1.) What was your first
job? Did you like or dislike it? Why?
My first job was in the school summer holidays
the year I turned 15 (we won’t be too specific about precisely which year!). I was a sales assistant in the
children’s clothing department of Broads – an old fashioned, long defunct, shop
in St. Austell in Cornwall. The thrill of earning a hefty eleven pounds a week
made me like the job a lot! I’m sure most was frittered away on clothes, David
Cassidy records and teenage magazines.
2.)
Do you have a pet
peeve? If so what is it?
I’ll have to go with bad manners and intolerance. If we could all be
polite and tolerant of each other the world would be a much better place.
3.) Would you describe
your style as shabby chic, timeless elegance, eclectic, country or ____?
Interesting question! Probably a mixture of all the above – I’m not and never
have been ultra fashionable and prefer my home and my clothes to be comfortable
rather than ultra smart although both would be nice! Maybe one day :)
4.)
Tell me about your book ‘The Wedding Reject Table’ and
where you got your inspiration for it?
This book started life as a 500 word short story I
wrote for my publisher, Choc Lit, as one of their free ‘Treats’ to encourage
readers to buy my books. Something about the title and the story wouldn’t leave
me alone and my main characters, Maggie and Chad, became very insistent that I
give them a chance to find out what happened next. Chad is from Nashville,
Tennessee and so this story became the 2nd book in my ‘Nashville Connections’
series.
5.)
Who is your role model? Why? I’d have to say my late father who passed away in
January. He was a gentleman and a
gentle man in every sense of the word. He had health difficulties including
contracting TB during the war and later on profound deafness but never
complained. He showed his deep love
for my mother every day of their 61 year marriage. He instilled his own
love of reading in me and was so proud when I became a published author telling
everybody he met and showing off my books.
6.)
How much of your book is realistic? Quite frankly very little! I’ve never
had any bad/funny reject table experiences myself. My cake baking skills are
limited and could never stretch to
a wedding cake. Unlike both Maggie and Chad I’m an only child and so I don’t
have any difficult sibling relationships to complicate things. But like Maggie
and Chad I met and fell in love very quickly and I’ve been married to my
wonderful husband now for a wonderful 32 years and counting!
7.)
What are your ambitions for your writing career? The main one that drives every
new book I write is to create a story my readers will enjoy, characters they
love and to take them out of the routine of everyday life for a while. Apart
from that I’d have to say earning enough money from my writing to be able to
afford to fly first class on my frequent trips back to Cornwall. Of course hitting the New York Times
bestseller list would also be wonderful!
8.)
Share one fact about yourself that would surprise
people. When I had my first son we
lived on the side of an active volcano (Mount Etna in Sicily) with no
phone, my closest family were
1,700 miles away and I’d never handled a baby before. Miraculously he survived
and will turn 30 this year!
‘The Wedding Reject
Table’ blurb.
2nd novella in the Nashville Connections series. First: What Happens in Nashville.
‘The Wedding Reject Table’ buy links.
Amazon US http://tinyurl.com/nj4lhaw
Amazon UK http://tinyurl.com/pokd2fr
Angela was born in Cornwall and joined what was then the Women’s Royal Naval Service to work as a Naval Secretary before she met her husband, a US Naval Flight Officer, while being based at a small NATO Headquarters on the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. They lived together in Denmark, Sicily, California, southern Maryland and London before settling with their 3 sons in Franklin, Tennessee. Angela took a creative writing course in 2000 and loved it so much that she has barely put her pen down since. She has had many short stories and novels published in both the US and UK. You can find out more about Angela and her writing at www.angelabritnellromance.com
An interesting post, Angela, which has told me more about you as a person. Thank you, and thank you, Rachel.
ReplyDeleteSelf-preening-moment alert!! I made my own wedding cake. I hate peel, and made sure that there was none in my wedding cake by baking it myself. I use that same recipe for my Christmas Cake every year.