Return to the Spotlight – Guest Author Lynn Forth

This week Lynn Forth is back on my blog to celebrate the release of her third novel, The Girl Who Used To Be Me. I’ve just started reading this book with its lovely cover and was immediately transported back to my university days in the first few chapters. I’m looking forward to reading more. I asked Lynn some questions…

Have you always written?

Yes. I think most novelists have always had the urge to write but very often they haven’t had the opportunity to do anything very sustained with it. English was always my favourite subject and I wrote long stories a child, I think my teachers must have blenched at the long screeds I handed in. But later, as an English lecturer, most of my writing was confined to long comments on work I was marking. Eventually freedom beckoned and I seized it and haven’t stopped writing since.

Where is your favourite place to write and why?

Although I have notebooks filled with novel outlines and ideas, I can only really get down to ‘proper’ writing at my computer on my desk. I have a lovely study upstairs with a wonderful open view over hills and trees and a small lake, It catches the early morning sun …and I love it.

How important are locations to your novels?

It’s an essential ingredient in each of my stories. All my heroines are northern lasses and I like to take them out of their comfort zones and plonk them somewhere foreign where they have to rely on themselves and, in the process, begin a journey of self-discovery.

My Yorkshire heroine, Jane in Love in La La Land ended up in Hollywood and found her principles compromised by the seedy goings on. I enjoyed evoking the flashy shallow trappings of the film world.

Then I was inspired to write Love, Lies and Café au Lait by my own personal experience of delight when I visited Nice for the first time. I loved the French Riviera, so I was able to really identify with my Accrington Annie when she arrived in that super-sophisticated city and tried to fit in.

I used very local settings at the beginning of my third novel, The Girl Who Used To Be Me. My heroine Kate is located in Birmingham and visits the surrounding countryside with her new boyfriend including the Clent Hills …which I can see from my study window.  (Note : These hills were my view when I was growing up. Mx)

Eventually Kate escapes a difficult relationship by going to the Costa del Sol. Once again this is an area I know well after frequent visits to my parents when they lived there. I was able to visualise the locations for when Kate lives there and empathise with her feelings of joy at the bright colours and the warmth of the sun, captured, I think, by the cover of the book.

So all my books have transported me to these wonderful sunny places …and all from my little desk.

What can we expect from you next?

I am mulling over a story which features a rather fabulous character from my last two books. I don’t want to give too much away but many readers have said how they love the flamboyant character of Reen with her passion for pink plastic flamingos and her rather outrageous taste in décor and clothes. She has a large gruff-voiced husband called Ted and three sons Tyrone, Tarquin and Troy and together they are just crying out for a story of their own. Watch this space.

About Lynn Forth

Lynn Forth went to live in Accrington when she was 11 and still has the accent to prove it.

She now lives in Worcestershire (where it doesn’t rain as much) with her family and a room with a view to write in.

With a lifelong fascination with words and people, she studied English and Psychology at University and, as a lecturer at the local College, she tried to impart this love of words and teaching to students of all ages.

An avid reader, she runs two book clubs and, as a bit of a movie buff, she loves participating in the discussions at a local Film Club. Although not a big exercise fan, she enjoys the fun and music at her Zumba sessions, singing along enthusiastically to all the tunes. A great lover of colour, she tries to encourage a riotous array of flowers in her garden.

She now writes romantic comedies full of sparky dialogue. set in sunny foreign climes, which, of course, she has to visit for the sake of research. She set her debut novel, Love in La La Land, in Hollywood which combined this love of films, humour and sunny places. Her second novel Love Lies and Cafe au Lait was set in Nice, a city she loves. And her third novel The Girl Who Used To Be Me follows one of her characters, the fabulous Reen, to her home territory of the Costa Del Sol.

To keep in touch with Lynn, you can use the following links:-

Website: lynnforthauthor.wordpress.com.

Twitter: @lynnforth

Facebook Author Page: Lynn Forth Author

About The Girl Who Used To Be Me

(I’m leaving this full size so that you can really see the lovely cover. Mx)

An uplifting story about longing and belonging.

After a passionate fun-filled affair, Kate is abandoned by Rob, her first love.

Six years later, she is stuck in a dead-end job and trapped in a toxic relationship. She escapes to the Costa del Sol where she meets flamboyant Reen with her bright clothes, her sparkling eyes and a penchant for pink plastic flamingos.

Kate falls for Troy, Reen’s sexy son, and embarks upon a new phase of self-discovery. Is she finally becoming the girl she longs to be?
 
But when Rob comes back into her life unexpectedly, what will she do?

Full of wit and warmth, fun and flamingos.

Perfect for fans of Milly Johnson and Jules Wake

If you would like to buy Lynn‘s books, they are available as both eBooks and paperbacks from Amazon on the following links.

Love in La La land : myBook.to/LoveinLaLaLand1

Love Lies and Café au Lait : mybook.to/LoveLiesandCafeauLait

The Girl Who Used To Be Me : mybook.to/TheGirlWhoUsedToBeMe

 

So glad you could join me, Lynn. I hope that your new book sells loads of copies. Mx

 

Thank you for visiting my blog – Morton S. Gray – Author. I hope you enjoyed this post. You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Girl on the Beach published by Choc Lit is available as a paperback and from all eBook platforms – Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, Kobo, Barnes and Noble and Google Play.

The Truth Lies Buried is available now from all eBook platforms – Choc Lit, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Apple iBooks. It is also available as a paperback and audiobook.

Christmas at Borteen Bay is available now as both an eBook and audio download – Amazon Kindle, Audio, Apple iBooks, Kobo and Choc Lit for other buying options.