Today I am lucky enough to host a guest post from Katey Lovell - the author of the 'Meet Cute' series. Katey is one of the first bloggers I met in person, and she is a DIAMOND, so I was super pleased for her when she announced that her short stories were going to be published by Harper Impulse. I've read the first - The Boy in the Book Shop - and it is a deliciously romantic bite-sized read, that left me wanting to know more about the couple...do they date? Do they get married? Is he actually not a lovely, geeky, bookshop boy but something else entirely? Now I'm looking forward to all the other 'Meet Cute's in the series!
Bookshops.
The most wonderful places on earth…
I’ve always been a complete and utter bookworm, so when I
started writing The Meet Cute Series
it seemed logical to use a bookshop as a setting for one of the stories. People say authors should ‘write what
they know’. Well, I definitely know bookshops. My bookcase can attest to that.
Beautiful Books is the second-hand bookstore where Jade, the
protagonist in The Boy in the Bookshop,
works, a slightly haphazard shop with boxes of books on the street outside
ready for browsers to rummage through and shelves crammed with preloved
tomes. It’s disorganised, but that
only adds to the charm of the place.
It has low ceilings, a counter which is too big for the space and the
inventory is kept on a basic spreadsheet.
Overall, it’s a cosy, friendly place where bibliophiles can while away
their time without being badgered by staff.
Beautiful Books isn’t based on one specific bookshop, but I
did draw on my own (vast) experience of second-hand book shopping when writing
the story. When I first moved to
Sheffield in the late 90s I was a poor student and I almost never bought new
books. Fortunately, I lived near
the Sharrowvale Road area where there were numerous charity shops and a few
specialist second hand book shops so I could feed my reading habit relatively
cheaply. I’ll never forget the day
I went to one preloved bookshop searching for Erich Segal’s Love Story, which was one of my
favourite books at the time. I’d
left my copy back home in Wales and couldn’t wait for it to be posted up, so
crossed my fingers I’d be able to source a copy cheaply. I was over the moon when the chatty
lady behind the counter in one of the shops (now sadly closed) told me there
was one in stock and that it could be mine for the princely sum of 20p!
But it’s not just the price that makes me love second hand
bookshops. It’s the unknown. If you go to a chain bookshop on the
high street the likelihood is you’ll see the same bestsellers in every
one. In independent bookstores
there tends to be more variety, but they still have to cater for the mass
market so much-talked-of books often feature prominently on the displays.
Second hand bookshops are treasure chests full of
long-forgotten gems. The edition
of a favourite book you had as a child.
An out of print novel by a new-favourite author. A truly eclectic collection of books,
every one with a history.
Katey Lovell is the
author of The Meet Cute series. The
Boy in the Bookshop, the first short story in the series was released on
October 29th published by Harper Impulse, to be followed by The Boy at the Beach on November 5th
and The Boy at the Bakery on November
12th.
Amazon UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=katey+lovell
Amazon US - http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=katey+lovell
About the Author
Katey Lovell is fanatical about
words. An avid reader, writer and poet, she once auditioned for Countdown and
still tapes the show every night. Getting the conundrum before the contestants
is her ultimate thrill.
She loves love and strives to write feel-good romance that'll make you laugh and cry in equal measure.
Originally from South Wales, Katey now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and their seven year old son.
She loves love and strives to write feel-good romance that'll make you laugh and cry in equal measure.
Originally from South Wales, Katey now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and their seven year old son.
Find Katey on twitter, @katey5678,
Facebook www.facebook.com/kateylovell
and her author blog www.kateylovell.blogspot.co.uk
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