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Louise Wener To Write NovelRelated
[ 09 February 2001 | 02:56 PM ]Sleeper Singer Turns Scribe
Former Sleeper singer Louise Wener is to launch a career as a novelist with the publication of her first book next year. The one-time Britpop star’s literary debut, Goodnight Steve McQueen, will be published by Hodder & Stoughton in June 2002. The book tells the story of a musician called Danny, who for many years laboured under the impression that his father was Steve McQueen and has been given an ultimatum by his web designer girlfriend – get a record deal in six months, or the relationship is over.
"Louise sent us a letter saying the band is finished, now I want to write," says Hannah Griffiths of literay agents Curtis Brown. "I was really sceptical at first, but when she sent in a sample, I was hooked from page one - the second page contains one of the most beautiful sentences I’ve ever read. She’s a brilliant comic writer and really understands how men think. It’s not a laddish book - it's more in Nick Hornby territory, with fallible comic heroes. People in the office have already been quoting lines from it."
While Wener has only written a synopsis and 80 pages to date, the novel is part of a two-book deal with Hodder & Stoughton. The next instalment will be the story of a woman in the record industry who is involved in a chart rigging scandal. "It has the music scene as a backdrop, but it’s not Spinal Tap," says Griffiths. "We see Louise as a long-term investment."
