Hi Faith! It's great to have you here - I'm looking forward to finding out more about you and your work. Wishing you all the best with your latest release, SECRETS WE KEEP! Let's start with my questions...
Hi Rachel, thanks so much for having me on your blog!
It’s lovely to be here talking books, writing and the Duckworths!
1.
What do you wish men understood about women?
When I first saw this question, I thought, Gosh, there’s
a long list! But you know, when you think about it, a little mystery is good.
Often the best partnerships are between people who are quite opposite, so long
as those differences aren’t at loggerheads. Having complementary differences
not only makes you stronger as a team, I think, it makes life more interesting.
The trick is to value the good bits and you’re really winning if you can prize
the differences in someone else. So for example, I think there’s a lot to be
said for a man who’s able to iron – on the other hand, the same man may not be enamored
by my slap stick approach to his shirts! In saying all of this, I do think that
we process things differently and when it comes to some things, being
understood in terms of our emotions, you can’t beat those girlfriends
2.
Do you only work on one book at a time?
Very few writers work on one project at a
time. At the moment, I’m deep in the middle of copy edits for my new book, Book
3, at the same time, book 4 is brewing in the back of my mind. I’ve got thirty
thousand words down and I’m just itching to get back to it.
3
Who is your favorite fictional couple?
There are so many! As I’m writing this, I’ve
just heard that Vera Duckworth – Elizabeth Dawn has passed away. I have to say,
that she and Jack were a fabulous, rounded, funny couple. I’m not a big soaps
person these days, kids and life have kind of taken over, but when you think
about couples like Vera and Jack, Hilda and Stan – well, they pretty much had
it all, didn’t they?
In terms of something a little more literary…
ahem, probably like every other woman with a pulse, I adored the chemistry
between Elizabeth and Darcy – I’m definitely more of an old fashioned girl with
lots left to the imagination!
3.
Do you have a favorite quote that sums up how you feel about
life?
You get a lot more
with jam than you ever will with vinegar – in other words, be nice to people,
it’s in everybody’s interest!
4.
Do you set daily writing goals? Word count? Number of
chapters? Do you get a chance to write every day?
I so totally
should! I tend to set writing goals with myself, but they are a bit of a
moveable feast. For example, with edits, I’ll aim for the ‘next fifty pages’
or, or’ to the end of this section.’ When I’m writing a first draft, it’s much
easier to set a goal, but too often, life seems to push those aside, so you’re
paddling like crazy to keep up!
5. What do
you like better, Twitter or Facebook? Why?
I’m definitely a twitter girl! I like the
fact that it’s instant, you can pass on the love (rt’s and likes) without
feeling that you’re bombarding people you know in everyday life! I’ve met some
lovely people through twitter, there’s a lot of good book people using it who
reach out to you. It’s the place where I’ll link into blog posts and following
someone doesn’t feel like you’re making a big commitment, you’re just getting
your toes wet!
6.
What are you working on now?
Now, it’s book three! Copy edits are almost
there and then the publishers will do their magic and it will be released on
December 1st in digital format. The story kicks off on January 1st,
it’s about two women who decide to shake things up a bit and their new years’
resolutions change their lives far more than they’ve ever imagined. I’ve signed
a three book deal with Aria Fiction so this is the last book in that agreement.
Next up, I’ve begun work on what I hope will be a three book set – this is also
for Aria and I’m really excited about it!
7. Tell us
about your latest release and where we can find it
Secrets We Keep
came out this year – it’s a story about family, secrets, lies and betrayal –
oh, yes, there’s quite a bit of love thrown in there too! It’s set in the west
of Ireland in a little seaside town called Ballytokeep and it kicks off at the
start of the year when Kate Hunt finds an abandoned bathhouse and falls in love
with it. She decides to make a new life for herself, surrounded by the family
she’s never really known. In some ways she’s running away, except you can’t run
away from what you’ve never had, can you? Ballytokeep brings together her past
and her present and in the end, maybe it can help her find her happy ever
after. This is a dual time novel and it focuses on Kate and her grand aunt, the
lives they might have led and the fact that it’s never too late for a second
chance.
It’s currently
available in digital format and paperback from all major on-line retailers.
