A novel by a local Tavistock author has landed not one but three book deals in Europe.

To Hell With It by Claire Frances has been scooped up by publishers in the Netherlands and Germany.

The writer who lives on the outskirts of Tavistock secured the deals months ago and is only now permitted to talk about them. Claire said: “When I got the email from the foreign rights department of my literary agency, I cried.

“So many exciting things have been happening for me, and I am over the moon to have two more book deals with Libelle and Bastei. It’s a dream come true.

"They are huge publishers, and I can’t wait for Pearl to reach more readers around the world.”

Quite a feat for the local writer who started off writing psychological suspense novels but was encouraged by her agent to move to romcoms. Her book tells the story of Pearl O’Reilly, a 27-year-old who suffers from OCD and goes on an adventure to New Zealand in search of a real connection.

Claire who already has a two-book deal with HarperCollins, who bought World English Rights to sell the book in the US, Canada, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand says securing a book deal is a long-winded process.

“They call it going ‘on submission’ to publishers. The literary agent will pitch it and send the book to them and then they either make you an offer or they don't.

“They send it to the editor of the publishing house, and if the editor loves it, they then take it to the whole team at the publishing house, and everybody has to be on board,” she said.

Foreign rights deals can take months and sometimes years to turn around, and Claire was sworn to secrecy about the pending deals with the two European countries with the book nearly causing a bidding war for the German rights.

In the end Germany’s largest independent trade publisher Bastei Lübbe secured the fourth deal with the writer who can now count herself alongside the likes of Dan Brown and Stephen King.

Already published with Dutch publisher Boekerij in the Netherlands under the title De Regels van Pearl, which means the rules of Pearl, Claire also now has a sub-deal in the Netherlands with Libelle, the largest weekly women’s magazine where the book will appear in instalments.

Claire thinks the very fact that her main character has OCD is a big draw with publishers searching for books that investigate neurodivergence. And although the book isn’t based on her exactly, it definitely contains aspects of her own life with an authenticity that only someone living with OCD could bring - an important criteria for publishers, she adds.

Claire uses a lot of humour in the book as she tells Pearl’s story but is careful not to make a joke of OCD.

She said: “There’s a balance and you have to get it right. As a sufferer of OCD, I’d never want to offend anyone who has it.”

Growing up with OCD, she’s experienced the full range of treatments: “I've had full exposure therapy, I've had CBT, I've been hypnotised, I've tried lots of different therapies.

“And for me, particularly if I'm stressed, if I'm tired, if I'm anxious, it flares up. It's hard sometimes because it's always going to be with me.”

Writing a book with OCD at its core, caused her symptoms to flare up even more. She explained: “I had to write and put OCD on the page. That was quite confronting and I decided to get some more help with it after that. Full exposure therapy has been life-changing for me and I would highly recommend it.”

Since the book launched in the UK by HarperCollins in June last year, it has reached the number one bestseller on Kindle in the humorous and disability category and was an editor’s pick on Amazon. She has continued to gain rave reviews around the world.

And readers have even reached out to thank her. She said: “I had people with OCD saying it's really helped them feel seen and less alone with it.

"Somebody contacted me to say they thought they were losing their mind and then they realised they had OCD and the book really helped them.

"And I also had, which was lovely, a mother contact me. Her 14-year-old son is really suffering at the moment with OCD. She said it really helped her be able to empathise with him and understand where his head's at.”

She adds: “I do think it's obviously a lot more recognised, and people are talking about it, which is only a good thing. If I can help bring more awareness to a condition that affects so many people then that’s amazing.”

Follow Claire’s publishing journey on Instagram @clairefrancesbooks