1 May 2019

New Release - A Summer to Remember by Sue Moorcroft


 It is a pleasure to welcome Sue Moorcroft who is my guest today. Sue is a Sunday Times bestselling author, an international bestselling author and has held the #1 spot in the UK Kindle chart. She writes contemporary fiction with sometimes unexpected themes.
Sue has won a Best Romantic Read Award, received two nominations at the Romantic Novel of the Year Awards and is a Katie Fforde Bursary winner. Her short stories, serials, articles, columns, courses and writing 'how to' have sold around the world.
An army child, Sue was born in Germany then lived in Cyprus, Malta and the UK. She's worked in a bank, as a bookkeeper (probably a mistake), as a copytaker for Motor Cycle News and for a digital prepress. She's pleased to have now wriggled out of all 'proper jobs'.

Thanks for inviting me onto your lovely blog, Sherry.







And congratulations on your new release, A Summer to Remember on May 2nd, tomorrow, 








The book blurb is:
COME AND SPEND SUMMER BY THE SEA!
WANTED! A caretaker for Roundhouse Row holiday cottages.
WHERE? Nelson’s Bar is the perfect little village. Nestled away on the Norfolk coast we can offer you no signal, no Wi-Fi and – most importantly – no problems!
WHO? The ideal candidate will be looking for an escape from their cheating scumbag ex-fiancé, a diversion from their entitled cousin, and a break from their traitorous friends.
WHAT YOU’LL GET! Accommodation in a chocolate-box cottage, plus a summer filled with blue skies and beachside walks. Oh, and a reunion with the man of your dreams.
PLEASE NOTE: We take no responsibility for any of the above scumbags, passengers and/or traitors walking back into your life…
GET IN TOUCH NOW TO MAKE THIS A SUMMER TO REMEMBER!

For many readers the nuts and bolts of writing are a mystery, so to start I thought I’d include a few questions on their behalf.

Q - Before we talk about your new book A Summer to Remember, please will you share ‘an average day in a writer’s life?’
A - It really depends upon the day. Mostly, I’m at my desk at about 7.15 a.m. and I begin with social media and emails. I eat breakfast at my desk. I work until about 6.00 p.m. but several days of the week I take a break during the day for a dance or yoga class or a piano lesson. I work about fifty or sixty hours a week but those hours are flexible so if I want to do something on Thursday afternoon I might work on Sunday to make up. I’m very deadline orientated but not everything I do is writing or planning a novel. I also do promo, write short stories and blog posts, update my website, keep my accounts and all the other jobs that come with the territory.
Of course, there are many days where I’m not sitting at my desk. I might be at a publishing event run by the Romantic Novelists’ Association, SWWJ or Freelance Media Group. I also have meetings with my publishers and/or agent or I have my own events at book shops, libraries, festivals etc.

Q Did writing choose you or did you choose writing?
A - It’s a compulsion rather than a choice so I guess it chose me. On the other hand, you’ve got to want something pretty badly to persist through 150++ short stores, 8 serials, 14 novels, a writing guide, three courses and dozens of columns. I used to teach creative writing and appraise manuscripts to make financial ends meet. I did that for twenty years before I could say I was making my living as a novelist.

Q What is your favourite colour, and why?
A - I can never choose between black, blue and purple. I have no idea why!

Q - Do you plot your stories or do they evolve as you progress into the story? Which comes first, your plot or your characters? And how do you meld your plot and your characters together?
A - I like to know a lot about my central characters and their goals and conflicts before I begin. I have a lot of notes and maybe a bit of a mind map. I sometimes pause at the beginning of a chapter and make notes about where the chapter’s going to keep me on track but other times I just crash on with what my head’s telling me.
My characters evolve and so it becomes obvious how they’ll react to things or what’s making them tick. I’m a big believer in characters having a backstory and that influencing the character they are on page 1 and throughout the book. Sometimes something that seems quite minor can have a big effect on the book. In A Summer to Remember, for example, the tiny village of Nelson’s Bar is stuck out on a headland in Norfolk and has no mobile signal and scant broadband. Who could communicate with whom at what time really impacted on the story.

Q I know, from visiting your blog http://suemoorcroft.wordpress.com that you have set A Summer to Remember in Norfolk. How do you choose the settings for your books?
A - It’s usually just what seems right. I used to holiday in north Norfolk when my kids were young. When I wanted somewhere for Clancy to run to when her life in London imploded, that’s what came to mind. In contrast, last year’s summer book, One Summer in Italy, was sparked by a chef at a writing retreat I head up for Arte Umbria in Italy. She told me how she picked somewhere different to work each summer. Italy seemed the perfect place for a character to do the same and I wrote half of that book on a writing retreat there. Further contrast: my winter book this year, Let it Snow, is partly set in Switzerland because a friend said if I wanted to set a book there then she’d drive me and I could stay with her and her husband. I like to travel so I said, ‘Yes, please!’

Q Tea or coffee?
A - Tea. I’m afraid coffee is on my hate list.

Q Cat or dog?
A - Dog. I haven’t had one since I was a teen but I borrow one from my son and his fiancée sometimes. The dog is a bonkers Jack Russell and you might find him on my social media streams under the name of Puppy-in-law.

Q In Just for the Holidays you took a helicopter ride, ‘ for research’ and experienced what it’s like when the engine stalls. Did you go to similar lengths while researching A Summer to Remember?

A - I’d love to have something that exciting in every book! However, for A Summer to Remember I did most of my research wandering around Norfolk in a heatwave. I’d never been out on the salt marshes before and I loved exploring places like the old harbour at Thornham and the reserve at Tideswell. I spent the evenings reading what literature I’d collected during the day over a glass (or two) of wine. It was a much more serene experience than the helicopter but intensely enjoyable. I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise to Norfolk, actually - I’m afraid I moved the landscape about and split the salt marshes with a headland that doesn’t really exist.

Q - On an average, how long does it take you to write each story?
A - As I write two novels a year I guess it’s around six months. It’s hard to quantify because as well as writing those books I’m writing all the other stuff I mentioned early in this interview and performing all those other tasks. I’m always working on three books in any six-month period: writing one, editing one and promoting (at least) one. I also take a couple of holidays a year. This is why I’m deadline orientated - if one’s coming up I have to prioritise whichever task it relates to.

Q What do you do to relax when you are not writing?
A - I love and adore watching Formula 1 on TV, listening to its podcasts, reading the news etc. I also love yoga, dance fit, FitStep and Zumba, hanging out with friends or reading.

Q Can you tell us anything about what readers can expect in your next book?
A - Let it Snow will be released as an ebook in September and paperback and audio in October. It’s about Lily, who grew up in a family with two gay women for parents. She’s in the village of Middledip to make contact with her half-brothers. She knows her mum had an affair with their dad to get pregnant but they don’t know she exists. She’s also heading up a project with a Swiss company and as part of that she takes a village singing group, the Middletones, to perform in Switzerland. Isaac’s in the village as relief manager at the pub because its landlord Tubb has developed heart failure. He’s on his way to a new career in the great outdoors after his relationship ends but he’s drawn back into his ex-girlfriend’s life in a most unexpected way.

Q Summer, winter, autumn or spring – which is your favourite and why?
A - Summer. I just love the sun! I love warmth and not being weighed down with coats and boots. Maybe it’s because I was brought up for several years in Malta and Cyprus?

Thank you Sue for joining us today.
It’s been my pleasure. Thanks for inviting me along.

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