Please say hello to Bridie Hall...
Welcome, so
great to have you here with us. Can you
tell us a little about yourself?
I’ve worked with books all my life. I studied
literature, I work as a translator, every spare minute I either write or read.
Apart from that, I love travelling and learning new things. I can give any
four-year-old a run for their money when it comes to being curious and eager
for new knowledge. I’m a foodie and I adore good wine.
Do real life
events find their way into your stories?
I’m sure the things I write about are real life
events in someone’s life, but I don’t usually write about something that has
happened to me. That might be because nothing really exciting ever happens to
me, so …
Do you ever
mimic family members or people you know when you choose characters?
Not deliberately, no, but I suppose some of it seeps
in sometimes. I will write a dialogue between two characters and on re-reading
it realize one of them has a speech pattern that resembles the pattern of a
friend or a mannerism of someone who stood in line in front of me at the post
office last week.
Do you find
yourself going back to the same inspiration for each story or is it always
something different?
Inspiration is different for each story, although
I’m noticing all my stories revolve around a few basic themes, such as love,
finding oneself, the need to feel accepted and appreciated etc. But inspiration comes from various places.
Perhaps the strangest one was when I read the word ‘apoptosis’ in a non-fiction
book and then wrote a whole story based on that. It revolved around autumn
foliage and corpses. I’m strange like that.
When do you
write? Early morning? During the day
sometime or all day? After the kids go
to bed?
I write whenever I can get some peace and quiet and
I don’t have any pressing tasks for my day job to finish. Most often, I write
early (very early!) in the morning. It’s not my favorite time to write because
I’m more of a night person, but that’s the quietest time in my house.
How do you feel
about marketing your book?
I feel … surprisingly excited about it and thrilled
to be doing this. I’m a shy person and I expected this all to be a burden
that’s just a necessary evil when having one’s book published. But so far
everyone’s been so nice, the book bloggers kind and eager to read Letting Go, I made new friends doing
this. All in all, it’s been an exceptionally positive and entertaining
experience.
What social
sites do you feel work best for marketing?
Twitter is perhaps the most useful (or personal)
when it comes to reaching the readers, if the author has a large following, of
course. I’m new to it, unfortunately. Otherwise, book bloggers or reviewers are
very good at spreading the word about new books through reviews and blog tours.
It also helps that MG and YA authors are all very supportive of each other.
That’s my experience so far anyway.
Do you like to
pitch stories to your publisher or do you wait until you have written the story
and have a final manuscript to turn in?
I like to first finish a book before submitting. My
huge weakness is that I work on several projects at the same time, and that
means that something that was started this year might not be finished until
2016 or later. I don’t think any publisher would be very happy with having to
wait that long. ;-)
Is there any
other genre that you would love to try writing?
If so, what is it?
Is there any that I wouldn’t? But seriously, I like
to stretch my writing muscles and try myself at different things. I tried
writing poetry, short stories, MG, crime stories, dystopian novels … I think
it’s important for a writer to step out of their comfort zone, not necessarily
writing things for publication, but just as an exercise. I’d love to write
humor because I think that’s one of the most difficult things to write and I’m
not very good at it.
Do you always/ever
see yourself as the heroine/hero when you write a story?
Never, but every time, inevitably, some of my
characteristics or views creep in. It annoys me, because it makes it difficult
to write interesting characters – it feels like all my heroines are the same.
Just for fun, I
have a few personal questions,
Favorite 5
1) Favorite Male Actor - I
think I was in high school when I was last asked that. Hm, let me think … I
don’t watch many movies, so I’ll go with a TV actor instead and say Jensen
Ackles because he’s easy on the eyes and
talented.
2) Favorite vehicle - airplane
3) Favorite way to relax – reading,
a glass of wine (together or separately, depends on the company or lack
thereof)
4) Favorite ice cream – depending
on the mood, if I need comfort, then chocolate, otherwise more fruity flavors.
5) Favorite outfit – a
swanky dress and a pair of kickass shoes
And for a
bonus: If you could pick any place in
the world to live, besides where you are now, where would it be? (Of course, without the hindrance of jobs or
money needed)
Australia (Melbourne, preferably)
Where can our
readers find you??
Twitter: @BridieHall13
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bridie.hall.12
Website/blog: www.bridiehallauthor.com
Amazon author
page: amazon.com/author/bridiehall
Is there an
upcoming or current release you would like to share with us today and where can
we find it?
Letting
Go by Bridie Hall
Blurb:
Isabella is left stranded at the airport, and her only chance of getting home is with her boyfriend's older brother, Harper. When this good girl and bad boy set off towards home, it turns out that maybe she's not such a good girl after all. And even bad boys have reasons for their bad behavior.
The road trip is full of shocking revelations and unexpected emotions, bringing the two of them closer than Isabelle ever thought possible.
Maybe too close.
Published by Evernight Teen, 24th January
2014
Excerpt
He grinned. “You’ll ask for
more, trust me.” He took off his jacket, so he was now in his short-sleeved
t-shirt.
“Right.”
From a drawer in the cupboard
to the left, he took out two black aprons with thin white stripes, handing one
to her. She watched him put on his, admiring how good he looked in it. The
apron suited him. She hadn’t expected that. He had boasted about being a good
cook, but she didn’t take him seriously, not really, and she didn’t expect him
to look so at home in a kitchen. Especially not a kitchen like this.
“What?” he asked when he
noticed her stare.
“Are you and Missy …?”
“Huh? No. We’re friends,
that’s all.”
