G'day! :)
Today I have a wonderfully talented author with me, and an all round lovely soul, Jenn J McLeod. Jenn's debut novel, House for all Seasons, has now hit the shelves and is flying off them as fast as they can be re-stocked! I must say how envious I am of her gorgeous-to-die-for-grip-your-gaze cover. It's divine!
Welcome, Jenn, it's so lovely to be chatting to you today...
Thanks for helping me promote my debut novel – House for all Seasons, Mandy.
Having grown up surrounded by music, I’ve enjoyed your country music blog theme a lot.
You might have seen in a recent interview with Good Reading Magazine, I talked about having been influenced by my dad – a multi-disciplined musician who filled our house with tunes from jazz and blues greats. As a kid I was the all-dancing, all-singing brat who, when not being pushed into impromptu performances, was hiding in my bedroom singing into a hairbrush. But later in life, rather than music I chose to write – the computer my keyboard of choice – leaving the old upright piano to languish in the living room and the daddy longlegs to weave their web around the piano’s soundboard and strings while I weave my stories.
On reflection, my earliest writing attempts were probably lyrics. I wrote poems that when combined with a tune (thanks to my bedroom mirror and trusty hairbrush) were like those ‘angsty’ country ballads that can tell an entire story of heartbreak and betrayal in a single song. (I’m sure you’ve heard the joke: if you play a country song backwards, the guy gets his girl and his job back, finds whatever he’s lost, quits crying and leaves the bar sober!)
Of course, you and I share another passion, Mandy – good Australian fiction. So while I’m here I might as well tell you about my debut release…
House for all Seasons
Four women,
Four lives unravelled.
The truth will bind them forever.
Bequeathed a century-old house, four estranged friends return to their New South Wales hometown, Calingarry Crossing, where each must stay a season at the Dandelion House to fulfil the wishes of their benefactor, Gypsy.
But coming home to the country stirs shameful memories of the past, including the tragic end-of-school muck up day accident twenty years earlier.
Poppy, a tough, ambitions journo still craving her father’s approval;
Sara, a breast cancer survivor afraid to fall in love;
Amber, a spoilt socialite addicted to painkillers and cosmetic procedures;
Caitlin, a third generation doctor frustrated by a controlling family and her flat-lining life.
At the Dandelion House, the women will discover something about themselves and a secret that ties all four to each other and to the house - forever.
Small towns can keep big secrets…
Thanks Mandy, and if any of your readers haven’t seen the fabulous Carli and Julie Kennedy - www.cjkennedy.com who helped launch House for all Seasons with their Small Town Stories video clip, they can come home to the country with me right now - www.jennjmcleod.com - and prepare to fall in love. Gorgeous song. Gorgeous scenery. Gorgeous girls.
Thanks for sharing your love of music and the the written word with us, Jenn. It's been wonderful chatting! I cannot wait to start reading your gorgeous novel, and I'm sure it's going to be one that keeps me up into the wee hours of the morning.
Keep smiling and dreaming!
Mandy xoxo
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