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Behind The Scenes with Victoria Springfield

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This week we’re taking a trip to Italy with my guest Victoria Springfield to learn about the family connection, real life and fictional, which provided the backstory to her latest novel, The Italian Fiancé.

The idea for The Italian Fiancé developed from one of the three interlocking love stories in my debut novel, The Italian Holiday.  When elderly widow Miriam falls for restaurant owner Tommaso on a trip to the Amalfi coast readers are hoping for a Happy Ever After but it dawned on me that in real life Miriam’s family might not be so keen on her late-life romance.  I contemplated a follow-on novel with two of Miriam’s shocked relatives turning up on the island of Ischia (where Tommaso plans to retire) and becoming embroiled in their own romantic entanglements.  But I couldn’t imagine kindly Tommaso hiding any secrets from the past and the pandemic ruled out a return trip to Ischia which I felt was necessary to do justice to the story. 

I wondered if I could use the same idea with different characters in a different setting.  My parents’ old holiday diaries had helped me create the fictional village in A Farmhouse in Tuscany and amongst their pages were reminders of our many visits to the vibrant Tuscan city of Lucca, birthplace of Puccini.  Flicking though my old maps and guidebooks I was confident I could bring Lucca to life despite the travel restrictions.  Almost immediately, Aunt Jane and her flamboyant fiancé, artist Luciano materialised.  He ‘was different from any man – any person – she had ever met.  And she was different too…she wouldn’t – couldn’t – go back to being the person she had been before she and Luciano met.’  

A photo of my brother riding a tandem around the old walls sparked the idea for sensible niece Cassie’s jaunt with handsome jeweller, Alonzo.  The Puccini connection inspired the character of violinist, Matteo who captures her sister Lisa’s heart.  Lisa falls in love with Lucca as well and I hope my readers will too. 

Blurb: 

When sisters Cassie and Lisa receive a wedding invitation, the last person they expect to be getting married is Jane, their seventy-year-old aunt! Convinced that she’s making a big mistake, the two put their differences aside to travel to the vibrant Tuscan city of Lucca. But there’s something magical about Italy… and this trip may just change their relationship – and their lives – forever. 

Jane knows it’s not just a holiday fling. After her husband of four decades passed away, she never thought she’d find love again. But Luciano, with his big heart and artistic flamboyance, fills her life with colour. Can she show her nieces it’s never too late for a second chance? 

  Author Bio

Victoria Springfield writes contemporary feel-good women’s fiction immersed in the sights, sounds and flavours of Italy. Her feel-good stories follow unforgettable characters of all ages as they find adventure, friendship, and romance – with a few twists and turns along the way.  

Victoria inherited a love of Italy from her father. After many years in London, she now lives in Kent with her husband in a house by the river. She likes to write in the garden with a neighbour’s cat by her feet or whilst drinking cappuccino in her favourite café. Then she types up her scribblings in silence whilst her mind drifts away to Italy. 

Victoria’s books: The Italian Holiday, A Farmhouse in Tuscany and The Italian Fiancé are all published by Orion Dash. 

Info:  

The Italian Fiancé will be published 8th September 2022 in eBook and paperback and on 23rd November 2022 as an audio book. 

Buying link https://www.tinyurl.com/theitalianfebook

Social Media Links 

Twitter: @VictoriaSWrites 

Instagram: VictoriaSWrites 

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

Many thanks to Victoria for taking part. The joy of being a writer is watching our characters evolve and create their own stories.

Behind the Scenes with Fiona Woodifield

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This week I’m delighted to welcome Fiona Woodifield to my blog. Fiona’s latest novel is the second in a series set around a dating agency inspired by a famous author. Intrigued? Read on…

I have always been a compulsive writer, ever since as a child I realised that someone had to write all those glorious books I loved escaping into. On holidays, I would write in notebooks and diaries, my first story aged ten was very short, written in a Beatrix Potter notebook of course and was entitled Cormorant Island. After this I spent too many years writing essays and studying to write for pleasure. But once again in my twenties, I was back to penning children’s stories in a notebook. When I had my own children I started coming up with more ideas for books, some for adult stories and I wrote it all down in different random notebooks and left them round the house.

