Peeking Between the Pages

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Q&A with Emilie Richards, author of Sunset Bridge & Giveaway

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Hi everyone, I’m pleased to welcome Emilie Richards, author of Sunset Bridge which released on June 28/11, to Peeking Between the Pages today. Sunset Bridge is a Happiness Key novel and I don’t know if any of you follow these books but they are delightful plus they have the prettiest covers! Her novels explore the relationships of women and you all know how much I love those kinds of books! Without further delay, let me share the interview I had with Emilie…

1. Can you tell us a bit about your newest novel, Sunset Bridge?

Sunset Bridge is the third in a trilogy, the final novel. While it stands alone, it’s fun to read the first two and catch up with the characters. All the stories take place in a shabby beachfront community in Florida ironically called Happiness Key. The women who inhabit the five houses are so different it seems impossible they might be friends. But sometimes life can be surprising.

2. What do you enjoy most about writing your novels – is it the coming together of women in friendship or something else?

I’ve loved exploring women’s friendship, particularly those of very different women thrown together by circumstance. While each woman has her own story, friendship itself is almost a character in the novels. It’s been a joy to emphasize how important relationships are in the lives of women and how they change us all

3. The covers on your novels are all so beautiful. Were you able to have any input on the designs at all?

I had a little, but my publisher’s art department outdid themselves on these. I want to sit on a beach every time I catch sight of one.

4. Where is your favorite place to relax and write your novels?

I’ve always thought people could be divided into “mountain” people and “beach” people. I no longer think that’s true. I sit squarely in the middle and love both. As for writing, though? I do my best work in my study without the fabulous distractions that nature offers everywhere.

5. Do you have any all time favorite books or authors? What book is currently on your nightstand?

I have too many favorites to list–and risk leaving out a friend. Right now I’m reading Diane Mott Davidson’s Crunch Time and listening to the audio of The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke. It’s no accident they are both mysteries, which I find most relaxing.

6. Can you share with us something about yourself that not a lot of your readers know?

I’m an enthusiastic cook who is phasing out meat in my diet and phasing in lots of vegetables and grains. I bake all my own bread and make most things from scratch and find this, along with gardening, quilting and knitting, great spurs to creativity.

7. If you have any spare time, what do you like to fill it with?

See #6.

8. Finally, are you working on anything new right now?

I’m working on a brand new series set in Asheville, NC, again about the friendships of women but with a different feel and twist. The first book will debut in August 2012.
__________

Emilie, thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. I love to cook as well as many of those who read my blog do! Gardening is another favorite – I love to watch the veggies sprout up and grow but the best part is my first taste of those fresh green and yellow beans! I’m really looking forward to reading Sunset Bridge!
__________

About the Book (from Emilie’s website)

Five very different women find friendship–and unexpected love–on the barrier island known as Happiness Key.

Former socialite Tracy Deloche has nothing to her name but five ramshackle beach cottages and the unlikely friendships she’s formed with her tenants: Wanda, the wise waitress turned popular pie-shop owner. Janya, the young Indian wife whose arranged marriage surprises her every day. Alice, a widow raising her complex tween-age granddaughter. Maggie, Wanda’s daughter, a former Miami cop with a love life as complicated as Tracy’s own.

The new man in Tracy’s life hasn’t mentioned love or commitment–and suddenly Tracy needs a big dose of both. Janya longs to be a mother–and inherits two young siblings to care for. Alice may lose her beloved granddaughter to someone no one expected. Maggie helps out at Wanda’s Wonderful Pies, but is the kitchen big enough for both Gray women when one of them is looking for a murderer?

As a tropical storm brews, the wind carries surprises and secrets over the bridge to Happiness Key. Now, more than ever, five friends will discover just how much they need one another.

Read an excerpt
Great for bookclubs – check out the Reading Guide
Buy Sunset Bridge on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca

About the Author


Emilie Richards is a USA Today bestselling author. She is a full-time writer, with over 60 published novels. Some of her novels are currently being filmed in New Zealand and will appear on German television. Though she has expanded her scope of writing to women’s fiction, Richards was awarded the RITA® Award, the Oscar® of the romance publishing world.

Emilie’s website
Emilie’s blog
Find Emilie on Facebook
Find Emilie on Twitter

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

I have one copy of Sunset Bridge by Emilie Richards to share with my readers. To enter…

  • For 1 entry leave me a comment with an email address to contact you should you win.
  • For 2 entries, follow my blog. If you already do, thank you, and please let me know in your comment so I can pass the extra entry on to you as well.
  • For 3 entries, blog or tweet this giveaway and spread the word!

This giveaway is open to US & Canadian residents only (no PO boxes) and I will draw for the winner on Saturday, July 23/11. Good luck everyone!

© 2010, Darlene of Peeking Between the Pages. All Rights Reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than Peeking Between the Pages or Darlene’s Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. This isn't my normal genre to read, but I find myself thinking this would make an excellent summer read!

  2. Lovely interview Darlene. She sounds like someone I would like to get to know 🙂

    My mother's family has always been strictly divided on the mountain beach issue — my mom was a total ocean person, couldn't abide the mountains, and her sister hated the sand, and spent every weekend and summer in the Poconos!

    I was not familiar with these books; they sound delightful, and you are so right about the covers 🙂

  10. Thanks for the giveaway. I follow on GFC under Bethie.

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

  13. I would love to read this! I am from Florida and love stories about women and how they bond and help each other tackle life's hardest obstacles. Thanks for the giveaway chance!
    candc320@gmail.com

  16. Sounds like a fun novel and author. I, like her, am in the middle of the "mountain-beach" debate. I love both.

  22. I love books about women's friendship and even better with a romance in it. It's watching the woman transform into a better person, lose themselves and find themselves all the while having the support of friends and the stability of a place, whether it is a beach, an isolated cottage or a town.

    GFC follower.
    Cambonified(at)yahoo(dot)com

  23. I love books about friendships between women and with a little bit of mystery thrown in, this book is a winner. I also love the setting, what can be the better than a beach?

    CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

  26. I also find the cooking does a lot to further my creativity, so I was glad to see that it does so for Emilie too. This sounds like an interesting set of books, and perfect for the summer. Thanks for sharing this interview with us today, Dar and Emilie. I'd love a shot at the book as well.

    zibilee(at)figearo(dot)net

  27. I'd love to read this. I have to check out the others in the series!

    quixoticdreamer(at)hotmail(dot)com

  36. I would love to be entered to win this book, I love her books.

    old follower on gfc

    mlawson17 at hotmail dot com

  43. Beachfront community – that sounds like heaven to me. I grew up in a house near the seashore.

    pboylehcharley (at) hotmail (dot) com

  45. I have never heard of this book before but I love the sound of it. I can’t wait to read it.

    hootowl1978 at gmail dot com

  49. I've never read anything by this author. I'd love to win her book.

    irbratb(@)gmail(.)com

  52. This book sounds great! I love murder mysteries! I like the fact that the landlord is friends with her tenants. Put me in for the giveaway!
    Pinchbuggies at hotmail.com

  55. Oh! Please enter me for this giveaway! I love Emilie Richards!

    I am a follower
    I posted it on my sidebar

    forevereading at gmail dot com

  56. I enjoy good women's fiction novels and this looks really good! Thanks!

    I am a GFC follower.

    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

  60. I would love to win a copy of this book! Thanks for the chance.

    nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net