Showing posts with label Authors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Authors. Show all posts
Emmy Bridges has always looked out for others. Now it's time to put down roots of her own.
Working for a wine-maker in France is the opportunity of a lifetime for Emmy. Even if she doesn't know a thing about wine - beyond what's on offer at the local supermarket.
There's plenty to get to grips with in the rustic town of Petit Frère. Emmy's new work friends need more than a little winning over. Then there's her infuriatingly brash tutor, Isaac, and the enigmatic Madame Beaumont, tucked away in her vineyard of secrets.
But Emmy will soon realise that in life - just as in wine-making - the best things happen when you let go and trust your instincts. Particularly when there's romance in the air...
Today I am hosting the blog tour for Jo Thomas' new book Late Summer in the Vineyard which is an absolute hoot to read. I was laughing from the start of this book and absolutely adore the characters!
Anyway, to celebrate the publication I am handing the blog over to Jo who is extremely busy promoting this amazing book but not to busy to stop by and talk about our favourite topic - books!
Jo is going to share with us her top 5 books to enjoy with wine - which is very in keeping with her latest book. So sit back and see if any of these books peak your interest a little;
- Lucy Diamond’s The Beach Café.
I dream about waking up in the flat upstairs and can still see the sand on the steps leading up to the front door.
-
Katie Fforde’s A Summer at Sea.
Katie’s latest is set on a Puffer boat on the Scottish coast. Just beautiful.
-
Milly Johnson’s latest, Sunshine of Wildflower Cottage
A real page turner that will keep you sat in your deckchair, sipping your wine until you’ve finished.
-
Wendy Holden.For those of you who fancy a festival this summer, read Wendy’s fun Wild and Free first.
-
After seeing the television series, I have My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell lined up next on my kindle for a taste of Corfu.
- Well I know that I love 3 out of 5 of those books, so I just need to taste the other two really to have had the full books & vineyard experience.
If I had to recommend a book to read with wine it would have to be... Late Summer in the Vineyard by Jo Thomas - ;-) Had to be said really didn't it? Buy Your Copy Here
I've always fancied my hand at writing something fictional and this only got heightened when I studied creative writing for my degree at University. So, I don't know about you but I'm about to try and become Teacher's Pet by avidly taking notes throughout the take-over today because I wouldn't mind learning a few tips and seeing if I can put those to good use! BTW (I did not just break top tip number 10!) So, shall we all grab a cuppa, and a seat (and a pretty notebook and cute pen!) and let's pay attention and get some amazing tips from Chelsey!
Advice
on Writing a Novel
-
Every writer needs to know and understand the elements of good story telling before they can write. Learn these elements and build your writer’s “toolkit” by reading these three books: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King, How to Write Screenplays that Sell by Michael Hauge, and Story Fix: Transform Your Novel from Broken to Brilliant by Larry Brooks.
-
After learning the basics, believe in yourself enough to just do it. This really is the most important part: Just write the book. And remember, the first draft doesn’t have to be good. No one ever gets it 100% right the first time.
-
Find a story idea that excites you. Some authors say that you should just write what you want and forget about your audience. Others say that you should write with massmarket appeal in mind. I tend to think that the answer is somewhere in the middle. As a test, come up with an idea that really excites you, and then tell others about it. You don’t have to say that you’re writing a book. Just throw some “what if” questions out there, and see what happens. Notice what lights their eyes up, what makes them say “Ooh! That sounds good.” Go from there.
-
Find a time of day that consistently works for you. Some writers say that you MUST write every day. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Realistically speaking, some days it just doesn’t happen. But don’t put your writing off for too long. (If you’re actively working on a project, I say don’t go more than a week, otherwise you risk losing your “flow” and self-doubt starts to set in). That’s why it’s important to find a time that you can consistently come back to. You’re more likely to get it done if you make a daily appointment with yourself.
-
Plotting vs. pantsing: Do what works for you. Every writer has a different method. I personally like to plan and outline my novels ahead of time, while others prefer to fly by the seat of their pants. Either way works.
-
Listen to how people ACTUALLY talk. Sit in Starbucks for a while and eavesdrop. Call it “research.” Listen to the slang, the grammatically incorrect structure, the way people don’t completely explain themselves. Be mindful of what real conversations sound like when you write dialogue. Don’t allow your characters to speak too formally (that is, unless they’re British royalty or something). Also, be wary of dialogue that’s there to reveal backstory. Would a person really talk about their background, in that much detail? Think of creative ways to reveal the same information without it sounding like a job interview.
