British author Ali Macnamara is my guest today. She kindly accepted to answer my questions about her books: her first successful "From Nottingh Hill with Love ... Actually" and her due to release "Breakfast at Darcy's". You'll have the chance to win one of her two books reading and commenting this interview. You'll find the details for the giveaway contest at the end of the post. Enjoy and good luck!
Welcome on FLY HIGH! Ali. It’s a great pleasure to have you as my guest and to introduce you and your work to my readers. Tell us Ali, have you always wanted to be a writer?
No I actually started writing stories by accident on an Internet message board. People were enjoying them so much that I decided to have a go at writing ‘real books.’
How has your life changed after the publication of your first novel, “From Notting Hill with Love … Actually”?
It hasn’t really. I still spend more time in front of a computer screen than I probably should, except now I get paid for it ;-)
Notting Hill and Love Actually are two of my favourite comedies. What did you especially like in them? Apart from Hugh Grant, of course! ;-)
I’m a great fan of the writer and director of those two movies – Richard Curtis. I love the way he writes and his humour.
Does this mean you are an incurable romantic?
Most definitely!
What do you like reading when you are not writing and what kind of reader are you?
I’m quite an erratic reader, and I have very varied tastes! It depends on how busy I am and what I’m writing at the time. I would love to have loads more time to read lots more books!
Another of my passions is period drama and costume movies. Do you like them? Have you got a favourite one?
Yes I love them. Pride & Prejudice – the BBC TV production with Jennifer Ehle & of course Colin Firth ;-)
What inspired you to write “Breakfast at Darcy’s" What kind of story is it? What can you tell us about it?
Breakfast at Darcy’s is about a girl called Darcy who finds out at a funeral she’s the sole beneficiary of her Aunt’s wealthy estate. But the terms of her Aunt’s will state before Darcy can inherit any of her money she must go and live on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland for a whole year, and set up a new community of people to live there with her.
Being a city girl, Darcy doesn’t find the switch from high-heeled boots to wellington boots an easy one, or for that matter any of the other many changes that the island of Tara has in store for her…
The idea came to me when I was on a touring holiday of Ireland and my husband and myself were parked up one day over looking the island of Great Blasket in County Kerry. My fictional island of Tara is based very heavily on Great Blasket and it’s history.
Thanks Ali for taking the time and answering my questions. You’ve been very kind! Fingers crossed for the launch of “Breakfast at Darcy’s”. We’ll wait for you back on FLY HIGH!
Two books, two winners! Thanks to Ali Macnamara's publishers, Little Brown, UK, we've been granted a copy of "From Nottingh Hill with Love ... Actually" and one of "Breakfast at Darcy's". Leave your comments and don't forget your e-mail address to enter this double giveaway. It is open internationally and it ends on 27th November when the winner is announced. Good luck!
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