Hello and welcome; thank you for joining me here at Friends and Flowers. This page is where I share more about my characters, research, work in progress and a bit about me. I write uplifting, romantic fiction with a strong sense of setting connecting the lives of my characters. I love the Language of Flowers, the use of sending flowers to represent a particular meaning. I chose forget-me-nots to represent my writing and had a few of these book totes created; they’re very useful for all sorts of shopping! If you’d like the opportunity to receive one please do send me an email to let me know and a recipient will be selected at random.
The edits are now complete for A Country Village Christmas and I was so pleased to have the opportunity to finish the Thorndale series at Christmas. The book was inspired by a house I found in Yorkshire, a window to the right of the front door giving a view of an old leather chair and a library. The character of Hugh, who is Olivia’s father, and the life he was living popped into my mind, and Olivia and Tom soon followed him. My new couple have both lost their way a little and hopefully the time they spend together in Thorndale will help them find it again 🙂
I’ve mentioned my love of research before and sometimes it’s just so much fun. I loved the opportunity to go walking with alpacas and a Cumbrian backdrop is always appealing, even if the weather was a little dull on the day I visited, as you’ll see from the image below.
As Tom and Olivia are in Cumbria for work, here’s an early peek at a part of their day from the final manuscript, related to my research:
Olivia texted Tom to let him know and had been in the cafe for about fifteen minutes when he arrived. She had a coffee beside her, had written up some of her notes and emailed the client to schedule an early evening call.
‘You done?’
She looked up. Tom’s skin was glowing from the walk, and he seemed re-energised from a couple of hours in the cold, the dark shadows under his eyes gone. ‘Pretty much. Would you like a coffee before we go?’
‘No thanks. How’s the rest of your day looking?’
‘Emails to respond to and I’ve scheduled a call for this evening about this house. I need to speak with Julian and a couple of colleagues but I can do that from the car. Why?’ Olivia sounded suspicious.
‘So other than that, you can more or less take the day off?’
‘More or less. Why?’
Tom grinned. It was one of the things she was coming to appreciate most about his company: the laughter they shared. She was also realising how little she laughed normally, being mostly on her own. That was an unwelcome jolt, a different view of her life she hadn’t really considered before.
‘Because I’ve just discovered the most brilliant thing and seeing as you’ve more or less got the day off you could come with me and do it.’ He glanced down at her feet. ‘Change your boots, though. And definitely your coat.’
She swapped her boots and coat back at the car and they left it in the village, retracing Tom’s steps. After fifteen minutes they arrived in a farmyard and instead of the sheep and cattle she was expecting, Olivia was astonished to find the fields full of woolly alpacas.
‘We’re visiting an alpaca farm?’
‘We’re doing more than that, we’re going walking with them.’ He halted, his eyes tangled with hers and she felt her breath catch at the new excitement in his.
‘Walking with alpacas? I didn’t even know you could.’
‘I saw it earlier and thought it would be fun. You up for it?’
‘I think so. How hard can it be?’
Olivia and Tom enjoy their time with these gorgeous animals and their day in Cumbria ends back in Thorndale with a cookery lesson, something else that Olivia wasn’t expecting.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this early glimpse at their story. I’m heading back to research and writing for the new series and right now I’m looking at blacksmiths and pottery.
Thank you for joining me here, please don’t forget to drop me a line if you’d like the chance to receive the tote bag. I hope you’re enjoying a lovely summer.
Suzanne x