-
Remember that every scene must advance the plot in some way. This may seem obvious, but pointless scenes that muddy up the plot show up in books all of the time. If it doesn’t advance the plot (i.e. doesn’t get the main character closer to his/her outer motivation), then cut it. Save it for another book.
-
Write what you FEEL. I recently listened to an interview with novelist Anne Rice, and she said that writing what you know isn’t always good advice. Instead, write what you feel. I love this concept. As writers, we want to elicit an emotional response in our readers. And so, if you write from a place of emotional authenticity, your readers will respond to that.
-
If you get stuck while writing, go for a walk. Preferably, go out and see something new. It’ll get your creative juices flowing again. If your body is moving, your thoughts will move too.
-
Don’t tell anyone that you’re writing. Especially if it’s your first book. Now, this is my personal bias, but I liked having my privacy. It’s an incredibly sensitive time for a writer and people can easily crush your ideas, hopes, and dreams when you’re so very new at this. Or, on the flip side, you can get an immense amount of pressure from people asking how your book is coming. This can be particularly discouraging if you haven’t been writing lately and are feeling guilty about it, or are stuck on a particular scene and don’t know how to get around it. So unless you have someone around that you really trust and believe will encourage you, just keep it close to your heart.
I don't know about you but I could just read more and more of what Chelsey has to say on this topic, I've learnt a few things too! How about you? Fancy a little more from Chelsey? Oh go on then.. here is the cheeky excerpt I promised you earlier. Enjoy! xxx
About
All Shook Up:
Title:
All Shook Up
Author:
Chelsey Krause
Publisher:
Tryst Books
Release
Date: August 17, 2016
Genre:
Contemporary Romance
ISBN:
9781988387048
Natalie’s
world is shaken to its core when she discovers an old photo of a
woman who looks like her. Could this woman be related to her birth
mother, who put Natalie up for adoption as a baby? When she tracks
down the person who dumped the photo album at her thrift shop, she’s
shaken again. Especially when the gorgeous fire-fighting guitarist
offers to help her find the owner. They quickly become friends –
which is all they’ll be, as far as Natalie’s concerned. Her
rebellious youth turned her off cheating men, and the new Natalie is
looking for true love and a family of her own – something Casey
isn’t willing to provide. But how long can Natalie ignore her
undeniable attraction to the man with the Irish accent and the
broken-down ’57 Chevy?
In
Chelsey Krause’s second novel, friends become lovers over a
whirlwind summer of rockabilly rhythms, twirling skirts, and a
mystery that takes them hilariously far out of their element.
Add
to your TBR list: Goodreads
Available:
Amazon
| Barnes
and Noble | Kobo
| iTunes
| Google
Play
Excerpt:
A
breeze picks up and a chill settles around me. I pull my knees to my
chest and pull the blanket tighter. Casey looks at me from the corner
of his eye, and after a beat, he lifts up his arm.
“Come
here.”
I
hesitate for a moment, noticing that my pulse has quickened.
“I
know you’re cold,” he says. “You have goosebumps.”
“Umm,
yes,” I say, feeling like my tongue is slow and awkward, stumbling
over my words. My body feels jittery and cold, as if all the blood
has rushed to my heart, and my flesh prickles with an intoxicating
mixture of excitement and nervousness. There’s no way I’m
admitting that these goosebumps are from being around him.
He
tilts his head to the side, inviting me in once more. A shiver passes
through me. Probably half from the cold, half from adrenaline. I’m
not sure if this is a good idea, but I’m freezing my ass off. I
slide over and let him wrap his arm around my body. He pulls the
blanket up higher with his free hand and tucks it around us.
“There.
Snug as a bug in a rug,” he says.
Casey’s
body is incredibly warm. Solid. Reassuring. I catch myself thinking
that I wouldn’t mind staying right here for the rest of the night.
“So,
did you sleep with her?” I ask casually after my raging hormones
have calmed down a little.
“With
who?” he asks, sounding genuinely confused.
“Ginormous
boobs.”
He
laughs. “No, I didn’t. I just walked her back to her trailer and
said good night.”
“No
good-night kiss?”
“No.
She smelled like cigarettes. Yuck.”
It
feels like a weight has been lifted off my chest and I can breathe
again. The cool night breeze picks up and I shiver. Casey tightens
his hold of me.
“Wish
I’d brought another blanket,” he mutters.
“I’m
glad you didn’t,” I say without thinking.
