Exclusive interview with author Emma Davies discussing her new novel about a woman trying to promote a restored Victorian farm as a retreat
Review by Gabrielle Pantera
“The BBC have recently run a series called the Victorian Farm,” says The Little Cottage on the Hill author Emma Davies. “The setting where this was filmed is only about five miles from where I live. It seemed the perfect opportunity to write a series based on a traditional farm which has fallen into disrepair and is now being renovated, thus following the lives and loves of all the people who come to live there.”
In The Little Cottage on the Hill, Maddie leaves London following a scandal at her PR agency. She scores a job to promote a new luxury holiday retreat in the country. However, when she arrives it’s far from luxurious. Maddie finds an oil painting by the original owner’s wife. The new owner Seth is secretive. As Maddie helps get the cottage on the hill ready, a secret from her past threatens her new-found dreams.
“With this book I wanted to encompass my interest in traditional crafts and rural skills,” says Davies. “I really enjoy writing seasonal books in evocative settings where I can fully explore my love of the countryside…its colours, sounds, sights and smells. I’m lucky enough to live in a beautiful part of England, so inspiration is never far away.”
“I find in the library that books have a habit of leaping off the shelves at me and providing just the thing I’m looking for, even if I don’t yet know what that is,” says Davies. “It’s a wonderful source of inspiration.”
“The inspiration for this series of books is a traditional Victorian farm,” says Davies. “So a visit here was a must. The Internet is an enormous help…gardening and in particular vegetable growing feature heavily throughout this series, as do rural crafts, such as thatching, blacksmithing and greenwood working. I spent a lot of time reading about these subjects and watching videos.”
The Little Cottage on the Hill is Davies’ fourth full-length book. Books five, six and seven will all follow this year as part of the same series. She’s written a series of four novellas.
Her debut novel, Letting in Light was shortlisted for the Joan Hessayon Award. Davies has no agent. Jessie Botterill at Bookouture is her editor.
Davies is currently working on the edits for book two of The Little Cottage on the Hill series, and at the same time writing book three. Books two, three and four will be published in May, August and October respectively.
“If you have an urge to create your own stories don’t put it off, start today,” says Davies. “Because you never know where it might lead. Go on, one word after another. And if you think you haven’t the time, just consider this…the average full length novel is somewhere around 80 to 100 thousand words. Sounds horrific, but if you write for just 15 minutes every day, you could add 200 words to your total, which each week becomes 1,400, which after 58 weeks becomes 81,200 words. So, in just over a year, that’s your first book right there, all from 15 minutes a day.”
Davies lives south of Shrewsbury, England, in Shropshire. She was born in Brackley, Northamptonshire.
You can find the author online at www.emmadaviesauthor.com. She is also active on Twitter and Facebook.
The Little Cottage on the Hill by Emma Davies
Paperback: 262 pages, Publisher: Bookouture (February 15, 2018), Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1786813503 $9.99
Exclusive interview with author Emma Davies discussing her new novel about a woman trying to promote a restored Victorian farm as a retreat
“The BBC have recently run a series called the Victorian Farm,” says The Little Cottage on the Hill author Emma Davies. “The setting where this was filmed is only about five miles from where I live. It seemed the perfect opportunity to write a series based on a traditional farm which has fallen into disrepair and is now being renovated, thus following the lives and loves of all the people who come to live there.”
In The Little Cottage on the Hill, Maddie leaves London following a scandal at her PR agency. She scores a job to promote a new luxury holiday retreat in the country. However, when she arrives it’s far from luxurious. Maddie finds an oil painting by the original owner’s wife. The new owner Seth is secretive. As Maddie helps get the cottage on the hill ready, a secret from her past threatens her new-found dreams.
“With this book I wanted to encompass my interest in traditional crafts and rural skills,” says Davies. “I really enjoy writing seasonal books in evocative settings where I can fully explore my love of the countryside…its colours, sounds, sights and smells. I’m lucky enough to live in a beautiful part of England, so inspiration is never far away.”
“I find in the library that books have a habit of leaping off the shelves at me and providing just the thing I’m looking for, even if I don’t yet know what that is,” says Davies. “It’s a wonderful source of inspiration.”
“The inspiration for this series of books is a traditional Victorian farm,” says Davies. “So a visit here was a must. The Internet is an enormous help…gardening and in particular vegetable growing feature heavily throughout this series, as do rural crafts, such as thatching, blacksmithing and greenwood working. I spent a lot of time reading about these subjects and watching videos.”
The Little Cottage on the Hill is Davies’ fourth full-length book. Books five, six and seven will all follow this year as part of the same series. She’s written a series of four novellas.
Her debut novel, Letting in Light was shortlisted for the Joan Hessayon Award. Davies has no agent. Jessie Botterill at Bookouture is her editor.
Davies is currently working on the edits for book two of The Little Cottage on the Hill series, and at the same time writing book three. Books two, three and four will be published in May, August and October respectively.
“If you have an urge to create your own stories don’t put it off, start today,” says Davies. “Because you never know where it might lead. Go on, one word after another. And if you think you haven’t the time, just consider this…the average full length novel is somewhere around 80 to 100 thousand words. Sounds horrific, but if you write for just 15 minutes every day, you could add 200 words to your total, which each week becomes 1,400, which after 58 weeks becomes 81,200 words. So, in just over a year, that’s your first book right there, all from 15 minutes a day.”
Davies lives south of Shrewsbury, England, in Shropshire. She was born in Brackley, Northamptonshire.
You can find the author online at www.emmadaviesauthor.com. She is also active on Twitter and Facebook.
The Little Cottage on the Hill by Emma Davies
Paperback: 262 pages, Publisher: Bookouture (February 15, 2018), Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1786813503 $9.99
