The First Move

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Little do they know they've already discovered each other online, and have more in common than they think . . . I never plan anything. I wish I did. I have friends who plan, and it looks like a lovely way to write but my brain doesn’t seem to work that way. Apart from the time that I write (5am-7am) it’s all a bit chaotic. I just have a general idea, an idea of the midpoint and a vague idea of the ending before just diving in and seeing where the characters take me. Jenny began writing in the sleep-deprived days after Rory was born, and got more serious about it in 2017 when she did a writing course with the literary agency, Curtis Brown. For Jenny Ireland, pain from arthritis has been part of life for 13 years. But now the Northern Irish author has tapped into that, as Juliet—the teenage protagonist in her début novel The First Move—suffers from the same condition she does.

Jenny has always been a fan of YA books and loves the emotionally intense nature of the genre. Her debut novel, The First Move, is about the beautiful and cool Juliet, who has severe arthritis and uses crutches. Juliet exists at the edges of her friends' social lives, skipping parties to play online chess with strangers under a pseudonym as she believes girls like her don't get to have their own love stories. Commissioning editor Tom Rawlinson scooped debut YA thriller Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington from Jenny Meyer of The Jenny Meyer Literary Agency for publication in July 2023. “This engrossing read about The Finish – a brutal and elite game where the rules can be changed at any minute – will make you think as it thrills,” the publisher said.

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It was amazing, but then I had huge flares six weeks after the births,” Jenny explains. “Chris did a lot of the night feeding with Lyla because getting up was too painful for me, and my parents helped out a lot.”

Although the hospital experience can be called traumatic, for Ireland, recovery was the hardest part. In the six weeks after leaving hospital, she could barely walk and her short-term memory noticeably suffered. She gained two stone in body weight from her required steroid medication. In just over a month, her entire appearance changed. Ireland says: “I hated that [the weight gain] bothered me, but it did. I had been put through all that and I didn’t even look like myself any more.” The writer is married to Chris, whom she met at school and began dating at 19. They have two children, Lyla (9) and Rory (8), and Jenny’s arthritis went away during pregnancy. While research is still ongoing, one theory is that the mother's immune system changes to prevent rejection of the foetus, which also decreases pain and inflammation. Now 36, Jenny was born in Belfast to Paul Flynn, a GP, and Rosie Flynn, a piano teacher, and she has an older brother Adam. She studied law and French at the University of Liverpool. “I had no idea what I wanted to do,” she laughs. “I got to live in Paris for my Erasmus year, which was brilliant.” A Dark Inheritance, a mystery saga by British author H F Askwith was also acquired by Colthurst. World rights were signed from James Wills at Watson Little. The book will be released in January 2023. Having completed her degree, Jenny worked as a paralegal in the area of family law. While she enjoyed the work, she left as she wasn’t suited to it. “I’m a very anxious person,” she explains. “Being in front of people and public speaking wasn’t for me.”

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With this goal in mind, she wrote Juliet, a teenage wallflower with arthritis who doesn’t believe she is worthy of romance. Although Ireland wasn’t diagnosed with arthritis until her twenties, the writer empathises with what it would have been like to live with the disease as a teenager. “They have my respect,” she says of teenagers living with disabilities. “It’s hard enough being [that age] without adding on top of it. Any teenager going into school with that something extra is a hero.” I don’t freak out about the tiny things any more. I’m more inclined to go for it and write about what I want A new kid called Ronan arrives locally who is good-looking and smart and acts like he's cooler than everyone else. Juliet doesn't realise that she has already encountered him online as he also plays chess. It's his escape as he is plagued by guilt over what happened to his brother Ciaran. In fact, the family angst was the best thing about the book, and it was really, really good. In addition to the sections about Renia's mother, there's the stuff with her birth daughter. This is developed really slowly, and Lohmann doesn't make it into some sort of insta-connection. It feels realistic, both painful and hopeful at the same time, and I really liked it. I also liked Renia's relationship with Sarah, Miles’ daughter, in whom she sees bits of herself.