“Why?”
he guffaws.
My
heart throbs a quick, panicked pulse. Crap! He can’t know how I
feel about him! How can I fix this?
“Oh
you know,” I say, my voice sounding high and tinny. “You, uh,
wouldn’t want to over pack.”
He
grunts, sounding amused. “Okay then…”
About
Chelsey Krause:
Chelsey
Krause has a thing for thrift stores and used bookshops. A nurse,
wife, Starbucks addict, and mom to two children, she can often be
found repurposing other people’s junk or considering whether the
library would let her move in. The rest of the time, she’s
reviewing for Chicklit Club or writing. All
Shook Up
is her second novel.
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Welcome back to Day 7 of Harper Impulse Fortnight!! I can't believe it's been a week already! Wow!!
I know my posts have been absent the past couple of days, and again I apologise. We have glitches in technology at the moment as the internet, telephone services are being 'updated' so coverage is a little ... scarce at times.
Yesterday we welcomed into the world a Princess, and I want to say a HUGE congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their new arrival.
Today on A Page of Fictional Love we have a fabulous interview with Jules Wake, author of the upcoming From Italy with Love
My latest novel I planned scene by scene and wrote the first
draft of 87,000 in 33 days. It was so
much easier as every time I sat down I knew exactly the scene I was going to
write.
My best writing tip ever, ‘Always park your mini downhill.’
So at the end of each writing day, try to finish on a bit that will be easy to
pick up the next day.
Dawn: Who is your writing inspiration?
I know my posts have been absent the past couple of days, and again I apologise. We have glitches in technology at the moment as the internet, telephone services are being 'updated' so coverage is a little ... scarce at times.
Yesterday we welcomed into the world a Princess, and I want to say a HUGE congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their new arrival.
Today on A Page of Fictional Love we have a fabulous interview with Jules Wake, author of the upcoming From Italy with Love
Dawn: Hi, and welcome to A Page of Fictional Love. It's lovely to
have you here as part of Harper Impulse Fortnight.
Jules: Hi Dawn and thank you so much for having me. Writing can be damaging to the ego, so the
support of the blogging community is invaluable!
Dawn: Congratulations on your soon to be published novel; FromItaly With Love. You must be so excited?
Jules: I can’t wait. I’m
just checking the final proofs at the moment … but I’m very pleased with
it. In fact some bits I read and think,
‘did I really write that?’
Dawn: Can you remember the moment that you discovered that Harper
Impulse were going to publish your novel?
Jules: Yes … my agent emailed me a copy of my publisher’s email
accepting the book. Charlotte’s out and
out enthusiasm for my characters, Cam and Laurie, made me cry!
Dawn: As it's Harper Impulse Fortnight, can you share your
experience of being an author with Harper Impulse?
Jules: It’s been the best publishing experience so far. I can’t get over how excited and
enthusiastic my publisher’s team has been about the story, the characters and
the cover. I also love the HarperImpulse
fortnight idea and how it’s organised by all the HarperImpulse authors and
bloggers sharing and being so supportive of each other.
Dawn: As someone who has written extremely short stories, I know
how difficult I find the process of writing to be when you're trying to cram
all your bursts of ideas in. How do you find the writing process? Are there any
tips you have on writing a better novel?
Jules: Well I’ve just converted from being a pantser to a plotter
which has seen a radical change in the way I approach writing. I’ve always been what they call a pantser – fly
by the seat of your pants and make it up as you go along. This can be great because ideas just pop into
your head, but it makes the day to day writing excruciating because you don’t
always know what you’re going to write each time you sit down at the
keyboard. When it comes to looking at
the first draft I end up ditching an awful lot of really good stuff that I was
inspired to write and love but actually it doesn’t move the story along or
contribute to the plot.
Dawn: Can you share with us a typical writing day for you?
Jules: I do laugh when people tell me that they would love to write
a book but don’t have the time. I have a
day job, so I don’t start writing until about five o’clock in the evening,
however on my journey to work in the mornings I think about my characters and
their story, so that I really get to know them. As soon as I get home I try to get a quick
hour in then, before making dinner for everyone, and after that I usually write
from 7.30 onwards. I always set myself a
daily target of a 1,000 words but when I wrote my last novel it was 2,000 –
3,000.
Keeping that word count going and sticking to it, is vital.
Dawn: Where did your inspiration for From Italy With Love come
from?