The inspiration for The Jane Austen Dating Agency series came to me quite suddenly one Sunday morning when I was resting in bed as you do, and I suddenly thought I wonder what would happen if Jane Austen characters from different novels were able to meet each other. It was a small leap from this initial pondering, to the idea that they could potentially date; just imagine Lady Catherine de Bourgh from Pride and Prejudice dating Sir Walter Elliot from Persuasion! This comic match made me chuckle and I suddenly had an idea for a Jane Austen themed dating agency.

This story was the one I simply had to write. I jumped out of bed at stupid o’clock, much to my husband’s consternation and started jotting down my ideas. So my debut novel was born.

A Wedding at the Jane Austen Dating Agency is the sequel to my debut novel, The Jane Austen Dating Agency, but can easily be read as a stand alone. The sequel charts Sophie’s continued adventures with The Jane Austen Dating Agency and her mishaps whilst trying to follow her romantic dreams and find herself a real Regency hero.

Blurb

Sophie Johnson appears to be living her best life. She has landed her dream job as Managing Director of The Jane Austen Dating Agency and is dating the world’s most desirable man, Darcy Drummond.

But all is not as it seems. The relationship with Darcy is failing to live up to expectations and his awful mother is determined to cause trouble. To add to Sophie’s problems, the agency is struggling to attract enough eligible men, she has a Regency wedding to plan and then there’s the amusing and disturbingly cute Henry Baxter who is making it hard for her to concentrate.

The problem is Sophie wants it all, but in trying to manage everything, she’s in danger of losing what matters most.

Can she keep the dating agency afloat and find her own happy ever after? Or is business and romance an impossible combination?

Author Amazon Page https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiona-Woodifield/e/B084HHPB95/

Author Bio

Fiona has always been a compulsive writer, scribbling things down in brightly decorated notebooks and on random bits of paper, which she likes to leave all around the house. More years ago than she cares to remember, she gained a BA in Combined Arts at Durham University, then took an MA in English at the University of Oxford Brookes. Since then she has worked in various roles, including a stint at Vogue as well as bringing up her challenging, but lovely daughters. In her spare time, she enjoys dancing as though no one’s watching (especially zumba), walking her dogs/writing companions and visiting stately homes, pretending she lives there of course.

Fiona has written for various magazines. Her first novel, The Jane Austen Dating Agency was published in February 2020. The Jane Austen Dating Agency was shortlisted for The Joan Hessayon Award by the Romantic Novelists Association. Fiona’s Lockdown love story, Love in Lockdown was published by Avon later that year. Her latest novel, A Wedding at the Jane Austen Dating Agency was released last August.

Author Website www.fionawoodifield.co.uk

Many thanks to Fiona for sharing her story. I think Jane Austen would highly approve of a dating agency in her name!

In the Spotlight with Val Penny

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This week I’m turning the spotlight on author Val Penny. I’m delighted to welcome Val onto my blog to share her exciting news about her latest book release.

Thank you so much for inviting me onto your blog today, Rosie. I am delighted to have a chance to tell you and your readers about Hunter’s Chase, the first novel in my series of The DI Hunter Wilson Thrillers.

I have been writing and telling stories all my life. When I was a child, I was inspired to make up stories for my little sister after our Mum put the light out and told us to go to sleep. Later, I wrote documents, contracts, and courses as part of my job, but my time was well accounted for, so I did not create any fiction.

However, I took early retirement when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and there were times when I suffered severe side effects from my treatment. I could not go out, spend time with friends or indulge in many of my favourite hobbies, but watching daytime television got very old very fast, so I turned to reading. It was the only thing I had the energy to do and could do safely.

I read voraciously, as I always have. I particularly enjoy reading crime fiction and thrillers. I indulged this interest with many novels including those by Peter Robinson, Ian Rankin, Linwood Barclay and Kathy Reichs.

