The Next Big Thing

Freda Lightfoot, bestselling author of family sagas and historical romances, invited me to take part in a blog event entitled THE NEXT BIG THING - a series of questions and answers about what’s happening next in my writing life.

The Next Big Thing 

What is the title of your book?

An Innocent Abroad, which went on sale yesterday!

How did you come by the idea? 

This novella started life as a single scene: a young woman standing at a window, looking out through a curtain of rain at an Italian landscape. The scene is still in there, though the landscape became a seascape.

What genre does your book fall under?

Historical Romance

Which actors would you choose to play your characters if it were a movie?

Ooh, this is a hard one, and I don't really know. 

Isobel is blonde and blue-eyed, and very young, sweet and innocent. Stefano is a little older, rugged, typically Italian and swoon-worthy.

Perhaps my blog readers could offer up suggestions?

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

A young English woman travels to Italy to stay with relatives, and instead of falling in love with the eligible aristocrat her parents have chosen, she falls for an enigmatic Italian.

Will your book be self-published or traditional?

The book is traditionally published as an ebook by The Wild Rose Press.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

To be honest, I started this story so long ago that I no longer remember!

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

This is so hard, since romances set in the 1920s are few and far between. Recently I read a book entitled Vixen by Jillian Larkin, the first in her Flappers series, which also features young people, cocktails, jazz music and forbidden love in the 20s.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

I wanted to write something hotter and more risque than anything I'd written before, so I pushed myself to go beyond my usual comfort zone with this one. I'm not sure if that counts as inspiration or motivation, though?

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

The book is set in Italy in 1922, just months before Mussolini's March on Rome. It was a turbulent time, but the ex-pats enjoying the Italian sunshine mostly remained far removed from the hardships faced by their host nation.

So who's next in the chain? I nominate Louise Rose-Innes, Kathy Bosman, Rae Rivers, April Vine, Kiru Taye and Jennifer Shirk.

PS: If you're history obsessed, do check out Freda's blog. She's a mine of fascinating information.