Guest Author Adrienne Vaughan

Today our guest is Adrienne Vaughan author of yesterday’s book The Hollow Heart. Click here to read the review if you missed it. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5bA

Let’s find out more about Adrienne and her writing.

1) Where is your home town?

I was born in Leicester in the East Midlands and brought up in Dublin, Ireland – so I’m very lucky, I have two home towns and still spend time in them both.

2) How long have you been writing?

 I was given a Petite Typewriter for Christmas when I was seven, it was turquoise, I loved it, and that was it, my fate was sealed! I wrote poems, short stories and features, cutting out pictures from magazines and making up my own little publications. I’ve never stopped, today I run a busy PR company; we publish lots of company newsletters and I’m proud to be the editor of the Romantic Novelists’ Association magazine, Romance Matters.

3) What one thing sparked the idea for this book?

The Hollow Heart started as a dream. Someone I knew met a famous movie star in a bar, they struck up a conversation and although coming from very different backgrounds, became firm friends. I then dreamt I met a movie star in a pub in Ireland – which can happen there quite easily – but he didn’t want to talk to me because I was in the media. I couldn’t shake it, the scenario kept coming back to me, so I did what I always do when that happens, I wrote it down.

4) The book has a terrible terrorist attack in it, can you tell the readers what the attack was about?

I abhor terrorism. Growing up in Ireland during the seventies, I was acutely aware of how lives can be torn apart by random acts of violence in the name of a ‘cause’. I visited New York after 9/11, we flew over the site of the atrocity, there are no words to describe how that felt. So I wanted a scene that put things into perspective for my heroine, for her to realise how fragile life is, and when she finds something worth living for, to hold on and fight for it. I also wanted to show Ryan, although a movie star, was far from shallow, and I needed them both to have gone through something major, so that when they do fall in love, they will move heaven and earth to be together – and they do!

5) Does the Island of Innishmahon exist in real life?

I’m told it does, lots of readers give me names of places they think the island is based on, some even send me pictures. But no, the island is a combination of many beautiful places I have visited in Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. I do have a map of it though, I’ve drawn it and put the landmarks in, such as the pub and Marianne’s cottage, Weathervane, which is what the novel was originally called.

6) Will we be able to read more about the stolen babies story in the next book?

Oh, yes. I was in the throes of writing about that, when a report came on the news that a similar scam have been discovered in a Convent in Spain, where babies of single girls were being sold on for adoption. Since then many tales have emerged, but I’d made my story up, fact proving to be, as usual, stranger than fiction.

7) Does the second book in the series continue straight on or is there a jump in time like there is in some book series?

Straight on, it opens precisely where The Hollow Heart ends. My husband read the manuscript and when he finished it – apart from saying it should be a film – said: “That’s interesting, it ends at a beginning, you are writing a sequel aren’t you?” I wasn’t!

8) What do you think makes an Irish setting for a book appealing to readers like me?

I’m not sure. The UK and Ireland are similar yet very different, perhaps that’s the attraction, reading about a place that feels familiar and friendly, yet quite alien is intriguing in many ways. The shared language and history is another good foundation. I try hard to ensure my characters, wherever they are from, speak with an authentic voice, so I like to go back to Ireland to ‘get my ear in’ as they say and Ryan’s New York agent, Larry Leeson says elevator not lift, and trunk not boot – a childhood spent watching Kojak has not been wasted.

9) Do you have a favourite part of Ireland yourself?

I’ve too many to select just one, but a hunk of my heart is in the Wicklow mountains, wild and wonderful, it’s called The Garden of Ireland; with snow in the wintertime it could be Scandinavia, yet so close to the sea. A week in Wicklow is my idea of the best spa break in the world, everyone comes back looking amazing!

10) How many books will there be in the Heartfelt series?

I’m currently working on the final book in the series, (here’s an exclusive for you Rosie) called Secrets of the Heart, with more twists and turns for those colourful characters, and another love story or two – but to say anymore than that would be indiscreet!

I have the novel after this one roughly sketched, and much of that will be set in Ireland too, but different, equally lovable characters I hope.

Thank you Adrienne, readers can catch my review of the second book in the Heartfelt series next week.

Find a copy here on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com