Today we travel to the west coast of Canada to chat with Jeanne Ainslie about how pink cherry blossoms, long walks, picking flowers, purple twilight, Ink Spots, journal writing, wild raspberries, compassion, and gratitude come together as part of Jeanne’s current and past life.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am a published author (novels, articles, and short stories) and an experienced editor. My background is science (BSc (Hons), MSc) and my clients have included scientists, government, consultants and authors. My passion is writing. I live by the sea on the west coast of Canada in White Rock, BC.
What genre do you write?
Romantic adventure/erotica.
How many published books do you have?
Two traditional and three ebooks.
At what point did you know you wanted to be a writer?
Age 14. A strong desire to communicate.
What am I currently reading?
Burning The Days by James Salter.
What is my favorite season and why?
Spring. White and pink cherry blossoms, jasmine, fragrant mock orange and lilac.
What do I do when not writing or marketing?
Read, take long walks along the ocean promenade, watch the tide come and go, see movies and plays, pick flowers.
What songs hit you with a wave of nostalgia?
“If I Didn’t Care” Ink Spots and “You Are My Flower” The Carter Family.
https://youtu.be/rvwfLe6sLis
What is your favorite time of day and why?
Twilight and long summer nights. I love the purple twilight and warm summer nights. The day never ends.
Do you journal or keep a diary?
I’ve kept a journal since I was 25 many years ago. I’ve always scribbled notes on scraps of paper. My journal entries have been invaluable for my published books. They capture the immediacy of the experience so that writing is easy.
What do you miss about being a kid?
My aunt’s farm in southern Ontario. I love the smell of fresh mown hay, driving my uncle’s tractor, the open fields, the vegetable garden, picking wild raspberries, the barn cats and feeding the pigs in the barn.
At this stage in your life, what advice would your young self give to your mature self?
Hang in there.
Which of your personality traits has been most useful and why?
Tenacity, resilience, determination, setting goals, compassion and gratitude. Compassion is essential for a writer. And gratitude for my friends and family and all the good things in my life.
What are you currently working on?
A nonfiction book “First You Have to Learn to Live Alone–A Compassionate Guide to Living Alone and Aging”.
My most recent published book is Caribbean Moon–Shipwrecked in Paradise.
Thanks for being a part of MTA, Jeanne. Wish you all the best and much success! – Camilla
Today we travel to Victoria, Australia to chat with Jennifer Jansen about how traveling, being an avid reader, teaching languages, creating characters she would like to meet, unplanned writing, a sombrero wearing penguin, and Spider-Man come together as part of Jennifer’s past and current life.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am a writer from Victoria, Australia. I completed two degrees and then travelled the world which was the best education I could have had. Travel opens your mind and forces you to look past stereotypes. I was teaching languages for 18 years (I speak three so far) and I loved it but it takes a lot of energy which I don’t have anymore. I have always been an avid reader of romance, political thrillers and historical fiction and non-fiction. I decided reading is so good that I want to give that gift to others. On my website I write a blog that is a compilation of romance and history. Topics include: Island of the Immortals and A Western Woman in the Middle East.
In which genre do you write?
I write contemporary romance and I’m loving it! Romance touches the heart and that’s what I want to do.
How many published books do you have?
I have three published romance novels – two of a trilogy, the third one will be released in late September, and a romance novella.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer and what ignited your author’s flame?
I used to write my little ‘books’ as a young child making my father read them over and over again. It wasn’t until I was offered a ghost writing position after 18 years in teaching that I realised how much I enjoy writing. I then decided to start writing my own books. I wanted to create characters that I would want to meet.
What is an interesting writing quirk you have, that we wouldn’t know by reading your biography?
I don’t plan anything. I have a vague idea in my head but I cannot make a plan. I must start writing and the story reveals itself to me. Yes, it sounds weird even to me, but that’s the way it is.
What does your ideal writing space look like?
One of my favourite writers has a gorgeous office set up in her back yard. It is a beautiful, white wooden cabin set amongst all the trees and flowers. I would love something like that.
Where did the idea for your most recent book come from?
I have written a trilogy of books set in the royal palaces of desert kingdoms. My travels through the Arabian region had a profound effect on me. The ancient history, the awe inspiring archaeological feats, and the hospitality from beautiful people.
