An Interview
with Celia Kennedy
This week we feature author, Celia Kennedy. Please welcome her in the comments!
Celia Kennedy was born in Wurzburg, Germany on a military base. Her parent's penchant for traveling has stuck with her, she's lived in and traveled through several countries.
The imagined world has always fascinated Celia. She has studied Art History, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, and Architecture. Her thirteen year career at UW in Seattle ended in 1996. Not wanting to be homeless, she left the academic world and worked as a Landscape Architect, married the love of her life, became a mom, has been PTA President, and both Boy and Girl Scout Leader.
The unimaginable wealth in her life is the most fascinating thing to her.
Her love of travel, the designed and natural world, friendship, self-discovery, wine, chocolate, AND love are the foundation of her life and books.
Interview:
Fifth grade seems to be a magic era in most writers lives. I’ve read many interviews where this age, nine or ten, seems to be the magical age. My fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Copeland, had us do a creative writing assignment, and I was hooked.
It was an on-going project. She had read us this great book about children lost in a cave, and it inspired me to write a science fiction story about a boy and girl lost in a cave on another planet. The visual image is still burnished on my brain. It was an expansive underworld place, where the stalagmites were massive, and the stalactites were crystalline. The whole cavern was bejeweled and beautiful. Of course, what else would a cave on another planet look like to a nine year old girl?
2. Do you write full time?
I do! I am one of the lucky few. I began writing when my children entered school fulltime and after a few days of fulfilling the traditional role as housewife, I decided I was going to open the laptop and start writing.
For the first two years I read quite as much as I wrote. Now my day is primarily devoted to writing and marketing. I generally write 7:30am – 12:30 pm, have lunch, work-out, get my kids settled into their after—school life, and then try to get another hour of writing slipped in.
3. How does this book differ from your other series’?
The Passport Series is The Accidental Series, but in a much more polished format, with all the characters much more flushed out, and probably a lot more grown-up. It is still fun and fast paced, but the books relate to each other much more fluidly.
4. Describe your main character?
Charlotte Young is the main heroine in Prosecco & Paparazzi. She is from Maine, has attend graduate school at Oxford, and works and lives in New York City and London. When you meet Charlotte, you meet the impulsive side of her. This is what drives the rest of the book, but you definitely see the many other sides of her. She is fun, witty, and capable. At the time we meet her, she is a lawyer from a PR firm in NYC.
Tiziana Caputo! I always describe her as Sophia Loren. Born and raised in Rome, she and Charlotte meet when they go to the Said School of Business in Oxford. She looks like her and has Ms. Loren’s business savvy. Tiziana is willing to use all the tools in her toolbox to get the job done. No one should underestimate her. She might be beautiful, but she has a brain too. Though her actual position never comes up in the book, she too is a business lawyer for an IT firm in Italy.
Hillary Cavendish is the most conservative of the group. She was born into an upper crust family in England and has been raised to use the right fork, the correct title, to be discreet. We see her let loose from time to time, which makes her fun. She recollects… but she does let loose. Though she has the same graduate degree as Charlotte and Tiziana, she works for a philanthropical society in London. Her family name and connections are an asset to her and those organizations she champions. So, while she can be a bit stuffy, she has a big-heart. She is also the glue of the group. Though they are committed friends, it is Hillary who arranges their yearly vacations – which evolve into so much more as Prosecco & Paparazzi and The Passport Series evolves.
Marian Connolly!! She might be the most fun of the group. She’s fun to write. Marian is from Ireland and has a brutally sarcastic sense of humor. She can’t help tweaking people, and often is at odds with Hillary, but don’t underestimate the depth of their friendship. Marian works at a law firm in Dublin, and is on the look-out for a love interest. She’s much more candid than the rest about wanting to find her man.
Kathleen Ehlers is the final female character. Kathleen is aloof, elusive, and evasive to most people – but not her group of friends. She’s a big-hearted friend who lives in Paris and works as a Business Acquisitions Lawyer for L’Oreal Paris. The environment of her daily world suits her personality and her passion for fashion. In Prosecco & Paparazzi we don’t learn too much about her, which makes her book, Cognac & Couture, book two in the series, so much fun to write.
Des Bannerman is the mostly lovable protagonist. He is Charlotte’s celebrity crush, the King of Romantic Comedies that Charlotte finds herself at odds with. On top of being a highly sought after actor, he is a fun and funny guy. I had a lot of fun creating him. He is an amalgamation of all my favorite RomCom actors over the years – Hugh Grant, Ryan Reynolds, Tom Hardy, Chris Pine. He’s pretty delicious to look at.
