The Teashop Girls is a warm and moving tale of friendship and love in wartime, by the bestselling author of the Woolworths series, Elaine Everest.
It is early 1940 and World War Two has already taken a hold on the country. Rose Neville works as a Lyon’s Teashop Nippy on the Kent coast alongside her childhood friends, the ambitious Lily and Katie, whose fiancé is about to be posted overseas in the navy. As war creates havoc in Europe, Rose relies on the close friendship of her friends and her family.
When Capt. Benjamin Hargreaves enters the teashop one day, Rose is immediately drawn to him. But as Lyon’s forbids courting between staff and customers, she tries to put the handsome officer out of her mind.
In increasingly dark and dangerous times, Rose fears there may not be time to waste. But is the dashing captain what he seems?
The Teashop Girls is the new book by Elaine Everest, much-loved author of the Woolworths Girls series. Available on
Title: The Teashop Girls
Author: Elaine Everest
Published by: Pan MacMillan
Publication Date: 2nd May 2019
Author Q and A with Elaine Everest
Hi Elaine, welcome to Sincerely Book Angels blog.
Thank you so much for hosting me today. It’s a thrill to have you taking part in my blog tour.
What was the inspiration behind The Teashop Girls?
Having been born and brought up in Kent I spent many happy holidays in Ramsgate with my parents and siblings. Day trips to nearby Margate were always looked forward to with the Brownies and Girl Guides. Having written about Dunkirk in previous books and knowing that Ramsgate was one of the major coastal towns involved in bringing our lads home the story bubbled away in my mind. I’ve also been fascinated by the Lyon’s teashops and the Nippies and gradually my story took form.
Did you always want to be a writer?
I always loved to write but girls like me were never encouraged by teachers to be writers or follow any kind of creative career. Sadly, the secondary modern schools of my time had the top stream as office workers and assumed that we would marry young and give up work to have a family. I married young but that was as far as it went. No children (our choice) and I gradually started to realise that it was okay to be creative and try to earn a living that way.
What other jobs have you had?
I attended college and left with a pile of certificates in accountancy and ‘business machines’ that are now obsolete. I moved on to manual accounting and bookkeeping keeping sets of accounts for different companies. Looking back, I can see where some of my writing ideas came from! I spent many years in office management but in between, and sometimes at the same time, I owned a furniture shop, a wedding catering business (my staff wore Nippy type uniforms), and I also made raincoats for show dogs!
How did it feel when your first novel was published? I’d already been successfully published with three non-fiction books by the time my first novel was published. Gracie’s War came out at the start of the boom in epublishing. I loved writing this book and it made me realise that writing sagas would be my future. With this one little book I met my agent and she secured the first of many contracts with Pan Macmillan. Gracie’s War is still available in libraries in large print format.
Can you please tell us a little about your publishing story? In 1997 I decided to concentrate on my writing. It was a year in which I lost my dad and my father in-law, and it made me think it was time to stop faffing and get on with it! My idea for being a freelance writer was to write short stories and articles. I have experience in the dog breeding and showing world, so my early articles were for pet publications. This gave me the confidence to expand my pitching ideas to women’s magazines and national newspaper. I learned a lot from fellow writers at that time and never stopped attending courses and talks. My short story sales were improving and gradually I started to think about writing novels. Early on I was shortlisted in a few prestigious writing competitions and also became BBC short story writer of the year in 2003. This led to an invitation to teach adult education classes, so I studied and passed a certificate to teach adults. These days I run my own classes in Hextable, Kent.
What other books have you written? Before my Pan Macmillan contracts - I have now written eight books for them and contracted for another three – I had work published in major charity anthologies. My three non-fiction books are called Showing Your Dog, A Beginners Guide; Canine Cuisine; A New Puppy in the Family. All are still on sale and in libraries. After the non-fiction books I organised and edited, with Accent Press, a charity anthology called Diamonds and Pearls to celebrate having survived breast cancer for thirty years. Fellow well known fiction writers generously donated a short story each for the cancer charity.
Have you ever had writer's block? If so, how did you overcome it?
I’m not a believer of writer’s block as it seems to be something people who want to be writers use as an excuse (sorry!). However, there are times when life/things/lack of ideas get in the way of our writing. Even cleaning the oven seems a better idea than turning on the laptop. At such times I sit and read through the outline to my novel and my chapter breakdown to get my head back into the story and I’ll I browse through some of the many research books I own then gradually I find I’m keen to start writing again. I will also look at the work I wrote the day before and this gets the ideas flowing.
