Jul 29, 2011

Special Guest Star: Fiona Lowe!

Today, I have a special guest - the ever-fabulous Fiona Lowe!

You might know Fiona from her Medical romances, but she has a new book out in August (though available for presale now in some places) and she's here to give us a sneak peek. So, first, a bit about our guest:

Fiona Lowe is an award-winning, multi-published author of romance fiction with Harlequin Mills & Boon and Carina Press. Whether her books are set in outback Australia or the USA, they all feature small towns with big hearts, and warm, likeable characters that make you fall in love. When she’s not writing stories, she’s a weekend wife, a mother of two boys and she’s trying really hard to instill in them heroic characteristics like cooking and ironing. A previous Romantic Book of the Year finalist, Fiona is an avid reader, a guardian of 80 rose bushes, attempts to stay fit and is often seen collapsed on the couch with a glass of wine.

Welcome, Fiona! Firstly, here at the LoveCats, we're always interested in the number of cats in your house. Or dogs, or horses or chickens. So tell us about the non-humans in your life.

Sadly, we are cat-less at the moment but the boys are keen to get a kitten soon and recently they spent an entire day coming up with crazy names for the ‘yet-to-be-seen’ cat. We’ve always had black and white cats, you know the Bustopher Jones type cat with white spats. We’ve also had pet rats. Now before you faint, I must tell you that children take you to places you never expected to go and I cheerfully admit they turned out to be the BEST pets and I was quite fond of them.

You usually write Medical romances for Mills and Boon, but Boomerang Bride is different. How did this book evolve?

When I sold my first Mills & Boon Medical romance someone *kindly* said, ‘when are you going to write a big book?’ In 2005, I couldn’t imagine writing any other type of book and the thought brought me out in a cold sweat. In 2008, sitting on a ski-lift at Mt Hotham and an image popped into my head that wouldn’t go away. It was the image of a bride in a wedding dress holding a cake and staring into a vacant storefront. There was no story attached to it, and I found myself asking, “Why is she doing that?” “How did she get there?” A month later I heard The Waif’s song, ‘Bridal Train’ and suddenly I had the perfect reason for why Matilda was standing where she was, a very long way from home.

Tell us something about your hero Marc that he wouldn’t want us to know.

Marc is a very successful New York City architect and he’s won awards for his designs. His current project should be making his brain pop with possibilities. Only it isn’t. He’s not ready to call it a career slump, but it’s got him worried. There’s no way he’d ever admit that though, not in a million years.

Your heroine is an Australian who travels to the US. How did you find writing about the town she lives in?

I used to live in Wisconsin so creating Hobin wasn’t hard. I drew on all the things I loved about small town USA and put them into the town. By the end, I wished it was a real town so I could live there!

So what’s Boomerang Bride about?

Matilda Geoffrey risked it all for love. She left Australia to be with Barry—the man who had swept her off her virtual feet. Now, wearing a wedding dress, she's alone on Main Street in small-town Wisconsin, and things aren't working out exactly as planned...

In town for his annual family visit, Marc Olsen had never seen a bride quite like Matilda—staring into a storefront window, holding a tottering wedding cake, and looking desperately in need of a groom. He may not have any warm feelings for his hometown, but meeting Matilda just as she discovers she's been scammed by her online "fiancé" stirs something in him.

Matilda is not the kind of woman Marc imagined himself with, and Marc is anything but the romantic hero that Matilda has always dreamed of. But as unlikely circumstances throw them together, can they let go of their misconceptions and risk their hearts for love?

What was the last fabulous book you read? (We're always looking for the names of new books!)

The last romance I read was Yours To Keep by Shannon Stacey and I smiled all the way through it. I’m currently reading The Hare with the Amber Eyes which is a family biography about the Ephrussi art collection. It’s fascinating!

Tell us something about you that might surprise us.

I listen to French lessons on my ipod at the gym. I desperately want to be fluent in another language but the perfectionist in me makes it impossible to for me to open my mouth. Sadly, I think I will go to my grave able to read the language but not speak it.

Thanks, Fiona! Boomerang Bride is published by Carina Press and is available for pre-order right now and will be released on August 8th. It’s an electronic book and can be purchased at Carina Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and lots of other online book stores! New to eBooks? Click here for more information.You can find her at her website, her blog, confused on Twitter and a bit more together on Facebook.

To help celebrate Boomerang Bride's release, tell us the last time you got lost. And if it involves a shopfront window and a wedding cake, I'll be very impressed!

36 comments:

  1. Sorry, no wedding cake or wedding dress but definitely romance! Will that do, Rach?

    My LOST moment occurred in Italy - in fair Verona - looking for the balcony where Juliet supposedly stood pining for Romeo.

