'Meet My Main Character' Blog Tour - THE LADY OF BELLEFONTAINE

Thank you very much Diane M Denton for tagging me and suggesting I take part in this fun blog tour. I have just signed a publishing contract with Áccent Press for my contemporary romantic suspense THE LADY OF BELLEFONTAINE so this is the novel I will be talking about today.

1. What is the name of your character? Is she a fictional person?

My heroin is called Amy Carter and she is totally fictional.

2. Where is the story set?

THE LADY OF BELLEFONTAINE is set in a hill top village in the beautiful Lubéron region of Provence, in the South of France. This part of France is absolutely breathtaking, with golden stone farmhouses - 'bastides'- villages and little towns surrounded by orchards, vineyards and forests. And of course, lovely old fountains, which were the inspiration for the story.

3. What should we know about your heroine?

After being made redundant from the UK bank where she used to work as a translator, Amy decides to follow her dream and start a new life. She buys a very old 'bastide' called Bellefontaine she plans to turn into a guesthouse.

4. What is the main conflict?

After a series of unsettling and downright scary incidents, Amy realises that her arrival at Bellefontaine isn't welcome by everybody in the village. 

The romantic conflict of the novel is her stormy relationship with Fabien Coste, the aristocratic owner of nearby luxury hotel Manoir Coste. Despite finding an ancient love spell that binds the ladies of Bellefontaine to the ducs de Coste, Amy has no intention of falling in love with Fabien...But how long will she resist his dark, enigmatic charm?

5. What is the personal goal of the character?

Although she knows nothing of the hospitality industry, Amy is determined to set up and run a successful guest house. She is a fast learner and a hard worker, and isn't easily discouraged even if Fabien mocks her naive and at times 'hippyish' ideas. This is her big chance, her dream come true. When she discovers that Bellefontaine has a sinister past and that it was for centuries linked to the bloodthirsty cult of a local Gallic goddess, she doesn't run away but resolves to find out more and unmask those who put her life in danger.

6. Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?

The working title is THE LADY OF BELLEFONTAINE. I can only at this very early stage post the provisional blurb for the novel. Here is it below.

'The spell flows with the spring, binding hearts together until death tears them apart.' This is what a Latin inscription says on an ancient stone Amy Carter finds in the overgrown garden of the farmhouse she just moved into. If Amy has big plans for Bellefontaine and her new life in Provence, none of them involves falling in love - least of all with Fabien Coste, the handsome but arrogant owner of nearby Manoir Coste, the ancestral family chateau he turned into a luxury hotel.

Yet local legends talk about past romantic entanglements between the ladies of Bellefontaine and the ducs de Coste, and despite herself Amy soon finds herself falling in love with Fabien. As springtime turns Bellefontaine into the paradise she always dreamt of, Amy discovers that her home is at the centre of a mystery involving the evil cult of an ancient Gallic goddess, and that it isn't only her heart which is in terrible danger, but her life too. Can she trust Fabien to help solve Bellefontaine's dark mystery? Is he genuinely attracted to her or does he have his own motives for wanting to keep her close? And will the love spell between them turn out to be a deadly curse?

 7. When can we expect the book to be published?

I only just signed the contract with Áccent Press, so I cannot at this stage say when the book will be published.

Thank you again Diane for tagging me. I hope you found the interview interesting and would love to read comments and answer questions!

Diane Denton can be found at http://bardessdmdenton.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/it-happened-quite-by-chance/

Promo Blitz: The Other Side of Morning by Jo Lambert

Today it is my pleasure to host Jo Lambert and her latest novel The Other Side of Morning.

Born and raised in rural Wiltshire, Jo Lambert grew up with a love of books and a vivid imagination.  As a child she enjoyed creating her own adventure stories similar to Enid Blyton’s Famous Five.  Writing always stayed with her, but college, work and eventually marriage found it kept very much in the background as a hobby.  In 2009 everything changed when she decided to self-publish a novel she had completed. After When Tomorrow Comes, three other books - Love Lies and Promises, The Ghost of You and Me and Between Today and Yesterday followed.  In 2013 she decided to give up full time work to concentrate fully on her writing.  Her fifth novel The Other Side of Morning was accepted by ThornBerry Publishing UK and is now available in e-book form with a paperback version to follow shortly.

