Nicola Ashbrook had been listening to the radio one day when she heard the word ‘dispensary’ which fired up her imagination.
And, after months turning her ideas into a story, the 44-year-old, from Northwich, published her first novel ‘The Dispensary’ in June.
‘The Dispensary’ follows the adventure of two strangers thrown together by an alternative prescription-dispensing facility promising anything they want or desire in life
Mum-of-two Nicola, who has already received positive praise for the book, said: “I heard the word ‘dispensary’ on the radio, and it all came from there.
“I immediately pictured a place that would become the dispensary building, and I started to think about a place that dispensed prescriptions of something other than medication.
“I have had some amazing reviews on Amazon and Goodreads that have been sent to me personally.
“People have fallen in love with the idea of The Dispensary, and many have commented they wish it existed in real life.
“The setting and characters have been living in my brain for several years now, and it’s so lovely to be able to share them with readers.
Nicola’s book ‘The Dispensary’ on the shelf at Abda (Image: Nicola Ashbrook)
“It’s so exciting to know that people are reading it and enjoying it.”
One reviewer described Nicola’s work as ‘one of the most beautiful books they have read’.
A speech and language therapist by trade, Nicola previously worked for the NHS for 13 years and now helps local schools and families.
Nicola, who ran an award-winning community writing project in Comberbach during the pandemic, began her writing career in flash fiction – tiny stories of between 100 and 1,000 words.
Her new novel ‘The Dispensary’Â tells the story of two characters, Meave, embarking on a solo fertility journey, and Emmeline, following a posthumous referral from her husband, as they find themselves unexpectedly connected.
As an author with a small, independent publisher, Nicola says local support is going to be vital in helping ‘The Dispensary’ reach its audience.
Nicola added: “The books you see in WH Smiths or Waterstones have a large team of marketers and publicists behind them.
“It is much more challenging for an indie author – it’s really just me and my Instagram account.”
To support Nicola, you can purchase her new book, which is available to purchase now on Amazon.
‘The Dispensary’, as well as her other flash fiction stories, can also be found in Abda’s café in the centre of Northwich, where the owners are curating a collection of works by local authors and artists in their upstairs sales space.