After a while, I began to feel a little better and decided to start reviewing the books I read in a blog www.bookreviewstoday.info I enjoyed doing that. Then, as I began to feel better still, I got restless, but was not still well enough to do very much and I complained to my long-suffering husband about getting bored. It was then he challenged me: ‘If you know so much about what makes a good book, why don’t you write one?’ I did laugh. However, with the challenge set, the inspiration given, and I have been writing police procedural crime thrillers set in Scotland ever since.

In fact, I have just moved publishers to the stable of Spellbound Books. They will publish the first book in the series The DI Hunter Wilson Thrillers on 20. August.2022. The main character is Detective Inspector Hunter Wilson in Hunter’s Chase. My new series, The Jane Renwick Thrillers and four new books in a multibook deal will published by SpellBound Books in the months ahead. I am very excited to have made the move.

Although Hunter’s Chase, is the first book in a series, it can be read completely independently as a standalone.

I particularly enjoyed writing Hunter’s Chase it marked the end of a period of particularly poor health and so hope that readers will enjoy it too. The next novel in this series, Hunter’s Revenge, will be published by SpellBound Books in November. I’ll let you know more about that in due course!

Author Bio

It is with great delight that Val Penny has accepted a ten-book deal with Spellbound Books.

Val Penny has an Llb degree from the University of Edinburgh and her MSc from Napier University. She has had many jobs including hairdresser, waitress, banker, azalea farmer and lecturer but has not yet achieved either of her childhood dreams of being a ballerina or owning a candy store.

Until those dreams come true, she has turned her hand to writing poetry, short stories, nonfiction, and novels.

Val is an American author living in SW Scotland. She has two adult daughters of whom she is justly proud and lives with her husband and their cat.

www.valpenny.com

https://www.facebook.com/Authorvalpenny

www.facebook.com/valerie.penny.739

www.facebook.com/groups/296295777444303

https://www.facebook.com/groups/167248300537409

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17300087.Val_Penny

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/val-penny

Thanks to Val for sharing her story with us. I’m so glad she took up her husband’s challenge. Val is a prolific writer who is wonderfully supportive of her fellow authors. I wish her new venture with Spellbound every success!

Behind the Scenes with Lynne Shelby

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Today, I’m delighted to welcome Lynne Shelby back to my blog to talk about the spark of inspiration which ignited her latest novel, Rome For the Summer.

Sometimes the idea for a book can come to you when you least expect it. 

The first faint spark of an idea for the story that was to become my new novel, Rome For The Summer, came to me when me and my husband were heading back to our hotel in Rome after a day’s sight-seeing. As we walked past the Spanish Steps, I overheard a conversation between two girls – one American, one Italian – the American telling the Italian girl that the ‘the job will only be for six months.’ I still have the notes I wrote that day as soon as we reached our hotel: ‘American in Rome. Why? Tourist? What is the job? Is she working in Rome for six months? Or going back to the States to work for six months? Does she have an Italian boyfriend who she’s leaving? Or is there an American boyfriend pining for her return?’  

I didn’t come up with the answers to those questions immediately – and in any case, I was writing another novel at the time – but some months later, back in England, I happened to fall into conversation with a woman sitting at the next table in a restaurant who turned out to be a professor of literature from an American university with an extremely interesting reason for visiting Europe. This gave me the answers to what the American girl could be doing in Rome, and sparked off my ideas for both the plot of Rome For The Summer, which is set in 2016, and the sub-plot, which is set two hundred years earlier. The American girl became my English heroine, Kate, and the Italian girl became her English colleague, but the inspiration for the book was a conversation heard quite by chance several years earlier.  

Blurb

Kate Harper has always loved the painting that has hung in her parents dining room for years, never suspecting that it is worth a fortune. When her art dealer boyfriend cheats her family out of the proceeds of the painting’s sale, she is left devastated and alone. 

Kate discovers that two hundred years ago, the girl in the painting, Charlotte Browne, ran off to Rome with the artist who painted her portrait, but her eventual fate is unknown. 

