Today author Lynn Crain will be interviewing me about my novel The Silk Romance as part of an author Blog Hop.  (And Lynn’s intriguing discussion about her own work in progress can be found here –  entitled  A Viennese Christmas)

I’ve been looking forward to this for ages, so without further ado here are Lynn’s

Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing

What is the working title of your book?     

The Silk Romance

Where did the idea come from for the book?  

Two places, really.  As a teenager I spent a few months living in the beautiful French city of Lyon, also known as the city of silk.  I loved the sense of history the silk-workers left behind them in this city, especially in the old town and the city’s Croix Rousse district.  Sadly silk-weaving is now a dying trade.  I thought it would be fascinating to resurrect it and so I have my dynamic hero, Jean-Luc Olivier, own a silk mill and do just that.

The second place I used for inspiration was a Yorkshire textile mill, where I worked a few years ago, although in West Yorkshire we weave wool, not silk. The woollen fabics woven in my mill were beautifully designed and exported all around the world.

What genre does your book fall under?

It’s a sweet contemporary romance.  The editors at MuseItUp Publishing were kind enough to tell me that I have a ‘very sweet, move the plot along type of voice’, which I was thrilled to hear.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Oooh, tough question.  Actually, believe it or not I think I may have found inspiration for the heroine’s looks from the young Elizabeth Taylor.  The hero is fascinated by Sophie’s eyes, and I’ve always thought Elizabeth Taylor’s eyes incredibly beautiful.  She also has that air of vulnerability which belongs to my heroine.  And as for the hero (wow, do I really get to choose?) I think it would have to be Jake Gyllenhaal.  His looks are perfect – so if you’re reading this, Jake, give me a call! :)

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Sophie Challoner promises her dying mother she will look after her father and brother, but when she falls in love with Jean-Luc Olivier she has to choose between the man she loves and her family

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

It will be published in May 2013 by MuseItUp Publishing, as an e-book initially and then in print

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I wrote this in my spare time and it took me a year.  I wrote it as part of the UK Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Scheme. My reader at the RNA wrote to tell me she loved it – I was so happy to hear this! – and after a few tweaks the manuscript was ready to submit.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I’ve tried my best to answer this question, but have struggled to come up with anything else similar.  My story is a romance, and of course it follows the structure of a romance, but my hero and heroine are unique and so is the situation in which they find themselves.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

If it hadn’t been for my husband I would never have written this book.  He persuaded me to just sit down and write and gave me the belief in myself that eventually I would succeed.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

My hero, Jean-Luc is a former racing driver.  I based him on my sporting hero, Ayrton Senna.

Thanks for the interview, Lynn Crain, I’ve enjoyed answering all your questions!

I’m passing on the interview baton to five more writers (listed below), and their interviews will be held in the next few days.  Please check out their blogs in the meantime, and thanks for reading!

Juliette Springs  http://www.juliettesprings.com/

Kitty Barton    http://kittyb78.wordpress.com/ 

Shannan Albright   http://www.shannanalbright.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Megan Johns     http://www.meganjohns.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Margo Candela    http://www.margocandela.com/