Guest Post - France by Emily Williams - Bookish World Cup - France

There is something about France that always stays with you; long after you’ve unpacked your bag and the day to day life has returned. Whether is from the heavenly scent of flowers and the buzzing from the crickets as you sip wine late into the evening or the taste of cheese of freshly baked baguettes from the local boulangerie. France certainly sticks in my mind long after I’ve visited.

Holidaying in France were amongst my earliest and fondest memories. The towering sunflowers above our heads as we posed for photographs in the fields and the smell from warm croissants with jam as we (my sister and I) were sent to the campsite shop to buy breakfast with our broken language skills. The warmth of the sun and the smell of sun cream as we’d be slathered head to foot and head under the shade to play shuttlecock or ping pong. These were by far the best days of childhood.

These days, France holds more to my heart than memories, mouth-watering food and the vast countryside for exploration. Over ten years ago my parents moved over to renovate a run-down old farmhouse and transform the landscape into magical gardens with sunken hideaways and borders overflowing with flowers. A haven away from everything. My visits over to them were the highlight of my year.

It was hidden away, down amongst the flowers, in the sunken gardens that I began to sketch out the ideas for my first novel, Letter to Eloise. Although the novel, Letters to Eloise is set in Sussex, parts of the stone buildings and grounds within the farmhouse became embroiled within the novel. I could picture the house as I was writing. I love old stone farm buildings and particularly the French style of country house in Brittany, with the pretty, wooden shutters and tiled floors.

Being in France, away from home in an almost magical place, always brings out my creativity. I’d spent hours just daydreaming by the pool, watching the lizards scamper across the hot stone walls. A notepad would lay by my side to capture any ideas, which would, without fail, arrive. If I’m ever in need of time away to refresh and rebuild my mind, France is the place to go. My recent novel, Rafferty Lincoln Loves was dreamed up whilst lounging in the sunshine.

Of course, I’d fit in an enormous amount of reading too. I’d devour book after book, just whiling away time in the shade of the trees. Could anything be more perfect?

I get a peace and sense of relaxation in France that I don’t get anywhere else. That’s why my partner and I and our two (very soon to be three!) children will hopefully be moving over to France in the near future. To continue the dream with my parents and run our own farmhouse with a fairytale garden. I’ll soon be sipping wine late into the night, watching the bats diving under the lamps and daydreaming up my next novel.

I couldn’t think of a place I’d rather be.

Thank you to Emily Williams for this fabulous post about France which I have really enjoyed reading. 

Amazon UK

Letters to Eloise is the incredibly warm, witty, poignant and heart-wrenching debut epistolary novel by bestselling author Emily Williams; a love story of misunderstandings, loss, and betrayal but ultimately the incredible bond between mother and child.

‘Receiving a hand written letter is something that always puts a smile on my face, no matter who the sender is.’ Flora Tierney.

When post-graduate student Flora falls unexpectedly pregnant during her final year studies she hits a huge predicament; continue a recent affair with her handsome but mysterious lecturer who dazzles her with love letters taken from the ancient tale of ‘Abelard and Heloise’, or chase after the past with her estranged first love?

But will either man be there to support her during the turmoil ahead?

‘Banish me, therefore, for ever from your heart’, Abelard to Heloise.

Author Bio

Emily Williams lives by the seaside in West Sussex with her family and a menagerie of small pets. After graduating from Sussex University with a BA in Psychology, Emily trained as a primary school teacher and teaches in a local school. 

Letters to Eloise is her debut novel. Her new novel, the YA fiction Rafferty Lincoln Loves... will be released this year. The proceeds from the book will be donated to the British Thoroughbred Retraining Centre.

You can follow Emily on twitter @EmilyRMWilliams

Find out more about Emily’s other books on Amazon: http://amzn.eu/dzZSU0y 

Read reviews and find out more on her blog: emilywilliamsauthor.blogspot.com

Would You Rather? - Q&A with Emily Williams - Blog Tour

I am delighted to welcome Emily Williams to my blog today, and she has answer a series of fun questions all entitled - Would You Rather?

 1. Would you rather live under the sea or in space?

I would much rather live under the sea. There is something so peaceful and serene about swimming underwater. I love snorkelling on holiday amongst the rocks and marine life and think I would be completely at home in the sea. Space would terrify me!

2. Would you rather only read your genres you write in, or all other genres for the rest of your life? 

All other genres! Although, so far, I haven’t completely stuck to one genre with my writing but they both have elements of romance. I do like variety, so think I would get bored just reading one genre for the rest of my life!