Hoping to uncover the mystery of what happened to Charlotte, Kate seizes the chance of a summer job in Rome, where she strikes up a friendship with Jamie Taylor, an English artist. As they explore the city and start to piece together the surprising secrets of Charlotte’s life, Kate finds herself wondering if a summer in Rome can mend a broken heart…   

Rome For The Summer Buy Link: https://smarturl.it/RFTSLS 

Author Bio

Lynne Shelby writes contemporary women’s fiction/romance. Her debut novel, French Kissing, now re-published in e-book as Meet Me In Paris, won the Accent Press and Woman magazine Writing Competition. Her fifth novel, Love On Location, was shortlisted for a Romantic Novelists Association Award. She has done a variety of jobs from stable girl to child actor’s chaperone to legal administrator, but now writes full time. When not writing or reading, Lynne can usually be found at the theatre or exploring a foreign city, writer’s notebook, camera and sketchbook in hand. She lives in London with her husband, and has three adult children who live nearby. 

Website: www.lynneshelby.com 

Twitter: @LynneShelby5 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/LynneShelbyWriter 

Instagram: lynneshelbywriter 

Many thanks to Lynne for taking part. I often think writers’ minds are like sponges, subconsciously soaking up and storing information, only for it to resurface in the pages of a book!

Behind The Scenes with Rebecca Paulinyi

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This week I’m delighted to welcome Rebecca Paulinyi, who shares the very personal and unique backstory to her latest novel, At The Stroke of Thirty.

‘At the Stroke of Thirty’ is a very personal book for me. At the age of 29 (although not on the eve of my 30th birthday, like the main character in the book!) I had a stroke, which was entirely out of the blue. Writing this book was rather cathartic for me, as I included many of my own experiences – as well as giving Macy Maxwell a love story as she recovers from her stroke.

Macy’s feelings are very much based on my own experiences, and how I have recovered from this trauma – but it is still very much a work of fiction, exploring themes of family, friendship, life goals and where you really call home. I also brought my time living in the beautiful Northumberland into this novel, with the beautiful backdrop of places such as Bamburgh Castle weaved into the story.

While I struggled with my stroke during the Covid pandemic, but with family and friends around me at home to support me, Macy realises she has no support system when this catastrophe strikes – and so turns to those she knows she can rely on.

As hard as this book was to write, I think it is probably the one I am proudest of – and it has been great to hear other stroke survivors saying how much they could relate with what I was writing, even though each person’s experience with stroke can be so very different.

In spite of the difficult subject matter, I made sure to fill this story with hope and love and laughter, and the circle of friends Macy meets have inspired a continuation of the series, following the same theme of a life-changing event happening around the big three-oh birthday, and how it can change everything.

Blurb:

Just about to turn thirty, Macy Maxwell is loving her life. A busy social life, interesting work and a decent salary, she thinks she’s got it all figured out. And so what if she thought she’d be married with kids by the time she turned thirty? Life is easy and fun.

And then, the night before her thirtieth birthday, everything changes. A near-fatal stroke leaves Macy re-evaluating everything in her life, as she tries to heal and get back the woman she was before.

Will moving back to rural Northumberland, a stroke support group and a handsome shoulder to cry on help her to find the Macy she was – or help her become the Macy she wants to be?

Buying link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/At-Stroke-Thirty-uplifting-romantic-ebook/dp/B09Q2N5N67/

Author Bio:

Rebecca Paulinyi was born in the South West of England in February 1992. She has been writing since she was a child, starting with short stories and poems that rarely got finished. Her weekly school assignment of writing a diary about the weekend provided a perfect platform to be inventive, with Rebecca’s stories revolving around the aliens living on Planet Odd.

Writing has been her passion for years, and the unfinished stories became full length novels as she became a teenager. At eighteen she left home to go to York University, studying English Language and Linguistics, and following her graduation qualified as a teacher.

Rebecca now writes full time at her home in Bristol, where she lives with her husband, daughter and dog. As well as writing women’s romantic fiction, she also writes historical romances under the pen name ‘Daphne Quinn’.

Website: https://becky-author.onrender.com/

Many thanks to Rebecca for sharing her amazing story.

