Author Feature is on Australian author Ella Carey. And she's got a kindle copy giveaway of her debut release THE PARIS TIME CAPSULE to one commentator.
Ella on the web:
The Paris Time Capsule
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I have always loved reading; and I spent much of my
childhood making up stories in my head! I have been writing women’s fiction
seriously for several years now. I learned French growing up, and still have a
love for France, art and history, so the story about the abandoned apartment in
Paris was the perfect inspiration for me, and the more I looked into it, the
more I was hooked!
Cat Jordan is a photographer living in New York. She battles
with her past, but has sorted out a future for herself that she knows is going
to work. However, when she receives a parcel from Paris, wrapped in brown paper
and tied with an immaculate silk ribbon, she discovers that she is the sole inheritor
of an apartment in the ninth arrondissement that has been abandoned for seventy
years. When the grandson and rightful owner of the apartment appears, Cat knows
that she has to find out why the apartment was left to her … and why the owner
kept her Paris apartment a secret from her family. The novel delves into the
past, but is set in the present.
Ella on the web:
The Paris Time Capsule
Tell us about yourself?
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What inspired you to be a writer?
I had a real passion for music when I was young. I wanted to
play the piano, learned, and went to the conservatorium to do a music degree. I
still love music. But, at uni, I also did an arts degree, majoring in English
literature and history. One of my English lecturers (a wonderful woman, who
often had her adorable King Charles Spaniels in a basket under her desk) told
us to go to as many writing festivals as we could, and, you know, I just felt
so at home in that world, hearing writers talk about their work … it felt
right. I knew this was what I wanted to do.
How did you choose your genre?
That’s a great question. I do wonder if writers have much
choice about what they write. For now, writing women’s fiction seems right for
me. I start with an idea, then, perhaps, the way I write lends itself to the
genre of women’s fiction. I am a hopeless romantic. At the moment, I can’t see
that I would write a novel that lacked a romantic element, but you never know.
What made you tell this story and why did you write this
book?
I first read the story of the abandoned apartment in Paris
on a blog: www.messynessychic.com/2012/05/09/the-paris-time-capsule-apartment.
I was fascinated with the idea of the beautiful apartment that had been left
locked up for seventy years after the owner fled, just before the Nazi invasion
in 1940. The fact that the portrait in the apartment was discovered to be by
the leading Belle Epoque painter, Giovanni Boldini, was even more exciting. I
read more online articles about the apartment. All that was known was that the
owner was a Madame de Florian and her grandmother, Marthe de Florian, was the
subject of the portrait. It turned out that Marthe was a courtesan during the
Belle Epoque.
People were commenting on the blogs, saying that someone
should write a novel. It seemed the perfect mystery. Why did the owner leave
her treasure filled apartment, never to return? What a thing to do! Why was the
apartment only re-opened after her death? Some of the elements in this story
were so similar to a novel that I was refining with an agency in London at the
time, that I dropped the other story, and wrote this one instead. It was set in
Paris. I was in too deep
How did you come up with the title?
The working title of the novel was ‘The Sleeping Beauty
Apartment.’ I loved the romantic sound of this. When the art expert entered the
apartment, it is said that he described what he saw using these words. However,
I decided in the end to call the novel ‘The Paris Time Capsule.’ The apartment
was like a vault that had sat there, waiting, all through the 1950s, the 60s …
and beyond. Then it was unlocked.
What is your favourite scene?
That is an interesting question! There is a very romantic
scene in Sarlat. Sarlat is a market town in France. Cat’s search to find out
why she inherited the apartment leads her there. But she is not alone, and …
well. She is swept up. The other scene I loved writing was the scene where Cat
walks into the apartment for the first time. Just visualizing what it must have
been like for her was magical, like stepping into another, cloistered world
that has gone forever now. I could see it, smell it. If only we could go back
in time …
Tell us a little about your book?
