This week's Spotlight is on author Annie O'Neil and her latest release Doctor...to Duchess? There will be giveaway of a Kindle copy of Doctor...to Duchess? to one commenter!
Annie
spent most of her childhood with a leg draped over the family rocking
chair and a book in her hand. Novels, baking, movies and writing too
much teenage angst poetry ate up most of her youth. Now, quite a few
years on from those fevered daydreams of being a poet, Annie splits her
time between corralling her husband (and real life Scottish hero) into
helping her with their cows or scratching the backs of their rare breed
pigs and spending some very happy hours at her computer writing.
Annie O'Neil on the web:
Annie is
my pen name as Ann is my middle name and all of the stories obviously
come from me. O’Neil is my grandmother’s maiden name. She was both a
nurse and a romantic. Given that I write romantic medical stories - I
figured it would be the perfect tribute to one heck of an amazing woman.
What are a few things we would find in or on your desk?
My desk is like
a magnetic zone for quite a gamut of things. There are some great fake
plastic teeth just in case I want to freak out my husband. I have a
Romantic Novelists’ Association mug sitting there - reminding me I
haven’t sent it to a fellow author and friend (ooops!), a now empty bowl
that had my breakfast yoghurt in it. A half eaten packet of pretzels
and hand lotion. ALWAYS hand lotion.
What motivates you to write?
Anything and everything. I’ve always had a
fevered imagination and having a way to channel it? Absolute bliss.
Share something about yourself no one else knows?
Oh, dear! Then it
wouldn’t really be secret anymore, would it? I have a closet passion for
flip flops. With flowers on top. The flowery, the better. Love them.
Tell us about your book…
Doctor…to Duchess is actually the third in,
not so much a trilogy - but a collection of stories very loosely linked
that travel around the globe. This one brings us to a beautiful village
in the North of England - one of those magical chocolate box varieties
with stone cottages and beautiful flowerbeds and - of course - a
gorgeous stately home complete with a cottage hospital run by our
heroine Julia MacKenzie. She has just settled in the village - and the
tiny hospital - only to discover the Duke’s son, Oliver, is home from
working with Medecin Sans Frontieres to decide whether or not to sell
the entire estate. If he wasn’t so…so perfectly perfect…it would make it
MUCH easier to go to war with him. Without letting her heart get in the
way, she has to show him how this tiny village hospital is every bit as
important as the work he does overseas. Will Oliver overcome the
painful events of his childhood enough to see his inheritance in a new
light?
A Kindle copy giveaway of Doctor...to Duchess? to one commenter!
Congratulations on the release!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nancy! I am really excited about this one - I hope you enjoy it if you get a chance to read!
DeleteLooks like an awesome story.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. I really loved writing it. If it was real, I would've demanded some sort of research weekend/week/life??? there...Not that I had a crush on Oliver or anything weird like that!
DeleteHello, Annie! Congrats on your latest release.
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you very much indeed! I Hope you enjoy it. And cake, of course!
DeleteThe little cottage hospital sounds really unique.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary! I have to confess, there is one (albeit a bit bigger than the one in St Bryars) about ten miles away. I've never been in - but I think it looks wonderful. I superimpose reams of climbing roses on it every time I drive by.
Deletecant wait to read this book!
ReplyDeleteWhat great news! I can't wait for you to read it. Do feel free to write and let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy x A
DeleteThe book sounds lovely, Annie.
ReplyDeleteHi, Nas:)
Why thank you Sandra. I do hope you enjoy. Best - Annie O'
DeleteCongrats to Annie. I love when people create pen names from names of family members. I think it's really sweet.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kelly! I thought it was a fitting tribute to my romance loving Grandmother. She would've eaten these up with a spoon. A big one! x A
DeleteI am glad to see you out and about and taking the trip across the blogs with Nas, It will be great. Your book sounds amazing and your desk sounds cleaner than mine. Then again, mine has cats. Enjoy the ride!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jacqui! It feels delightful to be here! My desk, I can assure you, requires some excavating each and every day. I don't have cats - but I do have a Bernese Mountain Dog called Jorja who has taken to lying underneath it. Doesn't really leave all that much room for feet!
DeleteLove how you came up with your pen name! And flowery flipflops are wonderful things :)
ReplyDeleteMeradeth - I am pleased you agree. They ARE wonderful. I used to have this AMAZING pair a friend found for me in Thailand with these huge opulent red roses on them and then the unthinkable happened. They broke. I cried. Bleak day in the house. Bleak.
DeleteAnnie, I love the way you've segued Medicin sans Frontiers into the story. One of my favourite charities. Sounds intriguing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting Annie, Nas. A great interview as always.
Denise:-)
Thanks Denise. I think the work of Medicin sans Frontiers is amazing, too. I have been trying to think of a romance with two people doing that work - but have yet to find the perfect recipe. Nas gives great questions, doesn't she? x Annie
DeleteYou sound awesome and so does Julia Mackenzie.. I'll be buying this one.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lucy! That means a lot. I wanted Julia to be my friend. I have all sorts of nicknames for her and if she was real we would definitely, definitely do a really grubby fun run together. Then eat cake. Enjoy! x Annie O'
DeleteWhat a great background...I do hope he sees how important the hospital really is... it sounds like a really good story xox ♡
ReplyDeleteOooo - I hope you think so....and you have a fabulous name by the by! Enjoy! X Annie
DeleteSounds like my kinda book. If I don't win it, I reckon I'm gonna have to buy it!
ReplyDeleteYou've gotta love someone who has fake teeth on her desk. :)
Ha! Thanks Susan. I find them most convenient. What I am wondering...is where the other three pairs from my Super Pack have gone....
DeleteThe setting and characters sound wonderful. Congrats to Annie.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Medeia! I hope you enjoy it. x Annie
DeleteSounds like an interesting series of books! So fun to learn more about Annie and how she got her pen name. When I first started reading her bio- it sounded almost like a book blurb. What an interesting life! :)
ReplyDelete~Jess
Thanks Jess! I have to confess to being deeply prejudiced - but I hope you like the books as much as I enjoyed writing them. All the best x Annie
DeleteCongratulations on the release!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Annie!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Annie. Your book sounds like a sweet read. :-)
ReplyDeleteLove the premise for this book! Sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteWow! This book sound exciting. Love the interview, too, Annie, although I can't wear flip-flops. I need a strap across my instep. Thanks for sharing this with your followers, Nas.
ReplyDelete