Four Years On – Top Tips for Survival

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This week marks a very special anniversary – it’s four years’ since the publication of my first book, The Theatre of Dreams. Back in August 2018 I was giddy with excitement, full of optimism. I loved my story of two actresses and their fight to save a seaside pavilion. That book was written straight from the heart. There was drama, romance, a seaside setting, a mystery. The Theatre of Dreams had it all. Surely this book would be a huge success and herald the start of a whole new literary career?

The Book Launch 1 August 2018

If only I knew then what I know now. Anyone who follows this blog will know that the last four years have been a rollercoaster ride of conflicting emotions, and not a dazzling romp to the top of the Sunday Times Bestseller Chart. But hey, I do have four books out there on Amazon. That’s four more books than a lot of people ever manage. Of course, I realise it’s not everybody’s ambition in life to write a book, let alone publish it, but in case it is, based on my own personal experiences, here are my top tips for surviving the publishing jungle.

Top Tip Number One

If you’re Intent on Capturing a Publisher – Choose your Publisher Carefully.

Of course, we all know it’s actually the other way round, the publisher chooses you. But the big publishers are the elephants and tigers of the jungle, and if you’re happy to snare a smaller beast – a warthog for example – do your research and make sure that warthog will satisfy your needs.

Whilst I’ll always be grateful for the publisher who gave me my first break, when I signed my contract, I was very naïve. I had zero knowledge of the jungle and was ill-equipped to tackle the tasks expected of me, which subsequently led to feelings of inadequacy and failure. On reflection, now that I’m older and wiser, I realise I hadn’t failed at all. My warthog was simply not the right warthog for me. I should have held out for a tiger.

Top Tip Number Two

Make Friends Wisely

At the start of my writing journey my social media following consisted almost entirely of people I knew personally. I was unaware there was a whole online writing/reading community out there. I didn’t know about Facebook author/book groups, bookstagrammers and bloggers. Four books later I do. The more you engage with the online world, the more followers and friends you gather.  And while it’s true, the more people who know and like you, the more books you may sell, there is also a huge benefit in engaging with like-minded people. Every writer needs a support network and there is a wonderfully generous community of successful authors out there who are happy to pass on tips and advice.

Social media can seem overwhelming – especially with the rise of the dreaded do-I-don’t-I TikTok. Find your tribe and pick out the aspects you enjoy and are comfortable with. Don’t put yourself under pressure to befriend everyone and do it all, because you can’t. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day, week, year – at least not if you want to write more books.

Top Tip Number Three

Celebrate your Achievements

You’ve found an agent. WELL DONE YOU! You’ve netted a publisher. CONGRATULATIONS!

But what if the big stuff never happens? What if you don’t think you’ve got anything to sing about? Bash that negativity on the head and THINK POSITIVE.

Envy is a perfectly natural human emotion but always remember where you are on your own personal journey. You don’t have to be part of the elephant brigade to blow your own trumpet.

You’ve written a book, or maybe it’s just a short story. That’s an achievement.  SHOUT ABOUT IT!

So you’ve only sold enough copies of your book this month to count on the fingers of one hand, BUT you have got a fabulous new 5 star review. LET EVERYONE KNOW ABOUT THOSE 5 STARS.

If you celebrate your success, other people will cheer with you.

Top Tip Number Four

Grab Every Opportunity

Networking IS important. If you have an opportunity for a 1-2-1 with a publishing professional, take it. If you can go to a conference, or a book festival, GO. Every connection you make, is a connection. I know I’ve had opportunities I’ve let slip; chances I didn’t follow up, and yes, I do sometimes wonder what might have been…

I’m naturally a shy person, and that has held me back. Writing has forced me half-way out of my shell. I’ve had to put myself out there and over the last four years I’ve become far more pro-active. I’ve talked to WIs and book groups, taken part in Facebook and Instagram Lives, a Podcast, things I never thought I would do. Stand up in a banqueting hall and give a talk to 100 people? With a mic? Crack jokes. Who me? If I’m talking about my love of writing, yes I can and I will.