    I don't speak Italian, and even though I can read maps, the twisting streets weren't as accurate as the map (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!). Somehow I managed to take a wrong turn. LOL

    But, with the help of several lovely locals, they pointed me in the right direction and I was able to sight-see one on my favourite Shakespearean scenes.

    Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou? :-)

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  2. Hi Fiona,

    Congratulations on the upcoming release of BOOMERANG BRIDE! I loved reading your medical romances so I shall love reading your Boomerang Bride!

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  3. I kind of like getting a bit lost as part of the travel experience! As long as one is still near civilisation. That said I get more lost in unfamiliar parts of my own city. I swear there are parts of Melbourne where the what the map says bears no resemblance to reality and I end up driving in circles. The last time I got lost was going to a friend's new house in the pouring rain following a google map print out that was flat out wrong and my iphone was dead lol but I still made it in time to watch Torchwood which was the important thing.

    Looking forward to

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  4. Kylie, that is a seriously cool story! In fact, I can see it as the opening of a book...

    A romantic Australian girl searches for the balcony where Juliet called for her Romeo, but becomes lost in the maze of twisting Italian streets until she's rescued by a gorgeous local who speaks English and takes her to the very spot she seeks...

    I'd buy it!

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  5. Nas, it does sound like a fabulous read, doesn't it? I'm looking forward to it too!

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  6. Mel, you're right - getting lost can be a fun part of the travel experience. Sometimes you discover things you wouldn't have otherwise seen.

    Though, it sounds like you could have done without seeing those parts of rainy Melbourne on the way to your friend's house. Thank goodness you still got there in time for Torchwood. Hey, I see the new Torchwood series is airing in the UK - I wonder how long till we get it?

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  7. Kylie, I saw a film recently called "Letters to Juliet" and a young woman got lost near the balcony and ended up meeting the man she was destined to be with!

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  8. Thanks, Nas! I had fun writing it so I hope you have fun reading it.

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  9. Rachel, thank you so much for having me over at the LoveCats!

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  10. LOL, Mel. So glad you made it in time for Torchwood. I find that the first time I go somewhere I don't get lost becauase I have checked out the map etc. But the second time, I always get lost because I think, 'oh yeah, I know how to get there!' Only I don't! When we lived in the US we got lost ALL the time because I thought we'd missed the exit. As soon as I learned to let myself go beyond the fear of turning off too early, we stopped getting lost!

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  11. Great interview!! I am SO excited about this book but I think you already know this Fiona :) And I would LOVE to have a rat. I had pet mice as a kid and adored them. I want them for our boys unfortunately DH isn't quite as keen. I'm sure the cats would be on my side though *grin*!

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  12. Thanks, RACH! I won DH over with the line, 'children take you to places that you never expected to go and you need to take the journey.' He became fond of them pretty quickly too.

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  13. Rach, I had mice when I was at uni. I remember having one put down when he was sick and the vet used such a small amount of the drug that he didn't charge me for it. Still so sad!

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  14. Hi Fiona,

    what a gorgeous cover, and I really love how you visualized something and then made it into a book! (it's almost always how I start too).
    My children had a few rats as they grew up, they make great pets, and the cats just seemed to know not to go near them - in fact, they were a little scared of them LOL!!
    The last time I got lost was at the sunshine plaza after the movies - my daughter and I trying to find our way back to the carpark!! LOL. We ended up asking a bouncer who let us out the back door...

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  15. Hi Fiona and Rach, great interview ladies!

    Boomerang Bride sounds like a brilliant read, Fiona! Love the image of the bride staring into a shop window holding a teetering cake. :-)

    You know, it's been a while since I've been lost. My particular talent, however, is at T-intersections -- I will always invariably choose the wrong direction and have to track back. My dh will now ask, which way... and then chooses the direction opposite (and that seems to be working for us ;-) at the moment).

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  16. Mel, I have been horrendously lost in carparks! When my youngest was 5 weeks old I lost the car at the Royal Melbourne Show. Took me an hour to find it!!

    Boomerang Bride is the only book of mine that started from an image. I wish I had more of them! I'm so glad you love the cover...I do too:-)

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  17. Fiona, what a beautiful cover and the story sounds wonderful too!

    Getting lost isn't something I do often - it would be an occupational hazard if I did! - but something about Japan seems to tilt my sense of direction. We recently spent a day trying to get a flight out of Narita airport shuffling between terminals as each aircraft left fully booked without us. After our gazzillionth reposition to yet another bench with a power point so I could charge the laptop and check loads, I headed to the bathroom. Somehow it took me twenty minutes, and a lot of 'nonchalant' strolling, before I stumbled across my husband, the bags and the computer again. He'd just about given up and figured he was going to be stuck in Japan in an endless time warp...