3. Would you rather ride a camel or an elephant?

I’d rather ride a camel, as long as the conditions the animal were ridden in were good. There are horror stories about how elephants are trained to be ridden so I would be very cautious about riding an elephant – although I’d still love to and would find the experience amazing. The animal would have to be kept in exceptional conditions as would the camel, but I choose the camel!

4. Would you rather eat sweet or savoury food? 

Hard one! Ahhh, can I say both?! I’m not sure I can choose as it depends on my mood but overall, I’d probably pick savoury as there as so many things I’d miss if I couldn’t. I could never give up cheese for example!

5.    Would you rather pick all future books to read by their covers only, or their blurbs?

Blurbs as I am incredibly influenced by the cover, but with the blurb I can make a much better judgement as to whether I’d enjoy the book or not. It’s true a great cover does pull you in but the blurb would give me a hint of the story.

6. Would you rather go skiing or sit by a beach on holiday?

The beach. I can’t read when skiing! I love being active but not too fond of being cold. So the beach, with a beautiful sea to swim in, warm sun and a good book would be perfect.

7. Would you rather go to the cinema or the theatre?

Cinema, unless the theatre production is very good. I haven’t been to many theatre shows so couldn’t really compare, but I’d like to experience more.

8. Would you rather read ebooks, audiobooks or physical books?

I definitely would rather read physical books. There is nothing like the feel and smell of a good book. However, practicalities mean that I normally read from an eBook, sadly.

9. Would you rather be rich but unhappy or poor and happy?

Poor and happy. I value happiness above everything.

10. Would you rather play or watch sports? 

I would prefer to play, if my body allows. Sadly, I have an autoimmune condition which means my body wouldn’t cope with sports but I’d still rather play than watch! I can cope with watching the Olympics but that’s about it!

11. Would you rather always have to tell the truth, or always have to lie?

Hard one! Occasionally white lies are useful but if I had to choose, I would go for always tell the truth. Otherwise, the world would be a terrible place.

12. Would you rather only be able to whisper the whole time, or shout the whole time?

Whisper. I’m a bit noise sensitive and can’t bare shouting so would find my own voice terrible to listen to all day!

13. Would you rather always be late or always be unprepared?

Always be late, but then at least I’d be prepared and could just waltz in and complete whatever needs doing! I normally hate being late but I’d rather that that be unprepared for something.

14. Would you rather have your own luxury car, or private plane?

Neither! I’m not too bothered by luxury stuff, but I suppose a car would be more practical.

15. Would you rather be aged 10 or 30 forever?

30 forever. Thirty is a good age. You are past the horrific teenage years but still have youth on your side. I’d happily go back to be thirty again!

16. Would you rather look like a fish or smell like a fish?

Haha, I’d probably prefer to look like one?! I think I would be put off by myself if I smelt like one. As much as I love eating fish, the smell is strong!

17. Would you rather be an only child or have siblings?

I have a sister, I’m not sure it would be fair to answer this question! Only joking, from experience, I think it’s great having a sister. I’m pleased my children have each other to talk to and play with, so siblings are important.

18. Would you rather lose your keys or forget your mobile phone?

I’m terrible at both of these! I absolutely hate losing my keys. My daughter recently put them down behind the radiator and it took days to find them! With a phone being left behind, by the end of the day I’d have it back. So I’d probably choose the phone.

19. Would you rather have free books for life or free food for life?

Probably free books, although this was a hard decision. I do love food, very much so. But with free food, I would just eat and eat and eat, which wouldn’t be very healthy. So for my health’s sake, I’d choose books.

20. Would you rather give up social media or alcohol?

Social media! I love gin and wine too much! Social media has only really become important to me since I started blogging and joined the author world and I can see how important it is. But to give up alcohol forever, hmmm I’m not sure I could! 

A word from the author…

I wrote Rafferty Lincoln Loves… as I have always wanted to write a novel involving horses. I read many pony stories as a child, but have found that there are very few to read as a young adult/adult so I wanted to fill this void. I have been around horses from a very early age and spent many years saving to afford my own horse. Sadly, due to a road accident and then a fall of a horse, I can no longer ride. However, my passion and love for equines hasn’t diminished. Due to arm injuries from the accidents, I have had to dictate the novel, Rafferty Lincoln Loves… and am donating the proceeds of the novel to the British Thoroughbred Retraining Centre – a charity I have supported since childhood.

Many thanks for supporting the novel and I do hope you enjoy it!

