It's my pleasure to welcome Irish author, Sheena Lambert, to Books by Banister today. She recently released her first novel, Alberta Clipper, which she calls "Chick-Lit-for-Women-with-a-Brain" (Love that!), and she's here to tell us more about the story and the characters (Her heroine has a very unusual profession!) She's been kind enough to share an excerpt from her book with us, so look for that at the end of the post.
1) Can you give us a brief overview of Alberta Clipper?
Insider trading,
rambunctious Christmas parties, overnight conferences, the modern office
environment has it all. But it can also
be the stage for a simple, modern love story.
ALBERTA CLIPPER is
that story.
Christine Grogan is
a successful meteorologist with a loving family, great friends and an exciting
career working for an international investment bank. So why does she spend every January 20th crying
like her heart might break? As everyone
around her appears to be moving on with their lives, Christine wears her past
like a pair of concrete shoes. Can
nothing, or nobody help her shake them?
Mark Harrington
thought he had all he ever wanted. Head of
the bank's Irish operations, he has the career, the house and the relationship
any man would wish for. But when his
seemingly perfectly planned life suddenly strays totally off course, Mark is
confronted with the fact that he isn't actually in control at all…
…and that he is
crazy in love with Christine.
A pacy, witty read,
Alberta Clipper is a story of old-fashioned love in a contemporary world. A story of guilt and forgiveness, trust and
betrayal, and absolute, unconditional love.
The story of two
people, each floundering in their own lives, who might just be able to save one
another.
2) What's your favorite quality about your heroine/hero?
I love that
Christine recognizes that she has a serious problem, but that she does her best
not to bring everyone around her down with it.
Although at the beginning of the book she has no idea how she will ever
get past what happened to her, she really tries to live her life as normally as
possible, and when she feels depressed, she does her best to cope. I think this shows enormous strength and
selflessness.
3) What made you want to write Alberta Clipper?
I love easy-read
fiction that also teaches me something new.
Chick-lit-for-Women-with-a-Brain, I like to call it! And having worked as an engineer in a very
male-oriented environment, I wanted to write about a character in a similar
situation. So when I saw a job
advertised for a meteorologist in an investment bank, I knew I had my main
character! And that’s where the idea for
Alberta Clipper began.
4) How long did it take you to write Alberta Clipper? What is your writing process like?
I started writing Alberta Clipper as a TV script for a
writing class I was attending. I had the
whole series plotted out, down to a drawing of the office floor-plan! When I realized that it might make a good
novel, I began writing it as such. That
part of the process took approximately six months.
I write with a pen
and paper for 2-3 hours each mornings when my kids are in school (usually 1,000
– 1,500 words). Then after they have
gone to bed, I type up what I wrote, editing as I go. The next morning, I read over what I typed
(editing again) and start writing longhand again. I like this way of writing, because I can
keep scribbling as the story comes to me, and not get too bogged down in the
perfect choice of word. I get two
chances to improve the writing where necessary when I type it and read it
through, and the few hours in between each stage offer a little perspective
also.
When I finished Alberta Clipper, I gave it to six beta
readers (honest friends) and tried to forget about it for a month. I made my readers each fill out a form, with
questions like “what was the most boring part of the book” and “who was your
favorite character and why,” so they HAD to tell me the bad points as well as
the good points. It was a really
worthwhile exercise. Then I spent two months editing, taking into
account what my readers had said where relevant.
5) If Hollywood comes calling and asks you
to sign over the movie rights for Alberta Clipper, who would you like to see play Christine and Mark on the big screen?
Emma Stone and
Michael Fassbender! (How cool would that
be…)
6) How do you think of titles?
My working title
for Alberta Clipper was “Weather
Girl” right up until the time I was editing the completed manuscript. I still think that would be a good name for
the TV series (think a more gentle House
of Lies). It didn’t convey enough
depth for the novel in my opinion however, and I chose Alberta Clipper, which is a weather phenomenon that has particular
meaning to Mark and Christine’s story. I
liked that people might go “I wonder what that is?” on hearing the name.
7) Tell us about your cover art design. How
did you come up with the concept? Did you execute it yourself or have a
professional do it?
From early on, I
had the idea of including a barometer on the cover. Obviously it had meteorological connotations,
but that specific barometer is mentioned in the story too. I liked that a barometer is all about
pressure, and being under pressure is certainly a strong theme of the book.
I was sure that I
wanted professional input in the cover design (I am NOT artistic!) and having
seen other covers I liked by Andrew Brown at Design for Writers I decided
to go with him. He is a really easy guy to work with, and I would highly
recommend him.
