Hello, lovely lady! So happy to welcome you to my blog for the very first time and learn all about your latest release, SECRETS & TEA AT ROSIE LEE'S - wishing you every success and many sales! Let's begin with my questions...
1) What is the best and worse thing you have learned from an
editor/agent?
Well, I don’t currently have an agent but
my editor at Aria Fiction has given me plenty of pearls of wisdom in the last
year. The best one for me was to keep communicating with her. I struggled for
months on my second book without letting on, I thought admitting I was having
trouble would make her regret signing me, but when it got to the point where I
was so stuck I was tearing my hair out, I called her. Firstly, she gave me a
good telling off for keeping it to myself for so long, and then she helped me
talk through all the issues I was struggling with. That’s been the biggest
thing I’ve learned, and it doesn’t just apply to the author/editor
relationship. If you’re struggling, with anything, don’t be afraid to reach out
and ask for help.
2) What is your typical day?
I don’t have a typical day – I wish I did,
it would make things much easier to organize! Once the kids have gone to school
I try and do a few things around the house before I sit down to write. This
doesn’t always happen – since I’m the worst housewife in the world and would
rather be doing anything but chores, I can usually talk myself out of doing
whatever mundane jobs are on my To-Do list! In fact, the only time I have a
clean house and a well-stocked fridge is when the writing isn’t going the way
it should! I try to write for at least four hours a day if I can and I try to
avoid social media until the late afternoon/early evening. That makes me sound
very disciplined, doesn’t it? I’m not and can often be found scrolling through
Instagram and Twitter when I should be writing!
3) What do you read while in the midst of a project? Or don’t you?
I try to read as much as I can, even when
I’m in the middle of writing something. It helps me relax and I’m still
inspired by the work of other authors. As a writer, you’re always learning, and
reading widely and regularly really helps me with that. There is always the
danger that you’ll read something so brilliant that it makes you question your
own abilities but it’s a risk I’m prepared to take. It happens every time I
read a book by Nora Roberts – she’s a genius when it comes to romantic suspense
– and has an enviable career but I try not to wallow in my self-pity for too
long!
4)
What
do you do with a paperback once you’ve read it?
I’m a terrible hoarder
so I only occasionally lend books to people once I’ve read them. I lend them to
my Mum and a few well-chosen close friends; all people who understand the rules
of paperback ownership. No bending the corners, no cracking the spines open too
far and definitely no smoking! You’re allowed to enjoy a cuppa whilst reading
but there should be no dunking or dangling of biscuits of any kind around the
pages of a borrowed paperback!
5)
Are
you nervous about friends reading your book?
I’m nervous about anyone
reading my books! Friends or otherwise. Writing a book is a hugely personal
thing and sharing it with the world is the hardest part for me. I think that
fear was what stopped me from finishing my first novel for so long. The idea
that once it was done I might actually have to let someone read it paralysed me
for many years. It’s still hard, but I’m slowly learning to be a bit braver and
to have a bit more faith in my abilities.
6)
What
things inspire you to write? Location, music, film or even in a book?
Inspiration can come
from anywhere, I’ve learned the hard way to always have a notebook and pen to
write things down. My memory is atrocious, so I don’t have a hope in hell’s
chance of remembering anything that might strike me. People I meet, the stories
they tell me, snippets of overheard conversations; all of these things can
spark an idea. I love to visit new places too. A recent trip to Majorca
inspired me to write a quick synopsis of the story that I think might become
book 5 but who knows? I’m currently working on books 3&4 as well so book 5
might have to wait for a bit!!
7) What’s next for you?
I’m just finishing the last round of proof
reads for my second novel, The City of Second Chances, ready for publication in
January 2019. This book tells the story of Evie, a widowed mum of two, who gets
the chance to rekindle a romance with an old flame. The fact that this old
flame is now a famous movie actor with adoring fans all over the world, makes
things slightly more complicated.
The idea for the book comes from a personal
experience of mine – I went to college with a lovely fella who is now a famous
actor with women swooning at his feet! As teenagers we went on one date –
Barking Odeon Cinema and then a pizza! – and then decided we liked each other
better as mates. But when he became really famous, it always struck me as weird
to think that I’d known him before all that. Would he have changed much? Is he
happy having his private life splashed all over the papers and how do you
conduct a relationship in the spotlight like that?
I’m also very excited for people to read
the book because Evie, my heroine, is very dear to me. She’s a woman who has
endured a tragedy, has struggled with her mental health but has managed to not
let that define her or dictate her accomplishments. As someone who has
struggled with mental health issues all my life – I was diagnosed with
depression when I was 17 – I wanted to show that it is possible to live with
that diagnosis without letting it always be your main defining characteristic.
I have good days and bad days, some of them very bad days, but with the help of
family and friends, I push on. Sometimes I will succeed but sometimes I have to
admit defeat and just wait for the darkness to pass, but I always have one eye
on the horizon, watching for the sun that I know will come again.
Rosie-Lee's owner Abby is a woman without a plan... and her beloved little cafe is a business with a serious lack of customers. The Rosie Lee's fry-up is legendary, but cooked breakfasts alone - however perfectly sizzled the bacon - aren't going to pay the bills.
Fast approaching forty and fighting a serious case of empty nest syndrome, Abby realises it's not just her menu that needs a makeover. And when Jack Chance, her The One That Got Away, saunters through the cafe doors and back into her life things definitely look set to change...
Abby has always believed a cup of strong builders tea makes everything better, but Jack's reappearance is a complication even the trusty sausage sarnie can't resolve...
If you enjoy Debbie Johnson, Jill Mansell and Jane Fallon, you'll love Secrets and Tea at Rosie Lee's, a frank, funny, feel-good look at grown-up life and love - as it really happens!
BIO:
Jane Lacey – Crane
Author Bio
I’ve been writing for as long
as I could string a sentence together and I always dreamed of becoming a
published author, but it felt like an unachievable dream until I joined the
RNA’s New Writer’s Scheme in January 2017. That was the thing that really made
me think I could really do it. I’d written the beginning of the story that
would grow into ‘Secrets and Tea at Rosie Lee’s’ as an entry for a competition
on Good Morning Britain. It never got anywhere but I really thought the story
had legs and could go somewhere so I carried on with it. After rewriting it
based on my manuscript report from the RNA, I started submitting to publishers
who didn’t require you to have an agent. I was over the moon when Aria Fiction
offered me a 3- book contract in October 2017!! This first book is set in East
London, where I grew up, and features characters that were inspired by some of
the people I knew back then. The next book is a completely new story, set in
London and New York, and it follows the fortunes of Evie Grant, a woman in
search of a new life and new adventures.
I love to hear
from readers so if they want to get in touch with me they can!
Facebook – Jane
Lacey Crane – Author
Instagram –
@janelaceycrane
Twitter -
@JaneLaceyCrane
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