I was a teenage girl when I discovered television drama. Such a discovery! My mother and my sister and I would sit together gripped by the likes of Dallas and Dynasty. I loved the settings, the intrigue, the romance, the passion – but most of all, the dramatic nature of
I’m delighted to share that my latest novel, The Echoes of Love, has won a gold award in the 2014 Independent Publisher Book Awards!
Did you know that the symbol of Venice is a winged lion? You’ll find it all over Venice, in statues, on flags – it’s at the very heart of the city. The lion is a representation of the Venetian patron saint, St Mark. So legend tells, St Mark travelled to
Please visit http://www.romancejunkies.com/rjblog/?p=7046 and comment for your chance to win today, and to read about the ‘Janas of Sardinia’ legend…
The BBC News magazine recently published an interesting article entitled, ‘Should unfinished works be left untouched?’ The article was inspired by a new adaptation of a novel that was left unfinished upon the death of Charles Dickens: The Mystery of Edwin Drood. To adapt the incomplete book for a television
Please visit http://www.maldivianbookreviewer.com/2014/05/03/guest-post-giveaway-the-echoes-of-love-legendary-blog-tour/ and comment for your chance to win today, and to read about the ‘Atilla’s Throne’ legend…
Sardinia is my favourite Italian island, and Cagliari is quite one of the most beautiful parts, which is why I sent my characters Venetia and Paolo there in The Echoes of Love. Paolo explains to Venetia: ‘Legend has it that after the seven days of Creation, God decided to give
Please visit http://oh-my-books.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/the-echoes-of-love-legendary-blog-tour.html and comment for your chance to win today, and to read about ‘The Bay of Angels’ legend…
French president Charles De Gaulle once said, ‘How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?’ Well, how about governing Italy then, which lays claim to some 450 different types! Many Italian cheeses date back thousands of years; Pecorino cheese, for example, dates back to the time
Are you a horologist, a lover of timepieces? It seems to me that the world is divided into those who find clocks, from the grandfather down to the miniature, charming and collectable, and those who are something like Captain Hook of JM Barrie’s Peter Pan, haunted by the ‘infernal’ ticking!
From the blurb: Claire Tremaine, the widowed Marchioness of Derebourne, wears leather breeches, trains horses, and helps the damaged ones find their lost spirit. Her husband has just passed away, leaving her with no place to live. Chastain Warren, the Earl of Kensington, Chase to his friends, isn’t pleased when
Don’t forget to add this great event to your calendar – this year you can win a $100 gift card and a whole host of goodies and books (my own included)….
Along with some 200,000 people, I’ve been following with interest Observer associate editor Robert McCrum’s attempt, on the Guardian Books blog, to draw up a list of the 100 best English-language novels ever written. An easy task? Or an impossible one? The editor is encountering hot debate over his choices.
