About the book
They say you should never go back, but glamorous Ronnie Percy did just that, to the home she ran away from with her lover.
But not everyone is finding it easy to forgive and forget.
Even more annoyed is the staunchly loyal stud head groom, Lester. Does Ronnie think he's lost his touch with the horses? And anyway, who is this so-called Horsemaker, Luca O'Brien? Why does he seem to be running away from something? And what is the true story of his relationship with grey stallion Beck, once destined for the Olympics, now broken and unrideable, screaming his anger from the Compton Magna stables.
Passionate, sexy, gripping, laced with her trademark wisdom and humour, this is bestselling Fiona Walker at her dazzling best.
Title: Country Lovers
Author: Fiona Walker
Published By: Head of Zeus
Publication Date: 14th November
Pre-order links:Amazon: https://amzn.to/2ZcQhcs
Google Play: https://bit.ly/2N8sMik
Kobo:
iBooks:
Author Q & A with Fiona Walker
What was the inspiration behind Country Lovers?
Country Lovers is inspired by the wonderful characters I’ve met living in rural England, especially the horsey set. They’re a sexy and fearless bunch who make friends for life, love their dogs and know how to party.
Did you always want to be a writer?
I originally wanted to be an actress and I studied drama, but I only ever got cast as mad old women which limited my options at twenty-one.
What other jobs have you had?
I’m very lucky to have been a full-time author since I was twenty-three, although I worked briefly in advertising after leaving university (and I had a host of strange student jobs before that, from serving medieval banquets dressed as a buxom wench, making Don Johnson’s off-menu sandwiches in a golf club, and selling novelty corgi snow globes outside Windsor Castle.)
How did it feel when your first novel was published? Slightly surreal and disbelieving, as well as utterly over the moon. I still do twenty-six years later.
Can you please tell us a little about your publishing story.
I used to read prolifically, and when I ran out of things to read that ticked my boxes, I decided to write instead. I wrote my first full-length novel, French Relations, in 1993, and I was one of very rare fairy tale ‘Slush Pile’ success stories: an agent spotted its potential straight away, signed me up and sold it over a weekend. I still pinch myself.
What other books have you written?
I’ve written eighteen novels. The others are: French Relations, Kiss Chase, Well Groomed, Between Males, Snap Happy, Lucy Talk, Lots of Love, Tongue in Cheek, Four Play, Love Hunt, Kiss and Tell, The Love Letter, The Summer Wedding, The Country Escape, The Woman Who Fell in Love for a Week, The Weekends of You and Me and The Country Set
Have you ever had writer's block?
I’ve never had total writer’s block – as in not being able to write anything at all - but I have had phases of being crippled with self-doubt, firmly believing every word is rubbish and desperately wanting to do something else for a living to spare the paying public the agony of reading it.
If so how did you overcome it? I read. The sheer joy of reading always makes me want to do it again (especially, I have to secretly admit, if you find yourself wanting to hurl the book across the room because you’d have ended it differently).
What motivates you to keep writing? Being the family breadwinner is a pretty strong motivating factor, along with not being qualified to do anything else for a living (although I’m now the right age to play mad old ladies, so if all else fails I might get my big acting break at last…). Mainly, I wrote because I love doing it.
Where is your favourite place to write? (can we please have a picture):
I’ve written all over the place: kitchen table, spare bedroom, attic, garage garden shed. I’m very spoiled at the moment because I’ve just moved to a new ‘office’ in our cottage in what was the annexe. It’s by far the biggest writing corner I’ve had and currently very tidy. That won’t last…
Do your characters moods ever affect your mood and vice versa?
Maybe it’s because of my love of theatre, but I do find myself acting out the characters in real life, so their moods certainly can affect mine. But I do try to make all my characters sympathetic, even the rogues. And nobody kills anyone.
What three pieces of advice would you give to an aspiring writer? Get it finished. There are too many half-finished books left in drawers. Keep going right to the end, because that’s where the work really begins.
Edit it at least twice. I first read a physical print-out and cover it in pen marks and notes, changing the order of things, adding scene ideas. Then, once those ideas are incorporated, I send the file to my Kindle and spot lots of other little things like word repetition and continuity bloops.
Keep every scene you cut out in a scrapbook file for a future book. You may never re-use it, but it makes it easier to cut it out of the original if you don’t think it’s going to waste.
Which authors inspire you? I grew up reading an eclectic mix nabbed from my parents’ shelves, all of whom are huge inspirations: Angela Carter, Beryl Bainbridge, Wendy Perriam and Jilly Cooper (whose early books I adored with a passion). Modern authors I enjoy include Lianne Moriarty, Ali Smith and Kate Atkinson. And I am in awe of good script-writers – Victoria Wood remains my heroine, also Carla Laine and more recently Sharon Horgan and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
What are you reading at the moment? I’m reading Nina Stibbe’s Paradise Lodge, a wittily nostalgic novel about a teenager working in an old people’s home in the ’seventies. My description doesn’t do it justice because it’s great fun.
If your book was made into a film what song would you choose for the opening credits? Black Horse and the Cherry Tree by K T Tunstall.
Who would you choose to play your favourite character in the film of your book?
My daydream casting for Pax Forsyth would be Lily Cole: she’s bright and funny, can nail that rebellious British spirit and has the hair.
What is your next book about?
It’s a sequel to Country Lovers, with many familiar characters returning to join forced in a battle against big threats both to the village’s future and to that of one of its greatest love stories.
Thank you so much for joining us on our blog today and good luck with the book.
Sincerely
Book Angel x
About the Author
Follow Fiona:
Twitter: @fionawalkeruk
Facebook: @fionawalkeruk
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