Jules: I was at a set of traffic lights on my way to work listening
to the Chris Evan’s Breakfast show on BBC Radio 2, when live on the show he started
up the engine of a GT250 Ferrari and I was so taken with the magnificent roar
of the engine, like a dragon under the bonnet, that it fired up my
imagination. I started wondering what it
would be like for a very ordinary person to own an extraordinary car like that.
Dawn: What was the last book you read, and what did you enjoy most
about it?
Jules: To be honest the last two books I didn’t finish. As a writer, I’m now far less tolerant of
things that I think writers are being lazy about. One book was the third in a series and there
was far too much tell and not show and a huge amount of backstory about the
other two books that I’d read. The other
one was a thriller but by the time the third female character had gone to
confront an over the top really gruesome serial killer without back up, without
a phone, without a gun and without telling anyone where they’d gone … I lost
patience.
Dawn: Who is your writing inspiration?
Jules: I absolutely adore anything by Jill Mansell and have read
some of her books two or three times. She’s a fantastic story teller with wonderful
characters. Their warmth just leaps off
the page and that is something that I would love to be able to do – create
characters that readers fall in love with.
On the more literary side, I think Tracy Chevalier is utterly brilliant.
She writes in such a lean, spare style without a wasted word. In my early drafts I over-write terribly and
have to slash a lot when I do the first re-write.
Dawn: Now, From Italy With Love is due to be published in eBookversion on 14th may, and in Paperback 30th July. Have you got any celebration
plans for Publication day?
Jules: There’ll definitely be Prosecco! And now I’m thinking … an
Italian themed banquet with some of my friends and family. And if I can find anyone with a spare one,
perhaps a spin in a Ferrari! Definitely an on-line launch with a flurry of
social media … which I’m currently planning.
Dawn: What is it like to hold your paperback in your hand?
Jules: Difficult to believe I really did it! Writing is not for the
faint-hearted. I could wallpaper my
study with all the rejections I’ve received over the years. It’s just an
amazing endorsement when someone believes in your writing.
Dawn: I love any book set in the Mediterranean, and always had
this fantasy of being swept off my feet by an Italian Man. What would your
dreamiest book hero hunk be like?
Jules: I was addicted to the BBC series of Merlin and was always
rather partial to the knights, Sir Percival, Sir Gwaine and Sir Leon. I think a rugged mediaeval knight would suit
me just fine. There’s more than a hint of Eoin Macken who played Sir Gwaine, in
With Love From Italy’s hero, Cam.
Dawn: Lastly, what can we look forward to in From Italy WithLove?
Jules: I like to think of it as Cinderella meets Top Gear. One vintage Ferrari, two characters with very
different agendas and a road trip across Europe quite a few twists and turns
along the way. It has romance, family
trouble and the warmth of the Mediterranean sun.
Dawn: I can't believe this is the end of the interview (sob!) I've
had such a great time talking with you for Harper Impulse Fortnight, I'd love
to invite you back to talk more about From Italy With Love in the summer.
From all my readers here and myself, we wish you the very
best success with your new book, and can't wait to see it listed as a
Bestseller!
Jules: Wouldn’t that be lovely? Thank you so much for having me xxxx
To pre-order your copy of From Italy with Love head to amazon and purchase here
Harper Impulse Fortnight is here Book Lovers!!
Brought to us by the delightful Books With Bunny , the next two weeks will be JAM PACKED with amazing posts all over the Book Blogging Websphere - do people still say Websphere? Anyway, be sure to keep up with ALL the posts flitting around by following the hashtag #HIFortnight and @HarperImpulse on twitter!
I'm so excited to be taking part and I have so much coming up for you that I'm praying that I get to fit it ALL in for you! I have Authors guest posting on here, I have fabulous Q&A's with two amazing authors, I also have books being reviewed AND competitions to take part in and WIN!!
So first off, let me give you a very brief intro to Harper Impulse Fortnight - basically we book bloggers are awesome (but not as awesome as the authors and publishers) and lead by Books with Bunny, we are celebrating ALL things HARPER IMPULSE. So that means we are reviewing, interviewing, posting, letting authors take over our blogs for the day, hosting competitions and doing everything we can to show you book lovers just how wonderful and utterly amazing the authors are at Harper Impulse.