All this was the inspiration for my Desert Desires Trilogy – Duty Bound Desire: the Sheikh’s Forced Marriage, Desert Desires: Her True Destiny, and His Forbidden Passion. My next books will be based in Greece, another ancient civilisation and a place where the ancient and modern live side-by-side.
A penguin knocks on your door and is wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he there?
Buenos dias. Can you tell me the way to Mehico? My cousin is there and tells me the weather is grrrreat!
If you were trapped in a cartoon world from your childhood, which one would you choose and why?
https://youtu.be/adOvSrhfOiA
Easy. Spiderman. I always loved that cartoon when I was a kid. I loved the theme song, I loved the character, I loved that he could swing high from anywhere. I still wish I could do that! Must be the kid in me. I haven’t lost my child-like heart. I think it’s one of the greatest gifts we can hold onto in life.
It was wonderful to have you on MTA and learn more about you, Jennifer. Wishing you all the best! – Camilla
Blurb for: Duty Bound Desire: the Sheikh’s Forced Marriage (Book 1 in the Desert Desires Trilogy)
After a disastrous first marriage which almost brought down his family, Crown Prince Nabil Al Massoud vowed never to marry again. However, his father’s ailing health and his nation’s need for a strong leader have thrust Nabil to the forefront. He must now take charge of his nation and to do that needs a suitable wife.
Princess Yasmin is one of few royally trained women who will nicely fit the bill. But she is strong, intelligent and stunningly beautiful, a dangerous combination for Nabil.
Yasmin is bound by duty to marry a man she hardly knows. The princess will go willingly to save her nation from the unthinkable, but she will be nobody’s subordinate.
Her new husband, while always respectful and careful, remains distant, keeping his word that this is a marriage of convenience only – for both of them. But between the sheets he can never truly hide his feelings and as time goes on he will be forced to face some uncomfortable truths from his past if this marriage is to survive.
Today we travel to Switzerland to chat with Cass Grafton about how Cornwall, Richard Armitage, living in the USA for five years, Jane Austen, being a storyteller, Bagpuss, toilet brushes, Mr Darcy, the movie Fishermen’s Friends, and the alpine town of Zermatt come together as part of her past and current life.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I was raised in England, in the Welsh border county of Shropshire, spent some time at college in London and then lived in the West Country and later the northwest, with my husband and children, before moving to the USA in 2001.
We spent five very happy years in Connecticut before returning to the north east of England for a while. Six years ago, we moved to Switzerland in the heart of Europe, where we live in a small rural town just north of Zürich.
It’s a beautiful and inspiring country, and living here has given me the chance to make writing my career. I work from home, and I love it!
In which genre do you write?
I’m in love with romance and always have been, so that’s my go-to genre to read or write, but I’m skipping around in the sub-categories, exploring and writing whatever speaks to my heart at any given moment. So far, I’m published in three sub-categories: contemporary romance, historical romance and—as a way to combine both—time travel romance.
How many published books do you have?
I have five out in my sole name, and three co-writes, two with my writing partner, Ada Bright, and one as part of a five-author team.
My most recent release is a heart-warming contemporary romance set in Cornwall.
Where did the idea for your most recent book come from?
I’ve always had a longing to live in Cornwall, but knew it would probably never happen, so I decided to do the next best thing I could: live there through my characters.
One of the other particular inspirations for The Cottage in a Cornish Cove, the first in this new series, was the male lead, a character I fell for from the beginning (and not at all influenced by the mental image I had in my mind of him looking like the gorgeous actor, Richard Armitage). No (shakes head), not at all…
The setting, a quaint fishing village on the south-east Cornwall coast, was inspired by all the many family holidays we had in Polperro with our children and the romantic couples breaks my husband and I also took there (my husband proposed to me in a restaurant in Polperro) and, more recently, in nearby Fowey.
If you could have a fantasy tea or coffee date with an author or famous person from the past or present, who would it be and what would you ask them?
Can I cheat and pick two? Does everyone cheat on this one?
I’d love to sit down with Jane Austen and JK Rowling at the same time. I believe JK Rowling is an Austen fan (in fact, in the first of our time travel romances, Jane Austen reads the first Harry Potter book) and I’d be happy just listening to them talk. Just imagine the things they might ask each other!
I definitely cheat whenever I answer this type of question! Ha!
What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned about yourself through writing?