Emily x

Link to the novel: http://amzn.eu/dzZSU0y

Rafferty Lincoln doesn't like horses. Not one bit. But when the popular high school girl of his dreams, Liberty Ashburn, pulls him into a world of lead ropes and horse brushes, who is he to say no?

Except this isn't any old horse. This is the missing racehorse, Profits Red Ridge. The horse Rafferty and three of his friends are hiding from the world. And Liberty Ashburn isn’t just any ordinary high school girl. How far will Rafferty go to win her over?

An intense, witty and powerful coming of age story with startling consequences.

About the charity ‘The British Thoroughbred Retraining Centre’

 The proceeds from the novel ‘Rafferty Lincoln Loves…’ will be donated to The British Thoroughbred Retraining Centre.

BTRC is dedicated to improving and promoting the welfare of retired racehorses through education, retraining and suitable rehoming in order to ensure that our Thoroughbreds have a rewarding and valuable life after their racing careers have ended.

Each year thousands of horses leave racing, some because they reach the natural end of their career and others through injury or lack of ability. Established in 1991, The British Thoroughbred Retraining Centre was the UK’s first charity dedicated to ex-racehorse welfare, retraining, rehoming and protection for life.

‘It is fantastic to see a contemporary novel for young adults embracing passion and love for horses, as well as advocating for their welfare. Emily’s fast-paced novel not only explores the relationship and incredible bond between horse and rider but also delves into darker aspects relevant to today’s challenging world of growing up. Rafferty Lincoln Loves… deserves to be celebrated for bringing an important cause to the forefront of today’s young adults.’ Frankie Dettori MBE

‘I am thrilled to have written this novel for the BTRC and to be donating the proceeds to such an important and dedicated charity for the welfare of retired racehorses.’ Emily Williams 

Author Bio

Emily Williams lives by the seaside in West Sussex with her family and a menagerie of small pets, including her own horse Bella, and welsh mountain pony, Lucy. After graduating from Sussex University with a BA in Psychology, Emily trained as a primary school teacher and teaches in a local school. 

Rafferty Lincoln Loves... is her first YA novel after the success of her debut adult novel, Letters to Eloise, released in 2017.

You can follow Emily on twitter @EmilyRMWilliams

Find out more about Emily’s other books on Amazon: http://amzn.eu/dzZSU0y 

Read reviews and find out more on her blog: emilywilliamsauthor.blogspot.com

Fab Firsts - Q&A with Emily Williams

Fab Firsts is my regular Sunday feature, that is going to be highlighting books that are firsts. When interviewing authors, it will be about their first book, as well as other firsts in their lives. When reviewing books for this feature, there will be a mix of debuts, first books in a series, the first time I read an author, and possibly other firsts depending on what I can think of!

If you are an author wanting to take part in Fab Firsts then please do email on gilbster at gmail dot com and I'll whizz the questions over to you.

I hope you enjoy this look at a variety of hopefully fabulous firsts, while making some sort of dent in my review and paperback TBRs which are my current main focus!

Emily Williams lives by the seaside in West Sussex with her family and a large menagerie of pets. After graduating from Sussex University with a BA in Psychology, Emily trained as a primary school teacher and teaches in a local school. Emily always wrote short stories and ‘pony’ related books as a child and finally (as an adult) put pen to paper and wrote her debut novel Letters to Eloise.

Thank you for featuring me on your blog, I am really excited to be here and talk about my fab firsts!

Can you tell us a bit about your first book?

My debut novel is called Letters to Eloise, which is ultimately a love-story. I wrote Letters to Eloise four years ago, when at the time I really wanted to settle down and start a family and used the novel as an outlet for these pent up emotions inside. In Letters to Eloise the protagonist, Flora, is in her final year as a postgraduate PGCE student and she falls pregnant. Struggling to come to terms with this and her confused emotions surrounding the men, or lack of, in her life, Flora documents her journey by writing letters to her unborn baby. 

Flora is torn between chasing a relationship with her first love, River, who seems to have moved on, or pursuing a recent affair with her handsome and mysterious university lecturer.

Letters to Eloise is the heart-wrenching debut epistolary novel by Emily Williams; a love story of misunderstandings, loss, and betrayal but ultimately the incredible bond between mother and child.

What was your original inspiration to become a writer, and to write your debut?

I always remember writing, as far back as the start of primary school. I wrote hundreds of pony stories and have still kept some to this day. In my first year of secondary school, I wrote a story called ‘Outbreak’ about the spread of a deadly disease. I remember the teacher commenting that he really enjoyed the story and not to stop writing, so I never did! I always carried a notebook around with ideas for the first elusive novel, but never thought of a story that compelled me enough to finish. 

