Ellie Pillai is Not Done Yet

Ellie Pillai has decided to be a better friend, daughter, future sister and all round Better Person. Which means Trying To Help and sometimes doing the exact opposite. Armed with Dr Jada's podcast on how to beat heartbreak she's determined not to get distracted from her mission by Ash Anderson (ex-boyfriend), Shawn Kowalski (current bandmate) or the cute guy she just met at her Aunt's wedding (future husband?). Because Ellie Pillai is better than the boys she thinks she loves. But then the song she wrote about heartbreak goes viral and suddenly all anyone wants to talk about is love and who she's going to choose, when Ellie Pillai wants to choose anything except that feeling of not knowing what you want. Throw in some exams, an audition for drama school, a record company in New York, a heavily pregnant mum and a Granny with a penchant for emotional blackmail and Ellie Pillai is more confused than ever. Why is being a better person so hard? And can you beat heartbreak, if you're not really sure you want to?

Christine Pillainayagam is a writer and retail strategist, who lives in Kent with her young family and a collection of records, CD's and minidiscs (remember those?) that she refuses to be parted from; despite being aware what decade she lives in. In her spare time, she volunteers with the charity Crisis, whose aim is to end homelessness. She is also known to some* (*her husband), as a very average wife, and a well-meaning, but often ineffectual parent to 2 brilliant boys - who inspired her to write books with more diverse characters to reflect both her own, and their backgrounds. She is 4ft 11', but if you ask - she's 5ft 2'. A mild obsession with The Beatles and the desire to write a story that reflected her own experiences growing up as a first-generation immigrant, led her to put that love of music and words into a book. Ellie Pillai Is Brown, is her debut novel and the winner of the Bradford Branford Boase Award. She is also a singer and songwriter, and writes a blog: thelittlebrownbook.co.uk - a diary of style moments and mid-life epiphanies, firmly rooted in her experience as a brown woman.