Today I am so pleased to welcome my lovely friend Rebecca Raisin.
Hi Rebecca
Welcome to Comet Babe’s Books, I hope I don’t grill you too much!
Ha ha! Thanks for inviting me, Jo! And grill away!
Can you tell us about the Gingerbread Café books?
They are a series of three books. The last one will be available very soon! They are set at The Gingerbread Café, in the town of Ashford Connecticut. Lil owns the café, and is passionate about cooking, and trying to stay afloat in the small community. Lil is her no-nonsense fast-talking southern friend who doles out advice and keeps the café ticking over with her famous pies. The girls have a great friendship, and would be lost without each other. As with any small town, everyone knows everyone’s business and the café is a warm inviting place that most of the town folk visit to stop and shoot the breeze. There’s always something happening to keep the girls on their toes…
Can you tell us more about the Bookshop on The Corner?
The Bookshop on the Corner is also situated in Ashford. It’s a stand-alone book, but Lil and Cee make a few appearances! Sarah is the main character, and owner of the secondhand book across from the Gingerbread Café. She’s quirky and whimsical, and loves reading romance. She secretly wants the book boyfriend to come to life, and feels life is passing her by, until reporter Ridge from New York steps into her bookshop…
Will we really see only one more Gingerbread Café book? No more Lily, CeeCee or Damon? (I want to read more about this wonderful town and its colourful characters).
Thank you! I’m having a hard time dealing with the idea myself! Like a bookend, the Christmas novel is set to be the last, however…there’s a little twist at the end, so I’ve given myself room for one more, just in case!
Have you have thought of writing a full length version of The Heart of Bali or a follow up to it?
Umm, no! Ha ha, I still blush just thinking of that story! I really wanted to try and attempt sex scenes, and then decided after The Heart of Bali I’d do sweet romance in the future! Though so many people have contacted me about that story, so maybe…
Would you consider writing another genre, ie fantasy or a thriller?
I would definitely try anything once. When I first started out I wrote every genre of short story, to challenge myself and try and write something I’d normally wouldn’t. I’d love to write a thriller one day, but I really don’t think I’m clever enough for all those complex twists and turns. I’d end up making the bad guy a good guy, and well… there’s an idea!
Do you have a routine for your writing, especially with having 2 young boys?
I write after I drop them at school, for four hours if I can. It’s so easy to get distracted by social media, or eating chocolate, so I usually aim for a certain word count to keep me on track.
What is on your desk/writing area?
I write at the dining room table, so at the moment there’s my laptop, a candle in a black glass vase, and two golden ceramic pears. Plus a plethora of the boystextas! (At least it’s not Lego)
Do you have someone that reads your stories before they are published? Ie a BETA team.
No, I don’t have Beta readers. I am a member of a writing club, and they read sections. Sometimes they read the whole book when I’m done. My Mum reads for me, and is great for spotting typos. She cannot grasp how to copy and paste, or highlight text, so she manually emails me every single error. Poor woman!
Can you tell us about a day in the life of Rebecca Raisin?
I wake up early, not by choice, but because a certain 6 year old insists on it. The other six year old is blithely unaware, and sleeps in! I then proceed to have in-depth conversations with the early-bird six year old about why he has to go to school, and get dressed, and eat breakfast, and brush his teeth. We then have a mad panic to get to school on time because said discussions took hours! I come home and ignore the mess and begin writing and catching up with emails, and social media.
Once I shut down my story for the day, I go on twitter and see where all my UK friends are!
I pick up the boys, and then proceed to have lengthy discussions about why homework, eating dinner, having a bath, are necessary. Then usually run myself a bath, and have a glass of wine because I’ve achieved the miracle of us all getting to/doing what we needed to. Whatever I’ve written that day floats around in my mind, allowing me to edit the next day or add to what I’ve written. Poor Ashley (my partner) has to listen to every character foible, or boy drama I’ve had for the day, and we are only silent when we watch Masterchef! We are a generally pretty happy chaotic family, and don’t take life too seriously!
I know you’re intending to visit the UK next year (Yippee!), can you tell us any of you plans? (I’m eagerly awaiting the answer to this)!
Oh my goodness! We are so excited! So originally it was just going to be Ash and I travelling, but the thought of leaving the boys at home took the fun out of it, so we decided that we’d take them too. Then my mother-in-law decided to come, and then my sister and her partner too! So there’ll be seven of us descending into London! The plan is a gathering of my book-ish besties the day after I arrive, so March 29th. I expect to be a little jet-lagged but think my excitement at meeting everyone will diminish any fatigue pretty quickly! Aside from that, there’s a couple of girls staying for the week and we’re going to do all those lovely touristy things together! I’m just waiting on invitations to be sent to me, and then I’ll send them out! It’s going to be the most amazing experience! I feel as though my online friends are genuine, and more real than some of my real-life friends, so it’s only fitting we all meet! I may never leave London…
Thank you for coming by Comet Babe’s Books today, really can’t wait for March/April 2015!
Thanks for having me, Jo! I can’t wait to meet you! xx
About Rebecca
Rebecca Raisin is a true bibliophile. This love of books morphed into the desire to write them. She's been published in various short story anthologies and in in fiction magazines, and is now focusing on writing romance.
Rebecca aims to write characters you can see yourself being friends with. People with big hearts who care about relationships, and most importantly believe in true love.
Find The Bookshop on the Corner here:
Kobo http://goo.gl/PjVtr1
Find Rebecca here:
And Coming soon: The Bookshop on The Corner blog: http://thecornerbookshop.wordpress.com/
Fantastic interview
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