I am delighted to welcome Margaret James back to my blog as she tells us about her enchanting new book Magic Sometimes Happens!

Thank you for inviting me to be a guest on your blog, Valerie. It’s great to be here! Today, I’m going to tell you about the inspirations – music, poetry and places – for my latest novel, Magic Sometimes Happens.

The story is about second chances for both my hero and my heroine. My hero Patrick Riley is married, is the father of two small children and doesn’t expect his wife to leave him for a man she says makes her fly. My heroine Rosie Denham is running away from a bad mistake and needs to learn to forgive herself.

Margaret James

The story starts when Rosie visits Minnesota in the fall, a season which is probably the most beautiful time of year in one of America’s most beautiful states. The whole place seems to turn red and gold almost overnight as the trees change colour. But fall is a very short season. Minnesota’s long, harsh winter will soon be on its way, and the whole place will be frozen solid for almost six months until spring makes a brief appearance before the next sweltering summer comes around.

So yes, Minnesota has an extreme climate. But it’s place that is full of extremes. The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul are divided by the Mississippi River, which winds between limestone bluffs and through various locks and channels to join the Missouri before flowing on to the Gulf of Mexico. There are quiet, very beautiful stretches of river very close to the urban hearts of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. But some parts of the Twin Cities are very built up. Minneapolis is home to the Mall of America, the biggest shopping centre in the western world. But there are also hundreds of parks, lakes and playgrounds dotted between the buildings, and – in spite of the dozens of high-rise buildings and skyscrapers in downtown Minneapolis – the whole place has a countrified feel to it.

Most American schoolchildren are probably familiar with Henry Longfellow’s narrative poem, The Song of Hiawatha. It’s the story of a Native American warrior and his bride Minnehaha and it’s set in Minnesota. When you visit the Twin Cities, you can’t help but be aware of the influence of Longfellow on place names. You’ll come across Minnehaha Park, Hiawatha Avenue, the Hiawatha Clinic and many more. My fashion PR consultant heroine Rosie is a British girl who has never heard of Longfellow, but American-born Patrick knows long stretches of the poem by heart.

As for music – although Patrick is a professor of IT and very science-oriented, he is in love with music, especially American classical music by the likes of George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber – Pat listens to them all. But his absolute favourite is Gershwin who wrote, among many other compositions, Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris. So, when Rosie takes him to Paris, Patrick can’t help but be enchanted and magic is surely bound to happen!

Maybe have a listen and see if you’re enchanted, too?

More from Margaret

Why not have a peek at her blog, or chat with her on Facebook and Twitter?

A very warm welcome to this month’s award-winning author, Christina Jones.

Katie Fforde described An Enormously English Monsoon Wedding as “warm, witty and wonderful”. I love the title of this book. What inspired this novel?

My editor suggested that I should write a summery/weddingy/villagey book as the first in a new series of village-based stories. It threw me a bit to start with, as most of the weddingy themes have been covered a zillion times – but as my daughter recently had a fusion wedding (hers went wonderfully smoothly, I must add – nothing like poor Erin’s!) so I’d learnt a lot about marrying together two totally different religions and styles of wedding ceremony. I knew I had to use the experience – so An Enormously English Monsoon Wedding is the happy result!

What do you consider is at the heart of your novels that makes them so appealing?

Probably their ordinariness (is that a word??). I write about normal people doing normal jobs, nothing and no-one high-powered or high-flying. I also include all ages, genders, and all other diversities. Something for everyone – like real life. They live in small rural communities, everyone knows everyone else, and I suppose it’s all a bit cosy. My whole aim with my books is to create warmth, security, happiness, a few laughs, escapism, and hopefully a massive dollop of feel-good factor. Like everyone else, my real life has had enough sadness – I was determined there’d never be any sadness in my books!

I love the way you create your own villages and the communities that interlink. What was the inspiration for your characters, their world and the stories which they have inspired?