Now, let me try my best to let you in on what's going on here at A Page of Fictional Love. I say try, because I still have dates to confirm, but basically the schedule looks a little like this; (although it is prone to change at a moments notice so keep checking back - hit the refresh button if you leave the page open on your browser)
Monday 27th April - You're reading it, it's my launch post into the fortnight
Tuesday 28th April - BOOK SPOTLIGHT - I'll highlight a Harper Impulse Book & Author
Wednesday 29th April - Not Confirmed Yet
Thursday 30th April - BOOK REVIEW - I'll be reviewing a Harper Impulse Book
Friday 1st May - AUTHOR Q&A
Saturday 2nd May - BOOK SPOTLIGHT & COMPETITION
Sunday 3rd May - Harper Impulse Week 1 Round Up - I'll be sharing with you the Highs of the weeks and re-post some of my favourite blogs of the week & share links from other bloggers
Monday 4th May - BOOK SPOTLIGHT - Again, i'll be highlighting a Harper Impulse Book & Author
Tuesday 5th May - GUEST POST - An Author will take over A Page of Fictional Love for the day
Wednesday 6th May - AUTHOR Q&A
Thursday 7th May - Not Yet Confirmed
Friday 8th May - BOOK SPOTLIGHT
Saturday 9th May - BOOK REVIEW
Sunday 10th May - COMPETITION WINNER ANNOUNCED & FORTNIGHT ROUND UP!!
So, that's what's looking likely to happen right now, but as I said it can ALL change!
I shall bid you adios for now, as I know you have SO many blogs to go visit - remember to follow the HashTag #HIFortnight
Today the lovely Kendra Smith, author of Jacaranda Wife is taking over A Page of Love - because authors love doing that here and I love having them, don't you?
So I will put down the pen on A Page of Love, and pass it over to Kendra who I'm sure you will have many laugh out loud moments with, so grab a cup of tea and get cosy, just don't spill it over yourself when you laugh - because you will laugh.
So I will put down the pen on A Page of Love, and pass it over to Kendra who I'm sure you will have many laugh out loud moments with, so grab a cup of tea and get cosy, just don't spill it over yourself when you laugh - because you will laugh.
Hello Dawn and thanks SO much for
letting me have a guest spot! A bit about me? OK, then, well, I currently live
in Surrey with my husband and three very untidy boys.
But I didn’t always live in Surrey.
I used to live in Australia (where my novel is set) and after quite a few
attempts to be something of a domestic goddess – OK, scratch that, after a few
attempts to just try and have a tidy house, clean clothes for the kids and know
how to make a chicken casserole in searing heat, I gave it up for tapping away
at the computer and would just step over piles of laundry and sometimes forget
to collect the children.
I’m a journalist by profession and
used to working with people and words. I realised that if I couldn’t have the
people (my office colleagues), then let me have the words. My book actually
started as something for ‘me’ – a diary, a memoir of thoughts and feelings, but,
after a while, voila! The word count screamed 30,000 at me and I thought, ‘Heck!
This could be a book!’
That’s when the trouble started. If
there is anyone out there dreaming of writing a book, I’d say, ‘DON’T! Run in
front of a fast car right now! Once you cast that spell on yourself (‘Mmmm, hubble,
bubble, toil and trouble, I think I can write a book…’), beware! You’ll start
to see published debut novelists everywhere: on the TV, in magazines, at your
local airport, in the queue for the toilet at the department store, and you
will be a tortured mess.
Well, I was. I was also in a mess
because I didn’t quite know how to go about it all. Organising your thoughts
into a cohesive structure of a book comes easily to some it would appear, less
so for me. Up till then I’d thought that an extremely long piece for a magazine
article was 1,000 words. This time I was up against an Everest word-summit of
about 100,000. So I bought every book on Amazon about how to write and read several
blogs and articles online… and I also covered the entire house in post-it
notes, had several pink notebooks (isn’t that what all writers have?) and
slowly a book emerged. A seedling at
first, a weedy one at that, but there was definitely a book there.
In the meantime, I was also trying
to cook, answer ridiculous questions in my children’s homework like, ‘if four x
= 33, then what does 1 tomato equal.’ WHO CARES? This question has never, ever come up on any
form I have filled in.
I was lucky
enough to secure an agent (from the UK) the first time round – the Aussie
agents felt the book was for a British market.
It did involve staying up to midnight and beyond on many nights as I
made calls to the UK in a different time zone. She loved my writing, loved the
book. Finding a publisher, however, proved harder.
By this time, we were planning on
returning to the UK, so the book took a backseat. Re-planting a whole family
back to the UK after five years abroad takes supreme effort, so my writing
brain was engaged elsewhere for a while. But still ‘the book’ would tap me on
the shoulder at night and demand to know what was going on.
