In October 2021, I received an email out of the blue from Lindsey Evans, Publishing Director at Headline Publishing Group in London, who publish health and lifestyle books under the Headline Home imprint. She was keen to launch a series of health books, written by experts in their medical fields, and each having a title Living with … the relevant condition. Would I be interested in contributing a book about headaches?
I have always wanted to write a book about headaches. Several years ago the late literary agent Felicity Bryan and I tried to interest publishers in such a book, without success at the time. But there is always a market for well written books on this topic (as the success of Katy Munro’s Penguin Life contribution has shown in the last few years), and I took little persuading (actually none at all) to accept the commission.
Lindsey asked me to base the book around the questions most frequently asked by people suffering from headaches, and that is what I have done. The book starts with basic questions such as ‘What is a headache?’ and ‘What type of headache do I have?’, before heading into the science bit (including ‘What is CGRP, and what does it have to do with headache?’ and a series of chapters on aura), then treatments (acute, preventive, and lifestyle), before finishing with a series of FAQs (covering issues such as brain scans, hormones, stroke risks, and the neck).
Living with Headaches is published on 4th January 2024. It is dedicated to my patients, past, present, and future. I hope that people will find it well written and helpful. You can (pre)order it at https://geni.us/BY7ntn0