One spark will light up both their lives
Alice is settling down. It might not be the adventurous life she once imagined, but more than anything she wants to make everyone happy - her steady boyfriend, her over-protective mother - even if it means a little part of her will always feel stifled.
Max is shaking things up. After a devastating injury, he is determined to prove himself. To find the man beyond the disability, to escape his smothering family and go on an adventure.
A trip to Sri Lanka is Alice's last hurrah - her chance to throw herself into the heat, chaos and colour of a place thousands of miles from home.
It's also the moment she meets Max.
Alice doesn't know it yet, but her whole life is about to change.
Max doesn't know it yet, but he's the one who's going to change it.
Title: One Thousand Stars and You
Author: Isabelle Broom
Published By: Penguin Michael Joseph
Publication Date: 23rd August 2018
Author Q & A with Isabelle Broom
Welcome to Sincerely Book Angels blog Izzie.
Your books are always set in faraway places, which you describe in beautiful detail. Where has been your favourite holiday destination and why?
This is a real toughie, because on the one hand, I want to say Zakynthos (where my debut novel My Map Of You is set), because it’s like a second home to me – but I also love, love, LOVE New Zealand, which I visited for the first time in January this year. As well as being stunningly beautiful, there’s such an inherent kindness and goodness to the place. It’s impossible not to feel both content and inspired while you’re there, and in that regard, it’s by far the most wonderful destination I have discovered since first visiting my beloved Zante 18 years ago.
Also which destinations are still on your wish list?
Ha ha – which aren’t? The world is a very big place, and there is so much of it that I still yearn to explore. At the top of my current list I have Croatia, Canada, Malta and Hawaii, all of which I hope to visit over the next two years. In fact, I’m off to Canada this November, so standby for photos of me in my thermals all over Instagram!
What was the inspiration behind One Thousand Stars and You?
I was in a pretty bad place two years ago. A relationship had just ended, and misery had set in. I was in that dark place where happiness seems hopelessly unattainable. In the midst of all this, however, I attended a party in London and met a man who changed my outlook almost instantly. It wasn’t a romantic connection, more one of those miraculous meeting of the minds – one that made me realise just how wrong for me my former partner had been, and how much happier I had the potential to be. I started thinking about how a single moment can change your life, and how you can be resolutely set in your ways one minute, only to be shaken out of them the next. This is what I chose to do to Alice and Max in One Thousand Stars and You, but it turned out to be only the beginning…
Did you always want to be a writer?
I did! I wrote from the day I learned how, constructing little stories and drawing very bad but cheerful pictures to go with them. As I grew up, writing became the creative outlet I turned to whenever I wanted to make sense of what I was feeling, and I was a voracious pen pal and reader of everything I could get my hands on. Being a published author still feels like a dream come true. I am enormously privileged to be able to do something I love so very much for a living.
What other jobs have you had?
Shall I start at the beginning? Right, so from a young age I worked at my local riding stables, mucking out, cleaning tack and tending to the horses. Then at 18, I got a job in a cinema, followed by a short stint as a travel agent (which I loathed) and various bouts of waitressing. While studying for my degree in London, I worked both as a cinema manager and a cocktail barmaid, the latter of which continued throughout a summer spent in Greece. Once back on UK soil, I got a job at a newspaper, and from there moved to London and settled in at heat magazine.
How did it feel when your first novel was published?
Surreal. It was such an emotional day and there were a lot of tears, but mostly it just felt dreamlike. I knew that it was happening, but it took ages for it to sink in – probably months. In fact, I’m not sure it even has now!
Can you please tell us a little about your publishing story.
Well, it really all began when I won The Great British Write-Off with my short story The Wedding Speech (which is now a short film, too). Part of my prize was a sit-down session with a literary agent and editor, both of whom gave me incredible advice and helped me develop My Map Of You into something resembling a proper novel. I met my own agent Hannah Ferguson completely by chance, when I hosted a Q&A for Giovanna Fletcher at Waterstones. We got chatting and she offered to read what I had of the novel, which she did, and the rest, as they say, is history. In the end, it all happened so fast that my head was left spinning, and within a year of signing my contract with Penguin I had written two novels.
What other books have you written?
There’s five novels on the list now, including One Thousand Stars and You. My Map Of You (Greece), A Year and a Day (Prague), Then. Now. Always. (Spain) and The Place We Met (Italy). I also write lots of short stories for various publications, and currently have a top-secret personal project on the go…
Have you ever had writer's block?
I’ve had “confidence block” certainly. I can always sit down and write, even if what I’m producing is total rubbish, but I do have debilitating periods of self-doubt that throw me into a panic. As a writer, I want to continue to challenge myself and writer bigger, better and bolder books – but with that drive comes a lot of pressure. I also struggle with the guilt of not writing when I have to do more mundane work, and I find myself constantly thinking, “I should be writing now”, when in reality it’s not possible. My ultimate dream is to be a bona-fide full-time author, then I’ll get to spend every single day writing.