The village where I grew up. No question. It was a very close, rural, working class community, and gave me a fabulously grounded and secure start in life. My friends from back then are still my friends now and we all share the happy memories and the luxury of a perfect childhood. Now I live somewhere very similar, and I watch people and listen to them talking in the corner shop and the pub and just pinch bits here and there! Again, it’s all very safe and cosy – not too twee, I hope – but sort of real and the kind of world that everyone can recognise.

I read in an interview that your cats share your workspace as they do your home. How did you first come to rescue them?

I grew up with animal-loving parents who took in waifs and strays. We had dogs that were going to be shot or drowned before my dad stepped in; cats that had eyes/legs/tails etc missing; ferrets, rabbits and hens that wandered in and out of the kitchen; and ducks that were destined for the dinner table before my mum did a midnight raid on their pen! Nothing was ever turned away. I sort of gravitated towards cats when I first had my own home – via our local vet who had a litter of dumped motherless kittens – and it grew from there. My cats have come from vets, from Cats Protection (the ones no-one wants – too old/scared/injured – oh, and feral in some cases!), word of mouth, and just strays who have turned up and moved in (cats seem to know when there’s a cushy billet!). When I met my husband, he also had rescue cats, so by the time we married and merged our broods we had 11. We’ve never looked back!

What fictional hero/heroine has inspired or impressed you as a reader?

Probably an unpopular choice – but Scarlet O’Hara and Rhett Butler. Manly because Gone With The Wind is one of my all-time favourite books and also because they were both real people, with flaws and not very nice sides to their characters but I understood their dreams, desires and motivations. They simply walked off the page for me and despite them not really having a Happy Ever After; no other fictional romantic couple can hold a candle to them in my opinion.

You are an award winning author, but what do you consider the highlight of your career to date since you became published in 1997?

There have been a lot of highlights (and some lowlights as well!) and over the years I’ve won awards, been to some amazing places, met some very famous people, done telly and radio programmes, and had more fun than I surely deserved, but I suppose it was that first publishing deal for Going The Distance. Seeing my first book in print, on bookshelves, being chosen for WH Smith’s Fresh Talent… honestly, a dream come true – and a feeling that will never, ever be forgotten or recreated.

You are a writer that many new writers aspire to and respect. What would be your three top tips for anyone wanting to succeed in the industry today?

There honestly are no rules to creating a fictional world – so don’t over-do the “I must study all the manuals/latest info etc” because it’ll only confuse and worry you. Write what’s in your heart – write the story you alone want to write, not what you think you should be writing because it’s trendy or current – write for yourself. If you love your story and your characters it’ll show on the page and everyone else will fall in love with it/them too.
Don’t feel you have to write every day. Write the way that suits you. Some people write 10,000 words a day, others write 500. Some (like me) know that if the words aren’t there then it’s best to forget writing until they are and go and scrub the kitchen floor or go for a walk or chat with friends or read or watch telly, whatever – be yourself and do what’s right for you. Just don’t feel pressurised to be like everyone else.
Don’t overwrite – don’t keep going back and rewriting. You can write the life out of your story by constant tweaking. Usually those first bubbling, brilliant ideas that just pour out on to the page are the best ones!

What is next for Christina Jones?

I’m just writing the next novel in the new series – That Red-Hot, Rock’n’Roll Summer – which is about a summer fete that, thanks to Tiggy, who works in the local American Diner, and Marilyn Monoroe look-alike, Cordelia, somehow morphs into a mini-Glasto in the village of Daisybank, much to the horror of the very stuffy and traditional fete committee. And of course nothing goes exactly to plan (understatement!), and Tiggy and Cordelia find lots of love and laughter along the way…. I have ideas and notes for the next two after that as well!

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in the interview.

Thank you so much for asking me. It’s been an absolute pleasure to be included here. I’ve loved it! Thank you!!!

Tag: Rural

The inspirations for Magic Sometimes Happens

More from Margaret

An interview with Christina Jones

More by Christina: