Blog Tour: Spring at The Little Duck Pond Cafe
Today I am one of the stops on final day of the blog tour for Spring at The Little Duck Pond Cafe by Rosie Green. It is the first in a series of novellas. It is a short one at just 127 pages! Today I will be interviewing Rosie.
Novella Description:
Fleeing from a romance gone wrong, Ellie Farmer arrives in the pretty little village of Sunnybrook, hoping for a brand new start that most definitely does not include love! Following an unscheduled soak in the village duck pond, she meets Sylvia, who runs the nearby Duck Pond Café. Renting the little flat above the café seems like the answer to Ellie’s prayers. It’s only for six months, which will give her time to sort out her life, far away from cheating boyfriend Richard.
But is running away from your past ever really the answer?
Clashing with the mysterious and brooding Zack Chamberlain, an author with a bad case of writer’s block, is definitely not what Ellie needs right now. And then there’s Sylvia, who’s clinging so hard to her past, she’s in danger of losing the quaint but run-down Duck Pond Café altogether.
Can Ellie find the answers she desperately needs in Sunnybrook? And will she be able to help save Sylvia’s little Duck Pond Café from closure?
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
JRR (Jessica’s Reading Room):Tell us a little about yourself.
I studied English Literature at Dundee University and worked as a journalist on teenage magazines and several regional newspapers in Scotland. Then I moved to Surrey and had my own business delivering boxes of fresh, organic fruit and veg to people’s doors, which I loved. It was much later in life that I decided it was high time I wrote a book!
JRR: Did you always want to become an author?
Yes, I started scribbling mystery stories when I was about nine. Even then it was my burning ambition to see my name on the cover of a book I’d written.
JRR: And you have done that! Congrats! Who was the most influential author you read when you were growing up? Did his/her writings influence you to want to become an author?
It has to be Enid Blyton. I was a real bookworm from being small and I would devour every ‘Famous Five’ or ‘Mallory Towers’ (and all the rest!) that were published. The mystery stories I started writing were heavily influenced by her books!
JRR: Who is your favorite author as an adult? Who inspires you?
It’s hard to name just one. Marian Keyes, Sophie Kinsella, PD James, Ian Rankin.
JRR: I know about it being hard to pick one! Sophie Kinsella is great! She was the author that got me reading again. What inspires you to write?
I love the whole business of writing books and I can’t imagine a time when I won’t! I love the part where I’m dreaming up a new idea and new characters – that’s really exciting – and I love writing that very first page of a new book, although it invariably changes. I’m not so keen on writing the middle because it still seems as if you have a mountain to climb. But there’s a real excitement when the end is in sight and I start writing faster! I love the editing part, where you can polish a rough draft and make it sparkle. I just love it all!
JRR: It sounds like you have so much fun with the writing process. Speaking of, what does yours consist of? Do you research, do you hand-write or type, do you listen to music or need silence?)
I write on a laptop, sometimes sitting on my bed, but usually at the dining table (my son has commandeered the study/spare room as a music studio!). I do my best work first thing in the morning and when the house is blissfully quiet.
JRR: What made you choose the Romantic Comedy genre? What is your favorite book/movie of this genre?
I like to write romantic comedies because I have to work on them every day, and if I was writing dark psychological thrillers, I think I might get a bit down! I love Marian Keyes’ The Other Side of the Story, and I never get tired of watching The Holiday!
JRR: I love The Holiday! That is a great film! Where did you get the idea for Spring at The Little Duck Pond Café? Did you base Ellie off anyone you know?
I wanted to write a series of novellas set in a café in a pretty village in the south of England, where I lived for a time. I knew I wanted the village to have a duck pond. And then I thought why not marry the café and the duck pond together! I never base characters on people I know – not consciously, anyway – although I’m sure elements of people I know do slip in there sometimes. I’ve got a good friend who always reads my books looking for clues, thinking I must have based the ‘plump heroine’ on her – but it’s just not true!
JRR: If you could have dinner with three people(living or dead) who would they be and why?
I’d love to have dinner with Jane Austen. I think the conversation would be very lively, witty and full of gossip! I’d invite my lovely paternal grandma, who’s no longer with us, and ask her all about our family’s history – questions you never think to pose when they’re alive. And I’d quite like to meet Hugh Jackman because I think he’s lush!
JRR: Sounds like a great dinner! Which book have you always meant to get around to reading, but still not read?
War and Peace
JRR: What’s the best advice you have ever received?
As an unpublished writer, the best advice I received was to never give up. Despite all the rejections, I carried on – and thankfully, in the end, my persistence paid off!
JRR: Yes it did! Thank you so much for your time with this interview Rosie.
**It’s time for a Giveaway!!! (UK Only)**
Win wooden duck ornament and chocolates
During each day of this blog tour, clues will be revealed to the true identity of Rosie Green.
Today’s Clue is: ‘Among the Treetops’ is the place to find love in my latest book!
In order to enter, you need to follow Rosie Green on Twitter, RT this tweet and then take a guess using the hashtag #WhoisRosieGreen
Find Rosie on Twitter here.
https://twitter.com/Rosie_Green1988/status/978271556068630528
-You may guess more than once.
All entries using the hash tag will be entered, and the giveaway closes 23:00 BST 12th April
***The identity of Rosie Green will be revealed on Twitter after 12th April as will the giveaway winner.***
Good luck and don’t forget to look at posts on other days of this tour, for more clues.
About the Author:
Rosie Green has been scribbling stories ever since she was little. Back then they were rip-roaring adventure tales with a young heroine in perilous danger of falling off a cliff or being tied up by ‘the baddies’. Thankfully, Rosie has moved on somewhat, and now much prefers to write romantic comedies that melt your heart and make you smile, with really not much perilous danger involved at all, unless you count the heroine losing her heart in love.
Rosie’s brand new series of novellas is centred on life in a village café. The first, Spring at the Little Duck Pond Café, is out on March 22nd 2018.
Find Rosie on Twitter.