Funday Friday - Truth or Lie? - Zara Stoneley - Month 2 Week 1

Welcome to the second ever edition of Truth of Lie. My name is Rachel and I will be your host, for this exciting new game show. Each Friday, I will have one contestant, and they will be answering 14 questions. There is of course one small twist, 

For three of the answers, they have to lie. It is your task as the viewer to guess which three answers are lies. You are allowed 3 guesses and I want them posted into the comments field. 

Every 4 weeks, I will close the guessing, count up how many correct answers each of you has, and create a leaderboard. Anyone who is top of the leaderboard, will go into a draw for a paperback of the winners choice (open internationally). 

Please do include a way for me to contact you (email or twitter or similar), so that I can let you know if you have won. 

The weekend after a 4 week period closes, not only will I produce a leaderboard, and announce a winner, I will also let you know into the true answers, and which were the lies.  

Closing date for this second month is 11pm on 16th June 2016. 

So without further ado, let's meet today's contestant. 

Good morning contestant, please can you tell me your name and a little bit about yourself?

Hi! I’m Zara Stoneley and I write funny, sexy rom-coms set (usually) in the Cheshire countryside –  ‘think Bridget Jones in the Country’ one reviewer said, which is a comment I love! My most recent novels are the Tippermere books, crammed full of sexy men, horses and mischievous dogs so they might be your thing if you love Jilly Cooper or Fiona Walker. 
I live in a Cheshire village, but also spend quite a lot of time in Barcelona – where the tapas and wine are doing their best to ruin my waistline.

Please to meet you Zara, I must say I have loved the first two books in the Tippermere Trilogy and eager to get my hands on your new book.  

Now onto the show, and remember everyone, Zara hasn't been entirely truthful with three of these answers, so it is up to you to guess which ones they are (only 3 guesses per person though). 

1) What book do you wish you had written?

Riders by Jilly Cooper. It made quite an impression on me when I first read it. I’m not sure you could write a character like Rupert now, or even Jake, but at the time it was like nothing I’d ever read before. Back in 1985 though, I was too busy trying to live that life – I didn’t have time to think about writing a book! Would I try and write a book like Riders now? No. I love writing my Tippermere books with their horses and riders, but my natural style is lighter and I like my heroines to be a bit kick-ass – they wouldn’t put up with the kind of treatment Jilly’s heroes dished out.

2) What was your most memorable holiday ever? 

The first time I went to Greece. I was a student and went to Poros with my boyfriend. I don’t like to overuse the word, but it really was amazing. We were woken up each morning by a noisy donkey, and a cockerel, and we had an apartment that was on a hillside with a terrace looking out to sea. In the day we’d pack a picnic and hire a boat so that we could row round to deserted beaches, and the evenings were spent in pretty tavernas. One of them was full of cats and kittens that would come and sit on your knee – some people hated it, I loved it. I really didn’t want to come home at the end of the 10 days.

3) If you could be an animal what would you be and why? 

An otter, it would be amazing to be that graceful in water, they’re also very playful and seem to have so much fun – and have such loving bonds with their families.

4) If you could be a fruit, what would you be and why? 

A pomegranate, I like annoying people! LOL not really, and I’m not sure I want to be hit on the bottom with a spoon by Jamie Oliver, but if you persevere with a pomegranate they’re tasty and good for you, they separate the men from the boys!

5) What superpower would you love to have? 

To be able to fly. I hate sitting in traffic queues, and don’t get me started on the whole security thing at airports…

6) What is the most annoying interview question you have ever been asked? 

(This was for a job, not a blog interview!) How do you feel about having older, more experienced men working under you? Really?! I was very tempted to give a sarcastic (or rude) answer, but I didn’t.

7) What is your dream job, and have you tried to achieve it? 

A vet was my dream job when I was younger. I have always loved animals, but my exam results weren’t quite good enough and I didn’t get a place at University so ended up studying Computer Science instead! Now though I’d say my dream job is what I’m doing. Writing. 

8) Can you describe for me what your perfect day would involve? 

Breakfast on the terrace looking out to sea, a long horse-ride (with my husband, though I’ve not yet managed to get him on a horse), people-watching with coffee and cakes, a potter round a nice art gallery (without too many people in it), cocktails and romantic dinner with my hubby, a walk then curl up with a good book (that might not be husband’s idea of the perfect end to the day!) 

9) Please name a cocktail that would describe you perfectly, and what’s in it?

Pimms – a little bit fruity, cool (okay that bit might be wishful thinking), confused, long-lasting, with some fizz! Pimms, lemonade, orange, strawberries, cucumber, mint, ice.

10) Besides reading, which I am guessing is a given, what other hobbies do you have?

Pottery making. It’s really therapeutic using my hands to make something, and not studying a laptop screen, and there’s the satisfaction of producing something I can give to other people.

11) Did you have an invisible friend as a child? If so please tell me about them. 

I did, but it wasn’t another child, it was a dog. I was animal mad and really thought that a dog would be my best friend and do everything with me. I do wonder if I got the idea from watching Lassie!

12) What is your guilty pleasure when it comes to music?

 I do love a bit of heavy rock – headbanging music! I listen to all kinds of music, including classical (I used to play the piano), but there’s nothing like a bit of rock to cheer you up – it’s my remedy if I’m feeling down in the dumps or unmotivated.

13) If you could only look at one view for the rest of eternity, what or where would you like to be to see this view? 

That’s an interesting one! I think I’d have to be on the coast somewhere. The sea can be very soothing, but I think it’s the constant change that appeals to me so much – it stirs emotions as it switches from tranquil to angry and turbulent, as the tide comes in and recedes, and there’s life on the sea and in it – the boats, surfers and swimmers, the fish and animals it supports. And the sun rising and setting over the sea has to be one of the best sights ever.

14) What are you most scared of? 

Not knowing, which I suppose could be the same as the unknown. I hate mysteries, I’m a very logical person – I need to be able to work out the answer. I used to read the end of a book at the start (I apologise to all those people I have just horrified). It didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the story at all, but not knowing how it was going to end was terrible. I have now broken this habit, many years ago.

Thank you so much Zara Stoneley for taking part in Truth or Lie? I wish I had a dog, invisible or otherwise, and somehow it doesn't surprise me that you wish you had written Riders, given your love of horse and sexy jockey based books! 

I hope you have enjoyed this edition of Truth or Lie? I will be back next week with another episode, and in the mean time...

Don't forget to guess the lies, to be in with a chance of a prize!

Dashing eventer Rory is ready to button up his breeches and settle down. His gorgeous wife, Lottie, wants a bank balance in the black so she can protect the beautiful family estate for future generations.

But with the wedding business at Tipping House going up in flames, and rumours that it was arson not accident, Lottie begins to wonder who she can trust with her future.

Tranquil Tippermere is under siege as movies moguls and insurance investigators invade the countryside, and as events gather pace rescue plans start to look too good to be true, and intentions may not be as honourable as they seem.

As a moody, but definitely marvellous, polo player enters the fray and squares up to the eventing hero of Tippermere, does Lottie stand to lose her husband as well as her home?

You can buy ‘Country Rivals’ from Amazon or visit Zara’s website to see all buy links.

And you can grab the other Tippermere books (all the books can be read independently) here –

‘Stable Mates’ - ‘Country Affairs’ -  ‘A Very Country Christmas’ (FREE!)

Find out more about Zara Stoneley -
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