The Ideas Behind Summer at Croftwood Cinema by Victoria Walker

Pleased to feature Victoria Walker this week. Victoria has just published her latest novel Summer at Croftwood Cinema and she is sharing with us how the book evolved. We live close to each other, but still haven’t managed to meet up for a chat and coffee … yet!

I’m delighted to be back on Morton’s blog, this time in celebration of the release of my latest book, Summer at Croftwood Cinema. It’s the first book in a new series, so I thought I’d share the reasons behind my choice of location and how I decided on the main idea behind the book, the renovation of the cinema.

Croftwood is a fictional town in Worcestershire. It’s heavily based on Great Malvern but is smaller, flatter and a convenient mash-up of a few other local places. Malvern is best known for the hills and although I walk on them almost every day, they don’t make an appearance in this book. But above is a lovely photo taken from the very top of the Worcestershire Beacon, to get you in the mood.

I love reading series set in small towns. I think the first one I came across was Debbie Johnson’s Comfort Food Café series. Visiting different characters in the same familiar setting and being able to catch up with the characters I read about in the last book is very appealing and I wanted to bring that into my writing.

Oliver’s coffee house features in the first two books in the series and is the heart of the community. In my mind, it’s situated where Cafe Nero is but the aesthetic of it is based heavily on a fantastic coffee shop in Malvern called Abbey Road. The staff in there were kind enough to make a latte for me in an Oliver’s mug with a heart on the top for a TikTok video! The vibe of this is exactly what I wanted to capture in Croftwood and they do the most amazing cakes. It’s a daily challenge not to call in for a cake, obviously I give in once or twice a week.

The cinema idea came to me because I used to be a projectionist at Malvern Cinema back in the day, so I know enough about how a cinema works to not need to do a huge amount of research. Call me lazy, but write what you know! There is also an amazing independent cinema in Evesham, the Regal, where you can watch a film in comfort, book seats and a table if you like, and have snacks and drinks brought to your table. I loved this idea and it certainly is a twist that sets this cinema apart from its large scale competitors.

Croftwood Cinema is a mash-up of Malvern Cinema and the Regal with a pinch of fiction that expanded the space behind the cinema screen, where in Malvern we used to store spare bits of chairs, into a fantastic events space that has doors that open onto the park.

Malvern Cinema is part of the Malvern Theatres complex which sits on the edge of Priory Park in Great Malvern. For Croftwood Cinema, I had an image of a standalone building that might sit on the edge of this park, neglected but being prettily swallowed up by rhododendrons. It’s a great park with something for everyone; a brand-new play area, a bandstand, a duckpond where we used to catch minnows with our fishing nets, and some beautiful trees. I walk through there almost every day and in the sunnier months, sit in the sun for a while if I have time. I wrote almost all of my book, the Island in Bramble Bay, on a bench in the park over a summer of lunch breaks a few years ago.

I hope you’ll love Croftwood and hanging out at the cinema with Patsy, Oliver, Matt and Ed. And if you want to catch up with them again afterwards, the next book in the series, Twilight at Croftwood Library, is out at the end of the summer.

About Victoria Walker

Victoria Walker has been writing romantic fiction since a visit to Iceland in 2014 inspired her first novel. As well as writing, she spends her free time dressmaking, knitting and reading an inordinate amount of contemporary romance, occasionally punctuated by the odd psychological thriller and saga. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association.

Blog: www.victoriaauthor.co.uk

Twitter @4victoriawalker

Instagram @victoriawalker_author

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About Summer at Croftwood Cinema – Croftwood Book 1

Patsy Clements lives in Croftwood. It’s been her sanctuary for three years while she rebuilt a life for herself that is safe and happy. Out of necessity, she has learnt to live without ambitions or dreams, but she does have her best friend Oliver who means everything to her.

Oliver Jones owns the trendy local coffee shop and establishes himself as the town entrepreneur when he buys the derelict old cinema in the park. He wants his best friend Patsy to be his business partner, helping him with the challenge of bringing it back to life along with local architect Matt, and Ed, an amateur projectionist.

After lying low for three years is it a mistake for her to change the life that has kept her safe or is it time to start living again? Will stepping into the limelight tempt fate and mean her past catches up with her and can she survive if it does?

Join Patsy and Oliver in the small town of Croftwood for a summer where friendships are made, challenges are everywhere and romance blossoms at the cinema in the park.

Amazon link to Summer at Croftwood Cinema here

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