Rather oddly, that I am, in fact, a storyteller. This may seem odd coming from a writer, but to be honest, when I first started writing fiction (short stories initially, then novels) I had no idea if what I was writing was any good.
What is the most enjoyable thing you’ve found through writing?
Without question, some amazing and wonderful writer friends. I can’t imagine my life without them, and had I not tried my hand at writing novels, I’d never have met most of them.
You are about to speak publicly to a group and read from your latest book. What song do you listen to before speaking?
I’d be listening to Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’! Seriously, this is the sort of thing that terrifies me!
https://youtu.be/ARt9HV9T0w8
I love, love, love this song, Cass! Just had to include the video. Plus, there’s roller skating in the video. Roller skating!
What do you miss about being a kid?
As I’m housework averse, I miss the days when the iron was something you were told to stay away from. Ditto the toilet brush. I miss those days. I also never had a hangover…
List 3 interesting facts about yourself.
1. If it hadn’t been for a Connecticut seagull, I would never have met my Californian co-writing partner, Ada Bright (full details upon application)!
2. In 2010, I raised a petition and sent it to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, asking if they could please reinstate the plaster bust of Mr Darcy (a movie prop recently moth balled as it was five years since Pride & Prejudice (2005) came out, where the estate stood in for Mr Darcy’s home of Pemberley).
I doubt the duke and duchess ever saw my letter themselves, but the team at Chatsworth were lovely and said they were happy to do it. Mr Darcy is still there today, in the Orangery Gift Shop, although there’s a sign on him saying ‘Do Not Kiss’. Apparently, the staff became fed up with having to wipe lipstick off it!
3. I’m an Ambassador, as well as a volunteer Programme Manager, for the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation, a registered not for profit organisation created by Caroline Jane Knight, Jane Austen’s (five times) great niece, to harness the global passion for Jane Austen in supporting literacy in communities in need across the world.
What a fascinating story of how you got them to reinstate the bust of Mr Darcy. And, lipstick on the bust!! Hahahaha!
If you were trapped in a cartoon world from your childhood, which one would you choose and why?
Bagpuss, a British children’s television series, broadcast in the 1970s. The title character was “a saggy, old cloth cat, baggy, and a bit loose at the seams”. It was stop motion animation rather than cartoon, but I loved the world that woke up when he did (the scenery turning from sepia to colour), and I’m a sucker for any sort of cat, even pink and cream striped ones who hang out with musical mice and a wooden woodpecker bookend called Professor Yaffle.
What’s the last movie you watched and why did you choose to watch it?
Living in Switzerland often scuppers our plans for watching new films on the big screen (our local town only shows one film in English per month, and it’s rarely the one we want to see), so we catch up on DVD as and when we get a chance.
The last one was a British comedy called Fishermen’s Friends. It’s set in the Cornish fishing village of Port Isaac (which Doc Martin fans will know as Portwenn) and is inspired by a true story about a fishermen’s choir. It’s heart-warming and very funny and the location just made it a perfect watch one rainy Sunday afternoon.
This looks like my kind of movie, Cass! Adding it to my list to watch. Thank you.
What’s your favorite place to visit in your country and why?
Hmmm, tricky, because there are so many gorgeous places here where we’ve had such fun times. It’s a toss up between Weggis on Lake Luzern and the alpine town of Zermatt.
Weggis is at the foot of Mount Rigi—known as the Queen of the Mountains, and one of our favourite places for a day trip—and is a beautiful lakeside resort with lovely views of the neighbouring mountains from across the azure waters. It also has strong associations with Mark Twain, who spent some time there and fell in love with it.
Zermatt is a car-free alpine town near the Italian border, and home to the Matterhorn. It’s full of character, the scenery is stunning and the local food excellent. There are so many mountain trails to hike, whatever the season, and it just feels like you are a million miles away from the world, tucked away up there in mountains.
These both sound like wonderful locations. Mark Twain spent a great deal of time in Virginia City, Nevada, too (about a 15 minute drive from here). He sure got around. I’m adding these to my bucket list.
Tell us about your most recent book.
The Cottage in a Cornish Cove is an uplifting contemporary romance filled with love, warmth and humour. It’s about discovering what you thought you always wanted isn’t necessarily what you need, and follows Anna in her search for happiness.
It came out in February and the reviews have been truly lovely.
