Nicole Kennedy

I had a three hour wait between hospital appointments yesterday (which was amazing - it meant I got seen in the same day to have something worrying investigated which turned out to be fine. Well not fine, but not sinister 🙂). Anyway, I took myself out for a very lovely lunch and with the very best company: character-lead, murder mystery debut 😍 Highly recommend both!

is out in March. Preorder now!

Never meet your heroes, unless they’re Jamie Smart 🐰🐵 Boys were so thrilled to get their favourite characters drawn by Jamie yesterday & he was so great at engaging with them as they shyly passed over their books ➡️ How my eldest spent the rest of the day 📖🐛 He finished his second read this morning and reports ‘it’s the best one yet!’ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ High praise indeed.

Well I’ve clearly pi**ed someone off 😆 (I am Mousekin23’s only review or public interaction on Amazon, ever 🤷🏻‍♀️).

I don’t mind if people don’t like my books - there’s plenty of bestsellers I’ve not loved & that’s the subjective beauty of reading - but a targeted 1* is not cool.

Re nepotism, either mousekin doesn’t know me IRL or doesn’t know what nepotism means 🤷🏻‍♀️

For the record - because I know how frustrating it can be if you’re writing & it feels like publishing is a locked industry with an exclusive admissions policy - I knew one person in publishing when I started writing and got my book deal (the lovely ) & although she provided lots of virtual hand-holding when I was going through (slush-pile) submissions, she alas did not secure me a book deal.

Anyway, if you’ve read & enjoyed After Paris I would be grateful if you could send a little festive cheer my way by leaving a review (& pushing little mousekin further into irrelevancy). Also, After Paris would make an excellent Christmas gift! 🎁

Three years since I had a bilateral mastectomy during a global pandemic 🤯

Pleased to report new b***s are still holding up well (literally; better than the original pair in that respect 🤷🏻‍♀️) & tbh I rarely think about my reconstruction now 🙃 The only part of it that makes me truly sad is remembering how, when I came round, I texted my husband & sister (who was camped in a nearby hotel since I wasn’t allowed any visitors) & called my grandmother who has since passed away. I wish I could call her today.

If you’re contemplating or recovering from risk-reducing surgery at the moment, better days are coming 🙏🏻

Will always be grateful to the NHS & especially the wonderful staff at Guy’s Hospital ❤️

Onwards 🚀

🚨 UPDATE: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO THE WEATHER UNTIL 28 NOV! 🚨

Join me in conversation with three superstar suspense writers… at The Guildhall in Faversham, Kent, next Thursday (2nd Nov) at 7pm!

Free event, you just need to email [email protected] to reserve a ticket.

Let me know if you’re coming and, most importantly, if you have any questions!

Author lunch 📚 Perfect way to start the weekend!

Lovely (& well-coordinated 😆🖤🧡🖤) evening celebrating the launch of with Can’t wait to read!

Final leg home from 🚂

Where else can you bump into at breakfast 🥐☕️ watch an amazing panel with some of your favourite writers (the excellently titled When Sally Killed Harry!) & squeeze in a Kir Royale & a quick lunch with 🥂🍾 all before a 2pm train??

Had such a fab time & excited to get back to my desk (/kitchen table) this week 👩🏻‍💻 Thank you for a brilliant weekend 📚🍺

Writer en route to 😆

Day later than planned because of the strikes. Who’s there already? See you in the beer tent!

So lovely to celebrate & & their brilliant new books & last night! 📚

Utterly gripped by this this week.

Reminiscent of My Dark Vanessa but with a unique voice, it captured the pull of summer & the cusp of adulthood so beautifully while being compelling, sensitive and clever. An excellent read.

Thanks so much for sending me a copy and huge congratulations on a brilliant debut ☀️📚🌹

Out now!

Gorgeous evening celebrating the fabulous and and catching up with other writers 🧡 Thank you

Last photo is me saying, ‘it’s the real Milly Johnson!’ And trying not to look afraid 😆 Always a fan girl!

Sundays 🍪 Maths homework in exchange for a swiftly inhaled reverse chunk cookie.

My book is really good, actually 🧡

41! Thank you for the birthday love yesterday (& .co.uk for my fab card!) ❤️ I’ve been really busy lately with our house renovation and writing so it was lovely to take a break (guilt-free!). Gym, an outdoor swim, lunch, ice creams after school with my boys & takeaway & cake for dinner. Perfect day! Here goes 41…! 🙂

11 years ❤️Celebrated with a solo trip to buy paint tester pots (I was in my element 👩🏻‍🎨) & a lunchtime trip together to choose flooring 🏡 Topped it off driving around in circles for school pick-up/chess club/cubs 🤘🏻

Just in time for the weekend - ! 💕📚🇮🇹

I love writing so I’m thrilled to have received this. Out in July!

Thank you 🙏🏻

Lovely to celebrate the launch of tonight with & to catch up with some other writers.

Looking forward to reading my signed - & stamped! - copy 💚

Co-ordination hat trick: book, book mark (made by my son), nails 💖

Yinka’s been bringing me joy mid-structural edit this week 😍

What’s everyone reading this weekend?

Hi everyone,

My second novel, After Paris, is out in paperback tomorrow.