Genre:
Women’s Fiction
Release
Date: February 2017
Publisher:
Aria Fiction – Head of Zeus
Two
distant relatives, drawn together in companionship are forced to confront their
pasts and learn that some people are good at keeping secrets and some secrets
are never meant to be kept..
A
bittersweet story of love, loss and life. Perfect for fans of Patricia Scanlan,
Adele Parks and Rosamunde Pilcher.
The beautiful
old Bath House in Ballytokeep has lain empty and abandoned for decades. For
devoted pensioners Archie and Iris, it holds too many conflicting memories of
their adolescent dalliances and tragic consequences – sometimes it’s better to
leave the past where it belongs.
For highflying, top London divorce lawyer Kate
Hunt, it’s a fresh start – maybe even her future. On a winter visit to see her
estranged Aunt Iris she falls in love with the Bath House. Inspired, she moves
to Ballytokeep leaving her past heartache 600 miles away – but can you ever
escape your past or your destiny?
Extract from Secrets We Keep by Faith
Hogan
‘I’ve
never seen anything like it,’ Kate said. It was her first thought as they
turned down the cove and saw the bathhouse snuggled into the cliff face. It was
a turreted, stocky grown-ups sandcastle. ‘It could have been emptied from a
child’s bucket,’ was her first reaction. It had been painted, white with a
light blue trim once, then the waves and the spray had all but washed that
away. It still sat proudly, if shabbily, on a huge flat rock, that upturned in
a lip over the sea. It was a plate, large enough for any giant.
‘Genesis
Rock – it’s a metamorphic rock, probably over a thousand million years old,’
Rita said. ‘Sorry, did I mention I taught geography and home economics, once
upon a time.’
‘No, but
I probably should have guessed.’
‘I don’t
remember the bathhouse even being open. I could imagine that I’d have spent all
my days here if I had.’ Rita looked at the washed white walls that reached high
into the cliff face.
‘Well,
Archie said they ran it for a few years, but he didn’t say when it shut.’ This place
probably held sadness for Archie, if his brother died here. Kate couldn’t feel
it. Instead, it made her feel energized, as though the sea was spraying
something like an invitation deep into her lungs. It made her heart pound with
an expectation she hadn’t felt in years. Even the deserted castle keep that
loomed up in grey stone at the tip of the headland seemed to carry a hopeful
secret in its towers.
‘It must
have been lovely once. Even now, you can see.’ Rita rested her hands on the
thick window ledge, her nose pressed firmly to the cold glass of the windows.
‘It looks like they just closed up one evening and never came back.’
Kate
walked to the back of the bathhouse; it dug into the cliff face, as though the
construction of one depended on the other. Alongside the building, a small
narrow road clung to the cliff for a couple of hundred yards before it
feathered off onto what counted as a main road in these parts. Far below, the
waves lapped serenely against the stone. It was low tide now; Kate wondered how
close the water actually came to the rock. ‘I’d love to get a look inside.’
Rita followed her round to the front of the bathhouse. They peered through a
sea sprayed window for a few minutes. Inside, Kate could see there were tables
and chairs, a small stove and an old-fashioned counter where once someone had
taken orders for afternoon tea. ‘It’s a little café, wouldn’t it be lovely if
it was open for coffee?’ Kate mused, it was so much more than just a bathhouse.
BUY LINKS
Amazon.com:
Amazon.co.uk
Kobo:
Nook:
GooglePlay
iBooks
ABOUT
FAITH HOGAN
Already an
international best seller, Faith Hogan is an original voice in women’s fiction,
she has been hailed as a Maeve Binchey for a new generation. Her stories are
warm and rooted in a contemporary Irish landscape which has lost none of its
wit or emotion thanks to its modern vibe.
Faith Hogan
was born in Ireland. She gained an
Honours Degree in English Literature and Psychology from Dublin City University
and a Postgraduate Degree from University College, Galway. She has worked as a fashion model, an event’s
organiser and in the intellectual disability and mental health sector.
She was a
winner in the 2014 Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair – an international
competition for emerging writers.
‘Secrets We Keep,’ is her second novel
published with Aria Fiction. Her first, My Husbands Wives has been a top ten
best seller and is currently available in paperback.
Twitter:
@gerhogan
GIVEAWAY
Win
a signed copy of Faith’s book Secrets We Keep!
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4be03017255/
No comments
Post a Comment