I’m excited! Fran Cusworth has a new book out AND a signed copy to give away right here.
I’ll let you in on a secret about the first book I read of Fran’s – Hopetoun Wives. Because I loved the structure I used it as an exercise in “how to deconstruct a novel”. And guess what? The result of that deconstruction lesson is my 2nd novel – The Simmering Season (out March 2014)!!
Okay Fran, delight me further. Is it scones and tea or some other homemade delight you’ve whipped up for me today? 🙂
Hmm… playdough for the kids! Bit salty for eating though.
(I’ll try anything once, if you have a wine to wash it down! 😉 )
At my home, Fran …
My mum says garden gnomes make a house a home! Are you loud and proud in your love of garden gnomes at home, a closet gnomer or with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?
Definitely pro-magical creatures. We have a small fairy door embedded in a tree in the 
front yard, and we’re sticking all the old paste jewels we can find around it. My study overlooks the tree and I love watching the passing kids stop and creep close to it.
What vegetable (or fruit) have you always wanted to grow at home?
Coriander. Alas, it hates me.
(It hates everyone!)
If I came to your home and looked in the refrigerator, what would I find?
Leftovers. I hate throwing anything away!
If you sorted your wardrobe by colour, what colour would stand out? (Ahh, do you sort your wardrobe by colour?!)
Black, I’m sorry to say. I’m a Melbourne girl. But I do have a penchant for peacock blue – this was the colour of my wedding dress.
(Seems to be a lot of black going around.)
What are you wearing now? (Be honest!)
Peacock blue jumper, daggy pants.
(Black and daggy, one assumes!)
Whose home would you like to housesit and why?
Really only my own house. I’m a total homebody.
Country curiosities…
If you were a tree (or animal) what kind of tree (animal) would you be?
I would be a cat. I’m independent but I like comfort. Loving, but I do like space in my relationships.
Now for the big question… Why did the chicken cross the road? 
(I can answer this one for you, Fran. It was running scared to get away from the crazy-looking peacock with the daggy pants and penchant for blue! Or, after finding this pic of you, it may explain a thing or two ;))
About you…
Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realized that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?
When my first book was published. I quit my job as a journalist and got to work on writing the next one.
What is the hardest part of writing for you?
Finding. The. Time! With two young kids, that has always been the challenge that makes every other part of writing look easy.
Fun stuff …
If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?
Artemis Fowl. He is a very cool teenage fairy and speaks multiple languages. Plus my oldest son would worship me. I rest my case.
If I said to you, “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk,” what would you do?
I’d play you piano. Lots of Bach.
(Am partial to the piano! See me playing!!)
What was the best thing before sliced bread?
Bread makers. Possibly my sequencing is a little out here…
(Just a tad! 😉 )
How weird are you? Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (not) to 10 (very).
About an 8.
Most important question now: Tell us about Sisters of Spicefield (Random House)
Helped by IVF, Jessica and Matt have four beautiful children and they donate a leftover embryo to a childless couple.
Seven years later, grief-stricken after the death of their youngest child, their marriage is breaking down. Then a new girl starts at the children’s school, and Jessica realizes this child, Mia, is her biological offspring: born from that embryo years before.
Supported by her friends Georgia and Max, and her sister Abby – who runs an orphanage in Thailand – Jessica struggles with her love for the troubled Mia, who looks so like her own children.
Sisters of Spicefield explores friendship, grief and family, as one woman unpacks the secrets that just might make a broken life worth living again.
Okay comment people. Fire away. You have one week to leave a comment. The winner will be announced here, so it might help to follow the blog. CLOSED. Thank you to all who dropped by.
Also, while you’re here, check out the other
amazing authors in my Author Harvest.
Thanks for dropping by.
Peacock blue and a homebody–me too! Though I enjoy a jaunt overseas, I love coming home again. SOS sounds really interesting with family at the heart of it. Looking forward to it, Fran. Thanks, Jenn, for another fun ‘bale-up’.
Thx Susanne. A pinch and punch for the first of the month and a hit and a kick for being so quick – and being our first comment!
Hi Jenn & Fran, this book certainly sounds like a book I must read. I hope it sells well for you Fran. I’m a bit of a daggy home body person as well.
Jenn I’ll be starting your book tonight. Thanks ladies happy writing. Kath xx
And happy reading to you, Kathy.
Wow, can’t wait to read this one. Sounds like this will be a fantastic read. Love the pic with the chook 🙂
I think, Fran and Jenn, that the picture (snapshot) from Facebook is the prettiest cover I’ve seen. I’m a regular ‘harvester’ but I had to come visit.
Coriander is one of those tastes isn’t it. I love it – hubby hates it. Given I’m the cook in this house, that means bad luck to the rest of the household.
Good luck with the new book.
Wow a Peacock Blue wedding dress sounds lovely – so much better than white like everyone else 🙂 The new book sounds great – I know someone who faced a similar situation – she wanted to donate them – her mother-in-law didn’t