A pleasure today to be joining the blog tour for One Last Summer by Victoria Connelly, published in February 2019 by Lake Union Publishing, available for kindle (and free via Kindle Unlimited), in paperback and as an audiobook. My thanks to Kelly at #LoveBooksTours for inviting me to join, and for her support.
I really wanted to read this book, and it was a real frustration that I just couldn’t fit it in. Although I’ve never reviewed one of the author’s books here on Being Anne, I have discovered her lovely writing – I have several of her books on my kindle, and last year I read and loved The Heart of the Garden, but sadly wasn’t able to review. I do hope I can share a review of one of her books before too long.
They have the whole summer ahead of them. Is it enough to rekindle the friendship they once shared?
Harriet Greenleaf dreams of spending the summer in a beautiful ancient priory on the Somerset coast with her two best friends—but her dream is bittersweet. On the one hand, it’s a chance to reconnect three lives that have drifted apart; on the other, she has a devastating secret to share that will change everything between them forever.
First to arrive is Audrey—the workaholic who’s heading for a heart attack unless she slows down and makes time for herself. Then Lisa, the happy-go-lucky flirt who’s always struggled to commit to anyone—or anything. Ever the optimist, can Harriet remind them of the joy in their lives and the importance of celebrating good friendship before it’s gone?
Through the highs and lows of a long, glorious summer, these three women will rediscover what it means to be there for each other—before they face the hardest of goodbyes.
So no review this time – but I’m delighted to welcome author Victoria Connelly as my guest today, sharing her publishing journey…
I started writing my first novel when I was fourteen, using a manual typewriter and copious amounts of Tipex. It was called Just Dreaming and I used to take it into school for my friends to read and that early feedback got me hooked, I think. But it took me many years to get published, and my first novel, Flights of Angels, was published in Germany and nowhere else. It was then made into a film there, but still no UK publisher wanted it!
That was a very frustrating time for me, and it wasn’t until Amazon’s KDP platform came along that I was able to publish my first three novels which Germany had taken. In the meantime, I sold Molly’s Millions to a UK publisher and then got a deal with Avon, HarperCollins for five books, after which I signed with Lake Union and I’m writing my fifth novel for them now. I’m what’s known as a ‘hybrid author’ with a mix of traditionally published novels and independently published ones. It’s a model that really works well for me because it gives me both support and independence.
I’ve written all sorts of things from my Austen Addicts series which began with the novel A Weekend with Mr Darcy, my Country House and Garden series of which The Rose Girls was the first, and many standalone novels like The Secret of You and my latest, One Last Summer.
I’ve also written lots of Christmas novellas which are always good fun and go down well with readers, and three little ebook autobiographies about our move from the London suburbs to rural Suffolk – the Mulberry Cottage series. That was so much fun to put together and I was able to include photographs taken by me and my husband. There are also two children’s adventures and three short story collections, and I’ve just written my first screenplay. I sometimes lose track of what I’ve written and where it’s been published! But I feel very lucky to be a full-time writer and have just had my twentieth novel published.
I love encouraging new writers and one piece of advice I’d give is never to give up. Flights of Angels was rejected over a hundred times around the world, and I might have given up at rejection number ten or twenty or even ninety-nine! And, if I had, I would never have seen it published and made into a film – and the unbelievable joy of having a small cameo in that very film! It’s so important never to give up on a dream because they really can come true.
Thank you, Victoria – wishing you every success with this one!
About the author
Victoria Connelly studied English literature at Worcester University, got married in a medieval castle in the Yorkshire Dales and now lives in rural Suffolk with her artist husband, a young springer spaniel and a flock of ex-battery hens.
She is the author of two bestselling series, Austen Addicts and The Book Lovers, as well as many other novels and novellas. Her first published novel, Flights of Angels, was made into a film in 2008 by Ziegler Films in Germany. The Runaway Actress was shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Romantic Comedy Novel award.
Ms Connelly loves books, films, walking, historic buildings and animals. If she isn’t at her keyboard writing, she can usually be found in her garden, with either a trowel in her hand or a hen on her lap.
Her website is www.victoriaconnelly.com where readers can download a free novella.
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