Author feature – Racing Heart by June Moonbridge

At twenty-five, Desire Hart has experienced almost too much. 

Changing everything in her life – her identity, her hometown and her country of residence, Desire is determined that nothing will prevent her achieving from finding her missing son. Not even love. 

One spring evening, she meets the golden boy of F1 racing, Lorcan Shore, and finds herself falling for him. Struggling to suppress her feelings, she realises he could help her get closer to the child she believes is her long lost son. 

But nothing goes according to plan. Her identity is revealed by the press, Lorcan has a terrifying accident, and the trail to her son finishes in another dead end. So Desire does what she does best – she runs away. 

Set against the glamorous backdrops of Monaco, Paris and Nice, ‘Racing Heart’ mixes romance and mystery as Desire struggles to come to terms with her past. Will she learn to accept love into her life again?

With the start of the Formula One season only a couple of months away, what great timing to be looking at this book – Racing Heart by June Moonbridge. (I’m saying that as if I know about such things – thank goodness for Google!) No, my real reason for featuring this book is to introduce you to the lovely June Moonbridge. I first became aware of June when her book toured with Brook Cottage Books last year, but that was one tour I just couldn’t participate in. But I’ve recently become very aware of the support she constantly offers her fellow authors, and I think it’s time she had her own share of the spotlight. 

June’s debut novel, Racing Heart was published by Safkhet in July of last year, and is available for kindle in the UK and US. And I’m really delighted that June Moonbridge has agreed to be my guest today.

  
Welcome to Being Anne – would you like to introduce yourself?

Thank you so much for having me, Anne. I’m honoured. My current pen name (I had a fair number of them in my past) is June Moonbridge and under that name my debut novel in English, Racing Heart, was published. I’m a full time working mum with two children and I come from Slovenia (not Slovakia). I love to travel and I love the seaside, no matter where and no matter the weather condition. I’m also the one who tries to fulfil her dreams of being a writer.

Who do you have in mind as your reader as you write? A certain background, or age group? Is your reader female?

Not an easy question. I usually don’t have anyone in my mind but the plot, the story and the characters. At the end, when the novel writes itself its ending – I just hope there will be people who will appreciate the story and what I was trying to say. The world is too tough (speaking from my own experiences) and what I hope is, that my stories would lighten it up a little bit. I know… this is not a particularly good marketing plan, but that’s me. A bit of cliché – but that’s how it is. And yes, I do think my readers are mostly females.

Was writing fiction something you’d always wanted to do? And when the moment came, did you just sit at your keyboard and write?

Double yes. I’m drawn to a fiction like a moth to a candle. And yes, I sit down and write when the moment comes – if I’m not in my car driving.

How do you write – are you fitting it round a busy life?

Luckily I’m a night owl… I write at nights, when my family goes to sleep. It’s the only way. That way I have my time with my family and the necessary time I have to spend at work – although to be honest, I would love to trade my working time for additional writing time. It’s not easy to concentrate on your work if there are ‘voices whispering into your ear wanting to get out’.☺

What writers do you admire? if someone said “your writing reminds me of…”, who would you like them to mention?

I admire many writers, from different genres and to name only one or few it would be unfair. I certainly hope that I have my own voice/style (geez, I’m a bit vain, am I not), but if someone said that my writing reminds him/her of anyone and it is said in a positive way, then I would be flattered anyway.

And you live in Slovenia? I’ve never been, and you might know already that I’m a keen traveller – would you recommend a visit?

Yes, I live in Slovenia – born and raised. My country – as you probably know – lies between Italy on the west, Austria on north, Hungary to the east and Croatia to the south. Although I’m more than angry of our politics, I would recommend a visit anyway. In a country that has only 2 mio population and it’s small in comparison to the majority of other countries all over the world, we basically have everything. Alps at the north and north-west, lowlands in the east, vineyard hills in the south and not to mention the sea in the south-west.

You can see many pearls of nature in the shortest possible distance. Majestic caves (like Postojna Cave or the Škocjan Caves, protected by Unesco, if you’re not scared to go underground; a birth place of magnificent Lipizzaner horses in Lipica, where the stables still run; an island in the middle of the lake Bled, surrounded by magnificent Alps. You can see the oldest vine in the world in Maribor – still growing, still giving us grapes and vine… and you can find the Saltworks in Sečovlje that have been active since the 13th century and is our largest salt evaporation pond.

Our capital Ljubljana has its own long lasting history going back to the Roman times as many other cities, like Celje (at the moment my home town) or Ptuj, all over the country.
So, yes, I would definitely recommend a visit; Slovenia has many sites to offer and I haven’t counted them all. And if you’re a fond of wine – I can guarantee you, you’ll definitely find something to your taste… 

And what’s next? Are you writing?

My second novel is ready for final proofread by my lovely editor and then, I’m… actually I haven’t decided yet. I don’t know if I’m brave enough to try the self-publishing route or I will try to find another publisher… I think I still have some time to make this decision.

As for writing – I am writing. My third WIP (first draft) is without a title – what is actually a bit odd as I usually my stories came out of my head already with its titles – although I change/adjust them during the writing several times. Currently I’m at approximately 10k, but I started to write right after New Year, so I’m satisfied with my progress.

June, thank you so much for being my guest – I wish you every success with Racing Heart, and I’ll be here waiting to read your second novel. And I’m really fascinated by your account of the attractions of Slovenia – a destination to add to my list, I think (and not just because of the wine!).

With thanks to Safkhet Publishing, here’s June’s biography:

The person behind the name of June Moonbridge, has many names and many faces too. Although still living in the same area, she was born and raised in one country (ex Yugoslavia) and now living in other (Slovenia). She studied economics, and quickly realised she hated it. Afterwards, she found herself working in mainly male businesses; at first in automotive and later steel products productions. She can choose for you the best steel you need, but don’t, please don’t, ask her which lipstick to use.

She started to write in her high school and was negatively criticised by her teacher. Stubborn as she is that didn’t stop her. Using different pen names for her stories, she tried to get some independent opinions, which came back as good reviews in magazines and later she published three books.

Giving birth to two children, learnt that her second child has Autism, she married the father of them and continued to work. All that together took all of her free time. But the desire to write didn’t die. When life somehow sorted itself out, she decided to write her novel in English and her first submission to Safkhet was rejected… For what happened later… stubborn as she is…!

You can follow June on Twitter and Facebook, and she has a really lovely website – do take a look.