Then suddenly the idea for Letters to Eloise arrived and I noted down the plot, set myself a deadline, and finally finished!

How long did it take you to write your first book?

Even though the idea for Letters to Eloise came to me quickly and night after night I became engrossed in the storyline, finishing the novel was another matter! I finished the first draft within three months, but then, unexpectedly, I fell pregnant. As Flora, my lead character, was also pregnant and writing about her experience, I found this really difficult. 

As my pregnancy was unexpected and medically complicated, I couldn’t face reading and editing the novel until a couple of years later, after I had my second child, a daughter, in July last year. Letters to Eloise therefore took around three years longer than expected to finish! This time away from the novel gave it time to breathe, and I believe, gave the emotions behind the characters more depth.

If you could do anything differently in retrospect, what would you change about your debut, or how you went about writing it?

I would probably finish the novel a lot quicker, but I am not sure I could change that due to circumstances. 

I have learnt so much throughout this process but there are many formatting mistakes that I made and had to spend laborious hours correcting. I learnt how to indent and set the pages properly, use the correct em/en dash, format for speech, etc. Both kindle and paperback versions needed different settings, page margins, headers and footers and images for example. All of these things took a lot longer to do than I initially thought and next time I would do before I write the novel, and not afterwards!

Do you have any tips for other first time authors?

For the writing process, I had a big board up on the whole wall in my bedroom, which was great for throwing ideas down onto. I drew up a map of the story, with drawings, and stuck post it notes all over it! I used the reverse side of wrapping paper for the board. I then used all the ideas to form a grid and timeline for each letter that Flora wrote to Eloise. 

For procrastination, a bigger issue for me than writers block, I wrote Letters to Eloise in a random order. I could just pick and choose what I felt like writing. Checking for plot errors was important after this though!

And finally, definitely check the formatting before writing, not to use tab for spaces etc. I had to strip out incorrect spaces after punctuation, check ellipsis, change all speech marks and so on. A lot of this could have been researched and eradicated before even starting! 

I have really enjoyed answering your questions for my debut novel Letters to Eloise, thank you. Letter to Eloise is available to buy on kindle and paperback.

You are very welcome Emily, and good luck with your book

‘Receiving a hand written letter is something that always puts a smile on my face, no matter who the sender is.’ Flora Tierney.

When post-graduate student Flora falls unexpectedly pregnant during her final year studies she hits a huge predicament; continue a recent affair with her handsome but mysterious lecturer who dazzles her with love letters taken from the ancient tale of ‘Abelard and Heloise', or chase after the past with her estranged first love?

But will either man be there to support her during the turmoil ahead?

‘Banish me, therefore, for ever from your heart’ - Abelard to Heloise.

UK – http://amzn.eu/5TW3alx
US-  http://a.co/4C78iVd  

Fab firsts about Emily Williams!
Tell us about your first…

1) Book you bought – The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans. I was a horse obsessed child, teenager and then adult!
2) Memory – The big storm (hurricane) of 1987 whilst living on the Isle of Wight. I remember the noise and braving finding my parents room upstairs; we lived in a dormer bungalow. There were trees down everywhere and the school was closed for the day.
3) Person you fell in love with – That would be telling! Probably my first boyfriend as the rest were unrequited crushes!
4) Holiday you went on – Many summer holidays spent in France with my parents.
5) Prize you won – a hamper in primary school for a drawing competition. Out of school, I won a competition to meet a famous racehorse, can’t remember which one now, maybe Red Rum! But the horse died, so just got my drawing on a t-towel!
6) Album you purchased - Dido
7) Sport you enjoyed participating in – hurdles, long distance and high jump.
8) Embarrassing moment you can remember – There are many of these moments. My first would probably be falling over on the way home from school and everyone chanting ‘Emily’s fallen over!’ I worried about it all night but at school the next day, no one even remembered!
9) Pet – We had two cats, Florence and Rupert and then the pet numbers grew and grew!
10) Time you were in trouble – I was a good girl and hated getting into any kind of trouble. Me and my best friend at school were always getting in trouble for talking though.
11) ..choice of alternative career if you weren’t an author – Vet
12) …toy that you recall loving – Morris and Larry my mouse and lion teddies!
13) … time you felt like an adult – Drinking Tia Maria before a night out with the girls! Now its just wine, I was way more sophisticated back then!
14) … time you were really scared – When I fell pregnant!