Hey everyone, how are you all doing? Well it’s almost the end of November with the ‘silly season‘ well and truly upon us! As a self confessed lover of all things Christmas, I’ve given my Guest Blogger Wednesday slot a festive makeover! First up on my couch is HarperImpulse author (& so much more!) LynnMarie Hulsman.
I had the pleasure of meeting her a few weeks back at the UK’s Festival of Romance. We’d met ‘virtually’ already and I had sensed a kindred spirit in her so she was one of the authors I especially looked forward to meeting. And isn’t it wonderful when you meet someone then face to face and you find that you were right! LynnMarie is such a lovely lady – in every sense of the word lady, with such a great lifestory to share. Go on, grab yourself a cuppa and read all about the author of Christmas at Thorton Hall.
Thanks for stopping by, can you start by telling us a bit about yourself?
I’m a surprisingly funky rapper (no lie!), I love reading Psychology Today magazine, and I prefer pointy dogs.
It’s a real relief to call myself a writer after my checkered and confusing employment history. I’ve done everything from clerk at an indie bookstore, lifeguard at a healthclub, manage staff in the ticket services department of a major NYC theater, write direct-marketing copy for casinos (We’ve got the loosest slots!), host an all-female stand-up comedy show (featuring non-female Jim Gaffigan), proofread pharma industry training materials, and ideate new packaging and concepts for products ranging from diet shakes to cosmetics to home fragrance products. Yes, I said “ideate.” It’s a thing. I swear. I have the paychecks to prove it.
I think that is the most eclectic list of jobs I’ve ever read in one paragraph together! Next time I go to NewYork I will be stopping by your stand-up comedy show, that’s a promise! Now I’m going to quickly go look up ‘ideate’!
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1.form an idea of; imagine or conceive.
I’m sure the rest of you knew what it meant, but just in case! So LynnMarie, what genre do you write and when did you start?
As a reader, I inhale romance. My tastes range from Chick Lit to Rom Com to more literary Women’s Fiction. My debut novel, Christmas at Thornton Hall, is being called a Rom Com. As a writer, my interest lies with the journey of the heroine. Her self-discovery and the change that results from her journey are the lynchpin for me. Of course, if there can be some heart-swooping wooing, and a little kissing and canoodling along the way, all the better.
I’ve always been a writer, of one class or another. I have Bachelor’s degrees in Theater and English. Before I was lured down the performing and acting path, I dreamed I’d be a professor who wrote novels on the side. During university, I had short stories and poems published in a fair number of literary magazines and journals. After that, I wrote ad copy and medical content, not to mention comedy sketches for my all-woman group HITS LIKE A GIRL, and all of my own stand-up comedy material. Most recently, I’ve been ghost writing and co-writing, and now I have a few cookbooks on the shelves with more to come soon.
Here’s a little peek at Christmas At Thornton Hall, which is one of HarperImpulse’s Christmas releases – available to pre-order now on Amazon. Publish Date for this Christmas must have is 5th December. I have mine pre-ordered and cannot wait to read. A book set at Christmas, with a Downton Abbey feel in the RomCom Genre, well that’s a hit as far as I’m concerned. It ticks all of my boxes.
By now you all know that I like to get a scoop from my guests, so LynnMarie, can you share something with us about one of your books that you’ve not shared with anyone else before?
In my book, there is a heart-breaking cad named Stephen, based on a real-life cad who broke my heart… for the purposes of this interview,let’s just call him “Stephen.” (Full disclosure: His real name is Stephen). Any resemblance to persons living or dead, of course, is purely coincidental. Except that he once lived in Paris. And he wrote a novel. And his real name is Stephen.
Ok I am laughing so much at this. What’s that saying? Don’t upset the writer because you will end up dead in their next novel! Stephen how could you?!!! Bet you are sorry now! Ok, apart from promoting your debut romcom, what are you working on right now?
I’m beavering away on Book 2. Working Title: Something at BlahBlah Castle. It features a hot Irishman, food, the publishing world, New York, Ireland, farming, and a hot Irishman. Did I say hot Irishman twice?
Well as an Irish woman I can confirm that there are indeed plenty of hot Irishmen over here! Fantastic that you have set the novel in Ireland partly. Funny too because I’m writing Beyond Grace’s Rainbow 2 (no title yet!) and get this, it’s set in Ireland and New York. So we have chosen the same two settings!
Right, back to important matters, Christmas. Have you a Christmas memory you can share with us?
My aunt and uncle owned a convenience store—kind of like a 7-11. One that sold lottery tickets, and pre-made sandwiches, and cigarettes. A beverage company (rhymes with Roca-Rola) sent them a life-sized, animatronic Santa Claus coming out of a chimney, with flashing lights on it. They had that in their basement. At age 5, I thought it was the height of elegance and sophistication, like being at a glitzy Hollywood party with a big star.
No doubt, the Santa Claus image most of us associate with Christmas is Coca Cola’s one. I can imagine what that was like for you, being face to face with him! Describe a perfect Christmas Holiday for us, who are you with, where are you, what are you eating?
A perfect Christmas holiday would be one in which my mom were still here doting over my children, and sneaking them Congo Bars even though I’d declared a moratorium on sugar. We’ll settle for having her in our hearts, and being together, cozied up in our New York high-rise apartment, which is where the heart of my grown-up family lies.
Oh Christmas is just one of those times that always makes us think of special people doesn’t it? Your Mum is watching you all with a big smile on her face, and especially proud of you right now, I’m sure of it.
What is your favourite Christmas Movie?
The Bishop’s Wife, featuring Cary Grant, David Niven, and Loretta Young. It’s hopeful and romantic, but is laced with darker themes, and the happy ending is bittersweet. It’s a gorgeous love story for anyone to connect with, but if you’re a married woman over the age of 35, I predict it’ll sing to you.
