I AM PLEASED TO WELCOME AUTHOR
Carol Warham
AUTHOR BIO
Resolutions is Carol’s debut novel and
is set in a location close to where she lives.
Writing has been her love since
childhood. She started by making small comics for her dolls, progressed to
training as a journalist for a short while. Once the family had grown up Carol
settled down to writing and published short stories, poems and holiday
articles.
In recent years she has become a judge
in the short story section for the HysteriaUK competition and also for the
RNA’s romance novel of the year.
Carol lives in Yorkshire, surrounded by
some beautiful countryside, which is ideal for her other passion of walking,
often with a dog called Sam. This lovely area is the location for her first
novel, Resolutions.
BANTER – STUFF ABOUT YOU
Q: Did you like school when you were a
child?
A:I didn’t particularly enjoy school.
My mother told me, I never gave her any trouble at going. Apparently from the
start I shrugged my shoulders and got on with it. Somehow I managed to pass the eleven plus and
got a place at Grammar School. This was a convent, where the nuns were lovely
people and excellent teacher. I’m sorry I didn’t appreciate my time there.
Q: Dress up or dress down?
A: Both! I struggle to be mid-way – I’m
not a casual dresser. I can do scruffy
with very little effort though. When I
was working, what to wear was relatively simple. I wore smart suits or slack and
skirts with co-ordinating jackets. My husband and I cruise a lot and that gives
me the perfect opportunity to dress up, wear cocktail dresses or even something
more formal. Now I write from home and
don’t go out to work I find I’m not very good at finding the middle route with
my clothes. Scruffy will have to do!
Q: Coffee or Tea?
A:I’m a tea drinker, always have been
and always will be. I do drink the occasional coffee when it’s all that’s on
offer, but I don’t really enjoy it. Generally it’s made far too strong for me.
I do like my tea pathetically weak and pale, the teabag hardly sees the hot
water! The strange thing is that, although I drink tea, I do like the smell of
fresh coffee and I do enjoy coffee cake.
Q: How do you feel about exercise?
A: I do try and exercise on a regular
basis. I have a dog (Sam), which makes me go out walking whatever the weather.
I also belong to a naturalists walking group. I love the walks and the group of
people I walk with, but I’m a bit useless on the nature bit. I can never
remember the names of flowers or birds, from one walk to the next! I also
belong to a gym, where I can workout, take exercise, and maybe have a swim. To
be honest for every hour of exercise I probably have another hour in the coffee
bar nattering with friends.
BOOKS – ABOUT THE CRAFT
Q: What geographical locations are your
favorite and why?
A: I learnt a hard lesson when I tried
to place Resolutions in the United States. I really wanted the town to be
called Resolution – that just wouldn’t happen in Yorkshire. I had to take
advice and admit it wasn’t working so I re-located the story to Yorkshire and
I’ve never looked back. So, Yorkshire is
my favourite location not only to live in but also to write about.
Q: Which holiday celebrations do you
like to incorporate into your stories and why?
A: This has to be the easiest question!
As my debut novel is called Resolutions – it’s set just after Christmas and
over the New Year period. The title came to me before the story but then it was
obvious (at least to me) the period the story would cover. I enjoyed having a
holiday celebration to centre the story around. It helped give me a set time
frame in which to work and acted as an anchor for the whole plot.
Q: How long does it take you to
create a novel?
A: Resolutions, my first and so
far only, novel took about five years. Initially the first draft was about
fifty thousand words and not very good. The following year I improved the story
and characters, but felt I was wasting my time and put the manuscript away for
over a year. A friend then asked me if she could look at it. She turned out to
be far more enthusiastic about the story than I felt. So, with her help and encouragement I
returned to the story and re- wrote it about five times before finally feeling
it was ready for submission.
Q: Do you like to read the genre that
you write?
A: Since writing Resolutions I have
read much more in the romance genre than I ever have done. It’s a great
learning curve to read other authors. In recent years I have been a reader for
the RNA Romance Novel of the Year, and that has been very enjoyable and has
added to my understanding of what makes a good romance and what doesn’t!
However my first love is history, fiction and non-fiction and I read it as
often as I can spare the time.
BOOKS - NOW LETS PROMOTE – STRUT YOUR STUFF
Q: What are you working on now? Would
you like to share anything about it?
A: I started my second novel some time
ago. It is putting up a struggle and I have started chapter one umpteen times
and scrapped over thirty thousand words. However it is a story I really want to
write. It’ll be a romance and set in Yorkshire. The story begins in Scarborough
Castle. I’m planning on a little twist
and introducing some history and even a little para-normal to the story.