Jo is married and lives in a village on the eastern edge of Bath, Somerset with one small grey feline called Mollie. She shares her husband with his ‘other woman’ Bridget - a 48 year old white MG Midget who keeps him occupied while she is busy writing.

Book Blurb
Charlotte Kendrick’s ill-fated relationship with rock star Christian Rosetti still haunts her. The new man in her life, handsome, rich Italian restaurateur Marco D’Alesandro, is everything she wants. But when beautiful heiress Rossana Caravello arrives to spend time with his family as their house guest she wonders whether history is about to repeat itself. Marco insists he loves her and that he has no interest in their guest, but how can Charlotte believe him when everything about his behaviour around Rossana indicates he is lying? Giving him the benefit of the doubt, Charlotte wonders whether his ruthless stepmother Thérèse may be involved, and decides to find out more about the young heiress. However, far from putting her mind at rest, what she discovers leaves her feeling more unsettled than ever about her future with Marco…

From rural West Somerset to the glorious rolling landscape of Tuscany and the Italian lakes THE OTHER SIDE OF MORNING is a story of love, betrayal, deception and ultimate sacrifice.

My Review

In THE OTHER SIDE OF Morning, Jo Lambert takes the story of the evil step-mother to new heights. Wealthy, glamorous Thérèse is determined to put an end to the budding relationship between her stepson Marco and kind, clever and unassuming Charlotte Kendrick, and it seems will stop at nothing to push naive Italian heiress Rossana into his arms and his bed. The love story between Marco, who owns of one of London's most exclusive restaurants, and Charlotte - still recovering from her failed love affair with rockstar Christian Rosetti -  seems doomed from the start.

As we follow them from beautiful rural Somerset to glamorous London or again Tuscany and France through a series of incidents and sometimes frustrating misunderstandings, we can only hope evil Thérèse gets her comeuppance and love prevails in the end.

Jo Lambert also creates an impressive cast of characters who develop throughout the story, the most memorable for me being tormented rock star Christian Rosetti and dangerously unhinged Kayte.

Altogether I found THE OTHER SIDE OF MORNING a very enjoyable read.

You can find it here:    
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Other-Side-Morning-Lambert-ebook/dp/B00IWZ678E

A recipe for the 'Mouna', a traditional Easter brioche from North Africa

My mother was born and brought up near Algiers in North Africa, where Easter Monday was celebrated with a family picnic and the sharing of the 'Mouna', a traditional Easter brioche. Even long after leaving Algeria, she still baked a Mouna for our family and the smell of the brioche baking in the oven - a blend of citrus fruit and aniseed - was absolutely divine.

Where does the name Mouna come from? Nobody really knows. Some claim that is originates from Spain where a similar brioche called 'Mona de Pascua' is baked for Easter Monday. Others associate it with Fort Lamoune near the Algerian town of Oran. The fort was built by the Spanish in the seventeenth century and called Fort Lamoune (or Castillo de la Mona) because lots of monkeys lived in the area, and in Spanish, monkey is 'mona'. The families of the men imprisoned in Fort Lamoune could only visit them once a year, on Easter Monday, and used to bring them sweet bread loaves. Another explanation is that the Mimouna is the last day of the Jewish Easter and that it was traditional on that day for Jewish families from Algiers and other North-African towns to spend the day outside, in parks and forests - and have a picnic.  

Whatever its origins, the Mouna is delicious, if a little denser than other brioches.

Ingredients for 4 small Mounas. (You would traditionally bake four Mounas, one for you and your family, one for relatives, the others for friends and neighbours.)

1 kg flour

300 g sugar

75 g butter

5 eggs

1 sachet yeast

6 large spoonfuls of oil

the zest of one lemon

the zest of one orange

the juice of one orange

a few aniseeds (optional)

Preparation

30 minutes - 2 to 3 hours for the dough to rise - 30 minutes to bake

1. Pre-heat the oven at 100°C (th.3/4).

2. Mix the sugar, eggs, lemon and orange zests until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the melted butter and the oil and mix well. If you have aniseeds, you can add them to the mixture now.