Set in Paris it would make a perfect escapist Bank Holiday read!

If you would like a signed copy I’m very happy to pop into Sevenoaks Bookshop before you collect/it’s posted to sign if you order from there. Alternatively it’s available at all the usual places.

Those who have already read it and enjoyed I’d be super grateful for an Amazon and/or Waterstones review please 🙏🏻 A little publication algorithm boost!

Bisous! Nicole x

After Paris https://amzn.eu/d/1bA3R8b

https://www.waterstones.com/book/after-paris/nicole-kennedy/9781800240186

After Paris…

Three best friends. A weekend away. And a whole lot of baggage.��Alice, Nina and Jules have been best friends for twenty years. They met in Paris and return there once a year, to relive their youth, leave the troubles of home behind, and indulge in each other's friendship and warmth. But this year, aged thirty-nine, the cracks in their relationships are starting to show...��After their weekend together in Paris, the three women never speak again. Each claims the other two ghosted them. But is there more to the story?

First draft of book 3 done! Celebrating with a glass of while refereeing a very heated football match 😳⚽️

It’s strange writing a book out of contract. Last Easter hols I had a very lovely dinner with & asked her what she thought about my new idea. I was nervous as it’s a new direction for me, darker than my previous two. She helped me plot the whole thing out on a napkin (which I almost left in the restaurant 😬). A year later - & another book published, a bereavement, a house move, the start of a renovation project & all the usual 3 boy chaos - & I finally finished it last night & fired it off to my agent, knowing that after all that hard work there’s no guarantee it will ever be published. And if it is there’s no guarantee of its success. It’s the strangest job but here I am having another roll of the dice. Eeeek!

And now to catch up on the reams of admin I’m behind on 🙈

Two little shots of joy 💛

After Paris spotted in in Galway today by my little sister ☺️ (6 copies & front-facing! 🙏🏻)

Reading substack newsletter yesterday (which I heartily recommend) & seeing After Paris included as one of Libby’s favourite books of 2022. I’ve never made anyone’s ‘best of’ list before (I know, I know, get the violins out 🎻🥹) but writing is an odd business & there are lots of lists & lots of books & it was a very nice surprise to see a book of mine included in one! I’ll put the other recommendations in my Stories. Lessons In Chemistry I also loved & I have another couple on my TBR which I need to bump up!

Timely moment to remind you there’s still time to order After Paris for Christmas delivery! For the Emily In Paris / One Day / Gossip Girl fans in your life! Available in all the usual places, including Easons! 📚🎄🇬🇧🇮🇪

Festive happenings 🎄🍽️🏰❄️🧣🍷🕯️ (Nothing is happening right now as I’m in bed with a head cold 🤒)

I sat by my Christmas tree & raised a glass to Mattias Johannson last night, as I always do on 12th December 🕯️

17 years since one of the most surreal, and sad, chapters of my life. A shock, in my early twenties, to witness someone there one moment so full of life - leaping into the water in a Santa suit - and gone the next. A tragedy for Mattias & his family & friends & for me a moment which triggered a long road with anxiety - one which only really resolved itself when I had my mastectomy a few years ago. Funny how things turn out.

When I was writing After Paris & looking for an album name for Nina ‘Life In General & Love In Particular’ immediately came to mind and it felt apt, since this is a book which celebrates friendship. I’m so happy I included it ❤️

My least blurry photos from author Christmas drinks last night 🎄📚🍷

My third night out this last week, think that’s my post-pandemic record (who even am I 😆) & I can report hangovers are the same but my photography skills have sharply declined 😬

So lovely to catch up with people & put some real faces to thumbnail photos!

Thanks so much for organising 😘

7 years in & life in the suburbs has finally broken me. I made a wreath.

(And I enjoyed it 🫣)

Also - are we adding music to photos now?

Advent book treats for the boys🎄📚

The spredges on special edition are amazing! 🎁

Bad idea to give them at breakfast as it was even harder to get them out the door to school than usual!

Weekend of books & blankets ahead 💙

What are your favourite Christmas books for children?

It’s that time of year when my first book baby gets a Christmas make-over & an ebook price drop! 🎄📚

Yours for 99p & set between Sept to Christmas, now’s the perfect time to read Everything’s Perfect if you haven’t already.

(If you have please do leave a review so others can find it ❤️)

Swipe right for more festive book bargains…

Lovely evening last night celebrating the launch of with & 📙

Bookshop-temperature-wine, a signed copy & had my first mince pie this year too! Excited to dive in 🏠

Back to the gym after my head cold today 🏋🏻‍♀️ First Christmas sandwich of the season 🎄🥪 And… signing something exciting today…! 📄👀

Not started your Christmas shopping? 🎄🛍

Just a few days left to bid on signed copies of a huge range of books in the CHILDREN in READ 2022 Authors' & Illustrators' Auction - there’s definitely something for everyone!

I’ll include some festive chocolates with (Lot 346) so get bidding & let me know what else you go for!

All Proceeds in Aid of The B.B.C Children in Need Appeal

Children in Read 2022 Please click here to contact Children in Read  Successful Bidders Will Be Contacted By E-Mail As Soon As The Auction Closes. If You Do Not Receive An E-Mail Please Check Your SPAM