Hi Francine and welcome to my blog! I am looking forward to learning more about you and your work. Wishing you all the best with your latest release, Summertime Blue - let's start with my questions...
1.)
What
was your first job? Did you like or dislike it? Why?
I started my first job as a seventeen-year-old at the National Film
Archives in Pretoria, South Africa. At first,
it was exciting, as we were connected to
the University of Pretoria’s drama school. Often well-known actors and
actresses dropped in and it was quite exciting, especially when I could meet
those I’ve admired for years. Then, a few months later it was getting boring. I
was the only one in the office under thirty-five. And apparently I’m not
technically inclined so restoring old film was not for me. At least they didn’t
fire me but transferred me to reception but it still wasn’t my favourite job
and I didn’t last long.
2.)
Do
you have a pet peeve? If so what is it?
I sincerely dislike people
with a sense of entitlement, people who make bad choices in life and blame
everyone else.
3.)
Would
you describe your style as shabby chic, timeless elegance, eclectic, country or
____?
I really would like to
describe it as shabby chic. Sometimes, there is more of the shabby and less of
the chic though.
4.)
Tell
me about your book Summertime Blue and where you got your inspiration for it?
Summertime Blue is the first
novella in the Blue Mountain series, set in the heart of South Africa’s Winelands. The idea of a family saga, set on
two wine farms near Stellenbosch, was born when I visited a few wine farms in
the area a couple of years ago. There are many old families, continuing the
traditions even as long back as 1652 when
Jan van Riebeeck set foot in South Africa. I loved that and thought it could
make a nice series.
Nathan Sinclair in
Summertime Blue first made his appearance
in the Playing for Glory series as the High-Performance
Manager of the Buffaloes, a professional rugby club based in Pretoria. In
Summertime Blue Nathan returned to his roots, where he and two of his brothers
bought the Winelands Rugby Union. To tell you the truth, it surprised me to
find Nathan in the Blue Mountain series. He is not the only one, however.
Hannah Blake, the British sports scientist also ended up in the Blue Mountain
series. Matthew Kemp, Chloe Clarke and Mark Bailey, as well as Nicholas Carter make cameo appearances in the series.
Nathan had a passionate
dislike for anyone who was involved in the fashion industry, apart from his
mother, who is the editor and owner of one of the biggest fashion magazines in
South Africa, and his sister Annie, who is the director of the newly
established Winelands Fashion Week. He had to live through too many advances
from aspiring models and designers who wanted to go out with him just to get
close to his mother or sister. After his disastrous engagement, he vowed never
to have anything to do with these type of women. He, therefore, couldn’t
understand his immediate attraction to Meghan Carstens, a young fashion
designer. The attraction was mutual, and
they embarked on a brief affair that ended when Meghan returned to Knysna to
spend the holidays with her family.
Nathan had promised to stay
in touch, but that promise was soon forgotten, even when Meghan returned to
Stellenbosch to open her boutique. Nathan treated her with the same animosity
as he had when they first met. Meghan couldn’t understand it, but she was not
going to beg. When she finally found out the reason for Nathan’s attitude,
would Meghan be able to forgive?
5.)
Who
is your role model? Why?
I would like to say
something profound, like Nelson Mandela or Mother Theresa, but even though I do
admire them, I would rather choose my mum. She raised our six children under
difficult circumstances and never once did we go to bed hungry or didn’t have
clothes to wear and a bed to sleep in. If we had suffered, we didn’t know it.
She was just that type of person: bear the brunt and keep those around her
happy. And we were happy. When my father passed away after a long illness, she
kept going on, making sure that our three kids still in school finish at the
highest level – something she wasn’t able to do herself.
6.)
How
much of your book is realistic?
I would say 90% is realistic.
Someone will quickly catch me out if my facts aren’t right, say for example
Nathan’s amnesia. It had to be authentic.
7.)
What
are your ambitions for your writing career?
Like most other authors, I
would like to be successful, well-known and hopefully well-loved. I still have
a lot to learn, but I’m growing with each book.
8.)
Share
one fact about yourself that would surprise people.
I never had any ambitions to
write a book. Years before I wrote my first book, I had these characters in my
head but didn’t know what to do with them. I would dream about the same people
for weeks, dreaming of a different scene
each night. I’ve used that dreams in my manuscripts when I’ve started to start
writing in July 2016. And now, six published books later, I still dream my
scenes. That’s why I’m often awake at three in the morning to write the scene
I’ve just dreamed.
FRANCINE
BEATON is a romance writer who lives in Pretoria with her Scottish husband and
teenage daughter and Rocky the Cat. When she’s not reading or writing about
love and Happy Ever Afters, she’s most likely busy painting or taking photos of
everything that catches her interest. During rugby season, you’ll either find
her next to the pitch or in front of the television, following her favourite
teams. It’s probably not difficult to figure out why her debut novel, Eye on
the Ball, as well as the series, Playing for Glory, has rugby as a theme.
Whenever she gets the opportunity, she loves travelling to faraway places, and
considers Scotland her other home. Francine is also the author of the Taste for
Love Series, a set of free-standing novels with food and drink the binding
factor, the Kick-Off Trilogy (a prequel series to the Playing for Glory series)
and the Blue Mountain Series. Francine is a member of the Romance Writers
Organisation of South Africa (ROSA), the Romantic Novelist Association (RNA)
and the Romance Writers of America (RWA).
Instagram
Against
the backdrop of the Hottentots Mountains in the heart of South Africa's wine
region, lay two wine estates, Blue Mountain and Twin Peaks. Many years ago the
Sinclairs of Twin Peaks and the Walkers of Blue Mountain suffered a tragic loss
when Duncan Sinclair and Nina Walker perished in a fire that also destroyed Blue Mountain Estate. Two years later, Anna
Sinclair and Marc Walker got married, uniting the two families that had been
best friends and neighbours for years. In the Blue Mountain Series, we meet the
nine siblings and learn about their love and heartaches.
SUMMERTIME BLUE
A
brief interlude just before Christmas was supposed to be more than that.
Anyway, that was what Nathan Sinclair imitated to Meghan Carstens when they
said goodbye and the young fashion designer believed him. She should have known
that it was a lie and that he would end up to be just like all the other
assholes she had dated before. When they met again a few months later, Meghan
had to believe that it was over. Nathan ignored her as if those few days they
had spent together on Twin Peaks, had never happened. She had no choice to take
a page out of his book and do the same, even though it still hurt.
Nathan
couldn’t understand it. Meghan belonged to an industry he absolutely abhorred.
Apart from his mother and his sister, he had vowed long ago never to have
anything to do with someone who had aspirations to be a model, designer or a
journalist. He had been burned once too often. Why then did he feel this
compelling attraction to the sultry fashion designer?
When
the truth finally emerged, would Meghan be willing to give Nathan another
chance?
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