Q: How can we find you? Do you have a
web page, FaceBook page or any buy links?
A: I have all of these. I was advised
by friends to make sure I had a ‘presence’ in social media. It’s something I’ve
found quite hard to do, as I’m not really up with technology.
Q: Are you currently participating in a
blog tour? If you are let’s tell everyone where you’re going to be so they can
catch up with you again.
A: I’m taking part in my very first blog tour ever. Many
thanks to Lucy Felthouse for organizing it and for these bloggers for having me
along. It’s been great fun.
18th December http://6feetunderbooks.blogspot.com
19th December http://www.jennykane.co.uk
20th December http://booksdreamslife0829.blogspot.com/
21st December http://locglin.blogspot.com/
22nd December https://pickagenrealready.wordpress.com/
Blurb
Carly Mitchell returns to the small town of Yeardon in Yorkshire almost a year after running away on her wedding day. Now she wants to try to make amends with Steve, his family, and the townspeople who had prepared a huge party to celebrate her New Year’s Eve wedding. She intends to stay only for a few days at the Resolution Hotel, owned by Steve’s parents. However, her plans change when Steve’s father is taken ill, and she feels obliged to step in and help with running the hotel. This also means having to deal with Steve’s antagonism since he has never forgiven her for humiliating him.
A further complication comes in the form of Ben Thornton, the local doctor, to whom Carly feels an immediate attraction. They enjoy getting to know each other and falling in love, until a famous model from Ben’s past arrives in the town, and stays at the hotel.
Steve attempts to get his revenge on Carly by driving a wedge between her and Ben, and by threatening to reveal what he knows about Ben’s troubled past unless Carly leaves town.
The resolution lies in Carly’s hands as she struggles between wanting to flee from the town again and wanting to stay with the man she has grown to love.
Purchase here:
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2ACs7gz
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2ACrV0P
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/resolutions-carol-warham/1126682700
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/resolutions/id1254717659?mt=11
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/resolutions-11
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/733425?ref=cw1985
Excerpt
Her pulse raced as she took hold of his proffered hand. “Carly. Carly Mitchell.” Pulling herself further up the bed, she leant comfortably against the headboard. “Thanks for helping me up.” Ben drew the curtains. “Well, Carly, I’ll leave you to get some rest. But first, I’ll go and retrieve your bag and ask Jim to send you up an ice pack.”
She didn’t want him to leave. “Why were you here? Is someone ill?”
“A guest has a mild temperature. Nothing alarming, but Jim felt it was better to check so he asked me to call.”
“It’s after midnight. Not many doctors would come out at this time.”
Ben glanced at his watch. “So it is. Time all good boys and girls were in their beds. Good night.”
“Good night.”
She heard his footsteps going down the stairs. Her heart thumped as she wondered whose bed he would be going to. A rush of envy flooded through her. A few moments later, there was a tap at her door and Jim came in carrying her bag and an ice pack.
“Ben says you need to put this on your ankle. Bit of bad luck him nearly knocking you down the stairs.”
“Thanks, Jim. Leave the bag there, please. I’ll get myself ready for bed and put the pack on my foot.”
“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ring downstairs.”
“I won’t. Thanks again.”
She pushed her damp hair out of her eyes and heaved a sigh. What on earth had possessed her to come back a few days before New Year’s Eve? She considered running back to the car and driving away, but her twisted ankle put that out of the question. Anyway, it would be the coward’s way out. For all her sins, she hoped she wasn’t a coward. With a little effort and some hopping around, she unpacked her bag and changed into her night clothes.
After placing the ice pack on her ankle, she lay back against the soft pillows. Dark curls, blue eyes, and white teeth flashed through her mind, and a long sigh escaped her. The memory of the feel of his hands and the warmth of his smile created a fluttering in her stomach. Something she’d not felt in a long time. She closed her eyes and scolded herself. Dreaming about the local doctor was not why she had come back to Yeardon and The Resolution Hotel.
I’m happy you could join me on Books
and Banter. I hope you had fun with the
Q & A’s
Thank you very much for having me onto
Books and Banter. I’ve had great fun choosing and answering the questions.
Follow the entire week’s tour here:
A
reminder to the reader ~ before you leave be sure to take a look at the
Come
back and visit again.
Many thanks for hosting me on your beautiful website.
ReplyDeleteIt was a pleasure. Thank you for being my guest. I look forward to having you here again.
DeleteGreat interview, with some interesting questions! And congrats on persevering with your novel :-)
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Paula. It's great of you to stop by. There were some good and interesting questions weren't there? I thoroughly enjoyed answering them.
ReplyDelete