It was wonderful having you as a guest and learning more about you, Cass. Best wishes for continued success! -Camilla
Blurb:
Orphaned as a baby and raised by uncaring relatives, much of Anna Redding’s happiness as a child came from the long summer holidays spent with an elderly family friend, Aunt Meg, in the coastal village of Polkerran.
With Aunt Meg’s passing, Anna is drawn back to the West Country, relocating to the Cornish cove where she was once so happy. Filled with memories, she hopes to perhaps open a B&B—and perhaps cross paths with Alex Tremayne again, a local boy she used to have a major crush on and who only had to walk past Anna to make her heart flutter.
Settling into her new life, and enjoying her work for the older, reclusive and—to be honest—often exasperating Oliver Seymour, Anna is delighted when Alex reappears in Polkerran and sweeps her off her feet.
The stars finally seem to be aligned, but just as Anna thinks all she’s ever wished for is within reach, a shock discovery brings everything under threat, and she discovers she’s living a dream that isn’t hers.
Can Anna rescue the new life she has made for herself and, when the testing moment comes, will anyone be there to hold her hand?
The Cottage in a Cornish Cove is the first in a series of uplifting romances. Get to know the warm and funny locals of Polkerran, wallow in the charm of a Cornish fishing village and fall in love with romance all over again.
Where to find the book:
It’s available in paperback or eBook through all the usual online outlets.
Buy Links:
Amazon Universal Book Link (should take people to their local Amazon site)
Top Three Countries With the Most Traffic to Meeting the Authors in April 2020:
Thank you for taking the time to read more about these authors and book bloggers, and for sharing the interviews on this website. A great deal of work goes into these interviews by all involved. Deep gratitude! –Camilla, Founder & Host
Here are a few suggestions on how to further support these authors:
Comment on the interview
Share the interview using the social media buttons
Click through to learn more about the author and their book(s)
To support this website and the author’s interviewed, visit Support MTA for more suggestions. Thank you!
I’m late with posting this. However, I’ll be taking the month of December and beginning of January off from posting author interviews. Since the website launched in May 2019, we’ve shared two to four interviews per week.
2020 will see many more author interviews, along with the addition of book blogger interviews. I’m quite excited about adding this new feature of interviewing book bloggers.
Stay tuned for an announcement as to when the contact form opens for book bloggers and authors to submit for interviewing.
Until then, I’ll be busy launching and marketing my latest book, ‘Words of Alchemy’. This beautiful book has just been published, with the official launch happening in mid January 2020. Here are a few fun photos of myself and the proof book.
Please let me know if you would like to help spread the word about the book or if you are aware of any bloggers who would like to host a guest post, interview, excerpt, or has time to review the book. Go here to learn more about the book …
Top Three Countries With the Most Traffic to Meeting the Authors in November 2019:
Thank you for taking the time to read more about these authors and sharing the interviews on this website. A great deal of work goes into these interviews by the authors and by me. Deep gratitude! –Camilla, Founder & Host
Here are a few suggestions on how to further support these authors:
Comment on the interview
Share the interview using the social media buttons
Click through to learn more about the author and their book(s)
To support this website and the author’s interviewed, visit Support MTA for more suggestions. Thank you!
Meeting the Authors has had an incredibly successful beginning. The website launched in May 2019 with interviews from the get go. It has been a pleasure to meet such a wide and diverse group of authors from around the world.
Thank you for being a part of the MTA launch and thank you to those who have asked how you can help. Here’s to many more fun and quirky interviews in 2020! – Camilla
(Lovely Word Cloud Created From Content On This Website)
For those interested in helping to support this website, here are a few suggestions:
Comment on the interviews that you enjoyed reading
Buy a Coffee for the founder and host of Meeting the Authors – Camilla Downs
Authors are not charged to be interviewed on this site. They have worked incredibly hard creating these books. Writing the book is only a piece of the process. The book must be edited and designed and formatted for printing as a book. There’s no relaxing once the book is ready to be birthed to the reading world! Marketing the book and keeping the momentum must be stepped into vigorously. This is my small way of helping.
Thank you for the support for the service this website provides!
Today we welcome Susan Willis as we travel to a small town in Co-Durham, North East England to learn how recipes, setting an alarm, the garden shed and Cinderella comprise the ingredients of Susan’s writing life. Get the simmering pots ready, let’s get cookin’ ….
List 3 interesting facts about yourself.
I didn’t start writing until I was 48 years old.
