Fellow Crooked Cat author, Lizzie Chantree, joins us today to chat about her latest release, If You Love Me, I’m Yours. Welcome, Lizzie!
Author Name: Lizzie Chantree
Book Title: If You Love Me, I’m Yours
Book Genre: Romance/Humour
Release Date: Out now
Publisher: Crooked Cat Books
Please share with us what your book is about.
Are the bonds of friendship, love and loyalty strong enough to withstand fame, success and scandal?
What sparked the idea for this book?
I am lucky enough to have a family who have always supported me, in some of the pretty zany business ideas that I have had over the years, but I wondered what it would be like if your family was against you fulfilling your dreams. This book is about connecting with like minded people in unexpected places and finding a voice when people discourage you.
How long did it take for you to write the book? Did you do have to do any research?
It took about ten months from first idea to a finished and edited book. I used my own knowledge of art and business, as I was a business owner for over fifteen years before I began writing.
Do you ever base your characters on people you know in real life?
No I don’t. I do notice mannerisms and the ways people talk to each other when I’m out and about, but I don’t ever base characters on people I know.
If you were speaking to someone who hasn’t read your writing before, why should they want to read your book?
I’d hope that my stories would make my readers smile. I wrote my first book after my daughter was unwell for a number of years and found writing a story full of sunshine and excitement a way to cope with stress and sadness at that time. If my books help make another person smile, then I’m happy. My daughter is fine now and tells everyone that she’s the reason I have a brand new career, which is wonderful too.
Are you working on another book? Willing to share a bit about your next project?
I am currently writing a new novel and usually have a couple more crowding in my mind, waiting to be written too. My new book is about a woman who has a secret that could positively change the fortunes of everyone she loves, but destroy her own quiet life. It’s a lot of fun to write.
What’s one piece of advice you would offer your younger writer self?
To not be too hard on myself. I had lovely success with my first book, even as an unknown writer, but thought I needed to do more all of the time. I had so much to learn and am still learning today. Luckily the writers community is so supportive and any new writer will find a wealth of information and help from writing groups, community pages and forums. I wish I’d discovered them sooner. I run one myself called Lizzie’s BookGroup on Facebook and #CreativeBizHour on Twitter, to help creatives with marketing and to offer mentor support.
Where can readers find you (website, blog, social media, etc.)?
Social media links:
Website: www.lizziechantree.com
Author page: viewAuthor.at/LizzieChantree
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lizzie_Chantree
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lizzie.chantree.3
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizzie_chantree/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/LizzieChantree/pins/
Thank you, Lizzie! If You Love Me, I’m Yours is out now.
AUTHOR BIO:
Award-winning inventor and author, Lizzie Chantree, started her own business at the age of 18 and became one of Fair Play London and The Patent Office’s British Female Inventors of the Year in 2000. She discovered her love of writing fiction when her children were little and now runs networking hours on social media, where creative businesses, writers, photographers and designers can offer advice and support to each other. She lives with her family on the coast in Essex. Visit her website at www.lizziechantree.com or follow her on Twitter @Lizzie_Chantree.
IF YOU LOVE ME, I’M YOURS
‘If you love me, I’m yours…’
Maud didn’t mind being boring, not really. She had a sensible job, clothes, and love life… if you counted an overbearing ex who had thanked her, rolled over and was snoring before she even realised he’d begun! She could tolerate not fulfilling her dreams, if her parents would pay her one compliment about the only thing she was passionate about in life: her art.
Dot should have fit in with her flamboyant and slightly eccentric family of talented artists, but somehow, she was an anomaly who couldn’t paint. She tried hard to be part of their world by becoming an art agent extraordinaire, but she dreamed of finding her own voice.
Dot’s brother Nate, a smoulderingly sexy and famous artist, was adored by everyone. His creative talent left them in awe of his ability to capture such passion on canvas. Women worshiped him, and even Dot’s friend Maud flushed and bumped into things when he walked into a room, but a tragic event in his past had left him emotionally and physically scarred, and reluctant to face the world again.
Someone was leaving exquisite little paintings on park benches, with a tag saying, ‘If you love me, I’m yours’. The art was so fresh and cutting-edge, that it generated a media frenzy and a scramble to discover where the mystery artist could be hiding. The revelation of who the prodigious artist was interlinked Maud, Dot and Nate’s lives forever, but their worlds came crashing down.
Were bonds of friendship, love and loyalty strong enough to withstand fame, success and scandal?
Universal book buy link: viewbook.at/IfYouLoveMe-ImYours