I haven’t written 16 romance novels. I haven’t even written one (though my protagonist, Miracle, has had a major crush on Oli since Year 3). So earlier this week, I was shocked to see Miracle listed among an extensive catalogue of ‘my’ romance novels. I was also somewhat perturbed to learn that I was from Ohio.
That’s when I realised there are two Jennifer Lanes (as well as a Jennifer M Lane and Jennifer C Lane) on Goodreads. Somehow when I’d uploaded my new novel, Miracle, it landed on the wrong Jennifer Lane’s page. And because I’m not Jennifer Lane from Ohio, I didn’t have the authority to do anything about it.
Jennifer Lane from Ohio has 1,416 followers and a degree in Psychology. Jennifer Lane from Wellington has five followers and probably needs to see a psychologist.
I lay in bed, imagining Jennifer Lane waking in Ohio to discover a novel she has no recollection of writing, her seventeenth novel, on her author page. I pictured her 1,416 followers excitedly ordering Miracle, and their ensuing outrage at the lack of romance inside its decidedly unromantic cover. I envisioned their reviews of Miracle, theiroutpourings of anger and disappointment about the absence of sex scenes from Jennifer Lane’s latest offering.
So you can imagine my relief when the good people of Goodreads answered my pleas and moved Miracle to its rightful home, alongside All Our Secrets on Jennifer Lane from Wellington’s page.
In other good news, despite Goodread’s abundance of Jennifer Lanes, among its thousands of titles, there’s only one Miracle!
Miracle isn’t set in Ohio, or anywhere else in America. It’s set in Boorunga, a small, fictional town in Australia. There’s no sex (unless you count a few hickeys and the odd pash), but there’s plenty of other kinds of action. There’s a mysteriously high death rate, a cruel trick and a brutal attack. There’s Miracle’s dad who’s taken away by the police, her agoraphobic mother, and her angelic, quake-damaged brother, Julian. Hopefully there’s enough love in it to warm even Jennifer Lane from Ohio’s heart.
Check it out on Goodreads and feel free to follow me (Jennifer Lane from Wellington). I’m aiming to reach 1,416 followers, but I’d be pretty happy with six.