If so, how did you overcome it?
Sometimes I take a long walk, or a long bath, or have a long chat with my mum until ideas begin to spark. Sometimes I just have to be tough with myself and sit there until the words come. Chatting to other authors helps enormously, too, as do the finished books on my shelf at home. “If I can do it once, I can do it again” is a mantra I often repeat to myself.
What motivates you to keep writing?
My love for it motivates me, and my characters do, too. Once you have them in your head demanding attention, you really owe it to them to finish their story. I’ve also been fortunate enough to have some wonderfully generous reviews, plus messages from people who have read and enjoyed my novels. Many of my readers have travelled to my book settings as a result of reading about them, and there really is no better compliment. I write for myself, yes, but I write for my readers even more so.
Where is your favourite place to write?
I moved from my pokey London flat to a lovely converted barn in Suffolk a year ago, and the first thing I did was create an idyllic writing space. This photo was taken just after I decorated – you should see the abject chaos on that desk at the moment – and it’s still my preferred place to settle in and write. A close second would have to be at the Book Camp I go to each year in Somerset. I nailed 10,000 words in a single day the first time I went there, and always come away feeling motivated and inspired.
Do your characters moods ever affect your mood and vice versa?
I think it’s inevitable that the emotions of an author will transfer into their characters. As human beings, we’re growing and learning all the time, and it makes sense to me to share what I have discovered. Writing can be a form of therapy at times – certainly when I wrote A Year and a Day, it felt like that. I was in turmoil, as were several of my characters, but giving their stories the endings that I sought for myself genuinely helped me shrug off a portion of my own woe.
What three pieces of advice would you give to an aspiring writer?
1) Write the book you want to read.
2) Write every day, even if it’s just a sentence or two. Make writing part of your routine.
3) Study your craft. There are some brilliant how-to books out there, most of which will teach you all you need to know about plot, structure and characterisation. It may feel like this is the boring bit, but learning the basics will help you so much when it comes to planning your own novel, and not getting lost halfway through.
Which authors inspire you?
Do you know what – they all do. Every single one of them. While being an author can be the most incredible job in the world, it can also be tough. With a fluctuating market, ebook-sale roulette, shrinking space in supermarkets and pre-publication pressure all piling up, us scribes are at constant risk of buckling, and so any of us who are nailing it must be applauded. My current inspo hero is Rosie Walsh, who wrote her new novel The Man Who Didn’t Call out of contract, worked for over a year on tough edits and struggled with bouts of self-doubt, only for the book to emerge as an industry-slaying bestseller. It’s such a beautiful, unforgettable story, which is testament to Rosie’s dedication, passion and talent. She is the benchmark upon which I will always measure myself.
What are you reading at the moment?
An upcoming novel that I can’t reveal the name of yet… Oh, and I’m listening to Riders by Jilly Cooper on Audible, because I love it so much. Barely anyone does characters better than Jilly, in my opinion. It feels like I’m catching up with old friends.
If your book was made into a film, what song would you choose for the opening credits?
Oh, it would have to be something featuring stars, wouldn’t it? Maybe A Sky Full Of Stars by Coldplay, or Simply Red’s Stars. I hope it does get turned into a film!
Who would you choose to play your favourite character in the film of your book?
That’s an easy one! I would pick UK actor Joe Dempsie to play Max, because I had him in mind the whole time I was writing. He’s got that perfect mix of cheeky chappie with just a hint of pensive poet – plus, he’s ruddy gorgeous.
What is your next book about?
Without giving away too many secrets at this early stage, I can tell you that it’s a split narrative, that it’s set in two locations – New Zealand being one of them – and that horses, hunky Maori men, forgotten family members and deep, dark secrets all feature. It’s proving to be a very challenging book to write, so hopefully all the hard work will pay off. *crosses fingers*
Thanks So much for joining us Izzie, as always it's been a pleasure. Good Luck with the book.
Click here to read our review of One Thousand Stars and You.
Sincerely
Book Angel x
About the Author
Isabelle Broom was born in Cambridge nine days before the 1980s began and studied Media Arts in London before joining the ranks at Heat magazine, where she remains the Book Reviews Editor. Always happiest when she off on an adventure, Isabelle now travels all over the world seeking out settings for her novels, as well as making the annual pilgrimage to her true home - the Greek island of Zakynthos. Currently based in Suffolk, where she shares a cottage with her dog Max and approximately 467 spiders, Isabelle fits her writing around a busy freelance career and tries her best not to be crushed to oblivion under her ever-growing pile of to-be-read books.
If you like pictures of dogs, chatter about books and very bad jokes, you can follow her on Twitter or Instagram @Isabelle_Broom or find her on Facebook under Isabelle Broom Author. To find out more about her books, visit her website www.isabellebroom.com
Find all of Isabelle's books here
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