Q & A with Camilla Isley

Today I'm very happy to welcome the lovely Camilla isles on Simona's Corner of Dreams. Her newest book Love Collection was just published and Camilla answered some questions about the book, enjoy!

1.    Did you always dream of being a writer?

Surprisingly, no. I’ve always loved books, but I never thought I’d actually write one. I started a project once in college and abandoned it soon afterwards and that was about it for a long time. My college degree was very technical, just as far from creative writing as you can get, then I started working, and it wasn’t until I left my job to follow my husband abroad that the idea for a book started forming in my mind.

2.    How did your writing career develop?

It went from zero to a hundred in the space of a year. From the moment I started drafting my first book, I’ve published it and I’ve never stopped writing.

3.    Your newest novel is called Love Connection, what is it about? 

Love Connection is a Sliding Doors style romantic comedy. My protagonist Gemma, just found out her ex, the one who got away, is getting married the same day as her best friend Amelia. She’s at the airport and has to decide which connecting flight to catch, hence the title Love Connection. The decision pivots around a delayed/on time flight, depending on the story line, and a chance meeting. I explore both outcomes, with unpredictable consequences.

4.    What was your inspiration for the book?

I often ask myself the question, where would I be now if I’d done things differently? It’s fascinating to think how the life I have today is shaped by decisions made maybe ten years ago.

 I think we have all asked ourselves “what if?” at some point or another. I thought it’d be fun to write a whole book around this simple question.

5.    Can you tell us more about the main character?

Gemma is an amazing woman, a loyal friend, and a cutting edge lawyer. She’s strong and fragile at the same time, she’s sardonic, generous, and fun.

6.    Where and when do you write your stories?

I mostly write at home at any time of the day really. I don’t go to cafés or public spaces, to me it’s more distracting than being in my cave. When I travel, I love to write in airports, which doesn’t really make sense as they’re far busier than coffee shops, but somehow airports inspire me.

7.    What do you do and enjoy when you’re not writing?

Cooking, eating out, and exploring new places. I love flea markets and restoring old furniture.

8.    If you could switch places with a character from a book, who would it be and why?

Hermione Granger, I would love to be the smartest witch alive.

9.    What books have influenced your life most?

The most consuming has been for sure Harry Potter. Nothing will ever give me the same excitement of waiting for the newer Harry Potter to come out.

10. What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on two sequels. One will pick up the story of one of the characters in Love Connection. I adored this particular character, who ended up without a proper HEA. I just couldn’t leave their story unexplored.

The other sequel is for Let’s Be Just Friends my New Adult series. There was so much more to the story that needed narrating that I’m starting a whole family saga.

11. What do you enjoy most about writing?

The moment when the story all comes together, when I can pick all the threads and tie them in a pretty ribbon. It gives me such joy.

12. Pick three authors you want to have dinner with and tell us why.

J.K. Rowling, she’s a star.

George R.R. Martin, to ask him what about season 6 of GOT is true also in the new book.

Ken Follett, I’d love to discuss the middle ages with him.

13. Imagine Love Connection would be turned into a movie, who would you cast for the main characters?

Gemma: Rachel McAdams

Jake: Matt Bomer

Amelia: Kate Hudson

Dylan: David Beckham

Richard: Alex Pettyfer

14. You also wrote A Sudden Crush, I Wish for You and Let’s Be Just Friends, can you tell us more about them?

I Wish for You is a magical romcom. It has that fairytale sparkle with magic wishes, curses to break, and plenty of funny mishaps.

A Sudden Crush too is a romantic comedy. It’s a different take on the stranded-on-a-desert-island-with-a-stranger plot. Hilarious and romantic.

Let’s Be Just Friends, is a bit different. Not just for the characters’ ages, New Adult as opposed to Adult, it’s also slightly less on the humorous side and has a notch more of drama. It follows the story of Rose and Tyler, two best friends who might have deeper feelings for each other.

15. How would you describe your style of writing?

Fun and easygoing.

16. Coffee or tea?

Coffee.

17. Paperback or e-reader?

E-reader.

18. Mountains or the sea?

Sea.

19. Summer or winter?

Can I pick fall? September to December must be my favorite months of the year.

20. Sweet or salty?

Salty.

Author Bio

Camilla is an engineer turned writer after she quit her job to follow her husband in an adventure abroad.

She’s a cat lover, coffee addict, and shoe hoarder. Besides writing, she loves reading—duh!—cooking, watching bad TV, and going to the movies—popcorn, please. She’s a bit of a foodie, nothing too serious. A keen traveler, Camilla knows mosquitoes play a role in the ecosystem, and she doesn’t want to starve all those frog princes out there, but she could really live without them.

