Please welcome fellow RNA member, Sharon Booth...

 Hi, Sharon! Welcome to my blog - I'm looking forward to learning more about you and your latest festive romance, BELLE, BOOK AND CHRISTMAS CANDLE. Let's kick off with my questions...

1.)  What is the strangest talent you have?

Hmm, I've been trying to think of one, but I must confess that I can't. It appears that I have no real claim to a strange talent at all. Although I can make a bar of chocolate disappear with extraordinary speed.

2.)  What is the best Halloween costume you’ve ever worn?

Is it shaming to admit that I've only ever worn one Halloween costume in my life? When I was a child, many moons ago, Halloween wasn't that big a deal, and I've only ever been to one Halloween party so never had the need or the urge to dress up. I wore a witch's costume for my brother's Halloween party years ago, and it wasn't a particularly good costume, although my middle son went as Frankenstein's monster and looked fabulous!

3.)  Are the titles of your books important?

Yes, they are. I probably get more attached to them as an indie author than I would if I was traditionally published, as I know that whichever title I choose will be kept, whereas a publisher could change it. For instance, one of my books has three different titles, as it was published first as a People's Friend pocket novel, then on Kindle by me, then as a large-print paperback by another publisher. It went from Surrender to Love, to New Doctor at Chestnut House to The Doctor's Daughter. I've been learning more about the importance of titles, though, and I think I underestimated that. The big publishers know what they're doing.

4.)  If you’re struggling with a scene or difficult character, what methods help you through it?

I'm very much a plotter, so I've usually worked out most of the possible problems before I start writing, but sometimes I do go off course and characters have a habit of doing their own thing. Post-it notes help. I also find going back to the basics very useful — reminding myself what the book is really about, the themes, the motivation for the characters' actions. If all else fails, I might leave the writing for a day or two and let my mind work on it while I'm doing other things. I find solutions will come to me eventually if I just let my imagination do its own thing without pushing it.  

5.)  Do you prefer dog, cats or none of the above?

Both! I've always had dogs, ever since I was a tiny child. Currently we have a German Shepherd, who's nearly nine. I do love dogs because they're so affectionate and understanding, and they're always so pleased to have you around. However, I love cats, too, as I find their independent nature and stubborn streak amusing. My daughter has three cats and they're all very different, but they all act as if they own the humans in the house, not the other way around. I love that about them!  

6.)  Who’s your favourite author? Why?

Ohhhh! That's so hard! Enid Blyton is the author I owe everything to. Without her books my childhood wouldn't have been half so much fun, and I honestly do believe that it was her writing that ignited my love of reading and inspired me to make up my own stories. As an adult, I'd probably say Sue Townsend. She had such a perceptive way of seeing the world, and her humour was fantastic. Reading the Adrian Mole books, or something like The Queen and I, I'm struck by how I can be laughing out loud one moment, and in tears the next. She really understands the characters she creates. She had a rare talent and she's much-missed.

7.)  Do you have a pet peeve?

Flat-pack furniture that arrives with bits missing. Sticky labels on items that you simply can't scrape off no matter how hard you try. People who drop litter. People who sit with their feet up on buses or trains or put their bags in the seat next to them, so no one can sit there. People who talk loudly on their mobile phones in public places.  Crikey, you've started something with that question … Oh, and the fact that people moan about the price of books then pay double that for a magazine that's mostly adverts!

8.)  Do you remember your dreams when you wake up in the morning?

Only if I wake up part-way through the dream. I've done that a lot lately and I do have the strangest dreams. Sometimes, if they're particularly sad or upsetting, the depressed feeling can linger over me all morning. On the other hand, I've laughed myself awake on several occasions, so I must sometimes have fun dreams. I also love it when I have very mystical sorts of dreams that really make me think for days, weeks, or even years afterwards. When I'm stressed, though, I tend to dream about planes crashing, or other things falling from the sky, and that's really scary. I'd rather forget those dreams.  

Thank you very much, Rachel, for inviting me onto your blog today. I've thoroughly enjoyed answering your questions.

Bio:

Sharon writes heartwarming contemporary fiction set in beautiful Yorkshire. Her books are romantic but fun, and a happy ending for her main characters is guaranteed - though she makes them work for it!

As well as full-length novels she has written pocket novels for DC Thomson, and several of her "Fabrian Books' Feel-Good Novels" have also been published in large-print format by Ulverscroft, as part of their Linford Romance Library.

Her short story, The Other Side of Christmas, was included in the Winter Tales anthology – a collection of seasonal stories by popular writers, in aid of The Cystic Fibrosis Trust and The Teenage Cancer Trust. Her 2017 novel, Resisting Mr Rochester, was awarded a Chill with a Book Readers' Award.

Sharon lives in East Yorkshire with her husband and their dog. She is half of the Yorkshire Rose Writers, along with Jessica Redland, one tenth of the Write Romantics, and a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Alliance of Independent Authors.

She has a love/hate relationship with chocolate, is a devoted Whovian, adores Cary Grant movies, and admits to being prone to all-consuming crushes on fictional heroes. 

When she’s not writing, she spends as much time as possible getting her money’s worth from her membership of English Heritage.

You can find out more about Sharon by visiting her website: www.sharonboothwriter.com

Follow her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/sharonboothwriter

Or on Twitter, find her as @Sharon_Booth1

Belle, Book and Christmas Candle.

Do you believe in magic?

Sky St Clair doesn't, and growing up in Castle Clair, a small town renowned for its mystical past and magical legends, she never felt she belonged.

 
Sky got away from Castle Clair as soon as she could, but when a run of bad luck leaves her homeless and jobless, she has little choice but to accept her sister Star's invitation to return home for the festive season.

When Star has an accident, Sky finds herself running the family's magical supplies shop. Wands, crystals, pendulums ... really? It's a tough job when she doesn't believe in the products she's selling, but how can she? Magic isn't real, no matter what her deluded siblings think.

Jethro Richmond doesn't believe in magic either. In fact, he doesn't believe in anything much anymore, which is proving to be a bit of a problem for a writer of fantasy novels. With a self-constructed wall around his heart as high as Clair Tower, and his dreams as ruined as the town’s ancient castle, he's lost all hope of repairing his tattered career.

The last thing he needs is to get involved with a family like the St Clairs, and no matter what a certain little black cat seems to want Jethro has no intention of spending any time with Sky or her unusual sisters. 

But this is a strange little town and, as the residents prepare to celebrate Christmas, Sky and Jethro might just discover that in Castle Clair, anything is possible. Even magic.

A romantic comedy with a magical twist!

You can buy Belle, Book and Christmas Candle here: smarturl.it/christmascandle