Today's interview is with Alison May, and there is a giveaway of her new book at the end.
Welcome!
1. Who is Alison May?
I am. Me. Here. Er.... ok, already these questions are tricky, tricky and weirdly existential.
I’ll try again. Hi. I’m Alison May. I’m a writer and writing tutor, and I live in Worcester. I write romantic comedies which are sometimes described as dark, or gritty, or edgy, and sometimes described as chick lit. I tend to give the chick lit people a bit of a hard look.
2. What is your new book, Midsummer Dreams about?
It’s about four people with very messy lives, and one night that changes everything for all four of them. The main characters – Emily, Dominic, Helen and Alex – are all very different from each other, but all unhappy with their lives in some way. Midsummer Dreams is about all of them trying to work out what might fix their unhappiness, with varying degrees of success. And there’s a sword fight. And maybe a donkey.
3. It feels silly to ask this (cos duh), but what was the inspiration behind the book?
What do you mean ’it feels silly to ask’? What? What do you mean, there’s a play with a similar title... really?? Who knew?
Seriously, of course Midsummer Dreams is based on A Midsummer Nights’ Dream, but you definitely don’t need to be a fan of the play to understand what’s going on in the book. If you do already love the play though, hopefully you’ll find lots in the book that you recognise from the play, and a few little surprises as well.
4. Was it hard to get all the pieces to fit together, and still write something new?
Honestly? Yes. There were at least seven points were I decided that the whole idea was impossible. I write realistic contemporary stories set in modern Britain. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is set in a forest next to a sort of semi-mythical version of Athens, and it has fairies, and ten (I think!) main characters, and a bit where a bloke gets turned into a donkey. With the best will in the world it’s a tiny bit tricky to get all that into an average night at the pub.
But problems and constraints like that force you to be creative and try to think differently about how you make the novel work as something new and original. Hopefully I pulled it off!
5. Are you working on something new right now?
At the moment I’m just finishing the third novella in the Christmas Kisses series. Over the last two Christmasses I’ve told the stories of Holly and Sean, in Holly’s Christmas Kiss, and then Cora (Sean’s ex) and Liam in Cora’s Christmas Kiss. At the moment I’m working on Holly’ best friend, Jessica’s, story, so for the third year in a row I’m listening to Christmas tunes at my desk in the middle of June.
6. And last, 5 words why this is the book to read this summer.
Romance. Jealousy. Magic. Empowerment. Donkey.
Thanks!
Giveaway
1 e-copy of Midsummer Dreams
1. Open to everyone in the universe
2. Ends July 2nd
3. Enter by commenting
PS. As always, if I can't find your details, I can not find you.
Blurb for Midsummer Dreams
Four people. Four messy lives. One night that changes everything …
Emily is obsessed with ending her father’s new relationship – but is blind to the fact that her own is far from perfect.
Dominic has spent so long making other people happy that he’s hardly noticed he’s not happy himself.
Helen has loved the same man, unrequitedly, for ten years. Now she may have to face up to the fact that he will never be hers.
Alex has always played the field. But when he finally meets a girl he wants to commit to, she is just out of his reach.
At a midsummer wedding party, the bonds that tie the four friends together begin to unravel and show them that, sometimes, the sensible choice is not always the right one.
Buying Links:
Author Bio
Alison
May was born and raised in North Yorkshire, but now lives in
Worcester with one husband, no kids and no pets. There were goldfish
once. That ended badly.
Alison has studied History and Creative
Writing, and has worked as a waitress, a shop assistant, a learning
adviser, an advice centre manager, and a freelance trainer, before
settling on 'making up stories' as an entirely acceptable grown-up
career plan.
Alison is a member of the Romantic Novelists'
Association, and won the Elizabeth Goudge Trophy in 2012. She writes
contemporary romantic comedies, and short stories.
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