Can you tell us a little bit about your latest book Undertaking Love?It's a romantic comedy with a super sexy edge! It centres on the very public battle between a Las Vegas style wedding chapel and a funeral parlour for supremacy in a sleepy Shropshire village. Beckleberry High Street isn't big enough for both of them, but who will win out? Throw in a cast of beautiful and eccentric characters and it's a sexy recipe for mayhem, misfortune and romantic entanglements.
Where did the inspiration for the Weddings vs Funerals clash come from? (I love it!)
Thank you! I've always had a fascination for Vegas wedding chapels, so it began from a wish to include one in a story. I guess a funeral parlour was just about as much of a polar opposite as I could imagine, and it certainly made for interesting conflicts within the book. Shropshire is beautiful and quite local for me so it's a setting I know well.
You had amazing success with Undertaking Love when it was published as an eBook last year, are you excited to be able to finally hold a print copy in your hands?
Oh my gosh! I cannot begin to tell you how very excited I am! It's been my dream from day one, so to know that the day is coming when I'll hold my actual book in my hands makes me grin from ear to ear.
Which character did you have the most fun creating?
Jonny was a whole heap of fun to write. In my head he's so John Barrowman!
Have you anything exciting planned for publication day?
You know, I don't! I guess I should think about that some more. I know for certain that I'll be nervous enough to be sick!
Are you going to treat yourself to something special as a reward for publishing your first book?
I have a vintage charm bracelet, so maybe a new charm would be appropriate. A little chapel perhaps.
Are you currently working on a new book? If so, are you able to tell us anything about it?
I am indeed! I'm not sure how much I'm able to reveal, but I'm having a great time writing it. I can share that it's based in lovely Shropshire again, and similarly to Undertaking Love, that it has a wide and eclectic cast of varying ages. There *might* be a handsome and extremely grouchy chef...
Do you have a set daily writing routine?
Well, I'm a mum to two little boys, so my day starts with the usual bedlam of breakfast, uniforms and lunch boxes. After that I try to sit down and be writing by 9.30, although I am too easily distracted by twitter and facebook! I write through until school pick up time, and then usually work again after the boys are in bed. I can *sometimes* be found with wine alongside my laptop at night.
Are you a plot planner or a start writing and see where it takes you writer?
I'm a mix of both really. I like to have a bare bones outline, or a beginning and an end in mind at least. Beyond that, I'm a 'sit down and see what happens' kind of girl!
If you could go on a writing retreat anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I think I'd go somewhere snowy. Norway maybe, or Switzerland? I'm thinking a log cabin, a roaring fire, and hot chocolate laced with rum. No distractions, just me, my laptop, and a crack hot chef so I don't need to cook!
No wifi though please, or else I'll get nothing done. :)
If you could write a famous person into one of your stories, who would it be and why?
Ooooh, I don't know! You stumped me! My husband would say Kylie...
If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring author, what would it be?
Don't give up. It takes a while but it's worth all of the knock backs and tears when you get that magical yes.
If you could invite any three authors, alive or dead, to a dinner party who would you choose and why?
This one's easy for me! My three favourites. Jilly Cooper, Jenny Crusie and Marian Keyes. I'd ply them with fizz and then pump them mercilessly for tips.
What’s the last book you’ve read that has made you cry?
Me Before You by JoJo Moyes. Wow, I loved that book.
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