8) The fiction market is so competitive now.
How did you find an audience for your work? What do you think are the most
effective ways an author can promote herself?
I believed that
there was a market for the book, because I myself enjoyed reading the book
(even after spending a year writing it!), and I know my taste is fairly
mainstream when it comes to women’s literature.
Getting other people to know about it has been the most difficult part,
and a lot of work! I followed the advice
of Catherine Ryan Howard whose book Self-Printed
– The Sane Person’s Guide to Self-Publishing has some great advice for new
authors who are trying to get a name for themselves (advice that is useful for
both self-published authors AND traditionally published authors, in my opinion)
especially in terms of raising an online profile. I have also been promoting Alberta Clipper locally here in Ireland,
with the result that it has been talked about on radio, written about in the
national press AND stocked on (and re-ordered for) the shelves of an Irish
bookstore chain. I achieved these things
through sheer hard work, but having a quality book to promote is the most
important thing an author can do.
The one goal I
haven’t attained yet is for Alberta
Clipper to be successful on Kindle.
As a Kindle-lover myself, I really believe this would be my greatest
achievement.
9) What are your thoughts on love scenes in
books? Do you prefer to read/write sweet/romantic encounters between your hero
and heroine or spicy ones?
As with every other
emotion, I don’t want love scenes spelled out in minute detail to me, I want to
be able to colour a scene in my head when I read a book. When it comes to mainstream fiction, I like
to suggest a lot, but leave the reader to fill in the details themselves. There is an art to doing it right – for
example the Rhett/Scarlett staircase scene in Gone with the Wind. If I were writing
soft-porn, I would be far more inclined to give a blow-by-blow description of
what was going on. But for a story like Alberta
Clipper, well-worded suggestion is far sexier than naked facts.
10) What are you working on now?
I am writing my
second novel A Village Drowned which
is set over a weekend in 1975 in the Irish midlands. Here’s the short pitch!
After a very
hot, dry summer, a shallow grave is discovered under the receding waters of a
manmade lake in the Irish midlands. It soon becomes clear that for the Casey
family who run the Anglers’ Rest, more than a body will be uncovered that
weekend. But will the secrets buried for years in the sand break their already
brittle family apart, or will the truth be what binds them forever?
11) Who are the authors who inspire you?
Jane Austen and
(even though she’s only written one book) Kathryn Stockett.
12) What genres do you like to read? Do
you stick to one or are you eclectic in your reading tastes?
I enjoy quality
women’s fiction or Chick-lit-for-women-with-a-brain as I called it earlier! I love a new Marian Keyes or Jojo Moyes book,
but I especially love discovering a book that deals with some serious
scientific or theme while still telling a lovely story, for example The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson
Walker, The Sisters Brothers by
Patrick deWitt or A Thousand Splendid
Suns by Khaled Hosseini.
13) What was the last book you read that
really WOWed you?
The Help by Kathryn Stockett was perhaps my favourite book of the past
two years.
The City of Bohane by Kevin Barry was mind-blowingly original.
14)
If you could be plopped down in the
middle of any book, which one would it be?
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. As long as I was Elizabeth, of course.
15) If you could invite any five people
(living or dead) over for a dinner party, who would they be and why?
Elizabeth Bennet
(ok, I know she’s not real, but still, she’d be great fun, and she would love
how women have prospered in the 21st century)
Emily Blunt and
John Krasinski (because they look like they are good fun and as normal as a Hollywood couple could be expected to be)
Bono from U2 (he
just lives a mile away, so he could walk home)
Jamie Oliver the
chef (although I would have him in the kitchen, not at the table).
Fast and Flirty
Favorite scent? Any baby’s head, doesn’t have to even be
one of my own.
Favorite color? Blue.
Favorite food? Buffalo
wings.
Favorite word? Buffalo
wings.
Favorite article of clothing? Jeans.
Dream vacation spot? Bora Bora.
Favorite time period in history? Jane
Austen time. Favorite girl's night out drink? Champers.
Favorite date night activity? Eating
buffalo wings.
Favorite song? Love Me (Elvis)
Celebrity hottie on your laminated
list? John Krasinski (sorry Emily)
Novel hero crush? Mark
Harrington, of course!
