Author Interview: Clodagh Murphy

Today it's my pleasure to welcome author Clodagh Murphy to the blog to talk about her latest book For Love or Money which was published this week.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your writing journey started? 
Hi! I’m an Irish writer and I live in Dublin – currently in a city centre apartment, but I’ll shortly be moving to a house in the suburbs, where I plan to build the writing shed of my dreams. 

I wanted to be a writer from a young age, and I was always scribbling stories, poems and bits of novels. The first thing I had published was a short story in a national newspaper.  But when I started writing romantic comedy, I felt I’d found my niche. I was surprised - and delighted - to discover I could actually make people laugh with my writing. My first novel The Disengagement Ring was published in 2009 by Hachette Ireland, and I’ve had three other novels and a novella published since then. 

If you had to give an elevator pitch for your latest book For Love or Money, what would it be? 
I’m so bad at elevator pitches! I really need to work on that. I’d say it’s a sunny, funny, sexy romantic comedy with a lot of heart. But if we can pretend it’s a very slow elevator in a very tall building, this is a short blurb:

Lesley has always fancied herself as an amateur sleuth, so when Al wants to hire her to investigate his elderly uncle’s fiancée, she jumps at the chance. It doesn’t hurt that the job will involve posing as Al’s girlfriend and joining his family on holiday in Nice.

Stella can’t quite believe she’s engaged to legendary actor Sir Peter Bradshaw. She accepted what she thought was a deathbed proposal. Now she has a living, breathing fiancé and a wedding to plan. But first she has to get through a holiday in the South of France with Peter’s extended family, who all seem convinced she’s a gold-digger.

As Lesley bonds with Stella over shopping trips and bottles of rosé, she thinks she has it all figured out. After all, it’s no great mystery why a young woman would marry a fabulously wealthy seventy-two-year-old with a heart condition, is it? 

And Al may be the nicest boyfriend she’s ever had (even if he is fake), but Lesley believes in instant attraction and there’s just no spark. So there’s no chance he’s going to grow on her.
But people have a way of surprising you, as she’s about to discover ...

My Favourite Book is... by Sue Moorcroft, Vacheli & Kelly Spillane

Sue Moorcroft, author of The Wedding Proposal 

My favourite book is 'A Town Like Alice' by the late, great Nevil Shute. I first read my late father's copy when I was nine - my very first foray into adult literature. I fell in love with Nevil Shute's writing and between Dad and I we collected the entire set. I have them on my shelf today. 

A Town Like Alice is a sweeping love story that moves Jean and Joe across continents, through war, through personal suffering, to a place where they can build a life together. It gripped my imagination and began my love affair with romantic fiction. It's amongst Nevil Shute's most famous works, and deservedly so. It also reminds me of Dad and long interesting chats about the books we loved.

Vacheli from Books & Strips 

Well 1Q84 is one of my favourite books but I think I'll talk about one of my local (Indian) favourites, The Immortals Of Meluha. 

I'm not sure If anyone has heard of The Immortals Of Meluha but it is a book written by the Indian author Amish Tripathi about a god, Lord Shiva.

The book is based on the mythology surrounding the god but it also toys with the idea that gods didn't start off as gods but as ordinary men and women who were so great that they were brought up to a god like status by the generations after them. It appealed to me a lot because while I was always a religious person, I had been raised in a very strict household. This playful approach to these gods was so refreshing that I fell in love immediately. 

Books Read: Clodagh Murphy - Some Girls Do

Claire Kennedy is NiceGirl, the anonymous author of steamy online blog 'Scenes of a Sexual Nature'. An internet sensation, she attracts the attention of Mark Bell, a hot London publisher. But when it becomes clear that Mark is interested in more than just a book deal, Claire has to act fast. Because little does Mark know that NiceGirl is a lot more experienced in the bedroom than real-life Claire Kennedy. 

Mark is offering Claire the life she's always dreamed of - a steady relationship, the literary world of London and a posh Highgate apartment. 

But when Claire hires the services of struggling artist and commitment-phobe Luca to brush up on her sex skills, things get more complicated... 

Great sex, friendship AND love ... can't a girl have it all?

Amazon links: Kindle or Trade Paperback

Giveaway: Win a copy of Frisky Business by Clodagh Murphy & Lifesaving for Beginners by Ciara Geraghty

Last week I was lucky enough to win a Twitter competition run by Hachette Ireland for a copy of Frisky Business and Lifesaving for Beginners (click on the name of the book for link to Amazon to read the book blurbs).  

But as it's sunny and I've already read and reviewed both books previously, I've decided to run another giveaway to give one of you lucky peeps the chance to win these for yourself. To enter, simply enter your details into the Rafflecopter form below.

Books Read: Clodagh Murphy - Frisky Business

Romy Fitzgerald always planned to go the conventional route: boyfriend, marriage, children. Motherhood via cupboard sex at a costume party with a stranger dressed as Darth Vader didn't feature on her to-do list. But when she gives birth to her son Luke nine months later, he turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to her. As Luke gets older however, Romy knows that at some point she's going to have to tell him about his father. Trouble is, she never found out 'Darth's' real name. But when an old flame arrives back in her life, the plot thickens.

Kit Masterson was always 'the one who got away' and now he's back from New York and seems intent on playing happy families with Romy and Luke. But Kit has his own secrets to hide ...As Romy begins to wonder if she'll ever find her mystery man from the party, she learns that in real life secrets rarely stay hidden, especially when it comes to love. But will Romy find her dark knight or will she be left to raise Luke (Han) solo?