I develop new recipes and products for food companies, mainly Marks & Spencer.
After ten years I still love the fact that people enjoy what I write. Good reviews to me are like winning the lottery.
What was the first thing you ever had published?
Lamb in a Pot, a short story in a USA magazine 2009. I’d written the story on a long train journey because I’d been using sensory terms for lamb at work. I decided to weave them into a cook’s story when her boyfriend turns the tables and makes a meal for her. Caramelising onions, garlic and rosemary, majestic chunks of tender lamb, pebble-like new potatoes, black olives, and plump juicy tomatoes: all simmered for hours. Mama Mia! The cook had cried – this is the type of food to make me feel faint with pleasure and desire!
Do you have a writing routine?
When I’m not working and intend to write, I set my alarm for one hour only to do emails and social media. I need to limit this because it can take over your day and reduce the time left for actual writing, and, after all, that’s what I love to do!
Do you have any writing rituals?
I try to move from my chair every two hours and take a walk around the garden to think. If it’s raining, I end up in the garden shed! I often find if my character is stuck in a certain situation the fresh air helps to clear my mind and I can usually think of a way forward.
Where did the idea for your most recent book come from?
A couple of years ago I decided to move more into relationship themed stories instead of focusing on food. I enjoyed writing the conflict scenes and, teasing the reader so much that I’ve moved into romantic suspense. The Girl in the Dark, is based in a photography studio with a food stylist and two photographers. I read somewhere that Alfred Hitchcock was dubbed, The Master of Suspense, and was one of the first to move away from, the who done it concept, knowing exactly how to manipulate the viewers in the cinema to keep them watching the film. I was intrigued and delved into psychological suspense.
Who was the first person you shared your book with?
My dear friend, Rosie Jones, who is also a writer. I’d waited in trepidation for her comments knowing she’d tell me the truth, warts and all. Thankfully, she loved the story, and told me it was the best thing I’ve written!
Do you have a current work in progress?
Yes, I have a new novel and am looking for a publisher. It’s called, His Wife’s Secret. Does anyone know where I could submit?
Do you have any advice for budding authors?
Don’t Give Up! If you have a story to tell, then do it!
If you could have a fantasy tea or coffee date with an author or famous person from the past or present, who would it be and what would you ask them?
George Clooney! Do I need to say more, girls? I think I’d just sit and drool….
If you were trapped in a cartoon world from your childhood, which one would you choose and why?
Cinderella – I love shoes!!
Thank you Susan for joining us on MTA. It was wonderful to learn more about you. –Camilla
Book Blurb
The Girl in the Dark is the latest Grip Lit novel from Susan Willis. A thrilling romantic suspense story that will keep you turning pages long into the night.
When Kim goes to old friend, Sidney’s, photography studio to start a new food styling contract she meets his new assistant, Alex. Kim is catapulted from her mournful existence into an explosive romantic relationship with Alex. Sidney, however, is wary. He thinks, there’s something not quite right about Alex, and urges caution.
Susan Willis is a published author of three novels, and five novellas’. She lives in the North East of England surrounded by family and friends. Following publication of a love story about a chef and her boyfriend, she wrote more foodie-based love stories and wove them into her first novel, ‘Yes Chef, No Chef’.
Now Susan has ventured into romantic suspense with her latest novel, The Girl In The Dark.
Set in her hometown of Durham City, this storyline is not a who done it thriller, but, a psychological page-turner which she loved writing.
If it feels right and you have the time (and you enjoy the interview) please like or comment or share it. The nature of the online world … the more eyes that see it the more it will spread and benefit the author and the website! Thank you!
And if it feels the thing to do and you are inspired to do so, I would be deeply grateful if you’d like to “Buy Me a Coffee” … Camilla – Host of Meeting the Authors …
Today we welcome Richard Savin to Meeting the Authors as we travel to a village in the South of France and the seaside in the South of England. We’ll see how journalism, strong women, Bugs Bunny, and bears align to create the landmarks of Richard’s journey up to this moment in time. Slip on your driving gloves and let’s go …
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I started my working career in the City of London, training to be an underwriter; for me it turned out to be the world’s most tedious job. It was a compromise and after three years I quit.
