Penguin Michael Joseph snares WriteNow graduate Medrano’s ‘outrageously brilliant’ novel

Penguin Michael Joseph has signed Nothing Serious by Emma Medrano, a “blistering and gripping” novel about two women who meet online under false pretences and form an unlikely connection. 

Editor Madeleine Woodfield acquired world all languages rights to the book from Emily Glenister at D H H Literary Agency, who described Nothing Serious as “outrageously brilliant”. It will be published in hardback in early 2024.

Nothing Serious follows Nicki and Amber, two women who would never normally cross paths. Nicki is a thirty-something woman, always searching online for her next hook up. Seventeen-year-old Amber is equally lost, and in an attempt to win back her friends’ approval creates a fake dating profile for a man in his thirties. Nicki and Amber quickly “match”, and it soon becomes a friendship. But when one person is not who they say they are, how long can that last?

Medrano, one of the writers selected for Penguin’s WriteNow scheme in 2020 out of almost 3,000 applicants, said: “I feel so honoured and grateful that my little story will be on actual bookshelves thanks to my agent and the lovely team at Michael Joseph. I’m extremely excited for the rest of the world to meet these characters.”

Woodfield commented: “I feel like I haven’t stopped thinking about Emma’s novel from the day I first read it. Nothing Serious is a thought-provoking and unflinching novel about finding connection when you least expect it, and I cannot wait for readers to meet Nicki and Amber. Emma is a major talent, I couldn’t be happier to be welcoming her to the Penguin Michael Joseph list.”

Medrano has previously published short stories and is currently an editor at a literary journal at the University of Glasgow.