I’m now back from a lovely holiday to North Wales, with an overnight at
the Lake District on the way, but I’m not quite back to work yet. Looking
forward to the RNA Conference in Lancaster this coming weekend, then I’ll need
to get organised. More about the holiday later.
Meanwhile, I’m delighted to welcome talented fellow author Helena
Fairfax to the blog. Helena is one of a group of international authors who have
produced an interesting collection of short stories set around Europe which all
feature a letter. Great idea and my copy is now downloaded!
Welcome, Helena and thanks for providing such a lovely post.
Letterbox
Love Stories – an anthology of European romance
A few months ago I had an email from
American author Gemma Juliana asking me if I’d be interested in taking part in
a new, international group of authors, with the aim of putting together a
series of anthologies. I’ve collaborated with Gemma before on a Christmas
anthology (Exquisite
Christmas came out last year) and it was great fun to do…so
of course I said yes!
In total we are now nine authors who
live in America, Austria, Spain and the UK, and our first ever anthology has
now been released. It was very exciting working on this venture, right from
thrashing out our first ideas for a theme, to the final release. First of all,
we were all clear that the setting for all our stories should be Europe – but
what else should unite them? We talked about and discarded several ideas for
something to bind our first anthology together until finally we hit on a theme
that excited all of us: what if you
received a letter that changed your life forever?
With that one simple idea, we went away
and worked on our own individual writing. The imagination is a great thing –
and we each came up with a completely different story, each in our own genres,
set in vastly different places and times in Europe, but all based on this one simple
premise.
Here are the blurbs for Letterbox
Love Stories:
MORE
THAN WISHES by Rose Anderson
Raised on a sailor’s tales of adventure and eager for her own, Stella Cunningham answers an advertisement for a traveling companion to the Orient. There she purchases an ancient bronze lamp with a secret. In the land of flying carpets and genies, Stella is about to have the adventure of a lifetime.
ALL OR NOTHING by Denysé Bridger
Casino Coranthos is a playground for wealthy, bored people, but for some, it’s also a place where dreams and promises change lives forever. When a letter becomes part of an unexpected inheritance for Ryann Thomson, her aunt’s past brings her face to face with Ariston Katsaros, a man haunted by loss and driven by anger. As the attraction between them sizzles and grows, can Ryann convince him she isn’t looking to rob him or his father, or will she become a casualty of Ari’s vengeance? In this dangerous game of all or nothing, her heart and future happiness are at stake.
SEALED WITH A KISS by Lynn Crain
In 2084, time travelling detective, Tandi Reynolds, tipped off by a letter, needs to stop an assassin before he kills a newly elected leader. When she finds him in 1874, Vienna, it’s clear a cold blooded killer is only one of her problems. Time is fleeting, so falling in love with her contact, the charismatic Count Leopold Radetzky von Radetz, is a bad idea, but keeping her feelings in check is not easy when she relies on him for her every need.
COME DATE ME IN PARIS by Helena Fairfax
When a letter arrives telling Alice she's won a place on a TV blind date show, she should be excited - only trouble is, the show involves cooking for your date...and Alice can't cook. Forced to throw herself on the mercy of her chef neighbour, Edmond, Alice asks him for lessons. But will she be cooking up a romance...or cooking up disaster?
ABANDONED TREASURES by Gemma Juliana
What do a reality TV star and a Sardinian billionaire have in common? Sophie Hayes buys and sells the contents of abandoned storage units. When an invitation arrives out of the blue to personally deliver an antique desk to an exotic island, she decides on a whim to spend what would have been her honeymoon with the famous Rico di Carlo. Can Rico convince Sophie in one short week to stay forever?
SONS OF THE WIND by Marie Laval
Provence 1826. Ten years after her brother disappeared in the marshes of the Camargue, Venetia Rigby receives a letter suggesting he is alive. Will Philippe Dantès, half-gypsy master of Terres Mortes, help her find him when he has his own demons to fight?
CURATING LOVE by Cara Marsi
A letter inviting Chloe Decker to curate the art collection of the wealthy DiMarco family of Ravello, Italy, lets Chloe begin to picture a new beginning for herself after a tragic loss. But she hadn’t included her employer’s sexy grandson, Matteo DiMarco, in that portrait. Chloe’s not ready for a relationship, even with a fine Italian masterpiece of a man like Matteo, but can he convince her to paint a new life that includes him?
PLAIN HARRY by Lindsay Townsend
Recovering from a brutal marriage, Esther is living quietly as a widow when a letter from her brother Sir Stephen destroys her contented life by ordering her to marry Sir Henry—but who is this “Plain Harry” and how will he treat her? Set in medieval England when women had few rights, this story shows how love can flourish between the unlikeliest of people.
THE MINSTREL BOY by Jenny Twist
In 1936 a band of students went off to Spain to fight in the Spanish Civil War. Only one came home.
Raised on a sailor’s tales of adventure and eager for her own, Stella Cunningham answers an advertisement for a traveling companion to the Orient. There she purchases an ancient bronze lamp with a secret. In the land of flying carpets and genies, Stella is about to have the adventure of a lifetime.