What motivates you to keep writing? A deadline!
To be honest I love my job and I know that it has taken a long time to reach this far. I have a wonderful agent who cares about her clients and a publisher who is one of the best in the business. To be honest I’m living the dream and that gives me the drive to keep going. Writing is a fabulous way to earn a living and I know many younger writers who can fit this around their young family. For me, back in 1997 I was able to have more dogs as I could worked from home – perfect!
Where is your favourite place to write? ( Can we have a photo.)This question made me smile as we are busy moving furniture about to make more room for another bookshelf and to sort out my office that has suddenly turned into a dump – a very nice dump as it is all writing related. I’ve moved to the dining table but as I really need to have umpteen books and files to hand not only to check facts as I finish the current book but to delve into when an idea comes for the next book – oh and to look up information for my classes. I’m balancing on the edge of the table and can just peer over to see the television. If you hear a crash and a scream there has been an avalanche. Perhaps we can take a photograph another time? I also need to do my roots!!!
Do your characters moods ever affect your mood and vice versa? What a lovely question! I wouldn’t say that my mood can change that of a character I’m writing about but if she is happy, angry or sad then I can look back to how I felt when faced with a similar dilemma. I’ve not long written a scene where one of my girls believes her husband is having an affair. Although this has not happened to me, I have seen friends and family in similar situations. The worry, the disbelief, the anger, the sadness, and the thoughts of happy times, I wrote it all as the story unfolded. I became so caught up in the scenario I found myself hating the couple involved and had to remind myself they were also decent people and… well, I’ll not give the ending away.
Sometimes we write our feelings into our characters without realising. In one of my books all three of my girls lost their mothers at different times. I lost my mum when I was seventeen and it was only afterwards that I realised I’d transferred my feeling to my girls, and they’d been able to say things that I couldn’t.
What three pieces of advice would you give to an aspiring writer? 1. Never give up and don’t expect to succeed straight away. Learn your craft and enjoy the journey.
2. Read and never stop reading. Read the genre you would like to be published in and try to understand how the author crafted the book. With social media so easy to use you may also be able to ask them about their writing.
3. Don’t try to be something you aren’t. In other words, don’t be snobby about a genre. Whatever we write it is a job and all writers are doing that same job!
Which authors inspire you?
I’m inspired by writers who work hard at their job. Milly Johnson, Sue Moorcroft and Sheila Quigley come to mind at once. I’m also inspired by Peter James and Dick Francis as they write crime, and in the late Dick Francis’ case he wrote crime that included the animal world – now that’s what I’d really like to try next…
What are you reading at the moment?
I have just downloaded the latest C. L. Taylor novel, ‘Fear’. In fact, when I finish answering these questions I’m off to bed to start reading. I also have books lined up from my saga writing chums, Fiona Ford, Rosie Hendry, Kate Thompson, Jean Fullerton, and Lynette Rees. There aren't enough hours in the day to keep up with my reading!
If your book was made into a film what song would you choose for the opening credits? I love music and singing in my books and with The Teashop Girls my main character, Rose, dreams of singing with the big bands. She does sing in the story and does a very good job of it too. I often have YouTube on while I write and research which songs characters would sing or have a knees up to! The song ‘I’ll see you in my dreams’ would be ideal for the opening credits.
Who would you choose to play your favourite character in the film of your book? For the role of Rose in The Teashop Girls it would have to be Kara Tointon. She has a beautiful singing voice and would portray Rose perfectly.
What is your next book about? I’m back to Woolworths for my next book and this time we are in 1947/8 and so much is happening to my favourite girls. A hint would be three weddings and a funeral…
Wedding Bells for Woolworths (working title) will be published in early 2020.
Thank you so much for joining us on our blog today and good luck with The Teashop Girls.
Thank you so much for inviting me and asking such interesting questions. xxx
Sincerely
Book Angelx
About the Author
When she isn't writing, Elaine runs The Write Place creative writing school at The Howard Venue in Hextable, Kent and has a long list of published students. Elaine lives with her husband, Michael, and their Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Henry, in Swanley, Kent and is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, The Crime Writers Association, The Society of Women Writers & Journalists and The Society of Authors.
Follow the rest of this amazing blog tour here...
No comments:
Post a Comment