IT'S GUEST AUTHOR SATURDAY!! Please welcome contemporary romance author Suzanne Snow...

Hi, Suzanne! It is such a pleasure to welcome you to my blog and I am very much looking forward to our live interview on your FB page on 20th September :) But for today, it's over to you! I can't wait to hear more about your latest release SNOWFALL OVER HALESMERE HOUSE - let's get started with my questions...

 

1.)            What genre do you typically read? Why?

I love to read romance, women’s fiction, and biographies, especially of writers and people who live and work in rural communities. My own books are inspired by a love of landscape, romance, and rural life. I also read a lot of historical crime and the Tudor period is my favourite. Hilary Mantel is a favourite author, along with Karen Swan, C J Sansom and SG MacLean.

2.)            Share a favourite childhood memory.

Visiting my auntie’s caravan in Wales. It was the only one on a farm, in a field beside a river, and I still remember the excitement we felt whenever we arrived. We used to play in the water as it was very shallow and go riding at the local trekking centre. One not quite so fun memory is having to carry water in containers from the farmyard as the caravan had absolutely no mod cons, but it was all part of the holiday!

3.)            Do you have any shameless addictions? ie. Tea, Books, Shoes, Clothes?

I’d like to say no but I am very fond of bags! I found a gorgeous Jane Austen-inspired one recently and it came home with me from holiday. Books might be another and I love exploring second-hand bookshops, especially in Sedbergh in the Yorkshire Dales. I collect old children’s pony stories and I found one there on my latest visit.

4.)            What do you think is the biggest challenge of writing a new book?

Much as I love writing and find it a joy as well as an escape, keeping going to meet a deadline when I’m not feeling inspired can be a challenge. I’ve learned there’s nothing else for it other than to sit down and write, and very often inspiration then takes over. I listen to a lot of music and create a playlist for each book, and the songs I’ve chosen always help me to picture a scene and then write it.

5.)            Do you aim for a set amount of words/pages a day?

When I’m writing a first draft, I like to do around 2,000 words per day. I use Scrivener to write the draft and it’s brilliant. I set an early deadline, which is hopefully a good couple of months before the book is due to go to my editor. Scrivener then adjusts my daily word count target to keep me on track. I edit as I go along and then more fully once the draft is done. I think I now fall somewhere between a planner and a pantser as I always have the beginning and the ending in mind, but often just a few ideas for what will happen in the middle. I love editing and like to give myself plenty of time for it if possible.

6.)            What are your thoughts on writing a book series?

I really love writing a series and creating a community to which I’ll return over the course of three or four books. It’s always challenging to recall every detail of who’s done what and when, and I have to be sure about things like future characters’ names as once the first book is published then there’s no going back to change them! Writing about community with people at its heart is wonderful and I’m planning another series after Love in the Lakes, this time set in Lancashire. I’m regularly in the Dales or Cumbria, where my first two series are set, and I sometimes have to remind myself that I’m not actually going to bump into my characters going about their business. I have one standalone story I’d like to write and for that I need to spend some time in Connemara, where I’m planning to set it.

Thank you very much for inviting me on your blog, Rachel, I’ve really enjoyed answering your questions.

Welcome to Halesmere House, where romance might be just around the corner... 

After years of living in the past, Ella is ready to start building a future. The perfect opportunity presents itself when she is offered a short-term role at Halesmere House in the Lake District, and tasked with kick-starting its artists' residence. She can't wait to start and explore a new career in an inspiring location.

But when Ella arrives at Halesmere, she wonders if she’s made a huge mistake after she clashes with Max, the new owner. Max has his own reasons to be unsettled by her presence, but despite his misgivings it seems everyone else loves having Ella around. As a single dad, it’s his children’s attachment to her that bothers him most. Who will pick up the pieces when Ella leaves?

What Max doesn’t know is that Ella is falling for more than just the Lake District and the community around her. Can her temporary job lead to a permanent happy ending?

A tender and uplifting Christmas romance for fans of Heidi Swain, Karen Swan and Sue Moorcroft.

BUY LINK: https://amzn.to/38HlD5g

Suzanne Snow Biography

Suzanne writes contemporary and uplifting fiction with a vibrant sense of setting and community connecting the lives of her characters. A horticulturist who lives with her family in Lancashire, her books are inspired by a love of landscape, romance and rural life. 

Her first novel in the Thorndale series, The Cottage of New Beginnings, was a contender for the 2021 RNA Joan Hessayon Award and she is currently writing the Love in the Lakes series for Canelo. Suzanne is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Authors.

LINK: Download Max's Opening Chapter via my Mailing List