GIVEAWAY – 3 copies of Christmas at the Board Game Café: YORKSHIRE
Coasteering* – Loved-up encounters in Pembrokeshire, Wales
11th March 2013
A Cottage by the Sea by Carole Matthews. Romance novel set in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
A scrumptious novel that bowls along as though carried on a warm wind off the Atlantic Coast (yes, it can be warm in Wales), set in Pembrokeshire, around beautiful Caerfai Bay.
Friends Grace and Flick bring their partners for a week’s holiday at Cwtch Cottage (prounounced Cutch Cottage), where they join Art and their third friend in the group, Ella, who owns the cottage. Set right on the coast, it is in an idyllic location and, as Grace remarks, “this has to be one of the loveliest places on the whole earth: miles of golden sand…..”.
Atmospheric log fires, brisk walks in thunderous downpours, hot chocolate, coves and caves, bays and beaches, rolling sea and Welsh seaside villages all form a beautiful backdrop to the narrative and the couple interactions. And all’s well that ends well between the six characters (not giving anything away here, as we know that Carole tends towards the feel good factor!!)
The Pembrokeshire Tourist Board should be well pleased with the beautiful evocation of this part of the country. As Grace comments: “The delights of Pembrokeshire seem to be overlooked in favour of Devon or Cornwall. Or Corfu”.
*Coasteering is a physical activity that encompasses movement along the intertidal zone of a rocky coastline on foot or by swimming, without the aid of boats, surf boards or other craft (Wikipedia)
AUTHOR Q & A
TF You describe Cwtch Cottage with such intimacy, we wonder if it is modelled on a place that you know? The book is clearly set in an area of Britain that you know well.
CM I saw a little, isolated cottage down by the sea when we were on holiday in Pembrokeshire and that was the inspiration for the book. I wondered what it would be like there if you went to somewhere so tiny and remote with friends who had secrets they were trying to keep. I actually don’t know the area all that well. I’m glad you feel that I did though, as that means that I’ve done my research well! It was the first time we’d visited, but I absolutely fell in love with it. It’s a great part of the UK. Would definitely like to visit there again.
TF How important is location when you develop your ideas for a book? You have, for example, already set “With or Without You” in the Himalayas, and “Wrapped Up in You” in the Maasai Mara, the book just transports the reader to this part of the world; and A Cottage by the Sea similarly takes us to Wales…
CM I’m quite often inspired by places and I usually find that, when you go there, they throw up extra ideas for the plot of the novel that I hadn’t considered. I love to travel and set my books in other countries. I hope that enthusiasm comes through in my writing. I take it as a great compliment when people say they’d like to travel to a place or country simply from reading how I’ve described it.
TF You describe “coasteering” with quite some relish. Is this something you have tried yourself? (If so, how did it go?)
CM I didn’t try it! I’m usually up for most things in the name of research but, being a chilly morsel, jumping into the freezing cold sea off the coast of Wales, didn’t appeal. I might have done it in the Caribbean though. Fortunately, we were with a group of friends who were more fearless and four of them went coasteering for the day. When they came back all buzzing, full of tales of their heroism, I thought it would be fun to incorporate into the book which had started to bubble in my brain.
TF Subtle interactions between each couple give the reader quite an intimate insight into the dynamics of each of the three relationships. Where do you get your inspiration for the couple dynamics in your books?
CM I love writing about the dynamics of relationships. I think part of being a writer is that you’re interested in how human beings operate in relation to each other. I’m also very fortunate to have had lots of tortured relationships in my past on which to draw! Now, I’m very happy to say, I’ve found my very own Noah.
TF Each character suits his/her name. How do you come up with the names in your books?
CM Names are always a terrible trial. As you say, the character has to suit the name perfectly and I spend hours trawling through two books of baby names that I have and then, if they don’t deliver, the internet. If I hear a name that sounds like a hero or a heroine, I always jot them down immediately. Some names just have the right ring and you don’t know it until you hear it.
Thank you to Carole for answering our questions. You can follow Carole on Twitter and connect with her via her website.
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