Coming up roses

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We’ve had a very mixed week weather-wise in the UK but, on Friday, the sun came out and it was glorious.   The fields were gold and green, and there were masses of sloe berries in the hedgerows.  I love their deep blue bloom.

We visited one of my favourite villages – Turville.  Tucked away in the rolling Buckinghamshire countryside, Turville is a hidden gem with pretty cottages and a rather famous windmill that was the home of the Potts family in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  The village has also had a staring role inn The Vicar of Dibley, An Education and The Shell Seekers and it isn’t hard to see why beacuase it really is the perfect English village.

I have a weakness for roses and here are two beauties I spotted in Turville.  Aren’t they glorious?

There are few things more quintessentially English than a country cottage with roses around the door!

A perfect English summer’s day

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I adore old houses especially big, old country houses and I’ve set quite a few of my books in them too.  So, this week, on a perfect summer’s day, I met up with fellow author, Melanie Rose, and visited Hatchlands Park which lies deep in the Surrey countryside – just a stone’s throw away from Emma Woodhouse’s Box Hill.

Hatchlands has the most amazing collection of keyboard instruments and we saw one that had once belonged to Marie Antoinette.  We marvelled at the collection before walking across the parkland and having tea and cake in the stable courtyard.  This part of the estate reminded me of my book, A Weekend with Mr Darcy, and my hero Dan Harcourt who lives in a room below a clock tower.

 

It was a lovely summer’s day and it thoroughly recharged the batteries and I now have all sorts of ideas for the latest country house in a new novel of mine …

Summer Magic!

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I’m delighted to announce that you can now download and read my three fantasy rom coms on Kindle: Flights of Angels, Three Graces and Irresistible You (previously published as Unmasking Elena Montella).  These three books have only been published in Germany so far where Flights of Angels was made into a film in 2008.  But this is the first time they’ve been available in the English language.  And there’s a special offer for August 2011 – all three books are available for just 86p.  Happy reading!





Preview or download Flights of Angels by Victoria Connelly Preview or download Three Graces by Victoria Connelly Preview or download Irresistible You by Victoria Connelly

Your Cat

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I adore animals and I love writing about them too. I’ve written about dogs, horses, chickens and – most recently – cats! If you’d like to read my latest short story featuring a very cute cat, take a look at the August edition of Your Cat magazine.

Kindle Surprise!

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I’m delighted to announce that I’ve just published two books on Amazon Kindle.  The first is my fantasy rom com, Flights of Angels.  As some of you know, Flights of Angels was published in Germany after fierce bidding between five publishers.  It was also made into a film in 2008.  This is the first time it’s been published in the English language and I hope my readers think it’s worth the wait!

As an added bonus, there is also a collection of short stories called One Perfect Week.  It’s all very exciting and I’m absolutely delighted with the covers designed by my talented husband, Roy!

Flights of Angels by Victoria ConnellyOne Perfect Week and other stories by Victoria Connelly

Click on the covers to read more – or visit:

Victoria Connelly’s Author Page at amazon.co.uk

In Austen Country

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Saturday was a very special day for me because I had two talks in Hampshire – the county of Jane Austen!  The first was at the West Meon Festival.  West Meon is a gorgeous village in the heart of rural Hampshire and the church was decorated with bunting and there was coffee and cake for everyone.

I have never given a talk in a church before and I have to say that I was a little anxious that I might have to speak from the pulpit!  Fortunately, this wasn’t the case and I was given a magnificent seat on a small stage in front of a beautiful altar.

Then it was on to Jane Austen’s House Museum at Chawton.  I was so honoured to be speaking about my Jane Austen trilogy at the very home of my idol.  The room was packed and there were dozens of questions for me to answer at the end and the biggest queue for a book signing I’ve ever had!  I have to say that Austen fans are the loveliest people ever!

Now it’s back to the desk where I’m cooking up a lovely surprise for my readers.  Keep in touch to find out what it is later this week …

Locations, Awards and Austen Heroes!

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It’s been an incredibly busy week and I’ve managed to spend a good deal of it away from the desk which is always a bit of a treat.  On Tuesday, I met up with writer pal, Sam Mills, in Notting Hill where we had a bit of a location tour – finding the travel bookshop which inspired the one in the Richard Curtis film as well as posing outside the famous blue door which is now black and a bit scruffy!

Then, on Wednesday, I had the pleasure of attending Compassion in World Farming’s ‘Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards’ ceremony which took place at the ‘Temple’ in the Freemason’s Hall in London – an incredible room full of symbols straight out of a Dan Brown novel.  And there was a wonderful moment when Ben and Jerry’s accepted their award and came in accompanied by a pantomime cow!

Finally, on Thursday night, it was the HarperCollins Summer Party which was held at the Orangery in Kensington Palace – a stunningly romantic venue.  It’s always lovely to meet fellow authors and do a bit of star-spotting too and I was completely over the moon to meet  a real Jane Austen hero – actor, Dan Stevens, who played Edward Ferrars in the recent Andrew Davies adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.

US Publication!

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Today is a very exciting day for me because A Weekend with Mr Darcy is published in the US.  This is the first book of mine to be published in America and I’m just a bit in love with the cover:

It’s totally different from my UK cover which I also love for its sweetness and humour.  I feel very lucky to have two very pretty covers!

Worcestershire Literary Festival

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On Saturday, I had the pleasure of speaking at the Worcestershire Literary Festival.  It was especially exciting to travel to Worcester because I studied English Literature at the university there.

The lovely venue had sweeping steps, grand columns and fine portraits – very fitting for my talk about Jane Austen.

The audience was lovely and there were plenty of questions afterwards.

It was then on to Waterstone’s to sign some books.  I was made so welcome by the staff there (thank you, lovely Cara!) and I have never seen so many of my books together before!

My books were in very good company too with Fiona Walker, Lucy Worsley and Dom Joly already having signed copies on display.

It was a lovely day and a real pleasure to meet Glenn and Angela James who run G & A Presents.  If you’re in the Worcester area, take a look at their website.  They have some fabulous events planned including a Gothic & Horror Festival.  Wish I lived closer!

As seen on TV!

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What a strange experience it is to see yourself on television!  This week, I appeared on Channel 5’s The Vanessa Show talking about whether romance is dead (if it is, I’m out of a job!)  It was a heart-racing experience being in front of all those cameras.  I’ve only ever done radio before!  But I’m glad I did it.  It was a lot of fun and I really like my ‘TV hair’ even though hubby didn’t recognise me when I came home!

Here I am in make-up – just look at those curls! 

And here I am on the set with fellow guest, Wayne Sleep:

Then it was time to swap roles when I joined the queue to meet another author at a book signing – adventurer, Bear Gylls.  Boy – if I get a queue like his for my upcoming book signing in Worcester, I’ll miss my train home! 

Here I am all star-struck!

Storytime with the Hens!

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They say never work with animals but we couldn’t resist putting this little video together with the hens!  I hope you enjoy it.  And don’t forget that there’s a fab promotional offer to buy The Perfect Hero and A Weekend with Mr Darcy on Kindle this week.  I’m also appearing on The Vanessa Show tomorrow talking about all things romantic, and speaking at the Worcestershire Literary Festival this Saturday.  It’s going to be quite a week!