Description. It’s an essential ingredient for any fiction, adding colour and depth and context to a story. In romantic writing, description must be carefully crafted to create a mood. All details matter, from the look of a garden and the food on a plate to the hue of a sunset
One of the most memorable and impressive aspects of Venice, setting for my novel The Echoes of Love, is its architecture, and of the many beautiful and historic buildings in the city, the Scuole are among my favourite. The Scuole Grandi translates to ‘great schools’, date back as far as
I’m delighted to announce my biggest ever blog tour and giveaway next month – 1 to 31 May 2014. Follow the Echoes of Love Legendary Blog Tour and Very Venetian Giveaway across a whole host of amazing blogs to read my series of posts on romantic Italian legends, and to
Since I first saw this play as a young woman, it has been my favourite work of Shakespeare – for its humour, its cleverness, its colour, its celebration of love and magic and nature. I often find myself recalling lines when I am somewhere beautiful, somewhere it seems magic must
In The Echoes of Love, Venetia is an architect by training who has chosen to specilise in mosaic restoration, and Paolo is a man of means who has bought a property housing mosaics that require tender loving care. The result: Venetia and Paolo come together for the sake of the
In my novel The Echoes of Love, Venetia is a woman who has been burned badly by love, and is consequently afraid to trust her heart to the attentive and attractive Paolo. Lost and distressed, she seeks out the guidance of a wise elder, Chinese man Ping Lü, who is
From the blurb: 1681. Glassblowing is the lifeblood of the Republic and Venetian mirrors are more precious than gold. Jealously guarded by the murderous Council of Ten, the glassblowers of Murano are virtually imprisoned on their island in the lagoon. But the greatest artist of their number, Corradino Manin, sells
Picture the scene: You’re back at school, in English class. Your teacher hands out sheets of paper and pens, writes ‘Le Grande Romance!’ on the board, and tells you, ‘There is the title. Now write me a story. You have one hour. Begin!’ Perhaps you sit for a few minutes
In my book The Echoes of Love, the hero, Paolo, is a something of a storyteller – though he is not a writer, he certainly has the mind of one. Thus he takes an interest in the local folklore of the places to which he travels. So when he tells
In The Echoes of Love the heroine, Venetia, is waiting for Paolo in his study, when she comes across a book: She crossed over to the opposite wall, between two of the huge windows, where floor-to-ceiling bookcases stood. Looking round, she could see that more vast bookcases stretched up between
In recent weeks I’ve blogged about two Italian staples: pizza and pasta. But no look at Italian cuisine is complete without gnocchi. Have you tried gnocchi? I still recall the first time I did, and I found it hard to pin down exactly what it was – bread? pasta? potato?
No doubt you’ve heard of the Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s Square) of Venice, which Napolean called ‘the drawing room of Europe’. You’re probably also familiar with the Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco (St Mark’s Basilica), which lies at the piazza’s eastern end and is a stunning example of
Last week I blogged on the history of that classic Italian food, pasta. But say ‘Italian cuisine’ to most people and their likely response is ‘pasta and pizza’. Though we may not eat the two together, still they are traditionally paired as the most popular of Italian foods. Pizza, of
From the blurb: Damaged and beautiful, they were the generation who lost so much and became ‘spare brides’. The richly compelling and emotional new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Adele Parks is the powerful story of four extraordinary women left to pick up the pieces of their lives, in the scarred,
‘Life,’ said Italian director Federico Fellini, ‘is a combination of magic and pasta.’ To all the countries Italians have emigrated, they have brought with them their simple, nutritious and versatile food. These days, pasta is on the menu in many countries internationally – it’s something of a staple in the
Researching my novel The Echoes of Love wasn’t remotely a chore for me, it was a pleasure, especially when it came to reading up on Italian legends. Venetian history, in particular, is so colourful, with fascinating characters who really embody the infamous Italian passion. Passion, of course, can lead to
Venice is a city of waterways and, consequently, a city of bridges. Did you know that there are more than 400 bridges in the city, connecting the 117 islands and crossing the 150 canals? Follow Hannah Fielding’s board Bridges of Venice on Pinterest. These bridges are well-known for their memorable
Depending on where you are in the world, a café latte from a chain like Starbucks is likely to cost you in the region of £3/$4. Wherever you are in the world, you can absolutely buy all kinds of books for less than that. Cheap books are available in various
When you think of Spain, what springs to mind? Whatever mental image you conjure, it is bound to include at least one of this trio: * Bullfighting: the fever of the crowds at the corrida, the toreros in their costumes, the furious bull. (See my blog post ‘The Running of