Agent #1 and I had a great
relationship and she did suggest some changes. I did them; but then there was
the tiny problem of an economic crisis. Publishers tightened their belts - when
you’re in the business of selling anything and a recession is on, you’re going
to go for the sure thing. Debut authors were too risky.
After a while, my agent and I
parted company on very good terms. Both of us decided that I needed another
steer. I then used the services of the wonderfully helpful The Writers’
Workshop to find a mentor/book doctor, who gave me a – let me remember – 17
page analysis of my book, warts and all. There were 17 pages of how to improve
my writing. But, the one shining light was that she did say, ‘You can clearly
write.’ Thank goodness for that.
The rollercoaster ride began: I
would send out my partial and then each time there was a ping on my phone, I
would leap up, forgetting sometimes that I was, say, lying on a hospital bed at
the gynaecologists, and check my phone. I had several agents ask for the full
manuscript, and each time my heart soared. One agent asked for the full book after
three hours. It was a high-adrenalin ride. Would this be the one?
Ultimately, my agent, the lovely Annette
Crossland from A for Authors rang and left a voicemail saying she loved it
after I had sent it to her 10 minutes before. Finally, I had someone on my
side.
And to answer the next question
that might be on your mind, yes, I am writing another book. It’s not a sequel, it’s about three women who
all have their lives intertwined, foibles and wobbly bits – but one of them has
a massive secret, too. And the word count is flickering on a happy 20,000 at
the moment – I think it just might become a book.
Thank you so much Dawn, for letting
me share my thoughts!
Here’s
a taste of Jacaranda Wife…
When a double dip recession hits
along with a tax bill, most people tighten their belts, cancel the summer
holiday and look for the two-for-one offers. But not Katie Parkes. The home-loving
mother of two from London finds herself tightening her seatbelt on a plane to
Australia, where her husband has been sent to save their financial bacon. And,
she realises, it might just be what they need to save their marriage…
Trouble is, she doesn’t much like
heat, can’t swim properly, hates spiders and finds herself further outside the
M25 than is strictly necessary. Then there’s the Sydney yummy mummy with a
cleavage you’d lose your car keys in eyeing up her husband, bouts of homesickness
– and a few deadly spiders. Taking the bull by the horns (or at least pulling
on an old Speedo) she tackles her fear of the ocean first. Find out how Katie
copes in her new country – does it provide the spark to ignite her marriage, or
send the whole thing up in smoke…?
Sophie King, best-selling author
of The School Run has kindly said:
‘An
entertaining, fast-moving, page-turner for anyone dreaming of a new life....’
And I have had some amazing Amazon
reviews like this one below, which have made the wait very worthwhile.
“Wow! A cracking read, a page turner! I've been
thoroughly anti-social on holiday, buried in the book and the last few pages I
romped through to find out..!
Well done Kendra Smith!”
Well done Kendra Smith!”
Biography
Kendra Smith
has been a journalist, wife, mother, aerobics teacher, qualified diver and very
bad cake baker. She started her career in Sydney selling advertising space in
the late 80s. She has lived and worked in London and Sydney, working on Cosmopolitan, OK! Magazine and the BBC’s Eve
as well as freelance for Woman & Home,
Delicious, New Woman, Prima Baby and Junior. Born in sunny Singapore, she
was educated in sub-zero Scotland, including Aberdeen University. She has lived
in Australia three times. With dual Australian-British nationality, she
currently lives in Surrey with her husband and three children. Jacaranda
Wife is her first novel and she is well underway with her second when she’s
not burning food. Find her on www.aforauthors.com and www.kendrasmith.co.uk or
follow her on Twitter @KendraAuthor.
A Page of Love is a place where we can come and sit, chat and read about a wide variety of tranquil activities (namely books and crochet) and share our love for the books we read, and the things we make.
Today, I want to share with you an aspect of my life that is actually becoming a more talked about interest/belief as we become more open minded about life (and death!). As book bloggers and certainly as book readers we know of the many books out there that move us to tears. We sob our little hearts out and sales in Kleenex rapidly rise (Not an absolute fact). When a much loved character dies (Think the Harry Potter series), when we read about the tragic journey of illness and death of either a Celebrity (Lynda Bellingham), or a epic novel that becomes a epic movie (The Fault in Our Stars), we become all to aware of death and our own expiry date.
