Darlington Waterstones to launch Lauren Wilson’s new book

The launch of her book Tell Your Friends will take place at Waterstones Darlington from 6pm to 7.30pm on Thursday, June 18.

It will feature a conversation between Ms Wilson and fellow young Darlington author HF Askwith, who will host the discussion and explore the themes and inspiration behind the new novel.

HF Askwith (Image: Supplied)

Tell Your Friends follows Crystal Shaw, a reluctant online personality who sees university as her chance to break free from her controlling vlogger family.

While outwardly agreeing to her mother’s demands to create a spin-off channel about her university experience, Crystal is secretly looking for someone who can help her expose some damning evidence about her parents.

She hopes this evidence will destroy their social media empire and give her and her younger siblings freedom.

(Image: Supplied)

The story takes a dark turn when Crystal confides in Alyssa, a fellow journalism student who turns out to be a secret superfan of the family’s vlog.

Alyssa, unwilling to lose her connection to the vlogger family, develops her own plans—raising the stakes for both girls.

Ms Wilson, who was born and raised in Darlington and now lives in Newcastle, is a journalism graduate with an MA in creative writing from Northumbria University.

She has worked as a freelance journalist and served as temporary production editor at Mslexia, a magazine for women writers.

Her debut novel, The Goldens, was a bestseller and named Waterstones Book of the Month in July 2025.

The panel host, HF Askwith, is a winner of the Northern Writers’ Award and also holds an MA in creative writing from Northumbria University.

Both authors will be signing stock at the end of the evening.