Guest Author Jan Ruth

Today our guest is Jan Ruth, author of yesterday’s book Wild Water. Here is a link to the post if you missed it. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5vR

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Let’s find out more about Jan and her books.

1) Where is your home town?

My home town is in Conwy, North Wales. I wasn’t born here, I’m originally from Cheshire – so not Welsh either! However, I’ve always felt Wales is my spiritual home and it features as a setting for all of my books

2) How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing for about 30 years. Back in the days before self-publishing I had various dalliances with traditional agents and publishers with my first book ‘Wild Water’ but sadly it didn’t really go anywhere. My stumbling block – at the time – was that it fell between genre and the male voice was too unusual. This was 20 years ago. I thought it made me unique but what did I know!

3) Do you have a preferred writing genre?

I write about people, the Welsh landscape and about situations I have knowledge of. This brings me firmly into the contemporary mould. I think genre is difficult to pin down with a lot of self published works, but without the confines of publishing houses the freedom of writing what feels natural can now (and should) come first.

4) What was the one idea which sparked off “Wild Water” ?

I wanted to write about the impact of a marriage breakup from the male point of view. At the time of writing, there were issues in my personal life which provided lots of accurate detail and fodder for fiction. Standard chick-lit is always about the hard-done-by female character and I set out to write about the other side. The book then developed into something deeper than chick-lit, with mature characters and of course, the Snowdonia setting.

5) Can you tell the readers a little about Conway?

Conwy is a medieval town set on the River Conwy in North Wales, UK. It is coastal and rural. The Snowdonia National Park provides a fabulous backdrop and the town is steeped in history, with a castle dating back to 1283.

6) Tell us about the buyer lined up to buy Anna’s Farm.

He’s intent on buying Gwern Farm to develop it into a leisure hotel. Anna doesn’t want to sell her rural idyll to this man, in order to have it destroyed, but her fiance, Alex, is determined to see the sale through.

7) What is Anna going to do once she’s sold the place?

Alex wants to buy a restaurant in Cornwall, but Anna’s heart isn’t really in it.

8) Why does Jack end up convalescing at Anna’s?

Jack is on a downward spiral, trying to keep his business afloat and stay sane in the face of his wife’s betrayal. His accident is a turning point for Jack and Anna when she offers a respite at Gwern Farm.

9) What are some of the tourist attractions that Anna’s B&B guests come to see?

The area around Gwern Farm is a paradise for walkers, bird-watchers, photographers and artists. There are many National Trust properties, castle and period houses in the whole of Wales and of course, it is a popular coastal area with many beaches.

10) Tell us where readers can finds out more about you and your books.

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My website is: http://janruth.com/*WILD WATER is currently on sale at 77p. The sequel, DARK WATER, is my latest title.*

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Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

 

 

 

Wild Water by Jan Ruth

Wild WaterWild Water by Jan Ruth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wild Water is a contemporary novel set in two main locations, Wilmslow, Cheshire and Conway, North Wales. Jack Redman runs a busy family estate agency. He’s juggling jobs, with his father away from the Welsh office and his right hand lady about to leave his office in Wilmslow. Add to this he has three children and a high maintenance wife who is causing her own problems.

It’s close to Christmas and Jack’s Dad is stuck in Spain for a while longer after a heart flutter. Jack must head to the Conway office and look after a big potential sale. It turns out that the client is Anna Williams an old sweet-heart. Seeing Anna again drags up past memories and Jack enjoys the relief from his own life that the distraction that Anna provides.

Christmas is very strained for Jack. He has a seven year old, desperate for a puppy, a fifteen year old going off the rails at school and then his wife Patsy ups and leaves too. Jack’s a complete mess and so is his life. His son Oliver runs away and turns up at Anna’s. Jack finds himself confiding in Anna and worries he’s on the rebound.

I wanted to say “Jack, Jack, Jack, what are you doing with your life?” But I also fell slightly in love the him too. The Welsh farmhouse, sounded very romantic, despite it falling to bits around their heads. I wanted to be on that Spanish holiday they took and I wanted to be a wedding guest and be the first one to throw some food. I loved the line in Jack’s wedding speech “The only mistake is to stop loving.” I shed a tear too. And if I could only speak Welsh I could pronounce Llyn Gwyllt which means wild water in Welsh, this book certainly had plenty of choppy waters before it completed it’s tale.

This is the first book I’ve read by Jan Ruth and I look forward to reading some more.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Jan will be our guest author on the blog tomorrow, come back and find out more about here and her writing.