Links

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXO39NU

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-connection-camilla-isley/1124707490?ean=2940153753386

iBooks: https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/book/love-connection-feel-good/id1159355874

Kobo: https://www.kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=1230001361223

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=y6kkDQAAQBAJ&hl

Author Website: https://camillaisley.com

The Things We Keep – by Sally Hepworth

Original Cover

My own copy

The blurb:

Just because you can't remember, doesn't mean you can't love . . .

Anna Forster is thirty-eight years old and has started to suffer from the early stages of Alzheimer's. She knows that her family is doing what they believe to be best when they take her to an assisted living facility. But best can still hurt. What she also knows is that there's just one other resident her age at the facility - Luke.

As her disease steals more and more of her memory, Anna fights to hold on to all that's left. What remains are her feelings for Luke. Before long the pair fall in love, despite the forces that are set against them.

But when a tragic incident occurs, Luke and Anna's families decide to separate them. There is one person at the facility who can help the pair, but only if she's willing to risk everything for them . . .

My Opinion:

*Book provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Here is another Sally Hepworth book! And she did it once again! This book is beautiful, sad and so much more!!!

The story follows Anna, she is 38 years old and has early onset Alzheimer’s. She now is at an assisted living facility called Rosalind house, where she meets Luke. Luke is 41 and has a form of dementia, where he loses his capability to speak and form words.

The book is not only narrated by Anna, but also by Eve, who is a widowed chef and works at Rosalind House. From time to time her daughter, 7-year-old Clementine, gets to narrate as well. White the of them talk about today and present, Anna is actually speaks twelve months prior. This makes the story really interesting and unique. It’s very intense, dramatic and touching.

The book has a really deep storyline and the topic alone makes it poignant and heart-breaking. I enjoyed reading about Anna and her feelings. It was hard to see her struggle, but I still wished to read even more about her and also her relationship with Luke.

Eve’s and Clementine’s story is also very moving, so I can assure you there is a lot going on in this book, but it never becomes too much.

Rosalind House also had other inhabitants, who added spark to the story. And then there were Anna’s and Luke’s families. Let’s just say that they didn’t make the whole situation easier.

The Things We Keep is a very powerful book, full of heart, love, drama and sadness. It’s beautifully written and it will stay with you for a long time!

Rating:

My possible cast:

Anna: Reese Witherspoon

Eve: Alicia Vikander

Clementine: Mia Talerico

Sally on Twitter: @SallyHepworth

Website: http://www.sallyhepworthauthor.com

Goodreads - Amazon UK - Amazon US

What to Do on a Long Train Journey

So, it's been about two months, since my short trip to Munich, but August and September were busy wuth CHESS ans my Musical Corner, so here we are. I took the train and the journey was about 4 1/2 hours long from Zurich. That's a long time, especially because you don't have a screen like in a plane and it's way more bumpy, but let's talk about that in another post. Whenever I go on a train journey, I plan thngs things to bring, so that I din't get bored. Here are some things I do whenever the train journey is long.

- Writing blog posts: Whether it's a book review if a book I finished the night before or a blog posts about anything basically (I wrote this post on the train to Munich), it's a great way to kill some time and get some work done.

 - Planning a musical for school: I went to Munich in the summer holidays and since I'm doing another Christmas play in December it was the perfect to read through it properly and take some notes, especially because there is no real script this time. The narrator talks and the others act, the dialogies I had to come up with myself. That's exactly what I did. so this is another way of getting some work done.

- Reading: First did some beta reading from my wonderful Aven Ellis and then also started reading a new book. I love reading, time always passes so quickly.

- Colouring: This time I took my Harry Potter colouring book and coloured in the golden egg from the triwizard tournament. I took some fine pens and coloured pencils with me. This is something that is not easy though, because it's pretty bumpy at times. It's also something I cannot do for too long, otherwise I feel sick.

- Listening to music: This one happens during the while train ride, whatever I'm doing, just listening to my favourite songs or sometimes even Harry Potter.

- Watching the landscape: I didn't catch the most beautiful weather both ways, but it's still great to look at the landscape passing by. Lakes, churches, mountains...

- Eat and drink: A long train ride always requires a lot of water and some food, you can pass like this as well.

- Watching other passengers: People watching ;) Sometimes you even get to talk to them, which is fun (most of the time). I had reserved seats both ways, but on the way to Munich, a mother with four kids sat down in my compartment. The had food all over, the kids couldn't sit still, they were loud, rude and more. I was hoping for them to get off, but that didn't happen, so I was able to change into another compartment just behind. Guess who turned up in the one next to my new one and vhanges nappies?! I could continue here, but I think I already ranted in my blog post about Munich.
Of course I could have taken my laptop ans done some more works, but it's good to get away from it sometimes. And yes I could have downloaded some movies or series, but I rather enjoy them jn a comfier place.
It turns out that I did so many things that in the end I was only able to start the book and nit read too much of it ;).

What do you do to pass some time on a long train journey? Let me know in the comments below.