I would have preferred catching up with you in Rome, but a funny thing happened on the way to the Forum!!!!
So instead, here I am asking you to start by telling me if it’s scones and tea or some other homemade delight you have whipped up today.
Turkish Delight and French Earl Grey tea. Well, I opened the container of Turkish Delight all by myself, and if you don’t want tea, I’ve a very nice Sav Blanc chilling. And the cheese to go with it.
(Would a bit of each be seen as greedy or polite? I’m going with polite!)
At home…
My mum says garden gnomes make a house a home! Are you loud and proud in your love of garden gnomes at home, a closet gnomer or with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?
Gnomes’ longevity would be severely reduced around our two dogs. Their tails are weapons of gnomic genocide. I guess that’s a ‘no gnome zone’. But I did snap this fellow in Capri, while climbing up to Tiberius’s palace.
What vegetable (or fruit) have you always wanted to grow at home?
Beetroot—love it finely shredded raw in salads or roasted in winter.
(And how wonderfully it doubles as lipstick!)
If I came to your home and looked in the refrigerator, what would I find?
A bottle of wine, cheeses, and lots of fresh vegies. And leftovers—I can’t get past cooking for four, but there’s now just two of us at home.
(Happy to move in if it helps. We can talk all night about writing and Italy, wine and cheese… Happy, happy days!)**
If you sorted your wardrobe by colour, what colour would stand out? (Ahh, do you sort your wardrobe by colour?!)
Not by colour but dresses go together, then skirts, then tops…get the picture? As for colour—I’ve gone black, white and red recently, but there’s still blue amongst that lot.
(The essential black with lots of red, white, some blue. How very patriotic!)
What are you wearing now? (Be honest!)
Just home from work so black and white dress, but I’ve kicked off the red wedges. Love high heels!
Whose home would you like to housesit and why?
Bill Gates—I’d get to play with all the cool gadgets. He might not be too impressed at the changes I’m sure I’d manage to make in the settings of everything though.
Country curiosities…
We love a sunburnt country (slip, slop, slap and all that). What’s your ideal hat? Or are you a boots person?
Boots for sure. I’d love to be able to wear hats like Audrey Hepburn in ‘My Fair Lady’ but I don’t have the face for it. On the other hand/foot, I’ve got a gorgeous pair of red boots, suede and leather with a leather lace decoration.
If you were a tree (or animal) what kind of tree (animal) would you be?
You know they say… if you had a roomful of monkeys at typewriters, eventually they’d write a Shakespearean play. Well, I wanna be ‘that’ monkey and go ape with writing!
Now for the big question… Why did the chicken cross the road?
Clyde was chasing it (he’s our Welsh Springer Spaniel). I doubt the chicken made it…
(Lucky Clyde. Unlucky chook!)
About you…
Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realized that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?
Well, with just one book, White Ginger, to be released on January 7th, I wouldn’t claim writing is my bread and butter just yet. But when I got that phone call, my dream became much closer.
(I love that title.)
What is the hardest part of writing for you?
Time when the day job doesn’t dominate. So far, beginnings seem to jump out and tackle me, saying “Write me, write me!” Getting the time to nut out the middle and stop my inner editor intruding is harder.
If someone was to write your biography, what do you think the title should be?
“In the Still of the Night”. Apologies to Cole Porter. That’s usually when ideas hit me. And he wrote this song about the greatest love of his life.
(Love Cole Porter. You are the only person I know under 70 who knows his work! Add music to ‘happy days above’!**)
What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you answer that question?
Q: If you had your time over again, what would you choose to do?
A: I’d start writing earlier and I’d be an archaeologist. Or a pianist/composer (if only I’d learned the piano)
Fun stuff…
What does your protagonist think about you? Would he or she want to hang out with you, the author, his/her creator.
I have a suspicion Amelie and I would get on very well because she has a wacky sense of humour too and we have a similar approach to shopping (erratic). As for Arne (Keanu)—he’s a marine biologist and I’m a hopeless swimmer. But I’d listen to his stories of the Islands of Hawaii hour after hour. Sorry Amelie—you’ll just have to share him for a bit. You can have him all to yourself on your honeymoon. Promise!
(Huh! Never trust a writer, Amelie. You might find yourself written out quick smart!)
If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?
One of the scientists on the space station—I’d love to see the Earth from space and experience zero gravity.
If I said to you, “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk,” what would you do?
I hope you have my taste in music. I’d pour a wine and play: “Let me entertain you…”.
(LOL I think we have a theme song – ‘Days of Wine and Roses’!)
What food would you be?
Citrus pie—I can be a bit tart at times!
What was the best thing before sliced bread?
Pizza! (Cut me some slack here—I’m not long back from Italy!)
(I totally agree, especially traditional Italiano pizza. So simple and so tasty.)
Name 5 uses for a stapler that has not staple pins.
Just one—a tack hammer. After that, it’s pretty much a goner.
How weird are you? Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (not) to 10 (very).
When I’m in full flight teaching Shakespeare, my students would tell you I’m a 10. At other times, 3 or 4. No, Effie, don’t give me that Moonlight Martini. I’m trying to be ‘normal’ here!
Susanne’s debut romance novel, White Ginger, will be released on January 7th, 2013 by Lyrical Press and will be available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other online booksellers. For more information about Susanne: www.susannebellamy.com
About White Ginger
Arne recognised his soul mate the moment he saw Amelie, but he is engaged in a David and Goliath battle against a big developer and the resort that will impact on the reef that protects Arne’s small community. The developer, who has taken Arne’s ex-fiancée, plays dirty, using sabotage, assault and kidnapping.
Their tactics force Amelie to confront her worst phobia to keep Arne safe. Life with Arne is one dangerous adventure after another, jolting Amelie’s boring, predictable life to its foundations. And Arne’s kisses set the fire that blazes through her newly awakened passions.
When Amelie’s life is endangered by her involvement with his work, Arne races to save her.
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