Gabi Coatsworth returns to the Spotlight to chat about her novel, A Beginner’s Guide to Starting Over

Author Name: Gabi Coatsworth

Book Title: A Beginner’s Guide to Starting Over – a novel

Book Genre: Women’s fiction

Release Date: April 23, 2023

Publisher: Atmosphere Press

Welcome back, Gabi! How would you describe A Beginner’s Guide to Starting Over?

A widow who owns a bookstore contends with a landlord who’s trying to put her out of business, and friends who think she should start dating again. When the ghost of her dead husband shows up and offers to help, she wonders which of those problems he’s intending to solve.

What inspired the idea for this book?

As a widow myself, it wasn’t long before my friends started asking me about my plans for another romance. And others asked me where I thought my husband had gone if I didn’t believe in heaven. When I started writing, I realized I was trying to answer both questions for myself.

What advice would you give to writers just starting out?

Write badly, but keep writing.

What about the writing/editing/publishing process has been the most surprising to you so far?

One of the main things I faced when I started to write was the feeling that I could never be as good as most published authors. Then I found out that it takes a village to write and publish a book. Critique partners, editors, supportive friends, and writing organizations like the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. To my surprise, I discovered that no one sits down and writes the perfect book on the first try, which made me feel a lot better about my efforts, which include two unfinished novels sitting in a drawer!

What’s capturing your imagination these days outside of reading and writing?

I love visiting gardens—I find them soothing and inspiring. This started during the pandemic, when most venues were closed, yet I needed something to get me out of the house. I found that here in Connecticut, we have a number of gardens open to the public, and I’ve kept visiting because it refills the well of creativity to be somewhere beautiful.

Can you tell us about what you’re working on now?

My memoir, Love’s Journey Home, was published last year by Atmosphere Press, and as well as some lovely reviews (thank you readers!) I found people had questions about various aspects of the book, specifically my life before the book starts. So I’m writing a kind of prequel to that. I also have a couple of sequels to A Beginner’s Guide to Starting Over in the pipeline. I loved my characters and the fictitious small town they live in, so I want to return there. I need to finish those and get them started with the village it will take to get them published.

Where can readers find you?

You can find all the current links to my books, website and events here: https://linktr.ee/gabicoatsworth

Thank you, Gabi! A Beginner’s Guide to Starting Over is out now.

A Beginner’s Guide to Starting Over

It’s time for widow Molly Stevenson to stand on her own two feet. With blind dates, a needy ghost, and her small‑town bookstore in trouble, she’s going to need all her inner strength to prevent another unhappy ending.

Forty‑something Molly can’t bear to remove her wedding band. Still grieving the death of her beloved husband, the last thing she needs is her sleazy landlord raising the rent to drive her bookshop out of business. Now, this mild‑mannered indie bookstore owner must find the inner strength to turn the page to a brand‑new chapter.

So she’s relieved when the ghost of her husband arrives claiming he’s there to help. But is he?

With a little nudge from beyond the grave, Molly hatches a plan to revitalize her boutique and keep the doors open. But with everyone, including her spectral spouse, insisting she start dating again, Molly isn’t sure what’s worse-the dates she meets online or the love of her life trying to find her a new man-who’s not quite as good as him. How will she find the courage to fight for herself?

Author Bio:

Award-winning writer Gabi Coatsworth was born in Britain but has spent most of her life trying to figure out how America works by living there. So if you find a British flavor in her books, don’t be surprised. Her memoir, Love’s Journey Home, was published in May 2022, by Atmosphere Press, who also published her debut novel, A Beginner’s Guide to Starting Over, in April 2023.

Unlike many writers, she can’t write in coffee shops because they’re too distracting, and she only drinks coffee as a last resort. She lives in Connecticut in a cottage that’s American on the outside, and English inside. If she’s not reading, writing, or traveling, you’ll find her in her flower garden, and holding a cup of her preferred beverage, strong English tea.

To learn more, or to sign up for special bonus materials, start here, https://linktr.ee/gabicoatsworth, or on her website www.GabiCoatsworth.com.