I thought I had seen all of Cary Grant’s movies, but I’ve not seen this. Ok, I’ll be looking this one up for Christmas. Thanks for the tip!
And your favourite Christmas Song?
Let it Snow, by Sammy Cahn and Julie Styne, for sure. I love the old ‘40s and ‘50s recordings of it. The more orchestra, and the more studio singers, the better. It’s so cozy, and describes exactly what I want out of a holiday. To rest, to relax, to feel that nothing outside of my home and hearth needs my attention. It’s the ultimate in finding joy in the immediate and living in the moment.
I found a very early Frank Sinatra version, singing live. A bit scratchy, but quite wonderful. Ok, can you complete this sentence for me..….’All I Want For Christmas……..’
This is crazy, but what I really want this holiday season is a French coated-cotton/oilcloth tablecloths with a Provencal pattern. I’ve wanted one for about five years now, and have never gotten around to ordering it. And of course health for my family, justice and equality for all, peace on earth, etc etc. Definitely also an end to malaria. And for all shelter animals to be adopted. But if anyone’s shopping, those tablecloths are fairly modestly priced. Of course, all of the other stuff comes first. But if anything’s left over at the end, then just a small tablecloth, please. And if not, I’m fine till next year.
LynnMarie’s family take note, it’s all about the tablecloths this year! And world peace. Which might be a little tricker. What are you reading right now? And is it a paper book or ebook?
I have a few reads going. I forgot my Kindle on the way to London recently, so I wound up buying Mad About the Boy in the airport newstand. It cost the price of a small car, and weighs as much as a Labrador retriever. I lugged it overseas, and back home again. Making my way through it. I’m also reading Lindsey Kelk’s I Heart New York on my Kindle. I’m late to the party, but better late than never, because it’s fab. And I’m just finishing up The Park Bench Test by Sarah LeFebrve on the Kindle. I’m usually a one-novel woman. This makes me sound fickle. Perhaps we should keep this as our little secret?
The Park Bench Test is fab-U-lous. I loved it. And I have to read Lindsey’s too, I’ve heard only great things about it. If you could pick any career in the world other than what you do now, what would it be?
Since I’ve kind of done most of them in the past, I think I should stick with the one I have going at the moment. Novelist is definitely working for me. Romance book conventions, working in my pajama bottoms, and having fictional affairs is working for me.
What’s not to love right? But sure you always have ‘ideate’ to go back to 😉
Who would you like to meet most for a chat? Dead or alive. Fictional or real.
If by “chat” you mean naked massage that somehow isn’t counted as a black mark against my wedding vows, then Adam Levine, definitely. If by “chat” you mean chat, then maybe Jon Stewart since he’s so political and funny and all. And he’s really, really cute. No! That’s inching back into naked massage territory, isn’t it? How about Barack Obama? Sorry! Scratch that! (Shouldn’t be thinking the words “naked massage” in relation to the leader of the free world.) Let’s say Oprah Winfrey. I have a feeling she’d make me feel good about myself while simultaneously telling me to write more books, and faster. And I’ll bet she’d give me a good lunch while we chatted.
One of my life ambitions is to meet Oprah, so do me a favour LynnMarie, if you manage it before me, can you put a word in for MrsH? I reckon we coul be great buddies. Just saying.
Thank you so much for stopping by LynnMarie, it’s been as I knew it would be, entertaining!
Details on how to get in touch with the witty and very lovely LynnMarie are listed below, also with a little synopsis of Christmas At Thorton Hall.
Chat soon everyone,
Carmel x
LYNN MARIE HULSMAN INFO
-Member of the RNA, the RWA (Romance Writers of America), RWA-NYC (New York Chapter), and RWA Contemporary Romance Chapter
-On Twitter @LynnMarieSays
-website: http://www.lynnmariehulsman.com
-Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lynn-Marie-Hulsman-Author/591579824213840
-I co-wrote How To Make Your Own Soda with Chef Anton Nocito (Clarkson Potter). Here is the Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Own-Soda-All-Natural/dp/0770433553
-I co-wrote The Irish Pantry with Chef Noel McMeel (launching November 26, Running Press). Here is the Amazon link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Irish-Pantry-Lynn-Marie-Hulsman/dp/0762445750/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384877440&sr=8-1&keywords=the+irish+pantry
Need a fun, festive treat to warm you up on cold winter nights? Don’t miss this terrific debut from a witty new voice in romantic comedy!
When Juliet Hill unwittingly discovers a most-definitely-not-hers-rhinestone-studded lace thong in her high-flying lawyer boyfriend’s apartment, this usually feisty chef is suddenly single and facing a very blue Christmas – with only a ready meal for one to keep her company!
So when she’s personally requested to cater for the family at Thornton Hall three days before Christmas, it’s not long before Juliet’s standing at the (back) door of the impossibly grand ancestral pile.
The halls are decked, the guests are titled, those below the stairs are delightfully catty, and all-American Juliet sets to work cooking up a glorious British Christmas with all the trimmings.
But other flames are burning besides those on the stove… Sparks fly with Edward, the gorgeous ex-soldier turned resident chef, and are those sidelong looks Juliet’s getting from her boss, the American tycoon Jasper Roth?
As the snow starts to fall on the idyllic Cotswolds countryside, so does the veneer of genteel high society and there are more than a few ancient skeletons rattling out of the Hall’s numerous dark cupboards!
CHRISTMAS AT THORNTON HALL is a country house romance for the modern age, a must-read for fans of the scandals and drama of Downton Abbey and the charm and wit of Helen Fielding.
