Right now I’m living (mostly) like a hermit so that I can finish writing my newest romance novel, Still Life with Strings, which is a story about a concert violinist and a living statue set in Dublin. It’s always a fun activity to put together these little virtual scrapbooks, not least because it helps me to visualise. I think I might spend more time visualising a story than I do actually writing it. It’s not as weird as it sounds, lol.

So, to begin, this novel has a touch of magical realism, which I’ve always been fascinated with but have never had the courage to write. Just to be clear, this isn’t a fantasy book. It’s a contemporary romance; there isn’t any actual magic. If you’ve never heard the term before, magical realism is when an element of the fantastical is woven into an ordinary, completely realistic setting. If anybody’s ever watched the UK version of the tv show Shameless, in the episode where Frank has conversations with himself as a young boy, that’s magical realism. Or in Sons of Anarchy where that homeless ghost woman keeps showing up randomly, that’s magical realism too.

In the case of my book, my heroine, Jade, has quite a vivid imagination and often sees things from an unusual perspective. Classical music is a big part of this book, and I guess that’s one of the main reasons why I chose this style of writing. For me it has this dreamlike quality that really opens up the imagination and makes you feel like anything is possible. Sort of like…

Here are some character pics.

Jade

 

 

 

Shane

 

 

And now for some music. It will quickly become apparent that I’m a huge Joshua Bell fangirl.

 

And a Charlie Siem fangirl…who by the way I would probably be a fan of even if he didn’t play the violin. Because, well, he has those Robert Pattinson eyes.

 

 

Oh, and let’s not forget the rock star of the violin, David Garrett.

 

Okay, where was I? Oh yeah, it’s not all about the hot male violinists. Well, maybe it is just a little bit šŸ˜‰ But mostly it’s about the music.

 

and the art…

 

a touch of magic…

 

 

friendship…
And a whole lot of love…

 

***
Nothing is set in stone but I have a tentative publishing date in mind for March 24th. We’ll see. I also haven’t starting planning the tour yet so if you’re a book blogger and want to get involved send an email my way at lhcosway@gmail.com. I’m hoping to do a cover reveal some time in February, so keep those eyes peeled šŸ™‚
Peace.