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Really looking forward to reading this! I love the photos of that apartment :)
ReplyDeleteHi Meradeth, So pleased you love the photos. They are evocative. Very easy to be swept away by them to Paris! Thanks for calling in. x
ReplyDeleteHi Ella, I'd love to visit Spain.
ReplyDeleteHi there Tash! I visited Barcelona a couple of months ago. It was just fascinating, the food was wonderful, the history, Miro's wonderful art gallery. I would love to go to Cordoba, Seville and Granada - too see the Ahlambra would be incredible. Thanks for calling in here!
DeleteI remember that MessyNessy post, and was fascinated. Thank you so much for being intrigued enough to develop a story around it.
ReplyDeleteCities? They don't make my heart sing, but there are some natural places which tug at me - Alaska, Kakadu, Antarctica (again)...
Hi there! I hope you enjoy the story! You have chosen some of the most beautiful places on earth on your list there. I agree, I would love to see all of those places too - such natural beauty. x
DeleteI so loved this book it is one not to be missed :-)
ReplyDeleteI have alway wanted to visit the Scottish Highlands maybe one day I will get there :-)
Have fun
Helen
Hi Helen! So pleased you enjoyed the novel! I'm with you. I would love to go to the Scottish Highlands - one day it will happen. My ancestors came from there, so it resonates and calls. Thanks so much for dropping in here Helen. xx
DeleteHi Ella...am really looking forward to reading this fascinating story when I get time to really settle down to a long reading session. I stayed in a village just inland from the Amalfi coast in Italy a year or so ago called Cava di Tirreni...just fascinating. ..whilst I love Paris, if you ever stay in the old city of Rome...you eill fall in love with Rome as well
ReplyDeleteHello Terry! Great to see you here. I am so pleased that you are looking forward to reading the novel. I love Rome too. I was there at Christmas time; my favourite gallery there is the villa Borghese. The priceless treasures and the Bernini sculptures just blow you away. I am going to make a note of Cava di Tirreni. I will look it up. I haven't been to the Amalfi coast, but it is on my bucket list! :)
DeleteI won this book, so I'm looking forward to reading it!
ReplyDeleteStephanie, I'm so glad you won the book, that is great! I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for popping in here today. xx :)
DeleteOh man! Those favorite scenes have me salivating for the book. It sounds awesome.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's great, Crystal. Lovely to see you here! Cat does become quite swept away in France, but we'll have to see what happens to her in the end! Hope you enjoy it Crystal and thanks so much. xxx
DeleteI read the same article and have been wishing I could see the apartment. Now- I can read about it. ;) I am looking forward to this book and wish Ella the best of luck!
ReplyDeleteHi Jess, I wish I could see the real apartment too! Researching the location for the apartment in the novel was fascinating. I have just written about this on my blog which you can also see on goodreads. The building that I found blew me away ... xxx
DeleteHi Ella! This book sounds so awesome! As for inspiring cities... Nothing tops Paris, IMO!
ReplyDeleteHi Robyn, thanks for calling in and I'm thrilled that you like the idea of the book! Paris is wonderful ... the city's romanticism is just one of its allures. xx
DeleteHi Ella,
ReplyDeleteI finished your book over Easter. It was fabulous. I felt like I was there in Paris. It brought back so many memories of my trip there a few years ago. Thanks for a brilliant read!
Hello there, I'm so pleased that you liked it Melanie! That means so much to me. Thank you for calling in here and letting me know. I am glad that it brought back memories of your visit to France. xxx
DeleteI won this book and it's sitting in my Kindle. I can't wait to dig into it.
ReplyDeleteHello there Medeia, so pleased you called in here. Hope you enjoy the novel! xx
ReplyDeleteI agree. I don't think writers have much choice when it comes to the genres they write. Stories have a way of making sure they're written.
ReplyDeleteHi Lynda, I think so. It starts with the story for me. I find the concept of 'bursting with ideas' an appropriate description for this state of affairs! Thanks for calling in. x
ReplyDeleteI'm reading this book and loving it.
ReplyDelete