A Place To Call Home Blog Tour – We Chat To Carole Matthews

A Place To Call Home is the fantastic new novel from Carole Matthews. 

We’re very happy and excited to welcome the lovely Carole Matthews and her blog tour to Novel Kicks. Her latest book was released by Sphere on 10th April and we chat with Carole about it as well as what writing rituals she has and which fictional character she’d like to meet.

Can you tell us about A Place To Call Home? 

Yes, it’s a story about a woman who escapes an abusive relationship and flees with her daughter. She ends up living with a rag-tag of characters in a place that she comes to feel safe. When that’s threatened she does everything she can to save it. The story is about finding a place to belong and making a family out of a fairly disparate bunch of people. It’s very heart-warming and a little bit teary too.

Do you plan and do you edit as you go? 

Yes, I do a lot of planning and have a four or five page synopsis when I start out that I pretty much stick to. I start every morning by editing what I’ve written the day before and, then, when I’ve completed one draft, I go through it all again.

Which fictional character would you like to meet? 

I think Noah out of my novel, A Cottage by the Sea. He has been the hero to make all of my readers swoon. A little bit rugged, a little bit kind, a lot handsome. The perfect man.

Which authors do you admire and is there a book that has stuck with you? 

I adore books by Philippa Gregory. I do like a bit of historical fiction. I particularly like her Tudor novels which are so colourful, they really make the court come to life. My favourite is The Other Boleyn Girl.

Do you have any writing rituals? 

Not rituals as such, but plenty of routine! I work a normal day 8-9 answering emails, then breakfast. I write from 10-1, then an hour for lunch, during which I read a daily paper. From 2-6 I write again and that’s it. I don’t sleep that well and sometimes work for an hour or two in the night, but I try never to work weekends. It’s the only way to get two books a year written. The only thing I like is to print my manuscript out on really high quality paper.

Five tips for new writers? 

1. Write every day.

2. Write what’s in your heart.

3. Don’t follow the latest trend. By the time you’ve written your book, it will have passed.

4. Don’t make excuses about why you can’t find time to write.

5. Don’t give up. Determination is the key. And a great story, of course.

Thanks for having me on your blog! 

Thank you to Carole and Sphere. The blog tour for A Place To Call Home continues and the next stop tomorrow is at One More Page (For more exclusive content from Carole, check out the blog tour banner for where else the tour is stopping.) 

A Place To Call Home is published by Sphere and is available to buy now in paperback and e-book from Amazon, Waterstones or your local retailer. 

Carole’s Website

Follow Carole on Twitter and like her page on Facebook. 

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Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.