Welcome to another wonderful blog tour hosted by the lovely Jenny In Neverland. First of all go and find her on Facebook and Twitter. This one is going to be a little different as it's an author Q&A, the blurb of the book and some author information.
Blurb: Holly Wilson has landed a dream job but there is one proviso… she must keep it secret, and that means telling lies. Holly hates telling lies.
But Philippe has not been completely honest either and when Holly stumbles across the truth, she feels totally betrayed.
Q&A:
Hi Julia, firstly can you sum up Life’s a Beach and Then… in no more than 2 sentences?
Life’s a Beach and Then… is an emotional, modern love story featuring four main characters and their relationships as their paths entwine. Holly and Philippe are not being honest with each other which threatens their blossoming relationship, and Rosemary and Robert have a tragic secret of their own
The book is set partly in Mauritius - can you tell us what made you set it there and what you like about it?
My other half and I had gone on a special holiday to Mauritius after a particularly difficult year where I had been battling leukaemia whilst still maintaining my full-time job as a Presenter at QVC. He felt I needed a totally relaxing holiday and Mauritius had always been a destination I longed to go to. On the first morning, only twenty minutes after settling on my sun lounger, the beginning of an idea started to grow and from that moment the story just flowed. I suppose it is not surprising as Mauritius really is stunning with its white sandy beaches and warm clear blue sea. I also found the sound of the waves constantly rumbling against the distant reef very calming and almost re-assuring.
What essentials do you need when you sit down to write? (Other than your notepad/laptop of course!)
Peace and quiet, and preferably a nice view from a window. I don’t drink coffee, apart from one cup in the morning, but I do like my ‘Go Away I’m Writing’ mug to be magically refilled with fruit tea – Echinacea and Raspberry is my favourite
If you could co-write a book with any author, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Probably Mary Higgins Clark. I am very keen to learn about lots of different styles of writing and I have been a fan of hers since 1976 when I read ‘Where are the Children’. I started reading it late one night after I had finished work at a theatre in Barcelona and had to stay up all night to finish it – I couldn’t go to sleep not knowing the outcome.
Who are some of your all time favourite authors and/or books?
I have quite diverse taste in reading and don’t stick to a particular genre. I already mentioned I’m a big fan of Mary Higgins Clark, but I have read every book Adele Parks has written (I love her style of writing) and John Grisham is another favourite.
How do you juggle writing with your busy lifestyle of being on TV? Do you have a set routine for your writing?
I rarely write on days when I am working at QVC as I like to really immerse myself for several hours. Most of my writing is done on days off and on holiday. Parts of Life’s a Beach and Then… were written in a hotel room in Dubai and a villa in Corsica.
If you could invite 4 famous people to a dinner party, dead or alive, who would they be and why?
Julia Roberts the Hollywood actress – I’ve always wanted to meet her as we share the same name.
Michael McIntyre – I can’t even look at him without laughing so I think he would definitely provide the humour around the dinner table.
Margaret Mitchell – I love both the book and the film Gone With the Wind.
Frank Sinatra – I grew up listening to Ol’ Blue Eyes as he was one of my dad’s favourite singers and I’ll bet he has a few stories to tell!
Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?
I have already started on the sequel to Life’a a Beach and Then… called If He Really Loved Me. The story focuses much more on Holly’s son Harry and the search for his dad.
How do you find the self-publishing aspect of writing? Is it something that works for you? Are there any downsides to being self-published?
I have found the whole self-publishing process very time consuming. I want to be writing not publicising but if you self-publish you have to work to get your book ‘out there’. The upside for me is that I have made all the decisions. I chose the title (with a little help from my friend Denise), the cover (with help from my daughter Sophie) and kept the story as I wanted people to read it. The main downside for me was the constant proof-reading to make sure the book had as few errors as humanly possible – I’m a bit of a perfectionist.
Lastly, can you give any aspiring writers out there some words of advice?
If you want to write a book ‘just do it’ as Nike would say. Don’t let anybody put you off. If you are going to self-publish get yourself a good copy editor, who will advise but not change your work apart from grammatical errors, a formatter, so that the end product looks like a proper book, and an appealing cover – people do judge books by their cover when choosing whether to buy it or not.
Author Information: Following the launch of her first book, Julia needed a well-deserved break and booked a holiday to Mauritius. Her children, now adults, had bought her a notebook with words on the cover that read Hold on people… I’m having an Idea. On the first morning of her holiday, Julia had just that – the idea for her first novel.
Life’s a Beach is part one of the Liberty Sands trilogy. Julia has already started writing book two, If He Really Loved Me… , which she hopes to finish in the Autumn.
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