From there I moved into journalism, my real love. Virtually the only channel available to most writers at the time was freelancing and so, as I was then involved in motorsport as an enthusiast club racing driver, naturally cut my teeth on articles for magazines like Autocar and Motorsport. From that stepping stone I landed a job as an agency journalist, working in the Middle East and Asia for a number of years before ending up as features editor on an education tabloid in Surrey.
In the 1980s I took a break from writing and threw myself into another of my passions: I opened and cheffed my first London restaurant, finally ending up with three.
I live with my wife in the South of France, where we have a house in a village midway between the cities of Narbonne and Carcassonne, and in the South of England where we have a seaside apartment. We commute as the fancy and commitments take us, driving the thousand miles between the two. Driving has always ranked among the great pleasures in life so we rarely do the journey by air.
In which genre do you write?
I write across genres but with a tendency towards recent historical mysteries. In particular I find the thirties and forties an interesting period for the world. Two world wars were shaping social thinking and women were beginning to emerge as an independent force; slowly but it was there. I watched my sisters kick over the boundaries of convention, and as such I write strong, competent women into my plots.
How many published books do you have?
Four with two more scheduled for later this year. My first (non-fiction) was published in 1980 by Canongate: it was autobiographical and recorded my time in Iran during the opening period of the Islamic revolution. It is now out of print but still extensively available in university and public libraries around the world. The other three are all novels and written since 2015.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer and what ignited your author’s flame?
Curiously as a child I used to fret over who would write the books after the grownups had died. I was at college when I first started to write. Things like short pieces for the college magazine. Occasionally these were controversial and I was not popular with my tutors. I had made up my mind that I wanted to be a journalist by the age of 17. I started out freelancing then later moved on to become an agency hack.
What is an interesting writing quirk you have, that we wouldn’t know by reading your biography?
Not sure I have one.
What would you choose as your mascot, spirit animal, or avatar and why?
No contest – a brown bear. Bears have such a sense of humour, especially when drunk. It’s not widely known but bears can get quite squiffy in the Autumn when fallen fruit begins to ferment into alcohol on the ground. I always include a reference to a bear somewhere in my novels. If it was good enough for Shakespeare then its good enough for me.
What does your ideal writing space look like?
A table, chair and a laptop.
What are you currently reading?
I’ve recently finished Sebastian Faulks’ ‘Where my heart used to beat.’
What do you do when not writing or marketing your books?
Cook, drive long distances and go for walks.
If you could have a fantasy tea or coffee date with an author or famous person from the past or present, who would it be and what would you ask them?
The US Secretary of State for War who wrote to Orville Wright telling him he could see no future either militarily or commercially for his new invention: the aeroplane. I’d like to ask him what he was smoking when he came up with that one!
What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned about yourself through writing?
That I can actually get the job done.
Do you journal write or keep a personal diary? Has this helped with your published writings? If so, how?
Not any longer; I did in my earlier life and it was certainly useful when writing the Iranian book.
What is the most amusing, crazy or inspiring thing that has ever happened to you?
Being alive.
You are about to speak publicly to a group and read from your latest book. What song do you listen to before speaking? Or, what do you do to prepare yourself?
Nothing, I’m a natural blabbermouth.
What do you miss about being a kid?
I’ll let you know when I grow up.
If you were trapped in a cartoon world from your childhood, which one would you choose and why?
Bugs Bunny – I’ve always wanted to be able to say ‘what’s up doc’.
What’s the last movie you watched and why did you choose to watch it?
Red Joan – I like Judy Dench as an actor.
A penguin knocks on your door and is wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he there?
‘You need treatment’; I’m hallucinating.
Do you believe things happen for a reason? Do you have an example from your own life to share why you believe this?
No, everything is random.
If you could ask your pet three questions, what would they be?
What the hell are you doing here, I don’t have a pet, maybe I need help.
What’s your favorite place to visit in your country and why?
Anywhere by the sea – I’m attracted to water.
Tell us about your most recent book.
The Girl in the Baker’s Van: set in France in 1941, Evangeline Pfeiffer is on the run; her brother has been arrested by the Gestapo and now they want her. Taking the van from the bakery where she works in Alsace, she heads south for the Pyrenees and escapes into Spain. In Lyon she meets Grainger an SOE agent and asks him to help her get over the mountains. Grainger is reluctant; he has his own mission. Evangeline will have persuade him…
Thanks for joining us on Meeting the Authors Richard. It was incredibly interesting visiting a few of the landmarks along your journey! –Camilla
If it feels right and you have the time (and you enjoy the interview) please like or comment or share it. The nature of the online world … the more eyes that see it the more it will spread and benefit the author and the website! Thank you!