Top Tip Number Five

Write the Book you want to Write

That’s easy for me to say now that I self-publish and I don’t have the constraints/obligations of a publishing contract. However, I have tried to conform. I have tried to write the book I think a publisher is looking for.  When I came up with the idea for A Crisis at Clifftops, I started out with the serious intent of writing a traditional cosy mystery because cosies are currently the “in thing”. Amateur sleuth solves crime, tick.  Nothing grisly/gory requiring in depth forensic knowledge, tick. Quaint countryside/seaside setting, tick.  Potential for series to continue indefinitely, tick. Amateur sleuth is professional golfer, untick. Major suspect is amateur sleuth’s grandmother, untick.  Also include vintage crime from sixty years earlier, untick. Add in another subplot involving resort redevelopment with far too many secondary characters, untick.

I can’t help it. I have a vivid imagination and a creative mind. I can’t reign it in, and when I do, I’m not happy. The words don’t flow.

Let your creative juices run wherever they want, and if that’s in the direction of an agent or a publisher’s wish-list, all the better. But if they meander off-piste… Think about what you want from your writing and why you do it. Do you want to conquer the jungle, or are you happy hanging about on the fringes?

I’m not going to lie. There’s still part of me that thinks it would be wonderful to get snapped up by one of those big tigers, but self-publishing has given me the control to write what I want to write and when I write it.  I know my limitations. If I were younger I might be more ambitious, more committed to conform. It’s taken me a long time to reach the stage when I’m happy and comfortable with what I do.

And My Final Top Two Tips?

Two phrases I chanted like a mantra while adjusting to life as an ex-pat wife in the wilds of LA many years ago, but equally as applicable to surviving life in publishing jungle: DEVELOP A THICK SKIN and RETAIN A SENSE OF HUMOUR.  I don’t think either requires any further explanation!

The author in her natural environment.

The Story Behind the Story with Jennifer Bibby

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From Tuscany to St Ives, this week I’m delighted to welcome Jennifer Bibby onto my blog to talk about the fascinating history behind her debut novel, The Cornish Hideaway.

The Cornish Hideaway has been on quite a journey, one that has taken it over 1244 miles and spanning almost 500 years. In 2004 I was in my second year at University studying Creative Writing when the BBC put out a documentary called ‘The Divine Michelangelo’ which detailed the life of the Renaissance artist. Watching it, the actor who played a dramatically over the top Michelangelo in a big wig, inspired me to create Angelo, a temperamental artist who is discovered bruised and battered on Tuscan farmland in the year 1500. Alessandra, the farmer’s daughter helped nurse him back to life and saw in him a chance to shift her horizons beyond the small village she was born in. In return for the village saving him, Angelo painted religious frescoes on the church wall, but his presence, and his association with Alessandra, were not welcomed by everyone.

Over the years, no matter what else I was writing, I always returned to this story, dreaming of writing a sweeping historical romance before realizing I was a bit on the lazy side to do all the research! I knew I wanted to tell the story of Angelo and Alessandra so attempted to move them first to modern Tuscany and then relocated them to a seaside town in England. But nothing quite fit until in 2014 I took a trip to St Ives with a friend. Something about the rugged Cornish coast line, the sea, the feeling of being at the end of the world made me realise I had to set my story in Cornwall (accompanied by a groan at becoming yet another writer who’d fallen prey to the Cornish charms!)

 At lot of the original Renaissance story is still woven through my modern tale. Angelo rides a bike because he originally arrived on horseback. Freya’s desire to make her life better through painting. An old wise woman called Nonna became vibrant, tarot card reading Lola and the young priest who gave council five hundred years ago was reborn as Tristan, the local vicar. The tattoo on Angelo’s back, well, that’s supposed to be a copy of the fresco his sixteenth century counterpart painted.  

After an eighteen year journey with my characters I’ve found the perfect home for them and I hope you’ll enjoy spending some sultry summer days with the Polcarrow crew.

Blurb

All Freya has ever wanted to do is paint. So when she fails her Master’s Degree in Art, on the same day that her boyfriend decides he needs a ‘more serious’ partner, to Freya it feels like the end of the world.

Luckily, she has a saviour in the shape of best friend Lola, who invites her to the sleepy Cornish village of Polcarrow, to work in her café. With nothing keeping her in London, Freya jumps at the chance of a summer by the sea.

