Today iI’m joining the blog tour for One Summer In Sicily. I’m sharing my Q&A with the author with thanks to Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me on the tour and to Nancy Barone for answering my questions!

Have you always wanted to write? 

Hello and thanks for the invite! Absolutely! But only when I started writing seriously did I believe that I could be published.

What were your previous jobs? Have they helped you with your writing process?

I teach English to 11-14 year olds in a small fishing village in Sicily. My work has helped me become more organised without losing my creativity. Plus, my students are always telling me funny stories!

What was your inspiration for One Summer In Sicily?

Ah! I like to do my research before I write, so I went to the island of Lipari with my husband and some very dear friends. Some of the things that happened to my MC actually happened to us! But the real I’m going to write about this moment was the day before our departure. I didn’t want to go, and imagined moving to Lipari: what would I do there for a living, and what would it be like to start over somewhere so different from home?

How do you construct your characters? Do they have traits of people you know?

My characters always have a bit of me in them. And yes, some traits of friends end up in the book, but I always keep it to a minimum. 

What does your writing process look like? Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I’m a hybrid! I know exactly how I want my book to end, but I have no idea how I will get there, so I let my characters take the lead. Sometimes I’ll even dream of a solution if I’m stuck.

How did you research? Did you enjoy it?

I visited Lipari and experienced every little thing I mentioned in the book, minus the betrayal, thank goodness! Yes, I enjoyed it immensely- the food, the weather, the landscape. Can’t fault any of it!

Who are your favourite writers? Are you influenced by them?

Too many to mention all of them. Lisa Marie Rice is my beloved mentor. She pushed me to believe in myself. I also love Freya North, Holly Martin, Jennifer Weiner, Sue Watson and Angela Marsons.

If you could invite three people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be and why?

There are so many people that give us life lessons without preaching. I’d love to have a chat with Michelle Obama, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. What a hoot they’d be!

Who would you least like to be stuck in a lift with and why?

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and anyone who goes under the name of ‘Bully’. Also, anyone who is arrogant and ignorant and believes himself to be better than anyone else.

Who would play the main character/s in a film version of One Summer in Sicily? 

Definitely Aidan Turner would be Mattia Spadaro, the Sicilian ‘playboy’, particularly with the look that he sported in the TV series Being Human (UK)! For Gillian, I’d like an actress who has a really quirky personality, like Melissa McCarthy who can be fierce but also terribly vulnerable and sweet.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I like to take long walks on the beach with my husband and our two dogs. I also like to host dinner parties with family and friends in our new home that has a huge kitchen.

What is next for you?

I’m working on a script with a friend. You never know!

Favourites:

Book?  Probably Jane Eyre. But I also loved Good In Bed by Jennifer Weiner. It’s deep, quirky, fun and sad. I never knew if I was going to laugh or cry at times!

Film? The Bridges of Madison County for sure! But also Something’s Gotta Give. I love the director Nancy Meyers. If any of my books ever became a movie, I would love her to direct them.

Band/Singer? Maneskin, Queen. 70s rock ballads, 80s pop.

TV show? Grace and Frankie. I love quirky, independent women!

Colour? Green

Place? I have two- Sicily and Cornwall

Biscuit? Chocolate Digestives, of course!

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One Summer In Sicily is available from Amazon.

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