I’m delighted to welcome romance author - Marie Laval - to my blog.
Marie Laval - Author
Thank you very much, Arabella, for welcoming me on your blog today for a chat!
Hello Marie – And also a big thank you to you for joining me on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat. It was great to connect through the amazing Romantic Novelists’ Association and I’m eager to hear about some of your writing secrets. But before we discover more about your latest release, Angel of the Lost Treasure, here are a few questions which will hopefully give your readers and followers an insight into some of the things that matter to you.
Arabella: When writing a novel are there any key traits, such as virtuously good or shamelessly bad, you like to give your characters?
Marie: I don’t think anyone is completely good or bad, so I always like to give my characters a reason to be bad, or a bit of a flaw so that they aren’t too perfect! In ANGEL OF THE LOST TREASURE, my hero Hugo Saintclair may be handsome, fearless and chivalrous, but he is very proud and ambitious, and desperate to show that he can achieve the highest ranks in the army despite not being part of the aristocracy.
Arabella: A book has a beginning, middle, and an end. When penning your latest release, ANGEL OF THE LOST TREASURE, which part did you find the hardest to write and why?
Marie: The
end! I can never finish a story and always write far too much because I can’t
bear to lose my characters and no longer live with them. ANGEL OF THE LOST
TREASURE was no exception. It was originally thirty thousand words longer
before my editor put her foot down and said some serious cutting down was
needed!
Arabella: We all have a long list of books we keep meaning to read but never have the time for --- which book is a must-read for you this season?
Marie: Pillars
of the Earth by Ken Follet which a colleague recommended and I started reading
a few days ago...
Arabella: Thinking and
planning ahead… Your aim is to organise a two week holiday for you and your
family. Given the possibility of global travel restrictions, do you:
a) Play safe and camp
in the back garden?
b) Take the risk and
book a hotel room and flight abroad?
c) Find another
solution for a relaxing two-week break?
Marie: definitely
a) I love my back garden. It’s a
lovely and colourful sun trap, and I love having lunch there with my family or
just enjoy leisurely drinks in the evening. This year it will be even more
precious if we can all meet up for the first time in almost a year.
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| Photo - Marie Laval |
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| Photo - Marie Laval |
Arabella: As a
published author, what advice would you give to someone starting out on their
writing journey? In other words, what are the pitfalls a budding novelist
should try to avoid?
Marie: never
give up... I was told that I would never get published, that there were already
too many writers out there, that romantic fiction wasn’t ‘proper’ writing and
that I had enough rejection letters to wallpaper the backroom... If writing is
what you love, just keep doing it, and try to ignore the negativity and meet
like-minded people.
Arabella: You’re outside a florist and can’t resist the
temptation to buy… Which floral arrangement do you choose?
Marie: I
love making my own flower arrangements, and my children often say that I have
an eye (or a hand?) for it and should have been a florist. Tulips are always a
big favourite.
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| Tulips |
Arabella: What about
your future plans? Any books or series in the making?
Marie: I
have many ongoing projects, as usual, but not enough time to complete them all
unfortunately. I am hoping to finish a contemporary romance set on the Isle of
Skye very shortly (I hope my publisher will like it!), then I am writing a
short story for the third Miss Moonshine anthology – a fictional character who
is a little bit magical and who owns a second hand shop in a small Yorkshire
town...
Thank
you for being on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat, Marie. The photographs of your plants
and flowers are amazing and I hope this summer allows you to spend quality time
amid the colourful vegetation of your garden with those you love. Wishing you
all the best for your latest release, Angel of the Lost Treasure
Arabella
About Marie Laval
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| Marie Laval - Author |
Originally from Lyon in France, Marie has lived in the Rossendale Valley in Lancashire for the past few years. She writes both contemporary and historical romance. Her novels are published by Choc Lit and include best selling contemporary romantic suspense novels LITTLE PINK TAXI and ESCAPE TO THE LITTLE CHATEAU, shortlisted for the Jackie Collins Romantic Suspense category of the 2021 RNA Awards, as well as A PARIS FAIRY TALE and BLUEBELL'S CHRISTMAS MAGIC. Her latest novel, ANGEL OF THE LOST TREASURE, was released in February 2021.
Marie
also contributes to the best selling Miss Moonshine's Emporium anthologies
together with eight author friends from Yorkshire and Lancashire.
You can get in touch with Marie on https://www.facebook.com/marie.laval.9/
and
https://twitter.com/MarieLaval1
Book Blurb ANGEL OF THE LOST TREASURE
An ancient secret hidden within a mother’s song ...
When young widow, Marie-Ange Norton is invited to Beauregard in France by the
mysterious Monsieur Malleval to collect an inheritance, she has no choice but
to accept.
But when she embarks on the voyage with her fiery-tempered travelling companion
Capitaine Hugo Saintclair, little does she know what waits for her across the
sea in turbulent nineteenth-century France on the eve of Napoleon’s return from
exile. When she arrives, she is taken aback by Malleval’s fascination with her
family – seemingly inspired by his belief they are connected to a sacred relic
he’s read about in coded manuscripts by the Knights Templar.
As it becomes clear that Malleval’s obsession has driven him to madness,
Marie-Ange is horrified to realise she is more the man’s prisoner than his
guest. Not only that, but Hugo is the only person who might be able to help
her, and he could represent a different kind of danger ...
ANGEL OF THE LOST TREASURE is released on 23rd February and is available from amazon and kobo.
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