And there was. Jo knew that. It was why she wrote. Even when she had no audience. Even when she was alone in her room, with only the light of her laptop illuminating the room. ‘It’s the rush,’ she said, as she looked into her wine glass, acutely aware that she might sound as if she was the biggest nerd in the world. ‘Creating a story – a world. When it feels as if the characters take over. It’s almost like I’m watching a movie, or reading a book, and the words aren’t even coming from me. They just appear.’ Jo realised she was gushing. And possibly sounding as if she had lost her mind. She also realised she had a huge smile on her face. ‘There were times when I was writing the book when I swear I could feel the sun on my face and smell the salty sea air I was describing. It felt so incredibly empowering.’

She met Ewan’s gaze. He was smiling back at her, an expression that said he knew exactly what she meant. ‘You’ve got the bug, hen,’ he said. ‘Once you get that feeling, you’ll always want to chase it. It’s one of the best feelings in the world to be a storyteller. And don’t underestimate the power of it either. To bring people out of their worlds into something else. I realise I’ve a vested interest in saying that, considering it’s what pays my bills, but it doesn’t make it any less true.’

Jo nodded. She loved listening to him talk. She loved listening to someone who knew what it was like to feel that exhilaration she did when she had time to write too.

‘But here’s the thing,’ he said. ‘If you want to share your world with people, you have to take the risks and put your work out there. You also need to accept that there will always be more nos than yeses and it’s very rarely about what you’ve written.’

Jo wasn’t sure that was necessarily the case but decided to say nothing and see where he was going with his take on things.

‘It can be about the mood the person who’s reading it is in that day. Or what else they’ve read that afternoon. It could be that they want something action-filled when you’ve written something romantic, or atmospheric. It could be that you need to do a little more work – but most writers have to do a little more work. Even the successful ones.’

Jo raised her eyebrow at him. ‘You don’t have to say that just to make me feel better.’