,
Happy Friday!I am so pleased to be part of the blog tour for T.A. Williams new book 'What Happens in Tuscany'. Thank you so much to Trevor for taking time to write a piece for my blog, and to Karan at Bliss Book Promotions for all her help.
I have been alucky enough to review and loved What Happens in Tuscany as well as Trevor's last Book When Alice Met Danny.
Below you can read a bit about What Happens in Tuscany. What inspired Trevor to write the book, and a bit about Trevor himself.
You can enter to win a copy of What Happens in Tuscany by clicking here:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Title: What Happens in Tuscany
Author: T.A.
Williams
Release Date:
January 20, 2015
Publisher:
Carina UK
Genre: Chick Lit
Summary
From rainy England…
Katie never
imagined her life was perfect. But when she finds herself on a rainy street,
soaked to the bone and with only a cheating boyfriend and a dead-end job
keeping her in town, she knows something has to change. Which is what leads her
to Iddlescombe Manor, to be companion to Victoria Chalker-Pyne – the only 25 year old Katie’s ever met
who hasn’t heard of Twitter, thinks
camisoles are de rigueur, and desperately needs an education in the 21st
century!
…to the Tuscan sun!
But it wouldn’t be an education without a summer holiday – and where better than Tuscany? Decamping to Victoria’s family villa, it’s soon clear that the valley really does have it all:
sun, sea…and some seriously gorgeous neighbours. The only
question is: when the weather’s this hot,
the wine is this smooth and the local men are this irresistible…will Katie
ever want to make the journey home?
Buy Links
How did I come up with the idea for What
Happens in Tuscany
The honest answer is that I’m not sure. I can narrow it down to the
beginning of July last year, but I’m not totally sure exactly what sparked it
off.
The premise, for those who haven’t had a chance to read the book yet, is
that Victoria
has been kept cooped up for years and years by her crazy, over-protective
father. So much so that she needs to engage the services of Katie to help ease
her into the 21st century. She’s never owned a computer, never been
to the cinema, never watched television and, significantly, never been out with
a man. She has grown up on a diet of classic authors like Emily Bronte and Jane
Austen, and she sounds like one of their characters.
When my previous book, When Alice
Met Danny, came out in June last year, it got a lot of good reviews. The
handful of critical ones mainly didn’t like the fact that the language of some
of the characters was a bit “old fashioned”. Maybe it was that. Maybe that
sowed the seed. You see, I can empathise with Victoria . Here I am, a 65 year old man,
trying to think myself into the mindset and speech patterns of thirty year old
girls. That in itself is not necessarily as unusual as it sounds. As any author
will tell you, it’s all about imagination in this game. In a way, it’s not that
different from writing about medieval monks or World War 1 soldiers. However,
the historical stuff is a lot easier and safer, for one main reason. There
aren’t any medieval monks or Tommies from the trenches left to read about
themselves and object. There are, however, a lot of thirty year old girls who
have been buying my books.
So, last summer I found myself reading back through When Alice Met Danny, trying to pick out the anachronisms, looking
for the words or phrases that don’t sit well on the lips of somebody half my
age and of the opposite sex. I suppose that led me to the idea of writing a
story where the same sort of translation exercise is taking place. So you will
find things like this in What happens in Tuscany
‘So is anybody courting you at the
moment?’
Katie laughed. ‘No, Victoria
Or:
Although she was tired, Katie couldn’t let
that go uncorrected. ‘Vicky, we don’t describe men as appealing any more. You
could try saying you find him dreamy or, if it’s more than that, you could
always say you fancy the pants off him.’
The other reason why I liked the idea of
somebody struggling with modernity was my own personal (and ongoing) struggle
with social media. For an old man like me, being catapulted into the
complexities of Facebook and Twitter has not been easy! So my sympathy lies
very firmly with Victoria
in her struggle to embrace all things modern. It’s a struggle I share with her.
Author
Biography
Firstly, my name isn't T A. It's
Trevor. I write under the androgynous name T A Williams because 65% of books
are read by women. In my first book, "Dirty Minds" one of the
(female) characters suggests the imbalance is due to the fact that men spend
too much time getting drunk and watching football. I couldn't possibly comment.
Ask my wife...
I've written all sorts: thrillers,
historical novels, short stories and now I'm enjoying myself hugely writing
humour and romance. Romantic comedies are what we all need from time to time.
Life isn’t always very
fair. It isn’t always a lot
of fun, but when it is, we need to embrace it. If my books can put a smile on
your face and maybe give your heartstrings a tug, then I know I’ve
done my job.
I‘ve
lived all over Europe, but now I live in a little village in sleepy Devon, tucked
away in south west England. I love the place. That’s
why you’ll find leafy
lanes and thatched cottages in most of my books. Oh, yes, and a black
Labrador.
I've been writing since I was 14 and
that is half a century ago. However, underneath this bald, wrinkly exterior,
there beats the heart of a youngster. My wife is convinced I will never grow
up. I hope she's right.
Social
Networking Links
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/GRTAWilliams
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