Friday 25 November 2011

The One-Link Lowdown on.....Christine London!


I'm delighted to welcome writer Christine London as my guest today. A native of Chicago, Illinois, you'll now find her spending her days in the Californian sunshine, where she write her contemporary romance novels. Her latest release, which goes by the beautiful and evocative title When We Were Amazing, is now available from MuseItUp Publishing. Read on to find out more about this highly accomplished and thought-provoking writer.

Tell us three surprising things about yourself, one of which is a fib - and we'll try to guess the fib!

I am the cover model on two of my book covers - Sunninghill Snow and Soul In His Eyes.

I never read a romance before writing one.

I surf in Malibu and have on occasion run into celebs doing the same.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I would turn up my metabolism, both physical and personality. The physical one ranks as low as you can get without needing thyroid supplements. The personality one is an introvert who struggles to be the kick-arse gal that does crazy stuff in the name of adventure and research. Just do it, is my aspiration!

What single invention would change your life for the better?

The Star Trek series had an invention on the starship Enterprise that allowed the crew to push a button and give a voice command ordering anything they would like to eat. It was called the replicator. Just imagine the time saved in planning, shopping and preparing. Serious R&D needs to be put into this...lol.

What is your favourite sandwich, and where in the world is the best place to eat it?

It's true. The French make the best bread on the planet (closely followed by sourdough from San Francisco, but that is so good it needs to be eaten warm, crusty and alone--not as part of a sandwich) There are sidewalk vendors and pencil thin cafes that sell baguette sandwiches in Paris incorporating this life staple. Almost anything put on this bread tastes like heaven, so choose your poison. Walking along the Seine is not at all a bad place to partake of this wonder. Okay. I'll take one.

What would be your perfect day?

Sharing one of those baguette sandwiches, warm spring stroll along the Seine with Gerry Butler. Yeah, that Gerry Butler. I really need to speak with him, and not just the snippets we manage at too-crowded events. The man is often seriously over extended and could do with a bit of a slow down for a few hours to chat. Me too. Amongst the topics? Legacy: how, why, what. Evening meal of delicious Scottish food at a little restaurant I know that is all woodwork, dancing fire and charm. Good kind of tired from a long day's hike in the fresh air. Good conversation. Perfect.

What’s your favourite piece of music?

Instrumental (piano piece): the theme from the film Somewhere In Time. Ballad with lyrics: Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman. Now that lyricist 'gets it'. Can you tell I am a romantic? ;)

Which household chore would you happily give up for ever?

I should probably choose dusting because I am allergic to dust mites, but I will say toilet bowl cleaning. Need I expound as to why?

What’s your favourite fruit, and what's the best way to eat it?

Strawberries. Large, ripe, sweet, chilled - eaten by the stem out in the sunshine of a beautiful afternoon.

What drives you seriously nuts?

Ignorance. People who remain ignorant if they have access to information to alleviate that ignorance. People and circumstances that prevent the education that could alleviate ignorance. Most of the world's truly large problems and prejudices are a result of ignorance.

If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?

Remember that stroll with Mister Butler? Yeah, that. Anywhere without paparazzi, noise or interruptions would serve. Someplace peaceful and lovely preferred. How about along the shore of Loch Lomond in the shadow of Ben Lomond? A really beautiful place, that.

Thanks so much for being my guest, Christine, and for conjuring up so many vivid pictures for us. I'm inclined to agree with you about what drives you seriously nuts, and on a far lighter note, your perfect day sounds a lot like mine might be! Oh, and if you didn't guess, friends, Christine's fib is No. 3. She doesn't surf - though I have no doubt she could if she put her mind to it!

Find out more about Christine and her work here at her website, and if you're lucky enough to be in the Manhattan Beach area on December 4, pop into the Barnes and Noble store where she'll be doing a book-signing. Have fun, Christine!

7 comments:

  1. Lovely blog, Christine and Jane!
    I'm with you on the strawberries.
    Good luck with the book signing on dec 4th - hope you get lots of readers!

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  2. I'm also with you on the toliets! I love your blogs, both of you! I enjoy Christine's virtual tours so much and I love Jane's interviews, especially the "which one's a fib" question!

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  3. Christine--I love Jane's questions, and I especially enjoyed your answers. Congratulations on your release. I chose "that you are the model for your book covers," and now that I know the truth, all I can say is, "wow!"

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  4. Thanks for hosting me today, Jane. These were so fun to answer! I really enjoy out of the box thinking.

    Lindsay- the book signing is a fun raiser for a middle school trip to Washington D.C. and will be multi-authors--e-books as well as print offered. I just love it that brick and mortar stores are beginning to feature e-book authors as well as print. B&N will have their "Nook" reader prominent at this event.
    Gail- Thanks for being my blog fan. Travel is one of my favorite things to do. So enlightening and paradigm shifting. Oh, and since I wrote this, I did have a bit of a chat with Mr. Butler at a premiere. Such a lovely man. Still but a 'snippet', but hey--more than most. :)
    Celia, Yes and thanks. My webmistress (Alex Kent) has a professional photographer hubby. She is also a talented graphic artist, so the combo has been so much fun with great results. The pub that allows outside cover submissions liked her work more than what they could gather because we did not have to rely on stock photos, so could produce exactly the images we had in mind. Soul In His Eyes and Sunninghill Snow are her( and my)work-- Leap of Faith as an Alex Kent production.
    Thanks for dropping by!
    Christine London

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  5. Lindsay, Gail, Celia - thank you all for coming by to say hello to Christine and read all her answers, it's great to see you.

    Christine - I agree, much rather to be out of the box than in it with the lid firmly closed!

    Jane x

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  6. Ah, Christine, you are indeed a truly visionary romantic at heart. No wonder your writing sparkles. As I read your magical answers, my mind floated off to a pleasant garden in early evening, with the aromatic fragrance of myriad blossoms in the gentle breeze. Thanks for a few moments of dalliance!
    Pat Dale

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  7. Oh I detect another fib. Did the delightful Miss London not tell you how she is seriously addicted to the Greek Pita? How remiss of her.
    Another fib - what SERIOUSLY drives her nuts is when her critique partner bugs her every five minutes with....oh can you just read this bit...while Chris is struggling to complete her Nano task. No idea who that annoying person could be, of course. Nice interview, Jane.

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