Liam Molloy is Charlotte’s love interest. Marian is a bit peeved, because Charlotte meets him in NYC though he lives in Dublin, where she lives. He is a bit older than Charlotte, has a little more experience in life and love, and is freaking hot! A pretty fabulous combination of characteristics. He is the real life King of RomCom’s (oh, he is fictional… he seems so real to me).
Ted Blackwell is Des Bannerman’s best friend. He is also a self-made billionaire who lives in London. He has all the toys of a playboy, but since he is a techno geek he isn’t too flash. That is part of what makes him a great friend to Des. He and Des are as normal as they can possibly be when they are together.
5. Who would you choose to play that character in the movie version?
Oh! I created a Pinterest Board for this. If you want to take a peek, here is the link: http://bit.ly/1llUYNr
Charlotte Young: Paz Vega (Spanish, portraying American)
Tiziana Caputo: Maria Grazia Cucinotta (Italian portraying Italian)
Hillary Cavendish: Julie Benz (American portraying English)
Marian Conolly: Sarah Parish (Irish portraying Irish)
Kathleen Ehlers: Rosamund Pike (British portraying American)
Liam Molloy: Henry Cavill (British portraying Irish)
Ted Blackwell: Daniel Craig (British portraying British)
Des Bannerman: Ryan Reynolds (Canadian portraying American)
6. Who is your favorite author?
I have many favorite authors – I love to read all genres. I love Marian Keyes for Women’s Contemporary; I love Iain Pears for Historical Suspense; I love Kathleen Woodiwiss for heart thumping romance; I love Patricia Cromwell for Mystery/Murder; my heart will always belong to Carl Sagan for Science Fiction… There are many break-out authors that I adore almost as much. I love to encourage readers to give the newbies in the group a chance (that include me!).
7. If you could speak to them, what’s the one question you would ask?
How do you keep yourself positively motivated?
8. Do you have any advice for other authors?
Very, very, very, very, very, very few authors make it big with their first book, or second, third, fourth, or fifth. You need to write because it is part of your soul, and writing satisfies you and no one else. This will sustain you in the moments where you wonder why you are tapping away on your keyboard and book sales are slow to non-existent. This will help you rebound from awful reviews. Oh, and write something that makes you happy. You have to do that. Trying to imitate someone else or follow trends will not likely prove to be successful.
9. Anything you’d like to say to your fans?
Well, first I giggled, ‘cause that concept that I have fans just makes me feel goofy. I hope that I do – don’t get me wrong. I’m just a girl who does what she loves and if I make someone laugh or feel anything, I’m delighted. That’s why we write – to effect someone.
10. What’s next for you?
I am writing Cognac and Couture, Kathleen’s book. It takes place during Fall Fashion Week in Paris. The ladies join her there, and while they take in fashion shows, fantastic restaurants, absorb the ambience that is Paris, a secret or two of Kathleen’s gets revealed. As the book evolves, the depths of her secrets gets explored and she must decide how “real” she can be. It’s fun, emotional, and adds yet another layer of depth to the friendship these five lovely women experience.
11. If you could live anywhere, where would that be?
Barcelona, Spain. A city on a beach where tapas are served, an afternoon nap is a must and dinner at 9:00 followed by a lovely stroll through architectural wonders is definitely the place for me.
12. If you could choose a super power, what would that be?
Well… I’m a mom. So, that answer has to be, the power to heel emotional angst. It’s really hard to see your children have setbacks, but that is part of life, the stuff we truly grown from. I don’t want to take it away, I just want to be able to show them the benefit of having gone through the experience so that dealing with the negative emotions isn’t quite so bad.
When fifteen minutes of fame goes horribly wrong… Charlotte Young and her five closest friends ring in the New Year on a ski vacation in the swanky, celebrity-packed French Alps, where her world collides with long-time celeb crush, Des Bannerman—aka “The King of Rom-Com.” Unexpectedly, Charlotte finds herself happily reconciled to an innocent evening of drinking champagne, gambling, and chatting to the celebrity of her dreams.
Charlotte’s friends join forces to help her realize her lifelong fantasy, yet his girlfriend, the latest Bond Girl, proves an insurmountable obstacle. Lighthearted banter turns into tabloid fodder and leaves Charlotte saddled with a restraining order.
With the help of her friends, Charlotte finds the answers to life’s biggest questions while trying to deal with the fallout of her fifteen minutes of fame.
Prosecco &Paparazzi is a contemporary romantic comedy about what happens when the paths of a celebrity god and a mere mortal collide.
Previously self-published under the title Charlotte’s Restrained, The Accidental Stalker. It has been re-edited.
Author website:
Author Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMKAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kennedycelia
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/celiakennedy/
Official hashtags: #Prosecco&Paparazzi and #PassportSeries
Publisher Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/booktrope
Available on Amazon: http://bit.ly/ProPa -