3. Now mix in the sachet of yeast into the flour, and add bit by bit to the rest of the mixture, working the dough until you can roll it into a soft ball. Cover with a tea towel.

4. Switch the oven off and put the dough (covered with the tea towel) inside for 2 to 3 hours.

6. Take the dough out of the oven, and knead it until it's soft and does not stick.

7. Make 4 balls. With a sharp knife cut a few lines on top of each ball, then brush egg yolk on top and sprinkle sugar (traditionally you crush sugar lumps or cubes but you can't really find them in England). Leave for 15 min before putting in the oven.

8. Bake for 20 min at 210°C (th.7) then switch the oven off and leave for a further 10 minutes.

My family was truly multicultural. Just before biting into my mother North-African Mouna for breakfast, we would be submitted to the Polish 'dyngus' by my father! For those who don't know, it's the tradition to throw water at people on Easter Monday (which can vary from a weak sprinkling to a thorough soaking).

Joyeuses Pâques! 

Liebster Blog Award

Author Katie L. Carroll nominated me, and several other fellow authors, for a Liebster Blog Award. I must confess I had never heard of it before but it sounds like a really great idea.

 The Liebster Blog Award translates to “the beloved” or “the dearest.” The award is given as a way to celebrate smaller blogs. (Only blogs with under 200 followers can be awarded.) Before you accept the award, there are a certain set of tasks you must complete. The first is to reveal 11 facts about you, answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated you, and then create 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer on their own blog.

So here are my 11 facts:
1.  Napoleon stopped over in my village near Lyon on his way back from his exile on Elba during what is known as 'The 100 days'. I always wanted to go inside never dared ask.

Château de Saint-Genis-Laval

2. My first dog was a horrible, smelly stray. I was six years old and named him 'Peanut Bottle of Rum' (Cacahuète Bouteille de Rhum in French). I don't remember why. I never liked peanuts and I had of course never drunk a drop of rum!
3. We were three girls (still are) in my family. I wanted an older brother so badly I made one up and kept the pretence for over two years in my primary school. I had named him Stanislas (which was my Polish grandfather's name).
4. In fact, I was always one for making up stories and inventing people. My best friend Nathalie and I invented an imaginary friend, Josephine, and were so convincing people still ask about her to this day.
5. I must have a touch of OCD because I can't stand it when things aren't straight or symmetrical. My students at school are very good about it and always make sure desks and chairs are straight before I even need to say anything!
6. I've had the same vivid, recurring dream about a haunted chateau and its inhabitants since I was a little girl. There is this dark room I am not to go in. After all these years of dreaming about the place, I still haven't plucked up the courage to open the door. It looks something like this...

7. I stammer when I'm tired, which is pretty much all the time these days.
8. I used to have a fantastic photographic memory and got through four years of law school by memorising pages and pages of legal documents, dates, numbers and facts and regurgitating them the day of the exam. I always felt like a fraud because of it. 
9. I could happily live on goat cheese, crusty bread, cake...and black coffee.

10. I went to my first Romantic Novelist Association conference last July. During the train journey to Sheffield, I chatted to a very interesting guy and for the first time ever I introduced myself as a writer. It felt incredible.
11. I love the process of finding my characters' name. En vrac, the heroins of my next four novels will be called Celeste, Venetia, Gisèle and Prudence.

And now, here are the questions Katie asked me to answer.
1. What do you like best about your personality?
I'm not sure there is anything to like, really. I'm a perfectionist, and very hard working!
2. What is the best piece of advice you ever received?
A French saying: Qui ne tente rien n'a rien. (Who dares not, gets nothing...would that be right?)
3. What does it take for a book to stay with you long after reading it?
The characters must be true, feel real and create strong emotions inside me.
4. If you could tell an author that you admire one thing, what would it be?
That their book made me laugh, and cry, and dream, and I wanted to magically sneak into it! 
5. Who is the one person who always makes you happy? (I have to change this to 'persons')
My three children - two boys and a girl. They are infuriating, fun, adorable, thoughtful and a bit loopy!
6. What was the best birthday you ever had?
Every single birthday is lovely and special.
7. What drives you to share your thoughts about books on social media?
I like writing about the books I enjoyed reading, and I love exchanging ideas and tips with fellow authors.
8. What is the best thing an author ever said to you?
To write and rewrite, and then rewrite again. 
9. What do you consider the ideal length for a book in terms of the number of pages?
I'm not sure there is an ideal length. It all depends on the story and the characters. Some take longer to develop, I suppose.
10. What fictional character do you most resemble?
Marie-Ange, from my debut historical romance ANGEL HEART.
11. If you could give the person who reads this an uplifting message, what would it be?
There is joy and love and wonder everywhere around you. Just open your eyes and your heart.