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  18. Great post Fiona. Looking forward to reading Boomerang Bride.

    Getting lost ... ahem ... I can turn around three times and get lost. I think my most embaressing moment was when I turned up for a safety course for the company I worked for at an off site location - walked in and sat down (late cos I couldn't find a parking spot)Ten minutes into the meeting and I realised I was at the wrong session with a group of managers from a rival retail company. Turns out I was actually in the wrong building. So, yeah, turn me around three times and I lose my way :)

    Cheers

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  19. Yay Fiona!! I'm so excited for your big release!!! I truly can't wait to read it. =)
    I used to take French lessons...or rather a friend and I would meet after work in the city, go to a fave restraurant after which we were supposed to attend class. Usually to stay with the nachos and sangria was far more tempting. lol. Still, I *love* the French language.
    Robbie, who has a black and white cat.

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  20. Mel, I'll remember that story if I ever plan to meet you somewhere at a shopping centre. And I'll take a mobile phone with me! :)

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  21. Michelle, that's adorable, lol. I'm glad you and your DH have been able to come to an understanding that works for you. ;)

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  22. Helene, I'm glad you don't get lost easily! Though that Japanese airport sounds like it would challenge just about anyone.

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  23. Helene, I'm sure your passengers appreciate that you don't tend to get lost!

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  24. Michelle, we have a family folklore story from whenI was a kid and we werenon a car rally. Dad over ruled mum at a T intersection and we got so horribly lost after that we had to open the help envelope!

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  25. Helen, that sounds like a GREAT opening scene to a book!!! So glad ypunlove the cover, thankyou!

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  26. LOL, Robyn. Once I French lessons were we ate cheese and drank wine and we were supposed to speak French too. the wine didn't help me!!! AWw on the cat!

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  27. Helen, I wonder if that other meeting thought you were a spy...?

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  28. Robbie, how cool that you almost learned French! I did a term of French in grade 8. I pretty much just remember chocolate eclair.

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  29. LOL - Rach it's the 2nd time it's happened to us. I should have remembered they close all the doors at the shopping centre after a certain time! BWG

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  30. Hi Fiona!! Congratulations on your upcoming release - it sounds awesome, I'm really looking forward to reading it :)
    Hmmm, the last time I got lost? Believe it or not it was just the other day here in my home town where I grew up and have lived for a good 2/3 of my life! I hadn't been to one part of town for ages and ages and post-earthquake lots of roads have been cut off or routes redirected... got hopelessly lost for a while there...

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  31. Hi Fiona,
    Hmmm last time I remember getting lost was just before a Romance Writers of Australia Conference (6 years ago in Melbourne). I went to the airport to meet Lucy Monroe and raced out from the car and to the international arrivals lounge. Waited a while and then met up with the lovely Lucy and her gorgeous family. Stayed with them while they hired a car and waved them off with directions on how to get to their motel... and then went back to go to my car and realized I hadn't taken note of where I'd parked! So I had to go back to the arrivals lounge and then retrace my steps back to my car. Since then I ALWAYS make a mental note of where I am before I head off from a car park :)

    I LOVE all of Fiona's wonderful Medicals and lucky me has already read Boomerang Bride and I can promise you it's a fantastic read! Its' so different to her Medicals and yet just as wonderful. Love it. Love it. love it!

    Thanks for having the lovely Fiona as your special guest blogger, Rachel.
    Hugs

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  32. Hi Fiona

    I gotta say I soo love your stories and I have added this one to my must get list 8th Aug isn't long to wait.

    As for getting lost yea that happens to me when I pick up a great book and everything around me is just gone like all the housework that needs doing yep I love loosing myself in a book

    Congrats on the relaese

    Have Fun
    Helen

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  33. Natalie, Helen and Serena, thanks so much for calling by! I am off for the weekend to celebrate my mother's 80 th so off the air for a while. I've enjoyed your lost stories...makes me feel like I am not alone!

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  34. Natalie, I understand about the roads changing post earthquake making it easier to get lost, but still, I bet you never think you'd get lost in your own city!

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  35. Serena, fabulous lost story! You know, if you hadn't got lost, you wouldn't have this great story to tell, so in some ways it was a blessing. ;)

    Oooh, lucky you having already read Boomerang Bride!

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  36. Helen, of *course*! Getting lost in a great book. I do it all the time too. My worst habit is reading when I go to bed. Just one chapter, so I still get a good night's sleep... Yeah, right. Next thing I know, the book is almost done and the clock is showing it's muuuuch later than I thought. =)

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