Hi Victoria,
I am so glad to have you here today! Your books look fabulous. I absolutely loved Italy and hope to go to some part of that wonderful country later this year – let’s kick things off with my questions…
1.) Do you use pictures as inspiration at the start of a book?
I tend to use photographs as an aide-memoire whilst writing rather than as a starting point. My books are all set in gorgeous Italian locations and so far I have concentrated on Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast, both areas I know well. I draw on memories of places and the feelings they evoke and that gives me my initial inspiration. I then slowly start imagining my characters: who lives there? who is visiting? how do they relate to each other? Once I have written a few thousand words I may refer to pictures. I flick through holiday photographs, recipe books and old guidebooks, and of course surf the internet, in order to remember the specific details of a particular beach, church or town square and sometimes those pictures inspire part of the narrative.
2.) What is your favourite period drama?
I write fairly down to earth characters with relatable problems and dilemmas but for period drama I like drama with a capital ‘D’. I want danger, life and death decisions, chisel-cheeked heroes and perfect heroines. I rewatched the 1965 production of Doctor Zhivago over Christmas, a big sweeping drama set during the Russian revolution. No screen heroine could be more beautiful than Julie Christie playing Lara. I want my heroes dark and brooding with an edge of mystery, preferably immortalised in black and white like Orson Welles in the original Jane Eyre.
3.) Are the titles of your books important?
An interesting question because the team at Orion Dash changed the title of my debut from my choice, The Poppy Print Dress to The Italian Holiday. They explained that digital-first books need titles that clearly identify the books to potential readers scrolling through dozens of titles on their phones. Once I got over the initial shock, I looked through my bookshelf (and online) and admitted that The Italian Holiday was similar to the title of other books in my genre. By the time my second book was retitled A Farmhouse in Tuscany I learnt to accept that my original titles were unlikely to see the light of day.
4.) If you’re struggling with a scene or difficult character, what methods help you through it?
I try to write in chronological order, but if I have to rewrite the start of a scene several times and still can’t make it work I add a one-sentence reminder of what needs to happen, something like ‘A confronts B at the harbour, X happens, B devastated’ then move onto the next scene. As more of the book gets written characters and story lines tend to evolve and eventually a solution emerges. To work out scenes on a day-to-day basis I walk or swim or even iron and imagine the scene as a movie in my head (sometimes speaking it out loud if there is no one around). That gets me on the right track. I have not had difficulty with a character because I feel I know my characters so well. Having said that, I am now bound to run into problems!
5.) Are you an early bird or a night owl?
My husband and colleagues would fall about laughing if I claimed to be a lark but I do like to start writing in the morning, preferably not long after breakfast. I definitely don’t work late; I rarely write after 9pm. I don’t know how Jeffrey Archer writes on other days of the week but apparently on Saturdays he writes two hours on, two hours off: 6-8am, 10-12, 2-4, 6-8pm. I would rather like to organise myself like that though I can’t see myself starting at 6!
6.) Who’s your favourite author? Why?
I had an Anita Brookner phase then an Anita Shreeve phase and now I am into American author Elin Hilderbrand. She, like the other two authors, is great at dissecting emotions and relationships and she tends to have quite a cast of characters. Most of her books are set on Nantucket so picking up one of her novels is like returning to a familiar holiday destination. I have just finished reading her recently published Paradise trilogy set in the US Virgin Islands.
7.) Do you have a pet peeve?
I would love to have £1 for every person who tells me: “J K Rowling got turned down by so-and-so / did so-and-so/ sells loads of books/ makes millions so why don’t you do this that and the other…”
8.) Can you tell me a little about your next project?
I won’t tempt fate by saying too much as I have not signed on the dotted line for my next books yet. I will be sticking to the same broad parameters: characters of all ages finding adventure, love and romance in evocative Italian settings. For book three I am going back to Tuscany again, but this time the action happens in an old walled town rather than a small village. The book I am currently writing takes my characters to a picturesque Italian island. I am excited for both books and will let you know any news when I can.
BLURB & BUY LINKS:
Under the Tuscan sun, the lives of three women are about to change forever…
Donna has been running the Bella Vista riding centre from her rambling farmhouse in Tuscany, taking in guests who enjoy the rolling Tuscan hills, home-grown vegetables and delicious pasta. It’s been a decade since her husband Giovanni walked out, convinced she was having an affair. When the truth finally comes to light, can everything return to the way it was ten years ago? Or is it too late to start over?
When self-confessed workaholic Harriet takes an impromptu holiday to Tuscany, she quickly discovers that the relaxing yoga holiday she had been anticipating will be anything but. She’s shocked when she’s asked to swap her yoga mat and leggings for riding jodhpurs and a helmet! But the longer she stays at serene Bella Vista, the more she begins to rethink the way she’s been living for so long…
Shy artist Jess has had a crush on Donna’s son Marco from the first moment she saw him. This is her second summer at Bella Vista, and while it is a riding holiday, Jess was secretly hoping to pick up where they left off last summer with an almost-kiss. But is Marco still interested or will this be a summer of sadness?
Perfect for fans of Nicky Pellegrino and Angela Petch, let Victoria Springfield whisk you away to to the sun-soaked hills of Tuscany.
http://smarturl.it/FarmhouseTuscany
http://hyperurl.co/ItalianHoliday
Mini biography:
Victoria Springfield writes contemporary women’s fiction immersed in the sights, sounds and flavours of Italy. Her feel-good stories follow unforgettable characters of all ages as they find adventure, friendship and romance.
Victoria inherited a love of Italy from her father. In 2015 she visited the charming seaside town of Minori, which inspired her first book, The Italian Holiday. Two years later she ‘eloped’ there to get married. After many years in London, she now lives in Kent with her husband in a house by the river. She likes to write in the garden with a neighbour’s cat by her feet or whilst drinking cappuccino in her favourite café, then she types up her scribblings in silence whilst her mind drifts away to Italy. Victoria’s books are published by Orion Dash. Her second, A Farmhouse in Tuscany came out in August 2021.
Follow Victoria:
Facebook: @VictoriaSpringfieldAuthor
Twitter: @VictoriaSWrites