About the Book
With few roots in England and having just lost her job, Amy Carter decides to give up on home and start a new life in France, spending her redundancy package turning an overgrown Provençal farmhouse, Bellefontaine, into a successful hotel.
Though she has big plans for her new home, none of them involves falling in love – least of all with Fabien Coste, the handsome but arrogant owner of a nearby château. As romance blossoms, eerie and strange happenings in Bellefontaine hint at a dark mystery of the Provençal countryside which dates back many centuries and holds an entanglement between the ladies of Bellefontaine and the ducs de Coste at its centre. As Amy works to unravel the mystery, she begins to wonder if it may not just be her heart at risk, but her life too.
See more at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spell-Provence-Marie-Laval-ebook/dp/B00RVQO8RM/ref=sr_1_9?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1420915312&sr=1-9&keywords=accent+press
http://www.accentpress.co.uk/Book/13421/A-Spell-in-Provence.html#sthash.X8MLryS5.dpuf
Though she has big plans for her new home, none of them involves falling in love – least of all with Fabien Coste, the handsome but arrogant owner of a nearby château. As romance blossoms, eerie and strange happenings in Bellefontaine hint at a dark mystery of the Provençal countryside which dates back many centuries and holds an entanglement between the ladies of Bellefontaine and the ducs de Coste at its centre. As Amy works to unravel the mystery, she begins to wonder if it may not just be her heart at risk, but her life too.
See more at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spell-Provence-Marie-Laval-ebook/dp/B00RVQO8RM/ref=sr_1_9?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1420915312&sr=1-9&keywords=accent+press
http://www.accentpress.co.uk/Book/13421/A-Spell-in-Provence.html#sthash.X8MLryS5.dpuf
Author Interview
1) What do you like most and least about being a writer?
I love the fact that it takes me to faraway places and gives me the chance to live different experiences through my characters. It's the best form of escapism ever. I'm not so keen on getting stuck on a particular scene or on having to backtrack because I went completely the wrong way and should have planned better!
2) Your book “A Spell in Provence” is set in France. What do you associate with Provence and France in general?
For me, Provence is summer and sunshine, scents of lavender and wild herbs, and the singing of cicadas. France is where I was born and where I grew up, and there are times when I miss it terribly, and not only the cheese and pastries - éclairs au chocolat, tartes aux pommes, petits choux and the like - which are my guilty pleasures! Every time I return to France, I love meeting up with my family and friends at the terrace of a café or a quiet restaurant, and enjoy a long, leisurely lunch. I also love listening to lots of French music from the eighties and watch French films with all my favourite actors in!
3) What inspired the story?
It was a family holiday in the South of France a few years ago. We visited many towns and villages with very old fountains, and I started thinking of a plot with a 'fountain trail' leading to a treasure or an ancient site...
4) Did you have to do a lot of research for your new book? How did you do it?
I did lots of research about the Salyens, the native Celtic tribes who lived in Provence before the Romans and who had very important settlements in Glanum, for example. Reading about the archeological evidence from their various sites was fascinating and helped me shape the story.
5) Any hidden talents or crazy facts about you?
Let's see...It's a boring and a completely useless skill, but I can take dictation in shorthand in French, English and German. Of course, no one uses shorthand these days!
6) What is your favourite genre (to read and / or write)?
I love to read romance, but that's not surprising, isn't it? I also love poetry, travel guides and non-fiction books about history and architecture.
7) Tell us about the one thing you can’t write without.
Three things: coffee, tea...and my laptop!
8) Do you have any advice for (aspiring) authors?
Keep writing, don't give up no matter what people tell you, and how many rejection letters you receive. It's your dream. It's worth it.
9) What was the hardest part about writing your historical romance “The Lion’s Embrace”?
There was nothing hard about writing THE LION'S EMBRACE. I wrote the novel in six months, which is an achievement for me, and I enjoyed every minute of it, from the research to the final edits.
10) What are you currently working on?
I have two ongoing projects. I am in the last stages of completing the first draft of a contemporary romance set in Scotland, and I have just started writing and researching a historical romance set in Corsica. Although I have never been there, everything about the island is fascinating and incredibly romantic. What's more, I think I have just the right hero in mind for the story! But I won't say anymore for now...
I love the fact that it takes me to faraway places and gives me the chance to live different experiences through my characters. It's the best form of escapism ever. I'm not so keen on getting stuck on a particular scene or on having to backtrack because I went completely the wrong way and should have planned better!
2) Your book “A Spell in Provence” is set in France. What do you associate with Provence and France in general?
For me, Provence is summer and sunshine, scents of lavender and wild herbs, and the singing of cicadas. France is where I was born and where I grew up, and there are times when I miss it terribly, and not only the cheese and pastries - éclairs au chocolat, tartes aux pommes, petits choux and the like - which are my guilty pleasures! Every time I return to France, I love meeting up with my family and friends at the terrace of a café or a quiet restaurant, and enjoy a long, leisurely lunch. I also love listening to lots of French music from the eighties and watch French films with all my favourite actors in!
3) What inspired the story?
It was a family holiday in the South of France a few years ago. We visited many towns and villages with very old fountains, and I started thinking of a plot with a 'fountain trail' leading to a treasure or an ancient site...
4) Did you have to do a lot of research for your new book? How did you do it?
I did lots of research about the Salyens, the native Celtic tribes who lived in Provence before the Romans and who had very important settlements in Glanum, for example. Reading about the archeological evidence from their various sites was fascinating and helped me shape the story.
5) Any hidden talents or crazy facts about you?
Let's see...It's a boring and a completely useless skill, but I can take dictation in shorthand in French, English and German. Of course, no one uses shorthand these days!
6) What is your favourite genre (to read and / or write)?
I love to read romance, but that's not surprising, isn't it? I also love poetry, travel guides and non-fiction books about history and architecture.
7) Tell us about the one thing you can’t write without.
Three things: coffee, tea...and my laptop!
8) Do you have any advice for (aspiring) authors?
Keep writing, don't give up no matter what people tell you, and how many rejection letters you receive. It's your dream. It's worth it.
9) What was the hardest part about writing your historical romance “The Lion’s Embrace”?
There was nothing hard about writing THE LION'S EMBRACE. I wrote the novel in six months, which is an achievement for me, and I enjoyed every minute of it, from the research to the final edits.
10) What are you currently working on?
I have two ongoing projects. I am in the last stages of completing the first draft of a contemporary romance set in Scotland, and I have just started writing and researching a historical romance set in Corsica. Although I have never been there, everything about the island is fascinating and incredibly romantic. What's more, I think I have just the right hero in mind for the story! But I won't say anymore for now...
Author Marie Laval
About the Author
Originally from Lyon in France, Marie studied History and Law at university there before moving to Lancashire in England where she worked in a variety of jobs, from PA in a busy university department to teacher of French in schools and colleges. Writing, however, was always her passion, and she spends what little free time she has dreaming and making up stories. Her historical romances ANGEL HEART and THE LION'S EMBRACE are published by MuseItUp Publishing. A SPELL IN PROVENCE is her first contemporary romance. It is published by Áccent Press.
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