Victoria Connelly
A Summer to Remember is a romantic comedy about Nina Elliot who is at a crossroads in her life. She's just got out of a very bad relationship and she's in a job she hates. Determined to change her luck, she leaves her job and takes a position with a family she used to babysit for and does her best to bring calm to the chaos of life with the Milton family in their rambling old mill house. But has she bitten off more than she can chew? And will the young Milton brothers make her summer memorable for the right reasons?
Please tell us about the character of Nina.
Nina is kind and caring but has never been truly valued for who she is. Her parents were distant and her last boyfriend was a bully but her new post at the Old Mill House gives her a chance to really make a difference and she grows in confidence and learns to trust in life again although she's a little hesitant when it comes to romantic relationships. I really adore Nina because she's so honest and sweet and she really deserves some happiness in her life.
How much has your background in English literature helped you to write novels?
I am often asked if you need to study English in order to be a writer and the answer is no. You just need to love reading and writing. Studying for my degree in literature was a pure joy for me - three whole years of reading some of the best novels and plays ever written from Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Brontes and Thomas Hardy to E M Forster and John Fowles. What heaven! It helped me learn how the very best writers create compelling characters and riveting stories, and writing my 10,000 word dissertation on an old manual typewriter gave me the confidence to write my very first novel. After all, a novel was only about ten times that amount of words, wasn't it? I could do it! So, soon after graduation, I got to work on my first book - a rather bad historical novel which I now refer to as my hysterical novel. I then rebelled a bit after having immersed myself in nineteenth-century literature for so long and read Jilly Cooper's Riders and realised that I wanted to write modern fiction. So I started again - this time on an electronic typewriter which meant I didn't have to use copious amounts of Tipex anymore!
You now live in rural Suffolk. How inspirational is it for your writing?
We live in a little cottage overlooking fields full of horses at the front and cherry and apple orchards at the back so it can sometimes be a bit distracting if you look out of the windows. Summer is a particularly difficult time to work because I'm often tempted out into the garden for hours so I work doubly hard during the winter months! But it has influenced my writing - yes! I am setting my next two novels in Suffolk and Norfolk and I have also written two short non-fiction books: Escape to Mulberry Cottage and A Year at Mulberry Cottage about our move from the London suburbs to the countryside with ex-battery hens in tow!
Your first novel published in Germany was made into a film, so please can you tell us about your involvement it?
Flights of Angels was my first book to be published and I was so surprised that it was a German publisher that made the first move. In fact, five publishers wanted it and it went into a bidding war which was really exciting. Shortly after publication, we heard that Ziegler Film wanted to adapt it as a film for TV and my husband and I flew out to Berlin to see it being filmed and got to be extras in it. It was a very long, hot day but absolutely fascinating. We met all the cast and had lunch with the director of the company and the producer of the film. The best moment for me, though, was seeing the street where they were filming. It was completely lined with trucks and there were cables galore and people coming and going. All because of a little idea I'd had for a story whilst having a bath!
Why is this the perfect summer read?
A Summer to Remember is set during one of those long, hot summers that we all seem to remember from our childhood. It's set deep in the heart of rural Norfolk in an old water mill surrounded by fields and woods which my heroine gets to explore as well as the beautiful north Norfolk coast. Of course, there is lots of romance too with three heroes for our heroine to choose from! It's lots of fun with some really zany and naughty characters that I think readers will love getting to know. Oh, and there's a Labradoodle who is always sticking his nose in where it isn't wanted...
What is next for you?
More books! I usually write one novel, a couple of novellas and a non-fiction title each year so there will be another Austen Addicts title coming in the autumn - At Home with Mr Darcy where the Janeites will be on holiday in Derbyshire. I'm hoping to have a trip to Derbyshire so I can visit beautiful Chatsworth House and Haddon Hall in preparation for writing this one.
Then there'll be a novella called Christmas at the Cove set on the wild north Devon coast. That should be out in October, and I'm also hoping to start a brand new series of books called The Book Lovers about a children's author and a bookshop owner who have sworn off love ... until they meet each other.