Friday, July 9, 2021

Vicki's Work of Heart by Rosie Dean - Book Blitz



Vicki’s Work of Heart

Stranded at the altar, knee-deep in her fiancé’s gambling debts, Vicki Marchant seizes her freedom and moves to France, to paint.
It’s her time. No man will get in the way of her ambition again.
She learns two things: some men are hard to resist, and her judgement of them is still on the dodgy side.

Purchase Link - mybook.to/Vickis_Work_of_Heart

Author Q&A

Did you want to be an author when you grew up?
No, I wanted to be an actress. I only achieved this on the amateur stage because I soon realized it was a very precarious profession and I didn’t want to spend my life waiting for My Big Break. My favourite role – ever – was playing Elvira in Blithe Spirit, in a small rep group at Shanklin on the Isle of Wight. Enormous fun!

 What’s one movie you like recommending to others?
|Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. The title put me right off and probably will others, but I ended up watching it because I have a soft spot for Ewan McGregor. In this unlikely and quirky story, Ewan and Emily Blunt have a wonderful on-screen chemistry. There are some laugh out loud moments and a brilliant performance by Kristin Scott Thomas as a political spin doctor. It’s a comedy drama with a touch of romance, so a real comfort watch for me. I’ve probably watched it half a dozen times since I first discovered it.

 If you could own any animal as a pet, what would it be?
Dog(s) without a moment’s hesitation but I also think Alpacas are adorable, and would negate the need for a lawn mower.

 Have you ever met anyone famous?
I’ve met a few famous people because I used to produce corporate videos, and worked with a number of actors and presenters. All were lovely and one or two were a bit eccentric – no names…

My favourite has to be Andrew Lincoln who I first came across in the 1996 BBC TV series This Life and then later in Love Actually. He was such a sweetheart with a lovely mellow speaking voice, and I decided to ‘cast him’ as the hero, Josh, in my first romantic comedy, Millie’s Game Plan.

I did a blog post about meeting Andrew Lincoln on my own website, here:

https://rosie-dean.com/ever-met-one-of-your-heroes/

 

What is the first book that made you cry?
When I was a child, my dad read me the Little Grey Men books by BB (Dennis Watkins-Pitchford), which are about the last four gnomes in England. One of the gnomes, I think it was Dodder, died and I cried over that. More recently, I sobbed when Dobby the House Elf died in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. There seems to be a theme developing there…

 

What are your top 5 favorite movies?
I guess it has to be the ones I’ve seen most frequently, which would be:

While You were Sleeping

Eat, Pray, Love

Something’s Gotta Give

As Good as it Gets

Lost in Austen (originally a TV series).

 If you were the last person on Earth, what would you do?
Crumbs! Well, part of me would want to smile and thank the Universe for sparing me but then I would be the last person on earth with nobody to talk to. I’m assuming this would have been cause by some catastrophic event with lots of trauma so I’d probably break into the best delicatessen/off license and stuff myself with cheese, gin and expensive chocolates, which, after a while would make me feel utterly lousy, so then I’d complain to the Universe for leaving me here on my own. However, you did say ‘last person on earth,’ which suggests there might be lots of lovely animals still about, so I would do everything I could to make their lives easier. Looking after all the animals would be my mission.

 

What sparks your creativity/how do you get your ideas?
Ooh…sometimes I might just be thinking about how my life might improve, this was especially true with Vicki’s Work of Heart, I was an art teacher and I used to fantasize about living cheaply abroad, and painting. With Millie’s Game Plan, a friend told me how she knew someone who set about finding Mr Right at local cricket matches – and succeeded. With Chloe’s Rescue Mission, I was watching Dragons’ Den and wondered how a person’s life might change with the influence of a dragon. In Gigi’s Island Dream I already loved the setting of the Isle of Wight, but I thought, what if you found your perfect location, began fulfilling your dreams and then lost everything? With Toni’s Blind Date I wondered how it would be if a TV dating show were fixed, but the candidates didn’t know it.

Each of my books has a deeper message, though, it’s not just about the situation. In Vicki’s Work of Heart, I wanted the heroine to recover from a useless and using boyfriend, so she could pursue her own dreams without having them side-tracked by men. I think it’s very important to be true to yourself.

If you could have a dinner party with 3 other authors, who would they be?
I think Marian Keyes, PG Wodehouse and Julie Cohen would make an interesting mix. Marian is a very sensitive and witty person with great insights into life and human frailty. I feel chatting to her would be like receiving a big, cosy hug. PG Wodehouse is one author who seldom fails to make me laugh out loud and I just love his surreal approach and nonsensical humour. He was hugely prolific so I’m sure he would have many tips for any author. Julie has written in various genres within women’s fiction and is what I like to call a ‘spunky chick’. I always find her very candid in her views, which is so refreshing in a world which can be full of pretense.

 

What’s one thing you’d like to say to your readers?
Thank you, thank you thank you! And I hope you enjoyed the ride.

♥    ♥    ♥


Author Bio

Rosie Dean has been writing stories and plays since she was big enough to type. After studying ceramic design and gaining a ‘degree in crockery’ as the man in her life calls it, she became an Art & Pottery teacher. Seven years later, she moved into corporate world, writing training courses and marketing copy until the lure of being a full-time writer became irresistible.

Her passion is to write entertaining love stories that can make a reader chuckle, laugh out loud or, occasionally, feel a lump in the throat. Most of all, she loves developing the characters who inhabit her stories – eccentricities and screwball scenarios pop up in all of her work. Some of these characters have four legs – because animals offer an interesting counterpoint to human dramas.

Vicki's story is close to Rosie's heart. Once an art teacher herself, and going through a difficult time, she would dream of escaping it all to paint. From these dreams, she wrote Vicki's Work of Heart

Rosie lives on the Isle of Wight, and can see the sea from her writing den.

 

Social Media Links –

Website/blog www.rosie-dean.com

Facebook www.facebook.com/RosieDeanWriter              

Twitter http://twitter.com/RosieDeanAuthor     

Goodreads www.goodreads.com/RosieDean      

Amazon (Author Page http://www.amazon.com/Rosie-Dean/e/B00GML9CU0     

BookBub http://www.bookbub.com/authors/rosie-dean

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.co.uk/RosieDeanAuthor/isle-of-wight/


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