The time has come to nominate another blogger for the Liebster Blog Award. If you would like to take part, please leave a comment! I will reply and tell you what to do to enter.
It was the talented Katie L. Carroll who nominated me. You can find her and her great books at http://www.katielcarroll.com/the-liebster-award-take-two/#comments 

Auction of Napoleon's last shirt in Paris

Several items of clothing and personal belongings of Napoleon Bonaparte were due to be auctioned last Sunday in Paris at Maison Orsenat.

Among them were a cambric shirt worn by the emperor the day before he died (estimated at between 30000 and 40 000 euros), a lock of hair cut the day of his death (which may fetch between 3 000 and 5 000 euros), bandages and two handkerchiefs. The items were collected by the emperor's servant, Achille Archambault, but their ownership is now disputed and the auction was postponed in order to enable the courts to establish the identity of the rightful owner.

I always find it fascinating - if a little macabre - to be able to see for myself personal items which have belonged to a historical figure, writer or actor, but I'm really not sure I would ever put a bid in for any of them, even if I had the money. I think they should really belong in a museum, not in the hands of a private collector. 

Napoleon died at Longwood on the island of St Helena on May 5th 1821 after a six year long exile. A striking, desolate mass of rugged rocks St Helena is located in the middle of the South Atlantic ocean with the nearest land six hundred miles away. 

Wathen, T.E. A Series of Views Illustrative of the Island of St. Helena. Clay, London, 1821. 

Napoleon first stayed at Briars Pavillion on the island then moved into Longwood, a two-stories house in a cold, windy and damp part of the island. Although the British government recognised the inadequacy of Longwood as the former emperor's residence, it was deemed the safest place for him. Sir Hudson Lowe, the island's governor, was indeed haunted by the fear that Napoleon should escape and behaved like a jailer toward him, ordering that his correspondence and newspapers be censured, and even forbidding the former emperor any news from his wife Marie-Louise and their son. In fact relationships between Napoleon and Lowe were so bad they only met six times during Napoleon's exile and the former French emperor is said to have complained to his physician O'Meara that Lowe has such a 'horrid countenance' he feared he had the evil eye and had poisoned his cup of coffee just by looking at it!

Wathen, T.E. A Series of Views Illustrative of the Island of St. Helena. Clay, London, 1821. 

Longwood was designed in a cottage style and contained twenty-four rooms, with Bonaparte occupying the right wing. In an illustrated book published in 1821, T.E. Wathen gives a striking description of the desolate, rocky island and of Longwood House and the rooms allocated to the defeated French emperor. 

The drawing-room was coloured 'various shades of green and arabesque gold panels, with curtains of light silk taboret, of Pomona green, and velvet borders edged with gold coloured silk twist'. Wathen even describes some of the furnishing: a carpet of 'various shades of brown, olive, and amber; an elegant oak centre table; pier table, inlaid with a slab of Verd Antique Mona marble; splendid pier glass, with a frame of Buhl and ebony; chairs of British oak; two Greek sofas and footstools ornamented with Or Moulu; a piano forte; and chandeliers and candelabri to light the apartment.'

Thanks to Wathen we know that next to the dining-room was a library, which was 'furnished in the Etruscan style, with several dwarf book-cases' and desks and that the sitting-room was 'ornamented with an ethereal blue carpet shaded with black, and several ebony cabinets inlaid with brass'. The emperor's bedroom featured a high canopy 'bedstead, enclosing a silken mosquito net, and hung with furniture of lilac Persian edged with gold coloured fringe.' 

