Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Girl in the Pink Raincoat by Arlene Hughes. I am sharing a guest post from the author with you today and if you like the sound of the book after reading that, you can click here to buy a copy for yourself! Don't forget to check out the other blogs on the tour for exclusive content, reviews and giveaways!
Here's what the book is all about:
In wartime it takes courage to follow your heart.
Manchester, 1939.
Everyone hated the heat and the deafening noise, but for Gracie
the worst thing was the smell of chemicals that turned her stomach every
morning when she arrived at the Rosenberg Raincoats factory.
Gracie is a girl on the factory floor. Jacob is the boss's
charismatic nephew. When they fall in love, it seems as if the
whole world is against them – especially Charlie Nuttall, who also
works at the factory and has always wanted Gracie for himself.
But
worse is to come when Jacob disappears and Gracie is
devastated, vowing to find him. Can she solve the mystery of his whereabouts?
Gracie will need all her strength and courage to find a happy ending.
And here's that guest post for you...
A ROOM OF MY OWN
I honestly
believe that I wouldn’t have written five novels if I hadn’t found a space of
my own. J K Rowling managed perfectly well to write in a café with a child in a
buggy beside her, but I’d have been distracted every time the door opened. Ian
Rankin likes listening to music while he dreams up gruesome plots. I need quiet
reflection.
My first
book, ‘Martha’s Girls’ was written over a ten-year period because, being a
teacher, I only wrote in the six weeks summer holidays. It might never have
been finished at all, if I hadn’t fallen in love with a Greek town on the
Ionian coast and, in a moment of madness, decided to buy a house there.
In the
summer heat, Greeks prefer to retire indoors in the afternoon when a silence
and a stillness descends. This is my writing time, five hours when I immerse
myself in WWII Manchester or Belfast: the hardship of the home front; bombings;
love and loss. In the quiet, I’m there with the women I’ve created, weaving
their stories. When the heat is fierce, I’m indoors, but mostly I sit on the
balcony and look out over the olive tree covered hills, conjuring up the
war-torn cities.
There are a
few drawbacks. I have some reference books there, but no internet. If I need to
check something urgently, I’ll wander down the hill to a bar or restaurant for
a glass of wine and a bit of research. Otherwise, I make a list of queries to
check when I return to England.
I probably
spend twelve weeks in Greece each year, the rest of the time I’m usually in
Manchester, the setting for The Girl in
the Pink Raincoat and The Girl from
the Corner Shop. Here, I write in a small study overlooking the garden,
working five or six hours a day. Of course, sometimes I have days when the
writing doesn’t come quickly, or not at all. Then I’ll be out doing some
research maybe at the Central library or I’ll walk the city checking out the various buildings, exterior and interior, mentioned in the
books.
I’m lucky to
have two places to write, but the best place to find and tell the story is when
the surroundings disappear and I’m there with my characters and the war-time
city inside my head.
About the author
Alrene
Hughes grew up in Belfast and has lived in Manchester for most of her adult
life. She worked for British Telecom and the BBC before training as an English
teacher. After teaching for twenty years, she retired and now writes full-time.
Facebook: @alrenehugheswriter
Twitter: @alrenehughes
Buy
links:
Amazon:
https://amzn.to/2HU9E4V
Kobo:
https://bit.ly/2HKJRN5
iBooks:
https://apple.co/2TEXaQO
Google
Play: https://bit.ly/2YqUREC
Follow Head of Zeus:
Website: www.headofzeus.com
Twitter:
@HoZ_Books
Facebook:
@headofzeus
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing that with us today Arlene.
Remember to stop by the other blogs on the tour!
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