Today at the Diamond Mine we welcome author Clare Revell to tell us about her book, Unchained Melody! She is offering a free copy to whoever wins the drawing. All you have to do to enter the drawing, is to scroll down and click on the "leave comment" button at the end of the interview.
So now, let's get started on the interview with Clare! But first, a bit about her book!
Candlewick is the only home Raven Faulkner has ever known-- one her family has run from 1820. When the bell--which according to legend, rings to warn of danger--chimes just before a tree falls on the lodge, Raven tells herself it's a coincidence. Just as well, because Raven doesn't have time to decipher supernatural messages. Her biggest worry is keeping her family's legacy alive.
Fame and fortune are not all they're cracked up to be. Just as well, after Isaiah Beringer's meteoric music career nosedives. He's sure God wants him on the mission field, but every mission society he's applied to thinks otherwise. Needing someplace secluded and peaceful to lick his wounds and figure out what God wants of him, he books into Candlewick. The problem? The woman who runs the lodge turns out to be his biggest fan.
Rising repair costs and failing health make the future uncertain. Unless Raven and Isaiah can work together to write a new ending to the unchained melody of the Lodge.
Wow! Sounds super interesting! Clare, how did you get your idea for this story?
This one had been floating around for several years. The characters changed names several times before finally ending up as Raven and Isaiah. The actual Lodge itself came from a pub in a village we drive through quite a lot. My mind immediately turned it into a hotel and dropped a tree on it purely because I could. And the tree came from a book I read as a kid. Although the main characters were sent away at that point and not left with the clean-up. Raven just has to get on and deal.
And that makes the story true to life! I'm curious: What made you decide to be a writer?
I've never wanted to be anything else. Creative writing was my favorite subject at school and I used to spend all my free time as a child writing stories. Still have some of them around somewhere.
Wouldn't it be fun to read some of those again? What was your first story?
First one ever written or first one published? First one written was called Island in the Sun as part of a school project when I was fifteen. Handwritten with a proper fountain pen and ink and illustrated by my sister.
First one published was called Season for Miracles by Pelican Book Group back in November 2010. Island in the Sun has since been much revised, polished and published by Pelican as a three book series called Signal Me---November Charlie, Delta Victor and Echo Foxtrot.
I think it's pretty cool that your first story has grown into a series! Do you write from an outline, or just from inspiration, or both?
Both. My basic outline gets much manipulated and changed as I write. The characters take over, change their names, occupations, do stupid things that I have no idea how to fix. Sometimes I get inspiration from TV shows, or dreams, just real life stuff I put my own spin on.
I love how you describe the way your characters take over! I find that so interesting, and mostly fun and challenging when that happens. Do you have any underlying themes that you want your readers to come away with?
No matter how bad things get, no matter if we can't see a way forward, God knows the answers. He always has a plan, even when it doesn't match ours.
Well said, and so true! Do your characters share any traits with you or someone you know?
Dad always says he can see a little of me in all my books. A turn of phrase, characters who hold hands in church, somewhere we visited on holiday one year, or a story they'll tell each other.
Can you share with us more of the ways your characters have surprised you?
They pick their own names. Isaiah for example was originally Sam. Easy to spell, but no, he had to change it to something I still struggle with now. I think the spell checker actually changes it automatically now. I had one character I had to threaten to delete after she completely ruined the storyline. That actually worked, surprisingly enough. I had one decide he was no longer a carpenter, he was a Lord and lived in a mansion. That change I did keep, even though it demanded an entire rewrite.
That's so humorous!! I love it! Do you have a favorite character in your books?
That's like asking a mother to pick her favorite child. Is it a cop-out to say it depends which book I am currently writing? In Unchained Melody I think my favorite is Raven. But don't tell the others that!
I won't! :) What are you working on now?
Right now I am working on a series of three books called Midanbury. They are all handwritten and I am typing up book two. Think angels and demons and spiritual warfare and a town standing on the brink of destruction with only a single pastor and a few prayer warriors between the town and the evil surrounding it.
Sounds intense and very interesting! Thanks so much for the interview Clare. I found it quite delightful!
Okay readers, I'm going to include a short bio of Clare, then her social and purchase links. Remember, if you want to be in the drawing for a free copy, click on 'leave a comment' which will be after the links, and leave your email address so we can contact you if you win!
Clare is a British author. She lives in a small town in England with her husband, whom she married in 1992, and her now grownup children. Writing from early childhood and encouraged by her teachers, she graduated from rewriting fairy stories through fanfiction to using her own original characters and enjoys writing an eclectic mix of romance, crime fiction and children's stories. When she's not writing, she can be found reading, crocheting or doing the many piles of laundry the occupants of her house manage to make.
Her books are based in the UK, with a couple of exceptions, thus, although the spelling may be American, the books contain British language and terminology.
The first draft of every novel is handwritten.
Links:
Pelican - https://pelicanbookgroup.com/ec/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=37_46&products_id=1714
Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unchained-Melody-Candlewick-Lodge-Revell-ebook/dp/B0DW8Z8Q4Y
Amazon US - https://www.amazon.com/Unchained-Melody-Candlewick-Lodge-Revell-ebook/dp/B0DW8Z8Q4Y
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