I love books, absolutely love books. With that truth as constant as my heartbeat, I find it very difficult to conceive of getting rid of books – let alone actually doing so. I remember, when I was a little girl, my father coming home regularly with boxes of books. At
‘La rue est un véritable musée pour tous.’ So wrote writer and artist Hergé, who is most famous for his comic book series The Adventures of Tintin. Translated into English, his aphorism reads: ‘The street is a veritable museum for everyone.’ What did Hergé mean by this? He was talking
Flamenco – the dance, the music, the culture, the artistic duende spirit – is at the heart of my novels Indiscretion, Masquerade and Legacy, which are set in Andalucía, home of flamenco. What do you think of when you hear the word ‘flamenco’? The rousing, rhythmic, raw music, perhaps –
I dreamed of being an author from a very young age – from the day I first understood how the many books on my parents’ shelves were created and formed the idea that someday I could do that myself. In those days, to be an author was to be someone
Whenever someone asks me what my latest book is about, I am tempted to give a one-word answer: people. Yes, Legacy is about Andalucía, the region’s stunning scenery and long-held customs, and in the book you’ll read about things like gypsy medicine and art and philosophy. But fundamentally, the book
How to Do Good: Essays on Building a Better World, published by my publisher, London Wall, is a collection of essays by thought leaders, celebrities, statesmen and women, Nobel prize winners, social entrepreneurs, philanthropists and others who are driving and inspiring positive change. Each month, I’m focusing on one essay
What author, when writing romance, is not in some way inspired by Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet? It is one of the most romantic works of literature ever created. Take this proclamation from Romeo: If I profane with my unworthiest hand This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My
Have you ever thought about the nationality of the authors whose books you read? Do you read books by writers from all different countries, or do you find you’re often lost in a story dreamt up by a British or North American author? I was very inspired by a recent
I am a writer with a passion for travel, and the places I have visited and lived in are rich sources of inspiration for me when I put pen to paper. Often, my stories begin as vivid landscapes in my mind: Burning Embers, for example, grew out of the beautiful
Here is a dictionary definition of the word ‘romance’: a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love; a quality or feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness from everyday life. And here is a definition of romance when it is used with relation to a story: a book or film
This month marks 160 years since the publication in book format of a masterpiece of literature: Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary. In my early twenties, I read French literature at the University of Alexandria, and I was inspired by so many French writers, from the celebrated, like Charles Baudelaire and Victor Hugo
This week I’m celebrating four years since I became a published author (see my Monday post, ‘Win my novel Burning Embers’). It is in fact four and a half years since I started blogging, and in that time I have written hundreds of posts on all kinds of subjects, from
This month marks four years since I realised a long-held dream and became a published author! What a journey I have been on since then, with the publication of a subsequent four books (the Venice-set Echoes of Love and the Andalucían-set Indiscretion, Masquerade and Legacy), and there are still plenty
Today I’m launching a new theme on my blog: thought pieces, which initially will be inspired by a book published by London Wall, my publisher: How to Do Good: Essays on Building a Better World is a collection of extraordinary personal stories from thought leaders, celebrities, statesmen and women, Nobel
In my novel Concerto, the heroine, Catriona, is a music therapist who is hired to work with a client who is depressed. Umberto was once a celebrated pianist composer, but since he lost his sight he has turned his back on the music that is his great passion. Once, Catriona
‘I would love to return to each of my story worlds. I would love to tell the stories from different angles and perspectives, go back in time and forward, fill gaps, reimagine – dream it all over again…’
Indiscretion: a compelling story of love and identity, danger and desire. Yours free!
‘The world may never have had the fairy tale were it not for Perrault and a group of other intellectuals challenging the status quo in literature in the 17th century…’
‘To write fiction, to express oneself eloquently and with passion, to set down the words in order – that requires triumph over chaos. But more than that, I think writing demands finding a harmonious way of being with chaos…’
‘Does it matter, ultimately, when a romance is interrupted, when a hero and heroine spend years apart when they could have been together?’
‘Reading is a passport to distant lands. From the comfort of your armchair – or your bed, or your window seat, or your garden bench – you can visit the Himalayas or the Grand Canyon or the Pyramids…’
‘There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy… Is the shore at Lake Como haunted, and if so, by whom? And why: what tragic secret has been buried there?’
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