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Monday, 29 June 2015

(AUTHOR INTERVIEW) Amber Lake



 Today I will be hosting a blog tour for The Perfect Wife and interviewing the author, Amber Lake! Enjoy!
About Amber Lake:
Amber was born in a village by the seashore in Murcia (Spain) a long time ago and now she is living in Cartagena with her husband and children. She has a B.A. in History and she also has a degree in Teaching. She works in the university in the same city where she lives.

Since she was a little girl she has been passionate for literature. She lapped up everything she could get her hands on and very soon she began to create in her mind her own stories, tales, short stories and drafts of ambitious young novels.

Her studies, her work and her family were the reasons why she put on hold those literary dreams for several years, although she kept on embodying on paper some ideas that she wished her own novels would talk about. Fifteen years ago she resumed her old dream and she started to write regularly. She sent her stories to some competitions, where she won a few prizes, and also to different publishing houses.

In 2008 she saw how her dream came true with the publication of her first novel. Other novels followed that first one, such as El escolta in 2010, Buscando a la esposa perfecta, in 2012, El escolta (new version) in 2014 and some others. Thanks to all these novels, she has been very lucky to see how her readers have warmly welcomed them and this fact has made her very proud.




 

What inspired you to become an author?
Since I was a little girl I have been passionate for reading and from those readings came up the need to write my own stories. I started with tales, short stories and drafts of novels for young adults and, eventually, I began writing longer novels, especially romance ones.

What author influenced you the most?
You can’t help that your writings end up being influenced by what you read, but I don’t think I’ve been influenced by a specific author. I do think though that everything I’ve read in the past has had an influence on me.


Do you have a favourite author? (Or name a few)
As I like reading all type of literature, I have many favorite authors, both classic and contemporary, including Jane Austen and Nora Roberts for romance genre, Alexandre Dumas and Ken Follet for historic novel, Agatha Christie and Michael Connelly for crime novel, J. R. Tolkien and George R. R. Martin for fantasy…


What is the best writing advice you have ever received?
That I read a lot and good literature –starting with classic authors because I would learn how to be a good writer from them.

What helps you write when you're stuck or have writer's block?
I try not to be overwhelmed when it happens to me. I start doing revision of all what I’ve written and that helps me pick up the thread of the story again. If it’s worthless, I give up. Writing should be a pleasure and if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, you won’t get good results.


Do you like to listen to music while you write? If so, who are your favourite artists?
I don’t usually listen to music while I write. If I do, the volume must be very low and the songs without lyrics (classical music, new age, soundtracks…) because they prevent me from focusing. On the other hand, during the documentation and proofreading stage I often listen to my favorite singers or bands such as Coldplay, Enya, Green Day, David Guetta, Michael Bublé, James Blunt...



After a long day of writing what is your favourite tv show you like to watch?
A movie or the TV series I watch.

What are you working on currently?
I’m about to finish proofreading a novel and I’m gathering information for another one I’ll start in a few days. It doesn’t have a title yet.

When you're not writing, what do you like to do?
My hobbies are quite ordinary: reading, walking, meeting my friends and, especially, being with my family.

What are some of your most favourite books of all time?
 The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet, Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez, A Rose in Winter by Katheen Woodiwiss, Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas... The list is endless because there are a lot of books I like.


Is there anything specific you'd like to try writing about in the future?
A novel based on the life of a relative, who had to flee Spain because of his political ideas in 1939.

Which of your characters do you love the most and why?
It’s difficult to choose one only character because they’re all my literary children. They’ve been with me during months and I love them very much.

Which one of your books are you most proud of?
I can’t decide either for one book in particular because I wrote them all with passion. Maybe I look at the first one I published with affection –Estrategias del destino (Strategies of Destiny).

What is an interesting or hidden talent you have?
I love painting and people say I’m not bad at it.

Is there anything else you'd like my readers to know?
I appreciate they devote some time to read this interview. I hope they like it and I hope they are interested in reading my novels too.

 Book Description:

A society full of rules, but when it comes to love, there is no written rule.
Charlotte Wilcox, an unfortunate baronet’s daughter, has been living with her father in a small village since her mother died when she was still a kid. Although she is happy at home and the fact of remaining single at 23 is not a worry for her, her relatives put pressure on her to find a husband who provides for her.

With that purpose, she travels to Bath, where her aunt Margaret is responsible for educating her so that she can get a proper marriage proposal.

Charlotte thinks that the strict norms that govern aristocratic members of society are ridiculous and old-fashioned. Thus, she is afraid that she will never become the perfect wife that her aunt expects and that every gentleman wishes.

At the first ball she goes to, she meets Edward Holne, viscount of Eversley, and all the rules that her aunt had taught her will be useless before the attraction between them.



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