The Write Stuff with... Elaine Everest

Today it's my pleasure to welcome Elaine Everest to the blog to talk about the challenges when writing a series as part of the blog tour for her latest book The Teashop Girls at War. 

In some ways writing a standalone novel as opposed to a series is no different as the author should still aim to be as meticulous in their research and storytelling. However, once a series is agreed with our publisher.

Characters ages: 
Our characters will grow older especially if a series runs over a number of years. In my Woolworths Girls series, I have just completed a book set in 1953, that is sixteen years since Sarah, Maisie and Freda first met. In that time, they have married, had children, experienced life which can affect the way they look at life. No one stays the same. Keep these details with a file for each character.

Children 
Our girls will have families, which affects their working life and can be a problem for the author who must stay focused on their workplace. Women who are childless must seek war work which is an obstacle when I need them to be working in Woolworths or Lyons Teashops. I’m currently writing the twelfth Woolworths book and there have been a fair number of children appear, both adopted and born. As they get older, they are demanding their own storylines!

Author Interview: Elaine Everest plus giveaway for HB copy of Wedding Bells for Woolworths

Today it's my stop on the Wedding Bells for Woolworths blog tour and it's my pleasure to welcome author Elaine Everest to the blog to find out a little more about her and her writing. Welcome Elaine.

Hi Shaz, thank you so much for hosting me today.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your writing journey started? 
I’ve always written since a child but writing for a living started back in 1997 after my dad died. I’d also left a horribly stressful job in office management that same year, around the time my father in law also passed away – and I’d experienced ill-heath – what a year! So, I gave myself a good talking to and decided to turn to freelance writing as a full-time job. It was the best thing I’d ever done. 

I wrote features, short fiction, entered competitions, online content – in fact anything that brought in money. Yes, a few times I took on part time temporary work to help the cash flow but knowing they were short term helped me stay focused on my writing and treating it as a job. I bless the day I did that but with the two dads had been around to see my books published. 

If you had to give an elevator pitch for your latest book Wedding Bells for Woolworths, what would it be?
That’s interesting!

The war is over and in ‘austerity Britain’ the girls from Woolworths find they still have battles to fight and friendships to hold on to.  Of course there are lighter moments with the impending marriage of Princess Elizabeth in 1947 and the London Olympics of 1948. There is also romance for one of our girls.

July 1947. Britain is still gripped by rationing, even as the excitement of Princess Elizabeth’s engagement sweeps the nation. In the Woolworths’ canteen, Freda is still dreaming of meeting her own Prince Charming. So far she’s been unlucky in love. When she has an accident on her motorbike, knocking a cyclist off his bicycle, it seems bad luck is still following her around. Anthony is not only a fellow Woolworths employee but was an Olympic hopeful. Will his injured leg heal in time for him to compete? Can he ever forgive Freda?

Sarah's idyllic family life is under threat with worries about her husband, Alan. Does he still love her?

The friends must rally round to face some of the toughest challenges of their lives together. And although they experience loss, hardship and shocks along the way, love is on the horizon for the Woolworths girls . . .

Which of the characters has changed the most from what you had initially planned for them since you first started writing the series?
Being to youngest of the trio I would say that Freda has grown the most since 1938 when they all met for their interview with Betty Billington. A shy frightened child she has blossomed so much, although she has still had heartbreak along the way. In Wedding Bells for Woolworths she is really up against it being involved with a local criminal and falling out with her mates.

Mind you, speaking of Betting Billington she too has had quite a journey…

What themes do you find interesting to explore whilst writing The Woolworth Girls series?  And how much research do you need to undertake?
So much research goes into writing sagas. Setting fiction around historical events means I have to ensure every fact is correct. Yes, I enjoy researching WW2 – even WW1 in my current work in progress, and also post WW2 in Wedding Bells for Woolworths. There are also my main characters and how their lives fit around the historical settings. They have to ‘of the time’ and think as young women would in their time period. I also like to examine the older characters as their lives go back so much further. I would say the main theme of my books is friendship, closely followed by family. 

Blogiversary Giveaway: Take your pick from a selection of Women's Fiction Books

Today it's time for the other TBR giveaway, the chance for the winner to select one of the books currently languishing in my review piles that realistically I'm unlikely to read anytime soon. If you missed Monday's giveaway post explaining what the TBR giveaways are about, you can read it here.

The broad genre I'm using today is Women's Fiction as I have a mixture of books that cover Contemporary fiction, Romantic Comedy, Romance or Saga and I think in the selection of books below these are widely covered. As mentioned previously these are either duplicate copies where I already have a proof copy or eBook to review or have been received out of the blue and I'm unlikely to be reading for review in the near future.

Emma's Review: Wartime at Woolworths by Elaine Everest

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

The Woolworths girls have come a long way together . . .

Fun loving Maisie, is devoted to her young family and her work at Woolworths. But her happy life with her RAF officer husband, their baby daughter leads her to think of the family she left behind . . . With the war now into its fourth year, what will she find when she sets about searching for them?

Sarah and her husband, Alan, are blissfully happy and long for a sibling for their daughter. But dark days lay ahead for this close family.

Freda heads home to Birmingham, to go in search of her family, back to the life she fled – far from the safety of Woolworths and her new friends.

With families’ separated by war, will the Woolworths girls be able to pull together?

Amazon Affiliate Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: Christmas at Woolworths by Elaine Everest

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Even though there was a war on, the Woolworths girls brought Christmas cheer to their customers

Best friends Sarah, Maisie and Freda are brought together by their jobs at Woolworths. With their loved ones away on the front line, their bonds of friendship strengthen each day. Betty Billington is the manager at Woolworths, and a rock for the girls, having given up on love . . . Until a mysterious stranger turns up one day – could he reignite a spark in Betty?

As the year draws to a close, and Christmas approaches, the girls must rely on each other to navigate the dark days that lie ahead . . .

With so much change, can their friendship survive the war?

Amazon Affiliate Links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: The Butlins Girls by Elaine Everest

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Molly Missons gazed around in awe. So this was Butlin's. Whitewashed buildings, bordered by rhododendrons, gave a cheerful feeling to a world still recovering from six years of war. The Skegness holiday camp covered a vast area, much larger than Molly expected to see.

Molly Missons hasn't had the best of times recently. Having lost her parents, now some dubious long-lost family have darkened her door - attempting to steal her home and livelihood...

After a horrendous ordeal, Molly applies for a job as a Butlin's Aunty. When she receives news that she has got the job, she immediately leaves her small home town - in search of a new life in Skegness.

Molly finds true friendship in Freda, Bunty and Plum. But the biggest shock is discovering that star of the silver screen, Johnny Johnson, is working at Butlin's as head of the entertainment team. Johnny takes an instant liking to Molly and she begins to shed the shackles of her recent traumas. Will Johnny be just the distraction Molly needs - or is he too good be to be true?

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback

Emma's Review: The Woolworths Girls by Elaine Everest

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Can romance blossom in times of trouble?

It's 1938 and as the threat of war hangs over the country, Sarah Caselton is preparing for her new job at Woolworths. Before long, she forms a tight bond with two of her colleagues: the glamorous Maisie and shy Freda. The trio couldn't be more different, but they immediately form a close-knit friendship, sharing their hopes and dreams for the future.

Sarah soon falls into the rhythm of her new position, enjoying the social events hosted by Woolies and her blossoming romance with young assistant manager, Alan. But with the threat of war clouding the horizon, the young men and women of Woolworths realize that there are bigger battles ahead. It's a dangerous time for the nation, and an even more perilous time to fall in love . . .

Amazon links: Kindle or Paperback