\n Nicola Ashbrook had been listening to the radio one day when she heard the word ‘dispensary’ which fired up her imagination.\n<\/p>\n
\n And, after months turning her ideas into a story, the 44-year-old, from Northwich,\u00a0published her first novel ‘The Dispensary’ in June.\n<\/p>\n
\n ‘The Dispensary’\u00a0follows the adventure of two strangers\u00a0thrown together by an alternative prescription-dispensing facility\u00a0promising\u00a0anything they want or desire in life\n<\/p>\n
\n 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.\n<\/p>\n
\n “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.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I have had some amazing reviews on Amazon and Goodreads that have been sent to me personally.\n<\/p>\n
\n “People have fallen in love with the idea of The Dispensary, and many have commented they wish it existed in real life.\n<\/p>\n
\n “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.\n<\/p>\n
\n Nicola’s book ‘The Dispensary’ on the shelf at Abda (Image: Nicola Ashbrook)\n<\/p>\n
\n “It’s so exciting to know that people are reading it and enjoying it.”\n<\/p>\n
\n One reviewer described Nicola’s work as ‘one of the most beautiful books they have read’.\n<\/p>\n
\n A speech and language therapist by trade, Nicola\u00a0previously worked for the NHS for 13 years and now helps local schools and families.\n<\/p>\n
\n Nicola, who ran\u00a0an award-winning community writing project in Comberbach during the pandemic,\u00a0began her writing career in flash fiction \u2013 tiny stories of between 100 and 1,000 words.\n<\/p>\n
\n Her new novel ‘The Dispensary’\u00a0tells 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.\n<\/p>\n
\n As an author with a small, independent publisher, Nicola says\u00a0local support is going to be vital in helping ‘The Dispensary’ reach its audience.\n<\/p>\n
\n Nicola added: \u201cThe books you see in WH Smiths or Waterstones have a large team of marketers and publicists behind them.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It is much more challenging for an indie author \u2013 it’s really just me and my Instagram account.”\n<\/p>\n