FAVOURITES By LINDA MITCHELMORE

Favourites.....we all have them, whether it be a food, a drink, a flower, a place or a friend. Or a book? A book we wrote ourselves, perhaps? I've had four novels and two novellas published now (with a signed contract on another novel - ALL THE BLUE SAPPHIRES - for which I'm waiting for edits). I've been asked to blog on numerous blogs as each book or novella got to publication day.I've only ever been asked to answer questions about a particular book, its characters or setting, its plot or, perhaps, the inspiration for the story. I've never been asked to compare one of my books against the others as many top-name authors are in one-page interviews in magazines like Woman's Weekly Fiction Special and Good Housekeeping. (In your dreams, Linda!)Our books are our babies, aren't they? How can you compare? We don't compare our children, or admit to loving one more than another, do we? But don't we all have a soft spot for the child (or book) who struggles; the one who doesn't, perhaps, achieve as the others achieve? So....I am asking myself the question - 'Which was your favourite book to write, Linda?' I can answer in a heartbeat - RED IS FOR RUBIES. It's a contemporary novel, set in the glorious South Hams in Devon. It is written around the world of art(ceramics and paintings) and has no less than four love stories running through it. There is lost, but never forgotten, love. There is the desire to love again having once been burnt. There is lust at first glance that turns into love. There is love that dies in an instant with a very public revelation. And this book has its dark themes running through it as well - mental health issues and deafness. In this book my main female character is older than those in my other books. She is almost fifty and perhaps that's the reason it's not selling nearly as well as my other novels and novellas. Hugely successful saga writer, June Tate, gave me a glowing review for RED IS FOR RUBIES - with which I am thrilled. Somebody loves my Lydie and Ralph, Jonty, Becca, Grace, Drew, and the others. They were all very real to me when I was writing them and in my heart I believe this book has more emotional depth than the others. I still believe in Lydie and I know women of a certain age will equate to her life, her problems, her reasons for doing what she does. Like that child who struggles at sport, or academically, or in relationships, I'm not giving up on her yet!