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Browsing Tag

Sweden

Wherever, whenever…a writer writes

Writing is like life—you remember where you were when the important things happened.

When Livi Callaway threw caution to the wind for a Parisian kiss, in All Over the Place, I was tucked up under the covers in our smallest ever house—so tiny, you could vacuum the whole place from one power point.

When I realised that Cady (in The Same But Different) was about to get arrested in San Francisco, I was sitting on the bed in our tumbledown rental on the clifftop, where we watched cruise ships coming in and out (and wished we were on board!).

And while A North So True’s Zoe and Jakob were skating on a moonlit Swedish lake, under scattered northern stars, I had a view of summer treetops outside my current bedroom window.

Obviously, I write in/on my bed a lot! Because why wouldn’t you, really? But my old MacBook has seen action in all kinds of other places too—and I thought it would be fun to show you a few of them.

At gymnastics, and waiting for my mum at her physio appointment…

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At the back of the music room during guitar lessons, and at tae kwon do…

*IMG_2684   *Writing at Tae Kwon Do

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And noisiest of all—at Inflatable World. Industrial-strength fans + super-hyped kids.

If you’re a writer and a mother, no ruckus can come between you and your story!

 

 

 

 

Sometimes it gets a little more glamorous…

*Writing by the pool

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But mostly it’s just me and Purdy. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

*New Mac

 

Now I have a beautiful new computer (cue angels singing), and PLANS—for all the places we’ll go, and all the stories yet to come.

There’s a summery, sexy new series in the works for 2016…watch this space!

 

 

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Meanwhile, A North So True is almost here! It’s already available for preorder at iBooks, and it’ll hit Amazon, B&N, Kobo and Tolino on April 14.

There are a very limited number of places left on the advance read and review team—so if you’d like to read Zoe and Jakob’s snow-kissed story, and can commit to leaving a review soon after release day, let me know, and I’ll send you a free copy.

For more details, just get in touch via my contact page! 🙂

 

 

 

A North So True

Love has its own latitude. 

Zoe Bailey’s transient childhood left her with a passport full of stamps, an ambiguous accent, and nowhere to call home. And as a grown-up, her career at a relentlessly slick London PR firm has been half-hearted at best—until she travels on assignment to Lillavik as a not-quite-legit wildlife volunteer.

The tiny Swedish village holds a smorgasbord of secrets…and Jakob Westermark. Aloof and wild, like the wolves he studies, Jakob has good reason for keeping his distance. But it’s cold, he’s hot, and the temptation to mix pleasure with business is too strong for Zoe to resist.

Then Jakob’s wolves are threatened, and suspicion turns her way. With more to lose than she ever imagined, Zoe sets out to untangle the hidden threads running through Lillavik…and maybe, finally, find her own true north.

 

Around the world in 18 days

Auckland, Sydney, Dubai, London, Oxford, Copenhagen, Yngsjö…

What exactly does a writer do when she’s set free in the big wide world?

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She goes to a party

In London, I was lucky enough to go to the RNA’s fabulous summer party, where I met and mingled with lots of lovely authors and publishing industry people. Jenny Colgan won the RoNA award for Romantic Novel of the Year, for her romantic comedy Welcome to Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop of Dreams. And the Joan Hessayon New Writers’ Award – there’s me in the photo amongst the nominees! – was won by Liesel Schwarz, for her wonderful steampunk novel A Conspiracy of Alchemists. (Thanks to Marte Lundby Rekka for the photos.)

The RoNa nominees - winner Jenny Colgan is second from right.

The Joan Hessayon nominees - winner Liesel Schwarz is second from left, I'm third from right.

The Joan Hessayon nominees – winner Liesel Schwarz is second from left, I’m third from right.

She does a bit of sightseeing

Some things you just have to do – ‘research’ and ‘sightseeing’ are two sides of the same coin after all! And some special places just have to be revisited. Hello, Trafalgar Square…

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She walks in the footsteps of great intellectuals (it might rub off a little, right?)

I wandered – and dodged a few bicycles – amongst the dreaming spires of Oxford, where even the statues are studious! (We don’t need to mention how long it took to finish my degree!)

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She explores a fairy-tale town

I visited with Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, as magical a place as you always imagined. And yes, they have Great Danes in Denmark!

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She goes home (from home)

In beautiful Sweden, my second home, I spent time with greatly-missed friends and family (the honorary, exchange student kind) and rediscovered my rusty Swedish. Check out the YouTube clip at the end of this post to hear how it’s really done! The yellow building in the photo below is my old high school. Yngsjö – and all of southern Sweden – was at its glorious, newly-sprung spring best. It’s just as beautiful whether you can pronounce it or not!

IMG_2735IMG_2783Serena in SwedenYngsjoIMG_2759 IMG_2884

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, she goes home for real

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It was 60+ hours travelling time, and more than 25,000 miles there and back – not including an unexpected diversion to Melbourne. I really was all over the place! But the jetlag was more than worth it for the joy of stepping right back in with much-loved friends, and meeting online author friends for the first time. Amazing memories, fresh perspectives, and something extra special – the outline for a new book!

Now to go and finish the current one…

Happy travels everyone! 🙂

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(P.S. None of this adventure would have been possible without my guy holding the fort at home – filling lunchboxes, doing laundry and cooking dinners, while still running a company. That’s my kind of hero. ♥)

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