And if it feels the thing to do and you are inspired to do so, I would be deeply grateful if you’d like to “Buy Me a Coffee” … Camilla – Host of Meeting the Authors …
Today we welcome Bella Osborne to Meeting the Authors as we travel to The Midlands, UK and learn how finding the humor in the darker moments of life, board games, biscuits, Scooby-Doo, and conversations in the toilet weave into Bella’s writer’s life. Grab the large bag of popcorn and get comfy ….
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I have been jotting down stories as far back as I can remember but decided that 2013 would be the year that I finished a full length novel. Since then I’ve written four best sellers and been shortlisted twice for the RNA Contemporary Romantic Novel of the Year Award.
I live in The Midlands, UK with my family who thankfully, accept me as I am (with mad morning hair and a penchant for skipping).
In which genre do you write?
I write romantic comedy with a bit of a punch. My stories are about friendship, love and coping with what life throws at you. I like to find the humour in the darker moments of life and weave these into my stories.
How many published books do you have?
A Walk in Wildflower Park was out on 27th June and it is my fifth novel.
What do you do when not writing or marketing your books?
Apart from feeling guilty that I’m not writing or marketing my books I can usually be found trying out new recipes to the dismay of my family, getting beaten at board games by my daughter or expanding my gin knowledge with friends and family.
What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned about yourself through writing?
I can get through an alarming amount of biscuits. I also learned that I loathe editing. I love writing the first draft when it’s all new and fresh and exciting but rereading my book for the tenth time makes me want to set fire to it.
What is the most amusing, crazy or inspiring thing that has ever happened to you?
I met Katie Fforde, bestselling romance author and president of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, in a toilet and during our conversation I proceeded to jump up and down with excitement as I told her that an editor had just asked to see my full manuscript. Thankfully it all ended well – the manuscript went on to be my debut novel and Katie didn’t take out a restraining order.
If you were trapped in a cartoon world from your childhood, which one would you choose and why?
Scooby-Doo! I loved that programme. It had a great mix of fun and mystery and who didn’t want to be part of a cool gang that went around in a van?
What’s the last movie you watched and why did you choose to watch it?
It was ‘Isn’t It Romantic’ on Netflix and it was hilarious. I chose it because I’d heard good things about it and it was a different take on the classic romcom. As a writer of romantic comedies I see this as essential research not an opportunity to veg out on the sofa with a large bag of popcorn (although, obviously I did that too).
If you could ask your pet three questions, what would they be?
Why do you have to join me in the toilet?
Do you know that none of the other cats play fetch?
You know I don’t eat mice, right?
Which of your personality traits has been most useful and why?
Planning. I am a huge planner and this comes in very handing for plotting my novels. I spend a lot of time getting to know my characters and working out the plot before I start to write. It also means I have a legitimate excuse for indulging my post-it note obsession.
Tell us about your most recent book.
It’s titled A Walk In Wildflower Park – a feel good summer read.
When Anna is dumped by her fiancé, she moves in to her own place on the edge of the gorgeous Wildflower Park and pledges to stay off men and focus on her career, but a handsome new colleague seems to thwart her attempts at every turn. And when she receives an accidental text from a mystery man, could it be the new start she needs? Or someone she really shouldn’t be falling for?
Anna’s neighbour Sophie is a stressed-out mum-of-two with a third on the way. Her husband is a constant frustration, and their children are a regular source of newly-invented swear words and unidentifiable sticky surfaces.
Luckily, Anna and Sophie have each other – and Wildflower Park proves to be a sanctuary as they map out a path to find the happiness they both deserve…
Thank you Bella for joining us on Meeting the Authors. It was great fun learning more about you and your writer’s life! – Camilla
Where to buy:
It’s available in paperback from Sainsburys and all good bookshops from 27th June 2019 and also online:
If it feels right and you have the time (and you enjoy the interview) please like or comment or share it. The nature of the online world … the more eyes that see it the more it will spread and benefit the author and the website! Thank you!
And if it feels the thing to do and you are inspired to do so, I would be deeply grateful if you’d like to “Buy Me a Coffee” … Camilla – Host of Meeting the Authors …
