Who Is The Real Sarah Gate?

Is It Nearly Christmas? My Favourite Place by Chris Penhall

Who Is The Real Sarah Gate?

My blog is back after a summer break and I am delighted to welcome Sarah Gate whose debut novel Before You Say Goodbye was published by Choc Lit Contemporary Romance: A Joffe Books Company on 26 September 2024. Sarah is going to tell us more about herself and her book …

I’m so grateful to be given this space to talk about myself for a bit. That isn’t something that comes easy to me, not when I’m talking to a big audience, but I’m having fun learning.

I’ve been writing since I was a teenager and a feminist activist since my early twenties, so it was only a matter of time before those two worlds collided. That’s happened in my debut novel, Before You Say Goodbye, which is a romance novel written through a feminist lens. That doesn’t mean the characters are perfect or preachy, they’re prone to making mistakes, they’re hypocrites like everyone else, but I am hoping their story and the lessons they learn might make people think. My Amazon page says, ‘When you’re reading my books, I want you to feel like you’re putting the world to rights over a cuppa with a friend’. That’s the best way I’ve found to describe my writing, so I think it’s a sentiment worth echoing here.

As I said, I’ve been writing for a long time, but ‘Who is the real Sarah Gate?’ is a question I’m not sure I’m qualified to answer. Still, I’ll give it a go.

Here are a few of my favourite things.

Animals

I love animals more than anything else. Every type of animal, I’m really not fussy. I think they’re far sincerer and well-meaning than humans and if I had more space I’d fill my life up with them. I currently have two dogs (I recently lost one) and two hamsters, but it’s my dream to own a vegan B&B, where we serve delicious plant-based food and stroke animals all day.

Taylor Swift

My sister and I are huge Taylor Swift fans. I find the lyrics to her songs so relatable it hurts. As a writer, I’m incredibly inspired by the way she uses her own personal experiences and feelings in her songs to evoke a response from other people without giving too much away. That’s certainly something I’ve tried to do in my debut novel. I want people to read it and — even if they can’t relate to it all — I’d love them to see some of their own thoughts and feelings somewhere within the pages.

Feminism

If you have TikTok, you might have seen me discussing feminism on my account @feministforeveryone. I used to write a feminist blog, but was urged online by an activist friend two years ago, and — though I hated it in the beginning — I’m used to putting myself out there now and talking to an audience about the issues and challenges facing today’s women. I have met so many incredible women and heard so many gut-wrenching stories because of my work there, and it inspires me to keep going. Those women are also some of the biggest champions of my novel. Thanks, ladies!

Women in General

I am obsessed with girlhood and its beauty. I love the way women show up for each other. The way we’re unafraid to be our authentic selves. The way we champion each other and celebrate each other. I love the global sisterhood and the way we love each other. I used to say I wasn’t like ‘other girls’, but now I know I am, that it’s nothing to be ashamed of, that being a woman is special, and I wouldn’t change being part of this sisterhood for anything.

The North East

I’m from Hartlepool in the North East of England. I grew up on the beach. I spent so many years running away from this place — I’ve lived in Venice, Holland and Morocco — and then I came home because of Covid and now I can’t imagine being anywhere else. That might change in the future, but for now I’m enjoying being close to my sister, my ‘Mam’, and my very young nephews, Franklin and Bennett. My town is a town bursting with community spirit and I’ll never take it for granted again.

About Sarah Gate

I was born in Hartlepool in 1988, right by the sea. I grew up on the beach, and that love of the ocean inspired me to spend some time living in Venice, Italy, and Essaouira, Morocco, for periods of my life. Both stints inspired my writing in different ways.

My time in Morocco also strengthened my love of dogs. I happen to think they’re the greatest thing in the entire world, and I spend a lot of my life trying to rescue them from the streets and rehome them.

When I’m not writing in front of my log burner, I’m trudging through the countryside with my doggies, enjoying this glorious and underrated part of England.

My ultimate goal is to write compelling characters and stories you can’t stop thinking about.

About Before You Say Goodbye

Before You Say Goodbye is my debut novel. It’s a romance novel written through a feminist lens. I’ve been writing since I was a teenager, but this was the first manuscript I’ve ever finished. I started writing it six years ago on a flight from Venice to the UK. Its main trope is love at first sight, but there’s some friends to lovers thrown in there, too. It’s also about strength, resilience, friendship and love.

What is says on the back of the book –

Autumn has found the love of her life.

Now she has to say goodbye.

When lonely author Autumn meets shy musician Bowie in New York, they fall head over heels and into their forever.

But not everyone gets their happily ever after.

Bowie has just six months left to live. And just like that, Autumn’s entire life has been rewritten.

Embraced by his loving, unconventional family, Autumn returns with Bowie to England to live out the rest of his life by his side. But over the course of that summer, the decisions Autumn makes will help her move on, even after love and loss.

Decisions, it emerges, that were orchestrated by Bowie before they said goodbye.

Buying Link : Here