Lainey is published by The Wild Rose Press, the wonderful women-owned press which, I am proud to say, is also my publisher.

Q. Tell us why you write women’s fiction.

A. I love stories of re-invention, and how women can overcome the tough situations we are sometimes thrown into. It’s in those ‘horror of a heartbeat’ moments, that we often discover we have more strength than we realized.

Q. What inspired this particular story?

A. I’m a recovering tech industry executive, meaning I worked for twenty years immersed in the not-so-subtle sexism of Silicon Valley. This book was inspired by my personal experience of being the only woman in the boardroom (and often the one in charge).

My main character, Ryn, is an investor who has bet everything on the deal of her career. What she didn’t imagine is facing her husband’s mistress across the negotiating table.

I wanted to pose the question of what if two women, with every reason to hate each other, were forced to work together? And then take the book in a direction that breaks with the frequent stereotypes of how women handle these types of scenarios. Ultimately, this is a book about female power and friendship.

Q. Tell us about the journey to get this book written, edited, and published.

A. This is my debut novel, and it took me four years to write, edit, and polish. Along the way, I invested in learning the craft of writing and focused on building my writer network of supportive friends and mentors. I’m hugely indebted to the amazing women I’ve met through the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.

When I started looking for a path to publication for The Exit Strategy, several agents and one publisher told me they didn’t see a readership for women’s fiction set in the workplace. But that just didn’t ring true to me. As women, most of us spend more than half of our lives at work. So after 135+ rejections from agents, I was thrilled when several smaller publishers made offers for this book. I talked to a lot of authors with those smaller publishers and based on their insight I chose The Wild Rose Press. I’m super pleased with their collaboration in the entire process, including marketing.

Q. What do you find most difficult about writing a book?

A. All the rules, or rather learning to ignore them! After completing that first draft, I made a mistake I’d advise every new writer to avoid. I read every craft book I could lay my hands on. But the problem is much of writing advice contradicts itself.

How I eventually worked through it was with book coaching. A few years in, and a lot wiser, I’ve concluded that finding your voice requires first understanding the supposed “rules”, but then deciding which ones you are okay with breaking.

Q. How much of your book is realistic? In other words, are places and people based on real places and people?

A. As I mentioned earlier, the backdrop which is the climate of sexism in Silicon Valley is real. In fact, at the back of The Exit Strategy I included an author’s note where I talk about how, in some areas, I had to tone it down for credibility.

Many of the locations are also real, although some were renamed. Among the extras on my website is a downloadable guide to the locations in the book, in case my readers would like to know the real names and perhaps visit.

Q. What did you do before you became a novelist?

A. Until four years ago I was a full-time executive in the tech industry, working 80-hour weeks and racking up two million airline miles flying around the world (No joke on the miles– the equivalent of four round-trips to the moon!).

After I left my last job, I had this idea for a novel, and I realized that if I didn’t just stop, invest the time and learn the craft of novel writing, I never would write this book. And so that’s what I did.

I couldn’t be more excited, four years later, to see The Exit Strategy released to the world, the first reviews coming in, and readers clearly enjoying it!


Getting to Know Your Book

Author Name: Lainey Cameron

Book Title: THE EXIT STRATEGY

Author Bio:

Lainey Cameron is a digital nomad and author of women’s fiction. A recovering tech industry executive, her award-winning novel, The Exit Strategy, was inspired by a decade of being the only woman in the corporate boardroom.
A digital nomad—meaning she picks locations around the world to live (and write) for months at a time—Lainey is an avid Instagrammer and loves to share her travel tips and insights with readers.

Originally from Scotland, Lainey has a soft spot for men in kilts and good malt whisky.

Book Blurb:

Silicon Valley, sexism and the power of female friendship

Silicon Valley investor Ryn Brennan is on the verge of achieving everything she’d dreamed. She’s proven herself in the male-dominated venture capital world, benefits from the support of her successful husband, and is about to close the deal of her career. Everything is going exactly as planned, until she meets Carly, her husband’s mistress, across the negotiating table.

Carly clawed her way back from being a teenage runaway to become an accomplished scientist, loving single mom, and co-founder of her startup. Once she marries her perfect fiancé, she’ll secure that ‘normal’ life she craves. But she’s blindsided to discover her not so perfect fiancé is already married—to Ryn, her company’s biggest investor.

In an industry full of not-so-subtle sexism, can the two women rise above, and work together to overcome heartbreak and ensure their success?


Your Social Media Links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lainey_cameron

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laineycameronauthor

Follow Lainey on BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/lainey-cameron

Website: https://www.laineycameron.com

Book Release Date: July 8th, 2020

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Buy Links:

Bookshop.org (profits go to indie booksellers)
Amazon US, UK, Australia
Indiebound (order through the local bookstore)
Barnes & Noble
Apple iBooks
Book Depository