A SADDLEWORTH author made sure to get creative so the coronavirus outbreak did not delay the launch of her fourth novel.
Phaedra Patrick, pictured right, had planned to hold the event with Oldham Library to unveil The Secrets of Sunshine to readers, as she has done with her previous books.
Government guidelines mean the event could no longer be held at the library so instead there was an online session on Thursday, May 14 via Facebook Live.
Phaedra gave a reading from her new book, which is available in paperback, ebook and audiobook, and answered questions.
The Secrets of Sunshine tells of single dad Mitchell Fisher who has given up all hope of romance, until one day he spies a woman on his home-town’s renowned ‘love story’ bridge.
When he rescues her after she falls into the river, he’s surprised to feel an unexpected connection to her.
But then she disappears, leaving only one clue to her identity – a secret message on the padlock she left behind.
As word spreads about Mitchell’s heroic act, strangers write to and tell him their own stories which help him to open his heart to finding love again.
Phaedra explained: “The idea came to me after I noticed padlocks hanging on bridges, everywhere from Manchester City centre to Gran Canaria.
“I was aware of the famous Pont Des Arts bridge in Paris that collapsed under the weight of ‘love locks’ several years ago and it made me wonder about who hung them there and what the stories were behind them.
“I had a picture in my head of a man whose job it was to remove the locks and that he’d probably had his heart broken in the past.
“I called him Mitchell Fisher after the street my grandparents used to live on, Mitchell Street in Coldhurst, Oldham.”
And even with her fourth novel just hot off the press, Phaedra is already busy typing away after signing up to write a fifth and sixth books for HarperCollins in the UK and US.
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