Frequently Asked Questions
General
Q: I signed up for the newsletter but I’m not receiving the emails – how can I fix it?
A: My newsletter is GDPR compliant, which means—amongst other things—that you must successfully opt-in twice to receive it. After signing up, you should receive an email asking you to confirm your interest. If you haven’t received the email, check your spam or junk folder. Once you’ve confirmed, be sure to whitelist my email address so you don’t miss future newsletters!
Q: Do you attend events? Where can we meet?
A: I am rather shy and awkward, so I attend very few in-person events. If I do plan to show my face somewhere, I’ll send my Very Important Pen Pals a newsletter with the details, so be sure to sign up.
Q: Do you have any writing advice?
I think writing is different for everyone, so this question is hard to answer. The most important things, in my opinion, are to know what you love to read, to write what excites you, and to persevere.
A: If you’d like more useful advice, I’m a big fan of the writing coach Becca Syme, who writes super helpful books and has a great YouTube channel on the topic.
Books
Q: What is the next Talia Hibbert book?
A: I’m currently writing my debut fantasy romance, which doesn’t have a release date yet. The title, preorder links, and all other news will likely be shared with my Very Important Pen Pals before anyone else. (They also get reading recommendations and dog pics. If that sounds like your cup of tea, feel free to sign up.)
Q: What about Heartless?
A: Heartless is the first book in my upcoming romantasy trilogy, and if you’ve heard about it, you probably watch the Instagram stories I post about my writing sessions.
I’m obsessed with this book, but it’s quite a departure from my previous work. (I mean, there’s still intense romance and delicious tropes and lots of sarcasm, but there’s also much more violence and a third love interest and a romance that spans three whole books.)
Rest assured, it will one day be hitting shelves… after my above mentioned romantasy debut. I’m easing you in, okay? Trust the process. When have I ever let you down?
Q: What about the Skybriar series you mentioned that one time?
A: Ah. Yes. I’m afraid to say that is no longer in the pipeline, as my romcom muse has fled. I’ll probably return to contemporary romance one day, but right now, I’m in my romantasy bag. (If you’re craving a fresh new romcom from me, though, have you tried The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco?)
Q: When can I see your characters on screen?
A: Hopefully soon, as The Brown Sisters books have been optioned by Sony. However, getting a show or film made is tricky business, so I don’t have any further information. If you want to support, the best way is to read and talk about your favourite books!
Q: Where can I find the reading order for the Taliaverse?
A: My recommended reading order is here.
Q: Why can’t I find some Talia Hibbert books in paperback or audiobook?
A: Some of my books have not yet been published in certain formats. If a book is available in paperback or audio, you’ll find links to those formats on my website by checking out the Books page. If a book is not yet available in those formats, be sure to let the publisher know you’d like to see it.
Q: When will Talia’s books be published in my country and/or language?
A: This depends on international publishers choosing to translate my work, which in turn depends on the demand from readers in those countries. So, if you’d like to see more of my books on your country’s shelves, be sure to spread the word about my stories.
Q: Will my favourite character get a book?
A: At present, I have no plans to write about side characters from my previous books. My schedule for the next five years is focused on a brand-new world with a new cast of characters… but beyond that, I never say never.
Q: Why can’t I find copies of your earlier books?
A: When I started out as an author, I was a final-year uni student desperately trying to get my career off the ground before my student loan dried up. As a result, I wrote a book a month for the first year of my career, learning about my own tastes, as well as book marketing, along the way.
As my career has matured, some of my books have been given new titles because the old ones were objectively terrible. And some of my books—the ones that probably would’ve stayed in a box under my bed if I hadn’t been so hungry—are no longer available because they no longer feel appropriate to the author I’ve become.
These missing titles are Always With You, Operation Atonement, Bad for the Boss, and Undone by the Ex-Con. I hope to rewrite them one day so I can do those wonderful characters justice.
Personal
Q: Is Talia Hibbert your real name?
A: Sort of, but not really. Talia Hibbert is a pen name I chose based on its connections to me, my family, and my real name. I use it because my legal name is quite long, and 99% of people struggle to spell and pronounce it. (This is not a great reason to take on a pen name, but when I started out, I didn’t expect to be successful. If I knew then what I know now, I would have made people learn my name!)
While we’re on the topic, I’m aware there are multiple ways to pronounce Talia. Personally, I pronounce it TAL-ee-uh—in case you were wondering.
Q: Are you queer?
A: Yes. I could go into more detail, but ‘queer’ seems perfect to me. My books with queer representation include Work for It (MM, gay hero and queer hero), The Princess Trap (MF, bisexual hero), The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco (MF, bisexual hero), The Roommate Risk (MF, pansexual heroine), Untouchable (MF, bisexual heroine), That Kind of Guy (MF, demisexual hero), and more.
Q: Are you disabled?
A: Yes. I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, plus a fun selection of the usual comorbidities. I wrote a heroine with chronic pain in Get a Life, Chloe Brown, if you’re interested in seeing disability in romance. I am also autistic (which I don’t personally think of as my disability, but I suppose it does sometimes disable me). I’ve written characters with autism diagnoses in A Girl Like Her (autistic heroine) and Act Your Age, Eve Brown (autistic hero, undiagnosed heroine). I’ve also written characters who don’t know they’re autistic, but definitely are, such as the heroine of Untouchable.
Finally, I have spent my life managing my rather questionable mental health, and this is another experience I often include in my writing. Work for It explores living with depression, as does Untouchable. The hero of Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute has obsessive compulsive disorder. And the hero of Take a Hint, Dani Brown has an anxiety disorder.
Q: Are you American?
A: No, and I have no idea where this outrageous rumour arose. I am a Black Briton of Jamaican and Sierra Leonean heritage and I live in the UK. (No, not in London.)