In the bathroom was a tub was lined with marble 'made to admit hot or cold water'. 

The other wing of Longwood House contained spacious apartments for Bonaparte's suite, with servant's offices and store-rooms in the rear and the kitchen was located in a separate building.

Before Napoleon's funeral, which took place on May 9 1821, one hundred men were made to cut a path directly to the burial site the emperor himself had chosen shortly after his arrival on the island for its proximity to willow trees and a spring - a place called Devil's Punch Bowl. At the time of Wathen's visit to St Helena, a sentinel constantly guarded the grave. 

Wathen, T.E. A Series of Views Illustrative of the Island of St. Helena. Clay, London, 1821. 

Napoleon's remains were removed in 1840 and shipped to Paris where they were buried with full military honours in a marble casket in the Hotel des Invalides on December 15 1840. Despite the biting cold the crowds were huge along the avenues where the military cortege passed, so much so that the government feared a revolutionary outbreak. 

Victor Hugo wrote about that memorable day
 'O frozen sky! and sunlight pure! shining bright in history!

Funereal triumph, imperial torch!

Let the people's memory hold you forever, 

Day beautiful as glory,

Cold as the tomb'

  ("Ciel glacé ! soleil pur ! Oh ! brille dans l’histoire ! / Du funèbre triomphe, impérial flambeau ! / Que le peuple à jamais te garde en sa mémoire / Jour beau comme la gloire, / Froid comme le tombeau." - Victor Hugo, Les Rayons et les Ombres, 1840.)

Only government officials and military personnel were allowed at the ceremony itself, and many French were angry that they had not been able to pay their respects properly to the man they had come to consider as a martyr. Worse still for the government, many people still believed that Napoleon had not died on St Helena, that the commission sent to retrieve his remains had found only an empty coffin and rumour spread that the tomb at Les Invalides was only a cenotaph.

Napoleon's remains repose today beneath the dome in the Invalides, in a monument designed by architect Louis Visconti in 1842, but which was only completed in 1861.

So what will become of Napoleon's last belongings - a shirt, a lock of hair, a couple of handkerchiefs? Time, and the French courts, will tell...

Magical Venice Carnival

This year's edition of the Venice Carnival is now drawing to a close. When I was a student, I had the chance to buy a last minute ticket on a package tour and spend three days there. My friends and I travelled from Paris where I was a student.The journey seemed to take forever. Our accommodation in Mestre was very basic and I only had an improvised, home made costume - a cape, black tricorne hat and fluffy cobalt blue feather boa (a rather strange combination, I do admit!). None of that mattered. I will never forget my first glimpse of Venice from the vaporetto speeding across the Laguna. The moment I got off the boat, I stepped into a fairytale which lasted three days.

It is thought that the Carnival was created to celebrate the victory of the Serenissima Republica against the Patriarch of Aquileia in 1162. It became more and more popular during the Renaissance and the eighteenth century until 1797, when it was outlawed under the rule of the King of Austria. The Carnival reappeared for short periods in the nineteenth century, but mostly for private soirées and celebrations, and it was only in 1979 that the Carnival made its official return.

Masks and lavish costumes are an essential feature of the Venice Carnival and make the whole event magical. I remember couples parading and posing in the most extravagant outfits and masks, looking as if they'd just come out of an eighteenth century fantasy.

The most instantly recognisable Venetian mask is the volto (Italian for face) or larva (meaning ghost in Latin), which is often white but can also be gilded and decorated. The Bauta is a mask which covers the whole face. It has a no mouth and a strong chin line to enable the wearer to talk, eat and drink easily without having to remove it, and was often accompanied by a black cape - a tabarro - and a tricorne hat. During the eighteenth century the Venetian government legislated that all citizens were required to wear the Bauta during certain decision-making events to allow direct, free and equal democratic ballots. They were also prohibited from carrying weapons when masked.

Other masks you see during the carnival are the Columbina, a half-mask that only covers the wearer's eyes, nose, and upper cheeks and is often decorated with gold, silver, crystals and feathers, and the Medico della peste (The Plague Doctor) mask. One of the most bizarre Venetian masks, it has a long nose shaped like a beak and glass openings for the eyes. It didn't start out as a carnival mask at all but was designed by 17th-century French physician Charles de Lorme who wore it whilst treating plague victims. 

