The following interview was published on Omnific Publishing’s website.

Omnific: Burning Embers is set in such an amazing landscape that it becomes almost a character in the story. What was your inspiration for writing Burning Embers? 
Hannah Fielding: Burning Embers began not as a story, but as a vivid landscape in my mind. The seed of the idea was sown many years ago when, as a schoolgirl, I studied the works of Leconte de Lisle, a French Romantic poet of the 19th century. His poems are wonderfully descriptive and vivid – about wild animals, magnificent dawns and sunsets, exotic settings and colourful vistas. Then, as a teenager, I went on holiday to Kenya with my parents and I met our family friend Mr Chiumbo Wangai who told me extensively about his beautiful country, its traditions and its customs. I was enthralled, and when I put pen to paper Burning Embers came to life.

Omnific: Given the descriptions and details in your story, I assume that you have been to Africa? Do you travel often and where is your favorite destination?
Hannah Fielding: I grew up in North Africa in a house overlooking the Mediterranean, and I loved nothing more than to learn about exotic, far-off places. After I left university, I travelled extensively to many of the places I had read about. Traveling still takes up a large part of my life, but mostly now I travel to the romantic places where my novels are set. The sun and the sea are always present in my travels and in my novels – they are a great source of inspiration for me. I find it difficult to decide on a favourite destination; it is usually the place in which my latest novel is set! But I think that Spain might be the country closest to my heart: the countryside, like its people, is rich and flamboyant and suits my passionate nature.

Omnific: Can you give us a little insight into your writing process? Are you a plotter and planner or do you just write as it comes?
Hannah Fielding: I am definitely a plotter and a planner. I love the planning phase of a new book. I spend a lot time researching places and cultures – reading books, listening to music, watching films and, when I can, visiting in person. I really enjoy the excitement of a new story taking shape. I try to set down a framework before I commence writing, but I don’t stick to it rigidly. Sometimes as I write the words flow out and take the characters somewhere unexpected, but intriguing! I am always writing in my head. In fact, I keep a notebook and a pen in my bag, and next to my bed (with a torch so I don’t disturb my husband). Anything around me can prompt inspiration for the novel in hand or a future story. A painting, a view, a ship gliding on the ocean in the night, houses, people in the street, in a restaurant or at the airport – anything and everything that prompts a romantic scene in my mind can trigger the muse.

Omnific: Since Omnific is all about the romance…what is your favorite romance scene of all time?
Hannah Fielding: Choosing a single scene in the profusion of romantic scenes that exist in literature, music and the world of cinema? That’s very hard! I think my favourite would have to be from the 1958 Spanish film La Violetera, a classic story of impossible love between Soledad, a flower girl, and Fernando, an aristocrat. Fernando, who is obsessed with family honour, ends their idyll. But then Soledad becomes a super star, and Fernando has a change of heart and decides that he can’t live without Soledad. So he goes to the theatre where she is giving one of her shows. Soledad spots him in the audience (he is in a box quite close to the stage) and she sings ‘La Violetera’, the song she used to sing when she was a flower girl in the street back when they first met and fell in love. Their eyes connect and he pales and leaves the box to find her backstage. This scene always brings tears to my eyes – even as I write now I am moved and I will probably take out the DVD tonight and watch it for the umpteenth time.

Omnific: Now, if they were to make that into a movie, who would you cast in the roles for that scene? (Or if it has already been made would you recast it?)
Hannah Fielding: The roles are perfectly cast: Sarita Montiel as Soledad is wonderful. She is beautiful and has the most moving voice. And Raf Vallone is superb in his role as the handsome, passionate aristocrat. I love French, Italian and Spanish cinema. The films are often low budget, but have brilliant plots and wonderful direction that creates very evocative films.

Omnific: Do you have anything new on the horizon?
Hannah Fielding: Yes, I have written a trilogy which takes place in Spain and which follows three generations of a family from the 1950s through to the present day; and I am in the middle of writing my next novel, which takes place in Venice and Tuscany, Italy, in 1980.