“That’s a relief,” she
blurted. When he raised his eyebrows, she blushed. “I mean, you two earlier …” She
pointed towards the entrance and made a gagging gesture. When his astonished
eyes refused to leave her face, she busied herself with her apron.
“Are you sure you’re not
jealous?” he called after her. She marched into the kitchen as if she knew what
she was doing there.
“God, no!”
“Not even a bit?”
“I have a boyfriend,
remember? You might know him? His name’s Jamie?”
“A tiny tiny tiny bit?” He followed her.
She turned to him. She
couldn’t help but grin at his pleading expression. She liked how he was seeking
her attention. It felt good. In a bad sort of way.
“I knew it,” he said, but she
ignored him.
“Now what?” She looked around
at the vastness of the place. “This looks scary.”
“I’ll tell you what this
looks like—it looks sexy.” When she raised her eyebrows at him, he said, “I
meant you in an apron.”
“Stop it, Harper.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I thought we would cook,”
she said, confused, and jumped up to sit on one of the stainless steel
counters.
“Get off,” he said.
“Wha—” She didn’t manage to
finish as he grabbed her hand and pulled her off. “What was that about?”
“Never sit on the counters.
This is a kitchen, not your bedroom.”
His statement struck her as hilarious.
For a second, she couldn’t believe she’d heard right. He brought her here to
teach her how to not worry about
being proper and all.
She could see his shock when
she suddenly laughed. She couldn’t stop. It was too funny, but she managed to
mumble in between fits of laughter, “Prude.”
She stumbled back into a
cupboard, leaning on it for support, still laughing.
“Cut it out,” Harper said
next to her, but she could hear he was on the brink of laughing too.
“You gotta … admit … it’s
hilarious,” she squealed, trying hopelessly to get some air.
“It’s not,” he said. When she
stumbled again, he caught her. He was now laughing too, and they supported each
other like two drunks. They were a heap of laughter. Isabelle had tears
streaming down her cheeks and even when she managed to control the laugh, she
still hiccupped with mirth every now and then.
“I thought I told you to
stop,” Harper said, wiping her cheeks and clearing his throat.
When his warm fingers touched
her red cheeks, Isabelle sobered. “I think your purpose here was achieved. I
hadn’t laughed like that in ages,” she said and stepped away.
He let his hands that held
her seconds ago fall to his sides.
“It felt good,” he said,
subdued. “But we’re nowhere near done. Get a bowl and search for vanilla beans;
we’ll be making panna cotta.”
“What’s that?” Her ignorant
question stopped him dead in his tracks.
“You don’t … Never mind.
You’ll see.”
“Why aren’t we making peas
and cheese tart since you already offered to make it?”
He turned and walked back to
her. “That’s for another time. We don’t want to get nostalgic and sad now.”
“I wouldn’t …”
“You’re underestimating the
power of food,” he said, cutting her off, and then added, “We’ll make something
sexy, instead.”
“Food isn’t sexy, no matter
what this panotta is,” she countered.
“Panna
cotta, Isabelle. Panna cotta.” He
rolled his eyes at her, and she wasn’t sure whether it was because she didn’t
know what panna cotta was, or because she thought food couldn’t be sexy.
Halfway
towards the door with a ‘Storeroom’ sign on it, he turned, grinned, and said,
“I never thought prudes could be sexy.” His dreamy eyes travelled the length of
her body and stopped on her face. “But look at you …”
When he
returned with two articles in his hands, she was still standing in the same
spot. She hadn’t yet recovered.
“We’re
strapped for time, so we’ll improvise,” he said.
Improvisation
sounded bad, was Isabelle’s first coherent thought in the last five minutes.
Really bad.
“Put two
teaspoons of this—it’s gelatin—” he handed her the larger container “—into a
small bowl and add four spoons of cold water.”
She held
the container gingerly, following Harper’s moves around the kitchen with her
eyes instead of doing what he’d asked. She had no idea what gelatin was.
“What?”
He stopped in his tracks when he noticed she didn’t budge from her spot.
“Bowl?”
she peeped.
“In that
cupboard.” He pointed. He looked all business now. Relaxed, but focused.
Isabelle couldn’t help but admire him. It was as if he had washed his sarcasm
off of him as he washed his hands in the sink before he went to work. He seemed
like he was enjoying this, like he felt at home in the kitchen. He looked sexy
in his jeans, the black apron, his hair mussed and his defined biceps showing
under his short sleeves.
She
shivered, placing the container on the countertop. “I need to make a phone
call,” she muttered.
One last thing before we let you leave us today. Do you have a favorite recipe you'd
like to share? I like to cook and am
always looking for new recipes to try and share.
Cottage
cheese cake
8 leaves of gelatin
1 package of instant vanilla pudding (40 g)
2 cups of milk
1/2 cup of sugar
2 1/2 cups of cottage cheese
1 cup of heavy cream
1 cup of mixed fresh berries
3 tablespoons of powdered sugar
Soak the gelatin in cold water for ten minutes. In the meantime, prepare pudding,
using the pudding powder, milk and sugar, following the instructions for the
pudding.
When the pudding is ready, wring the gelatin out
and add to the hot pudding. Stir for the gelatin to dissolve. Put the pudding
aside and let it cool. Stir it occasionally.
Into the cool pudding, slowly add the cottage
cheese. In a separate
bowl, whip the cream until thick and firm and then add into the pudding mix. Pour
the mixture into a cake mold. Shake it a bit so that the mixture evens out. Put
it into the fridge for three hours.
Carefully remove the rim of the mold and place the
cake onto a large plate. Wash and dry the mixed berries and then decorate the
cake with them. Dust it all with powdered sugar. Serve and enjoy!
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