Excerpt (Alberta Clipper):
Mark was spending the morning
following Jennifer around a garden centre. Sometime over the past few weeks,
they had agreed to tackle their garden, which had become increasingly
inhospitable over the past few years. It was a nice garden. Not huge, but big
enough to have fun in. When they had first bought the house, they’d had many a
gathering there. Family barbecues when Jennifer’s nieces had run around on the
grass and made daisy chains. Parties for their friends which might have started
indoors, but had always ended up with a few drunken ciggies in the garden,
huddled around a tall gas heater which had met its demise on a windy night two
years ago now. He had fond memories of sitting out on the patio with Jennifer
late on summer evenings, drinking wine, a blanket over their shoulders to ward
off the inevitable Irish breeze. Neither of them had been much use as
gardeners, but he had managed to keep the lawn cut and the hedges and trees that
surrounded it trimmed.
But in the last few years, the
garden had become somewhat neglected. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d
had a party. It made him sad to think of it. It was partly, he supposed,
because he was away a lot with work. And if they’d had kids, of course, they
would have made more of an effort. If they’d had kids, the garden might have
swings in it by now, or a little Wendy house, or whatever you called those
clunky plastic houses his friends’ kids had. Or maybe even mini goal
posts.
“Ow! Mark. My
ankle.”
“Sorry.”
“Are you even looking at these?
Have you any preference at all?”
Mark tried to focus. It appeared
he was surrounded by long, straggly looking plants. Climbers? They must be in
the cover-the-wall-between-us-and-the-neighbours section. He regarded the rows
of pots which seemed to all be in desperate need of some water. One of the tags
caught his eye.
“My Mum used to have clematis.”
He hoped this remark would suggest
that he had been paying attention. It seemed to work.
“Okay.” She started picking up
plastic tags, reading them, dropping them. One plant, whose tag must have said
something more promising than the rest, warranted lifting up and a more thorough
examination. Mark watched her turning the pot, examining it from all angles,
looking under the leaves for God knows what ailment.
“This one looks nice. Clematis -
The President. It will have big purple flowers. What do you
think?”
“Do you ever regret not having
children?”
To be fair to her, she didn’t
flinch. But she didn’t look at him. She just put The President carefully into
the trolley that filled the space between them, and
sighed.
“No Mark. I don’t. Do
you?”
Fuck. Why had he asked her that? Where had it come from? They
stared at each other. He could just say no, and wrap it up. Leave it at that.
She might not take it any further. But as the seconds passed, Mark recognised
that his question had brought them somewhere new. That they were in this new
place now, and that there was a door forward and a door back. And that the door
back just returned them to where they were, shopping for sticking plasters and
temporary fixes in the shape of horticultural supplies. They had to move
forward. They had to take themselves out of the gaping pothole they had fallen
into in the journey of their lives.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “Maybe.
I don’t know. Sometimes...” It looked to him like Jennifer might silently
implode. “Sometimes, it feels -” He took a breath. “It feels like there’s
something missing.”
The colour on Jennifer’s cheeks
changed, and she nodded and turned her back to him. She continued along the
climbers aisle, pulling the trolley gently along with her. They were walking so
slowly, it felt somehow like a funeral march. They were the pallbearers,
pushing the bier with the coffin on down the aisle. The thought struck him that
the coffin was empty but for The President, and an irrational urge to laugh
aloud overcame him. He emitted a loud stifled snort which made Jennifer look
up. She stopped walking and turned to him, holding onto the end of the trolley
with both hands.
“I’m not sure what to say to you,
Mark.” Her voice was steady, although he could tell it was taking a lot of
effort for it to remain so. “I could say that I understand what you are
feeling. That it's inevitable that you would feel like this at some point in
your life. Most people of our age have children. You were bound to feel
pressurised at some stage.”
“I don’t feel pressurised,” he
began.
“Or -”
He shut up.
“I could say that you are a
bastard to throw this at me now. At this stage in our life. When you know how
I feel about it. When I never left you under any illusion that I would have
children with you. When we’d made our choices. Or at least I thought we
had.”
“I’m sorry, Jen.” He began to
feel alarmed. She had spoken calmly, but he could see her knuckles had turned
white on the trolley. “Just forget it. Can we just forget I opened my mouth?
I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t want kids. The words just came out
of my mouth. Please. Forget it. I don’t want kids.”
She looked at him. Into him.
Then she turned, and they resumed their procession down the aisle, around the
corner, past the display of potted herbs.
“Maybe you don’t.” She spoke over
her shoulder so he could hear her. “But maybe you’re right. Maybe there is
something missing.”
Mark felt like the ground had
become unstable beneath his feet. His heart raced in his chest, and he stopped
walking, making her stop too as the trolley jerked her arm. She turned to him.
