love to have one of my books turned into a film, or TV drama
I would love to write a screen play
I would love to travel America
I would love to appear at the Edinburgh Book Festival
I would love to win a major book prize.
Many thanks for joining me today Eve and many congratulations on the publication of Pieces of Us. You brought some great music with you. I’m a big fan of 80’s electronic music too, it takes me back to my University years and relative youth! Lovely to be able to post a video featuring Phil Oakey looking his delectable best (in my opinion). You are not the only one with a favourite pillow, if we go away, the first thing I make sure I’ve got is my pillow. If it has to be squashed into a case, I’ll sacrifice clothes for it! I also wish I had more photo’s of my younger years. As a child I have some, but as I hit my teenage years and didn’t have parents accompanying me with a camera whole chunks of my life are missing. I find the older I get the photographs act as a trigger, so no photo, no memory. Thankfully no fear of frogs for me, which is just as well as they often migrate from the garden into the kitchen. A bit disconcerting when you’re not expecting to see one and then have to catch it to put it back outside. I sincerely hope you get to tick off some, if not all, of the items on your dreams list, then you have room for some lovely new ones!
Eve’s Books
(NB This post features Affiliate links from which I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases)
Pieces of Us
To move forward, I’ll have to look back to our past…
I know I have to get myself out of this funk, but it feels impossible. My childhood best friend is dead and nothing in life is working out as I’d planned.
Then Lottie leaves me a ‘jar of joy’ in her will – filled with instructions to visit places where we had our happiest memories. But with every happy memory, I also remember the things that tore us apart.
Because Lottie was keeping secrets. And Jay – the man we both loved – keeps turning up at the same places. Even as I feel pieces of myself begin to heal, some wounds run too deep.
It’s time to make a change in my life, but can Lottie’s jar of joy really give me the strength I need?
Somebody I Used to Love
Lost memories. Lost loves. Can they find their way back to each other?
When Will wakes up after a car accident, he’s lost three years of memory. All he wants is his girlfriend and childhood sweetheart, Gem, beside him. Instead, nothing is as he remembers.
Gem has finally moved on from hers and Will’s break-up. With a new life and boyfriend, the last thing she expects is a call to say Will needs her – the man who nearly destroyed her.
As Will recovers, he is determined to prove to Gem that he is the man he once was. But by unlocking the secrets of his past, will he be able to piece together what caused him to change so dramatically? And, faced with the choice, will Gem continue with the safe new life she has built for herself, or will she go back to the man she used to love?
Duckling
Duckling is a nickname Lucy has never been able to shake off.
And, if she is honest, maybe it suits her.
She is not the type to socialise with other people.
You might say she is reluctant to leave her nest.
Lucy’s life is small, but safe. She has a good routine. But all that is about to change. . .
When Lucy’s neighbour asks her to look after her little girl for a couple of hours – and then does not come back – Lucy is suddenly responsible for someone other than herself.
It takes courage to let the outside world in, and Lucy is about to learn there is much more to life – but only if she is brave enough to spread her wings.
Young Adult Titles
Know My Place
A teenager’s longing for family and a place to call home is poignantly portrayed in this heartfelt and ultimately uplifting story of life in the foster-care system.
A teenager’s longing for family and a place to call home is poignantly portrayed in this heartfelt and ultimately uplifting story of life in the foster-care system from bestselling author Eve Ainsworth.
Feeling betrayed when her long-term foster placement breaks down, Amy is sent to live with a new family, the Dawsons. Although initially reluctant to trust them, she eventually starts to let down her guard. But just when it seems like she’s found her forever family, she hears a telephone call that suggests things aren’t going to work out. Will Amy be abandoned again – or does she dare hope that she might finally have found home?
Just Another Little Lie
Violet’s mum hasn’t been herself for a while. A few too many glasses of wine in the evening. Mornings when she can’t get out of bed. Now Violet’s the one looking after her little brother and looking out for empty bottles in Mum’s bag. But it’s just another little blip. Mum will be fine again soon. She has to be … How long do blips last for? Bestselling author Eve Ainsworth tackles the difficult subject of alcohol addiction in this stark, honest and deeply moving novella. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 13+
Because of You
Poppy feels like her life is falling to pieces in this coming-of-age novella of blended families and online bullying from best-selling author Eve Ainsworth.
Poppy’s having a nightmare at home. Her parents have split up and her mum’s new boyfriend is moving in. Dad is the one who’s always been there for Poppy, but now he’s drifting further and further away. It seems like things can’t get any worse until it all goes wrong at school as well and Poppy finds herself being targeted by spiteful bullies. As the vicious online comments keep coming, who can Poppy turn to for help? Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 12+
Tender
Touching on mental health, family, friendship and the pressures that teenage carers face, as author Cat Clarke says, TENDER is “a compassionate, compelling and unflinching novel”. Marty and Daisy spend their lives pretending. Marty pretends his mum’s grip on reality isn’t slipping by the day. Daisy pretends her parents aren’t exhausting themselves while they look after her incurably ill brother. They both pretend they’re fine. But the thing about pretending is, at some point, it has to stop. And then what?
7 Days
School should be a safe place for Jess, a refuge from her difficult home life – but thanks to Kez and her friends, it’s everything she dreads. Despite being beautiful and popular, Kez’s life isn’t any sweeter. She clings to the fact she is better off than Jess – or so she thinks. . . Told from the point of view of the bullied and the bully, this is a taut, powerful story of two girls locked in battle with each other and themselves, spiralling towards a shocking conclusion.
Damage
How can you heal if you can’t face your past? Confident, popular Gabi has a secret – a secret so terrible she can’t tell her family, or her best friend. She can’t even take pleasure in her beloved skateboarding any more. And then one day an impulse turns to something darker. Gabi has never felt so alone. But then she learns that not everyone has wounds you can see. A searing look at self-harm and acceptance from hugely talented author Eve Ainsworth. Warning: includes content that some readers may find upsetting.
Crush
Love hurts … but should it hurt this much? Reeling from her mum’s sudden departure, Anna finds the comfort she needs in her blossoming relationship with Will. He’s handsome and loving, everything Anna has always dreamt of. He’s also moody and unpredictable, pushing her away from her friends and her music. He wants her to be his and his alone. He wants her to be perfect. Anna’s world is closing in. But threatening everything is a dark secret that not even Will can control… Eve Ainsworth’s gripping second novel is a pitch-perfect exploration of love at its most powerful, addictive and destructive.
The Blog of Maisy Malone
“My name is Maisy Malone. I’m seventeen years old, live in a ratty council house with my 60 year old, near-alcoholic Dad and a dog with a leaky bum.
This is my blog. You can either like it, or you can…well… blog off!! ;o)”
Maisy is seventeen and has reason to be seriously fed up. Her Dad spends his days stagnating in his armchair, watching re-runs of Bargain Hunt, shouting abuse at their neurotic dog, Dave, or nursing his pint down at the Pride. Her mum fled the place years ago, on the back of a clapped-out, old bike, and is now planning the wedding of the year, to a man so damp you could grow mushrooms on him. Even her mates are distracted these days; Poppy is to be found rattling out her vampire love story and Jess is too busy obsessing over the latest bad boy to cross her path. Trouble is, her latest conquest is Maisy’s detested older brother, Ollie – recently returned to the family home. But what secret is he hiding?
And now Maisy has dropped out of sixth form in an attempt to bring some money into the family home. But will a range of eye-opening, temporary assignments provide Maisy the freedom she is searching for?
Or is home always where the heart is?
Dick, Kerr Girls Series
Children’s Books
