Liverpool based solicitor turned author Sarah Haywood is gathering momentum as she gears up to release her debut novel The Cactus on January 25 with Two Roads.

Telling the story of a ‘prickly’ self-proclaimed control freak whose life spins out of control when her mother suddenly dies and she finds out she’s unexpectedly going to become a mother herself, Haywood’s book has already been snapped up by US and Canadian publishers and endorsed by bestselling The Rosie Project author Graeme Simsion. Following promotional appearances at the Cheltenham Literature Festival last October, the MA graduate in Creative Writing is now preparing for further literary events while she sets out to pen her second novel.