Freya needs time to focus on herself. But then dark and mysterious biker Angelo blows into town on a stormy afternoon, with his own artistic dreams and a secretive past, and Freya’s plans of a romance-free summer fly straight out of the window…

Amazon Buying Link: The Cornish Hideaway

Author Bio

As a lifelong lover of stories, Jennifer Bibby spent her teenage years wowing various teachers with her historical epics before finding her feet exploring the everyday lives of modern women through literature. In addition to being a bibliophile she loves classy cocktails, cake and medieval history. She’s happiest by the sea and loves to travel, and firmly believes that dinosaurs improve everything. The Cornish Hideaway is her debut novel and was a contender for the Romantic Novelists Association’s Joan Hessayon award July 2022.

Many thanks to Jennifer for taking part. I’m intrigued by the idea of moving a story from 16th century Italy to a contemporary setting on the Cornish coast. Just goes to show what a creative bunch we writers are!

The Story Behind the Story with Jodie Homer

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I’m delighted to welcome new author Jodie Homer to my blog this week. Jodie’s first novel Raindrops on the Umbrella Cafe was published in April this year. What was the inspiration behind it?

I love going to the beach and one of my favourite beach holidays I still remember was when I was a child in Torquay. I wanted to set my book around a beach village. I would love to live nearer to the beach as well, so the setting was perfect. What inspired me to write the café was I watched ‘Singin in the Rain’ just before I wrote it and I really love the choreography and the idea that an umbrella can be used to find a date. I wanted it to be a new and quirkier way to find someone rather than just meeting normally, and I really love the idea of picking out an absolute stranger’s umbrella and going on a date with them.

I also love the 90’s so I had to include as much singing and karaoke as possible because I love music and love listening to 90’s music and I think with the summer setting at the beach and the pub where most of the karaoke and singing takes place takes me back again to summers spent at the pub just playing whilst they have music on and going to the school disco. It is all nostalgia for me and I wanted readers to feel that nostalgia too.

Author Bio

Jodie lives in a small village in Solihull with her husband and two children. She loves nothing more than dancing around embarrassingly to 90’s music and eating mint chocolate. Jodie enjoys reading and writing books full of romance and swoon-worthy fictional men.

Blurb

On inheriting her uncle’s beloved Umbrella Café, Sarah packs up and leaves the busy city of Birmingham for her childhood seaside village of Cobble-Heath.

Discovering life at the Umbrella Café is not as idyllic as it was when she was a child. Sarah has to contend with getting to grips with managing a café, accepting her two childhood best friends falling in love and a handsome Australian stranger who has come for the summer. Throw in a family secret with an unexpected arrival and Sarah’s life is turned upside down.

Can Sarah keep the cracks in her life sealed up or will she be the next thing to crack up?

Amazon Buying link: Raindrops On The Umbrella Cafe

Many thanks to Jodie for taking part.

The Story Behind The Story with D Wells

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In the first of my new feature, I’m delighted to welcome author D Wells onto my blog to talk about the inspiration behind her latest book, Where Our Paths Meet.

The idea of Where Our Paths Meet started out as a challenge from my husband, a little healthy dose of spousal ‘I dare you!’ We were on holiday in Suffolk, the county where I grew up, and he asked me if I would set my next book there. Well of course, this was just the spark of flame that I needed to sketch down ideas and the opening paragraphs of my latest novel, while sitting around the campsite fire pit and admiring the view.

I managed a few pages but didn’t really understand what exactly I wanted to write. It was only when we returned home that I fleshed out a proper plot and it developed into what is now the first in a proposed series.

That small town feel, a community to fall in love with, an independent bookshop for good measure, a summery feel-good read, perfect to take away on your own holiday. This is what Where Our Paths Meet has become and I look forward to writing the second and third book and seeing how the journey progresses.

Suffolk remains one of my favourite spots in the UK. A county that is rich in history and agriculture, with flat vast landscapes and big blue skies. It has a unique coastline, woodlands, fields and quaint little market towns all waiting to be discovered. My hope is that Where Our Paths Meet not only introduces a selection of human characters, but the character of Suffolk too.

