Good morning everyone
How are you all? We’ve all had a horrible dose here – high temps, sore throats and runny noses all round.
But a good excuse to light the fire, close the door and snuggle on the couch with the kids, so not all bad!
Today, I’m very excited to introduce a friend of mine – the author Abby Green – who is braving the germs and squeezing in between me and the kids on the hot seat.
I have had the pleasure of getting to know Abby quite well over the past couple of months and she’s every bit as lovely in person as she is a talented author! (27 books my friends and a USA Today Bestseller!)
So without further ado, welcome Abby Green!
Carmel : So Abby, I know you live in Dublin, Ireland, but are you a true blue Dub?
Abby : I’m a bit of a mongrel ;). Born in London but came back to Dublin as a baby with my mother. Grew up in Dublin but spent a lot of time in Kerry with my grand-mother. So I’m half Kerry/half Dublin.
C: Well, there’s nothing wrong with being a little bit Heinz! I was also born in London, knew there was a kindred spirit in you Abby! So just for fun, if your life was to be made into a movie, what genre movie would it be?
A: It would be a black comedy!
C: Love it! At least it’s not a horror! Speaking of which, scariest thing that has ever happened to you?
A: Backpacking in Mexico, I was on a long bus journey with my friend and after a toilet stop I came back and the bus was gone! I thought my friend (who had about as much Spanish as me, i.e. none) was gone forever! But the bus had actually just moved around the corner.
C: Oh No! I can just visualise that Abby. Ok, I know this is bad, but I have to share this joke!
C: Ok, so apart from laughing at my great photo joke, what is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you?
A: Crashing my mini (car) into a wall in front of about 50 work colleagues. (I was a learner driver & had teething issues with brake/accelerator)
C: Interesting that you see that as funny! Yes, I’m getting the black comedy now ha ha. Most famous person you have ever met?
A: I worked in the film business for a long time so I’ve met a few famous people..Liam Neeson, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Jodie Foster, Gene Hackman…
C: Now I spent an evening in Odessa’s (when I say evening I really mean wee hours of the morning!) sipping (when I say sipping I really mean necking back) a glass of wine with Abby and I was enthralled with some of the stories she shared with me. You forgot to mention Fassbender Abby! And Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anniston…… see I remember everything, lol
What is best advice ever given to you?
A: Follow your gut and heart.
C: Yes, I have to concur, great advice. So who inspires you?
A: About ten different people in any one day, from a woman standing in the queue at the post office to someone in a magazine or on TV, and my friends inspire me constantly.
C: And do you have any celebrity crushes?
A: Currently Jamie Dornan, can’t wait to see him as Christian Grey in the 50 Shades movie.
C: I aim to please all my guest interviewees, so here you go Abby, just for you!
C: If you could go back in time, what time would you choose and why?
A: I would choose to go back to Medieval times to see what it was really like.
C: Just for you I wrote a quick Medieval Romance. Ok, I didn’t write this, someone on Pinterest did……..
C: Give me 3 words to describe your best self and 3 words to describe your worst self.
A: Best self: Entertaining, efficient, friendly. Worst self: Irritable, insecure, introverted.
C: I’ve never seen your worst self, but yes you are certainly entertaining, efficient and friendly! What are you reading right now? And is it a paper book or ebook?
A: I am about to start reading the 6 books I’ve been sent by the Romance Writers of America, to judge for their prestigious RITA award. Paper books.
C: What was the first book you ever read?
A: It was definitely a ladybird book – one of the fairytales. First bigger book was Wind in the Willows.
C: If you could rewrite the ending of any book, would you?
A: Probably would rewrite the ending of ‘One Day’ by David Nicholls
C: If you could pick any career in the world other than what you do now, what would it be?
A: Script-writer
C: With your background in film and your obvious skills as a writer, that won’t be a huge stretch for you Abby. So world, watch this space I reckon! Who would you like to meet most for a chat? Dead or alive. Fictional or real.
A: My mother.
C: The perfect answer Abby. So let’s do a quick fire round, first thing that enters your head!
Beer or cocktails
cocktails
Jeans or dress/suit
dress
Sun or Snow
Sun
Beach or Pool
Beach (but a clean empty beach!)
Cats or Dogs
Neither…sorry!
Theatre or Cinema
Cinema
Pink or Green
Pink
Night in or night out
Ooh, both!
Paperback or eBook
Paperback
Lobster or steak
Steak
The Walking Dead or Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey
Football or Rugby
RUGBY!
Flying Solo or with a gang
Er….small group!
C: What is the best compliment anyone could give you?
A: That I’m a kind person.
C: Well everyone, I want to tell you about this author who was being interviewed for the Sunday Independent about her own writing career, but was so generous and kind that she gave a newbie author called Carmel a mention during her interview. Yes my friends, that was the super kind Abby Green. See why I love her so much?
C: What genre do you write?
A: I write series romance fiction.
C: Of the characters you’ve created through writing, which one is your favourite and why so?
A: No one in particular stands out…but if I had to pick one it’d be my first heroine because that’s the book that sold.
C: What are you working on right now?
A: My 29th book for Mills and Boon, just brainstorming the characters and plot. My favourite time before it all goes horribly wrong!
C: Ok, lets just digest that for a moment, 29th book. I am so in awe (says she who thinks she’s great with 2nd book almost done!)
Here’s a little excerpt that Abby has generously shared from her book When Falcons World Stops Turning which will be published on 1st February 2014:-
Samantha had closed the distance between them and her hand had lifted and she’d hit Rafaele across the face before she’d even realised she’d had the impulse to do so. She realised in the sickeningly taut silence afterwards that she’d reacted because he’d spoken her worst fears out loud. Here in this awful, stark, echoey room.
With a guttural curse and his cheek flaring red where Sam had hit him, Rafaele hauled her into his arms and his mouth was on hers and he was kissing her angrily, roughly. It took a second for Sam to get over the shock but what happened next wasn’t the reaction she would have chosen, if she’d had half a brain cell still working. Her reaction came from her treacherous body and overrode her brain completely.
She started kissing him back, matching his anger with her own. For exposing her, for saying those words out loud. For making her feel even more ashamed and confused. For being here. For making her want him, for making her remember. For kissing her now just to dominate and prove how much she still wanted him
Would you like a chance to win a copy of Abby’s book? Yes? Well then get over quickly to Goodreads to enter her competition, which ends on 30th January, HERE!