In a “whatever-doesn’t-kill-you way”, Ireland credits her encephalitis with giving her the confidence to write about chronic illness. “[Since my surgery,] I don’t freak out about the tiny things any more. I’m more inclined to go for it and write about what I want.” The First Move is an uplifting and inclusive own-voice YA romance debut. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Alice Oseman and Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit. About This Edition ISBN: Both instantly engaging and finely nuanced, The First Move is a YA romance with real-life resonance and uplifting vibes. Always honest on the realities of living with a long-term condition and mental health struggles, it’s also happy-making, wholesome, and a whole lot of fun, with well-developed characters readers will root for and relate to.This is for readers who are in the mood for problems and emotions surrounding giving up a child for adoption. I want to say again that the people feel real, the emotions feel real, the situations, regrets, second-guessing--everything. And the pull between Renia and Miles is so sweet. The romance is wonderful and the sex scenes are really good. There is so much in this book but it all works so well together. It's a book about finding a healthy place in relationships- between mother and daughter, father and daughter, mother and the daughter she gave up for adoption, between a man and a woman falling in love. There is hope, fear, rejection, forgiveness and finally acceptance. Acceptance that you do the best you can, so forgive yourself and others and move on with your life. During the period around her first diagnosis, after having studied French law, Ireland worked as a paralegal. “It wasn’t the career for an anxious person,” she tells me over Zoom from Belfast. Ireland quit law after getting married and starting a family. But just weeks after each of her two children were born, she suffered months-long arthritis flare-ups that left her unable to walk. Bedridden and home with young children, Ireland began writing. I would love it if my kids grew up reading stories of kids their ages with disabilities and chronic illnesses Both instantly engaging and finely nuanced, The First Moveis a YA romance with real-life resonance and uplifting vibes. Always honest on the realities of living with a long-term condition and mental health struggles, it’s also happy-making, wholesome, and a whole lot of fun, with well-developed characters readers will root for and relate to. Juliet believes girls like her - girls with arthritis - don't get their own love stories. She exists at the edges of her friends' social lives, skipping parties to play online chess under a pseudonym with strangers around the world. There, she isn't just 'the girl with crutches'.

Previously announced acquisitions for Penguin’s 2023 YA offering include the newly titled queer love story Straight Expectations by writer, presenter and LGBTQI+ advocate Calum McSwiggan, alongside Yorkshire=set coming-of-age drama Good For Nothing by Mariam Ansar. I read this for my romance book club where the theme of the month was "secret babies". This book fit that theme well, which is all I'll say to prevent spoilers. I did think the baby issue was handled with a lot of care and lot more detail than I'm used to. This book was incredibly realistic. Both hero and heroine were incredibly flawed, major mistakes, and dealt with them as actual real people would. Not a terrible thing to read, but not exactly what I'm used to in a romance, especially not in a Harlequin. Senior commissioning editor Naomi Colthurst acquired UK and Commonwealth rights for Chaos and Flame by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland in a two-book deal via Kim Ryan at Penguin Young Readers. Billed as “a scorching, enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance”, the book will be released in March 2023. Book Genre: Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Disability, Romance, Young Adult, Young Adult Romance The First Move is a book that reminded me of the power of love and the hope for the future YA embodies so well.It surprised me just how many people are involved in the publication of a book. Editors, copy editors, proof readers, a designer for the cover as well as an illustrator and I’m sure a million more people I didn’t even know were involved. It’s a proper team sport. I love that. What advice would you give people who would like to write a YA novel? Juliet thinks Ronan thinks someone like Ronan could never be interested in someone like her - and she wouldn't want him to be anyway - he always acts like he's cooler than everyone else. Penguin Random House Children’s imprint Penguin has announced a string of new YA authors added to its list for 2023, with books ranging from “heart-stopping” thrillers and fantasies to inclusive and high-concept romances. The beautiful story is important because every year about one in 10,000 children in Ireland is diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. According to Arthritis Ireland, there are an estimated 1,200 to 1,400 under-16s with the condition. Juliet believes girls like her – girls with arthritis – don’t get their own love stories. She exists at the edges of her friends’ social lives, skipping parties to play online chess under a pseudonym with strangers around the world. There, she isn’t just ‘the girl with crutches’.Ronan is the new kid: good looking, smart, a bad boy plagued by guilt over what happened to his brother Ciaran. Chesslife is his escape; there, he’s not just ‘the boy with the brother’.Juliet thinks Ronan thinks someone like Ronan could never be interested in someone like her – and she wouldn’t want him to be anyway because he always acts like he’s cooler than everyone else. Whereas, Ronan thinks life is already too complicated for dating and just wants to keep his head down at school.Little do they know they’ve already discovered each other online, and have more in common than they think . . . The First Move by Jenny Ireland – eBook Details