So, I guess a thank you to my husband is in order. I wonder what the next challenge will be.

Author Bio

D. Wells is the author of uplifting and heartwarming novels 6 Caledon Street and The Things We Regret.

Focusing on relatable characters and beautiful locations D. Wells enjoys exploring family dynamics and if she can manage it, slip in a few historical references too. She’d describe her books as hovering between reading group fiction and women’s commercial fiction. Her third novel Where Our Paths Meet was published in June 2022.

D. Wells is married, has several small and exhausting children and lives in East Anglia, as close to the countryside as she can get.

Links:

https://dwellsauthor.weebly.com

https://www.facebook.com/authorD.Wells

https://www.instagram.com/d.wellsauthor

Evelyn Storford has returned home.

Buying a failing independent bookshop, and nursing a broken heart, she relishes the challenge to make her business successful in the sleepy Suffolk town of Taverton. With her bookshop colleagues and widower father a growing presence in her life, she grapples against the memories of her marriage and the lingering feelings towards estranged husband Ishmael.

A story about family and friendship, grief and love, Where Our Paths Meet introduces a collection of characters, all interlinked and facing various crossroads in their lives.

Buying Link: Where Our Paths Meet

Many thanks to D Wells for taking part and sharing the story behind her story.

Behind the Scenes

Posted on | by Rosie Travers | 2 Comments on Behind the Scenes

Over the next few weeks I’m going to be featuring posts from author friends sharing the inspiration behind their books. I’m going to start off the series by talking about The Puzzle of Pine Bay.

Writers’ minds are like sponges, we soak things up subconsciously and then years later out it comes. If you’ve already read The Puzzle of Pine Bay, or at least the blurb, you’ll know that some of the plot revolves around a holiday camp. Way back in the very hot summer of 1976 we had a family holiday in the Isle of Wight, at a holiday camp, and the memories of that holiday, and that camp, have stayed with me ever since.

Searching through my mum’s old photograph albums I came up with a few pics from that holiday, not all of which are fit for public viewing. Here’s my parents posing very happily with a large bottle of navy rum (why?) and another of our wonderful upmarket chalet. Sadly I can’t publish the one pic we have of the camp’s entertainment compere because my sister would never forgive me (but if you saw it, you would know where I found my inspiration for a certain character in the book!)

However, the “puzzle” Eliza sets out to solve takes her back to the mid-1990s as opposed to the 1970s, and I have to assume the entertainment, and the accommodation was a little more sophisticated by then. Today, I think the old Hi-de-Hi image of holiday parks has long gone (or at least I hope it has!)

The sub-plot of Eliza’s house renovation is also based on my own experiences. Eliza has taken on a challenge, and anyone who has moved house as many times as I had will have run into the same old problems of finding tradespeople to carry out necessary repairs. I also know that people do tend to leave items behind when they move out – whether out of sheer laziness, or simple forgetfulness! I’m guilty as charged! But as for Kyle, the boy next door, he’s definitely a total figment of my imagination (or wishful thinking…) I have to admit, though, I am addicted to garden makeover programmes.

When it comes to the missing magician – I wanted to create an enigmatic character who weaved his magic on and off the stage. A talented illusionist or a charlatan? I hope readers will find him in intriguing!

As for the setting – with a coastline like this, who wouldn’t be inspired by the wonderful Isle of Wight? I’m a sucker for the seaside and the island’s economy is embedded in tourism. There’s plenty of material there for several books!

The Puzzle of Pine Bay launched yesterday and is available at the bargain price of 99p for a couple more weeks. https://amazon.co.uk/dp/B09ZV7GL7R Early reviews have been good, and I’m just going to blow my own trumpet here for a bit with some quotes from Goodreads:

“gripping and full of fab characters”

“wonderfully paced and a joy to Read”

“a wonderful book to laze in the sunshine and imagine the beauty of the Isle of Wight.”

Paperbacks of Pine Bay should be out in time in fill up those Christmas stockings!