ALL OR NOTHING by Denysé Bridger
Casino Coranthos is a playground for wealthy, bored people, but for some, it’s also a place where dreams and promises change lives forever. When a letter becomes part of an unexpected inheritance for Ryann Thomson, her aunt’s past brings her face to face with Ariston Katsaros, a man haunted by loss and driven by anger. As the attraction between them sizzles and grows, can Ryann convince him she isn’t looking to rob him or his father, or will she become a casualty of Ari’s vengeance? In this dangerous game of all or nothing, her heart and future happiness are at stake.
SEALED WITH A KISS by Lynn Crain
In 2084, time travelling detective, Tandi Reynolds, tipped off by a letter, needs to stop an assassin before he kills a newly elected leader. When she finds him in 1874, Vienna, it’s clear a cold blooded killer is only one of her problems. Time is fleeting, so falling in love with her contact, the charismatic Count Leopold Radetzky von Radetz, is a bad idea, but keeping her feelings in check is not easy when she relies on him for her every need.
COME DATE ME IN PARIS by Helena Fairfax
When a letter arrives telling Alice she's won a place on a TV blind date show, she should be excited - only trouble is, the show involves cooking for your date...and Alice can't cook. Forced to throw herself on the mercy of her chef neighbour, Edmond, Alice asks him for lessons. But will she be cooking up a romance...or cooking up disaster?
ABANDONED TREASURES by Gemma Juliana
What do a reality TV star and a Sardinian billionaire have in common? Sophie Hayes buys and sells the contents of abandoned storage units. When an invitation arrives out of the blue to personally deliver an antique desk to an exotic island, she decides on a whim to spend what would have been her honeymoon with the famous Rico di Carlo. Can Rico convince Sophie in one short week to stay forever?
SONS OF THE WIND by Marie Laval
Provence 1826. Ten years after her brother disappeared in the marshes of the Camargue, Venetia Rigby receives a letter suggesting he is alive. Will Philippe Dantès, half-gypsy master of Terres Mortes, help her find him when he has his own demons to fight?
CURATING LOVE by Cara Marsi
A letter inviting Chloe Decker to curate the art collection of the wealthy DiMarco family of Ravello, Italy, lets Chloe begin to picture a new beginning for herself after a tragic loss. But she hadn’t included her employer’s sexy grandson, Matteo DiMarco, in that portrait. Chloe’s not ready for a relationship, even with a fine Italian masterpiece of a man like Matteo, but can he convince her to paint a new life that includes him?
PLAIN HARRY by Lindsay Townsend
Recovering from a brutal marriage, Esther is living quietly as a widow when a letter from her brother Sir Stephen destroys her contented life by ordering her to marry Sir Henry—but who is this “Plain Harry” and how will he treat her? Set in medieval England when women had few rights, this story shows how love can flourish between the unlikeliest of people.
THE MINSTREL BOY by Jenny Twist
In 1936 a band of students went off to Spain to fight in the Spanish Civil War. Only one came home.
* * *
As you can see from our blurbs, every
story is different – and they all have an intriguing premise!
We’re very excited to say that Letterbox
Love Stories is available now on Amazon and will be available from other
ebook retailers soon.
Buy Links
Buy Links
And if you’d like to find out more about
our World Romance Writers group,
please visit our website, where you can find out about my own story here on our blog.
Helena Fairfax Links
Helena Fairfax Links
If you’d like to get in touch, or find
out more about my books, writing, and photos of my settings or the Yorkshire
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* * *
Thanks so much for hosting me today,
Rosemary!
It’s been a real pleasure, Helena!
9 comments:
I hope you had a great holiday in north Wales, Rosemary. We used to take our children there every summer. Happy memories!
Thanks again for hosting me. I hope you have a great and fruitful time at the conference!
What a fabulous idea for an anthology - and such a variety of tales. Great stuff.
I'm thrilled to be part of this anthology with so many talented writers. Great interview, Helena.
Thanks so much, Julia! It was great fun to be part of. Thanks for dropping in!
Lovely to work with you, Cara. Thanks for dropping in!
Thank you for a great post, Rosemary and Helena. What a great idea for an anthology. It sounds lovely - and I love stories triggered by letters or postcards - or even emails!
I hope you have a lovely time at the RNA conference, Rosemary - and look forward to hearing more about your holiday :-) xx
You're welcome, Helena. Sorry I won't see you at the conference this year!
It's a great idea, Julia!
Thanks for visiting, Cara - look forward to reading your story!
Thanks for the lovely comment, Teresa - looking forward to the conference!
I'm glad you had a good holiday, Rosemary, and look forward to hearing more about it.
Letterbox Love Stories sounds wonderful. It's such a lovely idea for a book and I always enjoy stories based on letters because of the way characters reveal so much about themselves without realising it.
Have a brilliant time at the RNA conference! xxx
Many thanks for your lovely comment, Joanna!
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