But to lift us out of the sadness we have to live with hope. And, the one way in which people do this, especially when they have lost a loved one is to think about the possibility that life continues after death in some way. We like to hope that there is 'someone' or 'something' bigger than we are, and 'out there' that we can call upon, talk to and maybe receive a sign from. We do this as a coping mechanism for our grief. I know from my own experience with losing loved ones, that whilst your heart is breaking beyond belief, you like to think that they can still hear you, see you, touch you and be with you.
From this, we can seek comfort in talking to them as if they are still here, we place Guardian Angel stones on their graves, or next to their photos on the mantle, and if we look a little further into the book shelves in the bookstore as we search for the next great read, we might just come across books about 'Angels' and they are filled with experiences and accounts of people just like you and me who go about our day to day life and we come across a white feather just at that moment when we are thinking about of dear departed Grandma, or we're not sure about applying for that job and we hear our Dad's favourite song on the radio. And just for a second, we wonder, and we hope and we believe. And in that second, that helps us to carry on and live our lives in honour of them.
So today, I want to bring a little hope, a little belief and strength to your day by exploring the subject of Angels and Our Loved Ones in heaven watching over us. I have for you, a beautiful and hopefully comforting interview with a beautiful author; Theresa Cheung, who has written so many books she deserves a book store to herself, and we're going to discuss the subject of angels and receiving signs and messages from heaven.
Today, I want to share with you an aspect of my life that is actually becoming a more talked about interest/belief as we become more open minded about life (and death!). As book bloggers and certainly as book readers we know of the many books out there that move us to tears. We sob our little hearts out and sales in Kleenex rapidly rise (Not an absolute fact). When a much loved character dies (Think the Harry Potter series), when we read about the tragic journey of illness and death of either a Celebrity (Lynda Bellingham), or a epic novel that becomes a epic movie (The Fault in Our Stars), we become all to aware of death and our own expiry date.
But to lift us out of the sadness we have to live with hope. And, the one way in which people do this, especially when they have lost a loved one is to think about the possibility that life continues after death in some way. We like to hope that there is 'someone' or 'something' bigger than we are, and 'out there' that we can call upon, talk to and maybe receive a sign from. We do this as a coping mechanism for our grief. I know from my own experience with losing loved ones, that whilst your heart is breaking beyond belief, you like to think that they can still hear you, see you, touch you and be with you.
From this, we can seek comfort in talking to them as if they are still here, we place Guardian Angel stones on their graves, or next to their photos on the mantle, and if we look a little further into the book shelves in the bookstore as we search for the next great read, we might just come across books about 'Angels' and they are filled with experiences and accounts of people just like you and me who go about our day to day life and we come across a white feather just at that moment when we are thinking about of dear departed Grandma, or we're not sure about applying for that job and we hear our Dad's favourite song on the radio. And just for a second, we wonder, and we hope and we believe. And in that second, that helps us to carry on and live our lives in honour of them.
Dawn: I'm aware of your work with writing about mind body and spirit topics, especially books about angels and deceased loved ones. But for anyone reading who may not have known about you or your work, could you give us a little introduction about yourself?
Theresa: There's a lot about my life and spiritual journey in my books but in short I was born into a family of psychics and spiritualists, studied theology and English at King's college, Cambridge University and then launched into a career in teaching, journalism and writing. Have written countless books on health in mind, body and spirit and have two Sunday Times top 10 best sellers to my credit. My next book, How to Find Heaven will be published in July 2015.
Dawn: A lot of your books are about angels and everyday experiences that people have with angels and loved ones in heaven, and not all of them are what some would describe as "New agey", could you expand upon this?
Theresa: I dislike the term new age because to me it doesn't mean anything. There is nothing new age about the search for meaning in life. My books are about ordinary people, like myself, who have extraordinary experiences and these experiences prove to them that this life is not all that there is. I hope when people read my books they will see that heaven can speak to us in many different ways and all we need to do is notice these ways, see the magic in the everyday. Once we do that heaven starts speaking to us all the time through signs, dreams, coincidences and magical encounters.
Dawn: I completely agree and the term 'New Age', I feel is inappropriate to describe these experiences and beliefs. In your books you explain the difference between an angelic experience and one with deceased loved ones, how would people reading the blog know if they've experienced such?
Theresa: Angelic experiences tend to be coincidences, subtle signs, or bursts of intuition that seem to come out of nowhere and convince us we are being guided or watched over. It may also involve hearing or seeing things you can't explain. Contact with departed loved ones tends to occur in dreams, a sense that your loved one is around you or on rare occasions full blown visions. However, both angelic experiences and departed loved one experiences are heaven sent so in my mind they are interchangeable.
