Please welcome my new guest Poppy Blake

Poppy's novels are based in the Windmill Cafe. Not only are her stories lovely and heartwarming to read, the book covers are a real pleasure to look at!

Hi Poppy.

Welcome to my blog.

Hi Carol, it’s great to be here. Thank you for having me as a guest.

I love the idea of the Windmill series.  Are you working on the ‘Spring Edition’?

Thank you! I’ve just finished editing the Christmas edition – The Windmill Café – Christmas Trees which is out on the 20^th September and features a fun Christmas tree decorating competition. There’s everything from trees with painted woodland animals, to tiny wooden windmills, to hand-made leather purses and bags. I love dressing our Christmas tree – I tend to overdo it, to be honest, but there’s nothing better than a thick necklace of tinsel to brighten up a room, is there? I’m not planning a spring edition at the moment, but you never know….

Where did the inspiration for the series come from?

My two favourite genres are romantic comedy and cozy mysteries, so when I sat down to create the community surrounding the Windmill Café I knew it had to have both these elements – an uplifting, fun-filled story with a twist of surprise thrown in for good measure. I’d had a fabulous holiday in Norfolk, visited a couple of windmills and the idea sprang from that – although I didn’t find one with peppermint coloured sails!

Do you have anything in mind for your next novel?

I’m busy planning my next series. It’s a great excuse to take a weekend break in a gorgeous part of the country in the name of research. For a change, I already have a title - for the first book at least. I usually leave that job to the last minute as I find it so difficult.

So many new writers are interested in how an author found a publisher.  What is your story?

I was really lucky! I’m not sure what to call it – fate, fortune, the alignment of the stars? When I finished The Windmill Café – Summer Breeze I decided to take a chance and send it to my first-choice publisher – the fabulous people at HarperImpulse. Would you believe that when my manuscript landed on my editor, Charlotte Ledger’s desk, she had just attended a relative’s wedding at a Windmill in Norfolk! What a coincidence!

What is your typical writing day?

I tend to write in the mornings, often long-hand in a notebook – any excuse to indulge in lots of pretty stationery. Then in the afternoons, I type up what I’ve written and edit as I go along. I don’t have a strict daily word count goal, but a good day would be around 1000 words.

Do you have a dedicated place where you like to write?

Much to my family’s irritation, I like to write at the kitchen table because it’s nearest to the kettle. I love to have a plentiful supply of tea and biscuits to fuel my imagination!

What would be your advice to new writers who wish to be published?

I think every writer is different, and what works for one person might not work for someone else. The best advice I was given when I started writing was ‘read a lot, write a lot, and persevere’. There’s lots of rejection associated with the life of a writer, new or established, you just have to pick yourself up, dust yourself down, and try again. There’ve been many very famous authors who had lots of rejections before they went on to make their name in the literary world.

Many thanks Poppy for coming along today. Good luck with your novels.

Thanks Carol, it’s been great chatting with you.

Love Poppy x

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