One of my fondest memories is going into the Caffè Florian on Piazza San Marco. Opened in 1720, it is one of the oldest cafés in existence and was visited by Casanova, Goethe and later Charles Dickens and Lord Byron. Another lovely memory is walking along the Laguna very early the morning after the carnival had ended. The town was eerily quiet, and the Laguna sparkled in pale golden sunlight. 

I promised myself I would go back...I hope one day I will.

Teri Riggs and Resolutions!

Exciting day today! I am hosting Teri Riggs, author of the thrilling and fast-paced romantic suspense Resolutions (part of the Honor Guard Series).

Hello Teri and welcome on the blog. I really enjoyed Resolutions and have a few questions for you.

Can you tell us a little about you?

I live in Marietta, Georgia. I’m married to my high school sweetheart…we met when we were both 15. How’s that for romance? I’ve been writing for about 15 years now. I’m truly addicted to reading. I love to paint, but haven’t done it for a few years—I’m having too much fun writing.

What did you want to be when you were a child? Did you always know you wanted to write? 

The usual girl stuff. A teacher. A nurse. (Which I was before we had children) And of course I wanted to be a princess. I never dreamed of being a writer. I didn’t even enjoy reading until a few years before I decided I wanted to write.

Where do you get your ideas for your stories?

I get inspirations from TV shows, movies, songs, dreams, people I meet. Just about anything can spark a plot bunny.

In three words - What kind of man is Mac, your hero? 

Pig-headed. Demanding. Alpha.

Yes, I do agree. I found him extremely sexy too! In three words - What kind of woman is Eve, your heroin?

Hard-headed. Strong. Independent.

What did Mac think the first time he saw Eve?

Love at first sight! He knew she was the woman for him and he would do whatever was necessary to protect her.

What did Eve think of Mac the first time she saw him? 

Love at first sight! She knew Mac was the only man she’d ever love. But, she had no intention of letting him rob her of her hard-won independence.

Thank you so much Teri for visiting the blog day.

My review of Resolutions

If you like action-filled romantic novels, brave heroines and stubborn but sexy Alpha male heroes, then Resolutions is for you. From the very first page, the pace is fast and never falters as we follow agent Eve Taylor in her mission to destroy Columbian drug baron and would-be terrorist Mendoza and her bid to prove that she is every bit as good as her fellow agents. The man she needs to convince most of all is over-protective super agent Dillon MacKenna, whom she once loved but had to leave after he issued a typically macho male ultimatum. It's me or your job. She chose the job.

When Eve is taken hostage by Mendoza and Mac comes to her rescue and the spark between them flares into a burning passion once again. As they fight Mendoza and his ruthless killers, Eve and Mac realise they never ceased loving each other. Their past and their pride however stand in the way of a future together. Will Mac demand once again that Eve choose between him and her career? And will Eve's love for him be enough for her to give up the job she trained so hard for?

Although the scenes of violence and torture and some strong language may not be to everybody's tastes, I found Resolutions an extremely enjoyable read.  

Resolutions Blurb

DEA agent Eve Taylor has had her fill of alpha males. When Resolutions’ operative and former lover, Dillon “Mac” McKenna, threatened her hard-earned independence, she ran. On a mission to gather evidence against a Colombian drug-lord, Eve discovers the drug-lord is helping terrorists plan an attack on American soil. Before she can escape with the vital information, she’s captured and comes face to face with her mortality…

As a teen, Mac watched his family fall apart after his mother died doing dangerous U.N. work. The possibility of losing Eve to a mission ignited an overwhelming need to protect her. When he forced her to choose him or her job, she walked away. Two years later, it seems all his nightmares have come true and he’s tasked with rescuing her from a Colombian prison. Mac has never stopped loving Eve, but does he dare risk his heart when he’s so terrified of losing…

On the run, Mac and Eve must learn to trust each other again in order to stay alive.

* * * * * * * * * *

Note: Resolutions is a private black ops agency specializing in the near-impossible extractions of kidnap victims, hostages, and all forms of intelligence other agencies have failed to retrieve.