Dawn: When we lose someone we loved are naturally devastated and bereaved deeply, but some people say that they can feel their loved ones around them or they just know. Do you think this is part of grief and denial, or is it the possibility that our loved ones are reaching out to us from heaven?
Theresa: The grief process is important because we need to mourn the loss of a loved one's physical presence before we can enter fully into a new relationship with them in spirit. During the grieving process, however, many people report feeling their loved one close by and this is because grief is painful and in spirit our loved ones want to help us through that painful journey - they want to comfort us by reminding us that love is stronger the death.
Dawn: I've been psychic and spiritually aware since childhood, so one of my first memories of seeing spirits was when I was 3 years old and I saw a little girl on my landing. What's your first memory of experiencing spirit?
Theresa: You are way ahead of me. I am in awe and a little jealous:) my first experience wasn't until my early 30s when I believe the voice of my mother in spirit saved me from almost certain death by telling me at the last minute to turn right instead of left. If I had turned left as I originally intended I would have been involved in a motorway pile up with multiple casualties. I still have not had visions but I have had astonishing dreams, bursts of intuition and spectacular coincidences.
Dawn: Isn't it truly extraordinary how hearing the voice of your mother literally saved you. Can anyone see angels and loved ones in heaven or is it something you can't learn?
Theresa: Heaven is our birthright so I believe we all have that potential. Some of us, however, are more naturally sensitive to spirit than others and these are usually people with great empathy for others.
Dawn: Is there anything we can do to enhance the opportunity to feel/see/hear loved ones in heaven and angels?
Theresa: Yes, open your mind to the possibility of magic in your everyday life and to the idea that heaven is real. An open mind is incredibly powerful. Expect the unexpected.
Dawn: We love reading books here at A Page of Love, but we also like to find out about the authors writing them. What has been your favourite book to write and why?
Theresa: I fall in love with every book I write but my next book due to be published in July 2015 is something I am very proud of. It is a book I simply could not have written until now and is a culmination of all my research and experience to date. It may also be a little controversial as I tackle some really tough questions - like why do bad things happen to good people - but I hope my readers will be inspired by it.
Dawn: It sounds very interesting, and I am sure that readers will enjoy it. For anyone who's reading and maybe hasn't ever read about the topics which you write about, but is interested, what would you recommend them to read first?
Theresa: A book I wrote a few years ago, published by Simon and Schuster and called How to See Your Angels is a really good introduction.
Dawn: When you're not writing, what do you enjoy doing?
Theresa: Thinking about my books:)
Dawn: I love thinking about books too ha ha. Do you read books from the chick lit/ women's fiction genre, and if so what's your favourite, and which author/s do you enjoy reading?
Theresa: As I'm always writing I don't read as much as I used to and if I do read I tend to read around my subject area. I recently read Gone Girl and kind of liked that but typically my favourite books are those like The Celestine Prophecy or The First Five People you meet in heaven.
Dawn: Gone Girl has been a big hit, I'm yet to read it myself. You have a new book coming out later this year, which we've briefly mentioned, so what can we expect from it?
Theresa: A lot I hope as it took me over a year to write and with a title like How to find Heaven you can imagine how much I could include and I do try to cover all the major world religions as paths to heaven and what the difference between religion and spirituality is and how to know what the right path is for you. So a huge project and it is close to 100,000 words. Luckily my editor at Simon and Schuster happy with the word count.
Dawn: Wow! That is a lot of words! Do you have plans to write further books and what topics?
Theresa: Yes, I'm very fortunate as have recently been signed up to write my 2016 title and this one will be called Secrets of Heaven. It will be a bit of a magical, mystery tour of the afterlife using near death experiences as a guide to reveal the secrets of heaven and earth.
You can follow Theresa Cheung on Twitter www.twitter.com/TheresaCheung1
You can like Theresa Cheung’s Facebook page
Dawn: Congratulations on being signed for 2016! It's been so lovely sitting down and talking with you, I'm sure readers have learnt something new and perhaps will look for a sign from their angels and loved ones in heaven today. Thank you for being so inspirational and I look forward to welcoming you back soon to talk about your new book in detail xxx
I would love to hear your feedback, Have you ever sensed a loved one or received a sign from an angelic presence or heaven? Maybe you've read one of Theresa's books... get in touch and share the love.
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