There seemed to be nothing to say. After a moment, he just went to her, and
held her to him. They stayed like that for a time, his arms around her, hers
limp by her sides. And then she sniffed loudly, and pushed him gently away,
before turning and walking on towards a huge display of purple lavender.
Author Bio:
It took ten years working as
an engineer on a landfill site, five years running a fashion boutique and one
year lecturing in waste management and recycling before 38 year old Sheena
Lambert from Dublin, Ireland, realised she was supposed to have been a writer all
along.
Her first novel, ALBERTA CLIPPER, was published in November 2012.
Now, in addition to raising two boys and making the dinner every day, she writes articles for a living, and is working on her second novel.
Sheena lives in Dublin, Ireland for the moment, but if she wins the lottery, you will find her in a little village somewhere in the south of France, making red wine.
Amazon
Connect with Sheena Lambert:
Theodore "Laurie" Laurence/Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (The Boy-Next-Door) I fell head over heels for sweet, generous, delightful Laurie the first time I read this wonderful book. He was the brother the March sisters never had. He participated in all their games, encouraged their dreams, provided support when they needed it, and was devoted to them, especially Jo whom he clearly cared for as more than just a friend. I will never forgive that silly woman for turning down his marriage proposal! Of course, her loss was Amy's gain. I've seen many versions of Little Women on the big and small screens, but I think Christian Bale was the actor who best captured the essence of the character. Since seeing his portrayal of Laurie in the 1994 film, he will always be Laurie to me.
Rhett Butler/Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (The Anti-Hero) I read this 960-page book when I was just 9 years old after having seen the movie on TV and becoming totally fascinated by the epic romance of sassy Southern belle Scarlett O'Hara and roguish blockade runner Rhett Butler. It was my crush on the snarky, arrogant, but still somehow vulnerable, Rhett that instilled an abiding love for bad boys in me. I think what I really fancied about Rhett was that he owned all of his imperfections. He profited off the war, he hung out in whorehouses, he made indecent proposals to Scarlett, and he did it all with a smirk and wink. He never apologized for his rascally behavior, nor did he regret it. He might have had a few pangs of conscience that caused him to run off and enlist after he witnessed the burning of Atlanta, but his tenure in the Confederate Army ended with him being arrested for stealing gold from his own side. Once a cad, always a cad! 
George Emerson/A Room with a View by E.M. Forster (The Romantic Soul) What's not to love about George Emerson? He's kind, gentle, chivalrous, and not afraid to be open about how he feels, which was quite unusual for men of his time (the Edwardian Era.) If Lucy Honeychurch didn't develop a tendre for George after he came to her rescue (catching her in his manly arms when she swooned in a Florentine piazza) and later, planted a passionate kiss on her in a field of violets, then she'd have to be a real cold fish, which she isn't (It's her dull fiancé Cecil who seems to lack a pulse.) Lucy does try to resist George, as he's not of her class, but in the end, love trumps all, as it should. SIGH
Henry Tilney/Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (The Fun-Loving Flirt) Brooding men are all well and good (see the aforementioned Darcy, Rochester, and Heathcliff), but I think a girl would have a better chance at a happy ever after with a guy like good-natured Henry. No, he doesn't have money (Second sons really got screwed back in the day, didn't they?) and he's got a family that would give one pause (His father is a rigid jerk who only cares about cold, hard cash, and his older brother is a bounder.), but what Henry does have is charm, a sense of humor, and a wonderfully positive attitude. He seems to really enjoy life and people and he's just a pleasure to be around. I love how he playfully teases Catherine throughout the book. And in the end, he proves to have real character, too, as he chooses to be with Catherine, although that means being disowned by his father. 
The Earl of Rule/The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer (The Jaded Aristocrat) - I've read 20+ Georgette Heyer novels and I've adored many of her heroes, but Rule is the one I always think of with a delicious shiver. He's in his 30s and has been around the block more than once when he's proposed to by Horatia, a 17 year-old girl from an impoverished, but well-respected, family. She amuses him, so he agrees and thus, their unusual union begins. Horry lets being titled and wealthy go straight to her head and proceeds to get into all sorts of scrapes, the worst of them being a flirtation with an old enemy of Rule's, Lord Lethbridge. I challenge any female to read the scene where a jealous Rule takes Lethbridge's place at a masked soirée so that he can play a tension-fraught game of cards with his clueless wife all for a lock of her hair and not feel like they need to call for their smelling salts! It's hot stuff as is Rule's eventual dual with the dastardly Lethbridge. One of my favorite actors, Richard Armitage, is the narrator of the audiobook version of The Convenient Marriage, and he is the perfect embodiment of Rule both in looks and voice. 
