Welcome to week 4 of the Best Ever Summer Bog Tour!! I'm very fortunate to have Christine London visiting my blog today :) Don't forget to look for the question at the bottom of this post. Write your answer in the comments and be entered into the draw for this weeks prize!
Hello Readers,
Sometimes characters haunt us in the most unusual,
relentless and consuming ways. Sometimes they change our lives.
My name is Christine London. I live about three miles from
the sea along the beautiful Palos Verdes Peninsula in the southwest of Los
Angeles County. The marine layer of low mist is beginning to clear and another
lovely early summer's day on tap.
What can I tell you but to say that I too have been
touched to the bottom of my soul by a good read. I used to focus on self-help
books and those that provided concrete information. Philosophy of life and how
to live an uplifting adventure was what turned me on. Then I found Diana
Gabaldon and the Outlander series. Oh my goodness!! Like a good steak, every
page fed my inner love of words...yum!
I lived in the San Francisco bay area for a number of
years as a school teacher until my parents progressive illnesses brought me back
to home base...Los Angeles. Nearly four hundred miles was simply too far to live
apart.
My homecoming was met with little fanfare...no teaching
jobs available. So I took a part time curriculum specialist position. Fate
walked me along a path I had never imagined. The extra time off enabled me to do
what I had not had time for in years...read, watch films, listen to music.
I saw a particular film that touched me deeply. Yes, I was
familiar with the storyline, the music, but not the man that played the lead.
Immediately mesmerized by his presence, his eyes, his ability to wrap the
audience up in the complexities of his character, I knew I had to write to tell
him so. Off to the Internet to find an address to which I could send a note of
appreciation…
Wow! Little did I know that there exists a vast network of
fan sites for celebrities large and small.
A story flooded in on me.
What would you do if suddenly, unexpectedly, a man entered
your world…testing your attitudes, challenging your integrity, dislodging your
emotional equilibrium and haunting your dreams with his eyes--- Not just any
man, but Hollywood's hottest Scottish actor?
Further more...what if this woman, this fan wrote a letter
that managed to get by the fan mail agency readers to the man himself peaking
his interest in the acuity displayed---the ability of this fan to look into his
soul?
I wrote...and wrote...and wrote until I had a full-length
novel. (Known now as "Soul In His Eyes")
This man...this film star had been isolated by fame into a
place one could only call loneliness. This fan, this woman who had never written
a letter to anyone she'd never met--- was his savior. Little did she know that
he would return the favor when tragedy struck her life.
Not a clue...I had no clue as to how to go about getting
this labour of love published. The vast learning curve commenced. I research,
joined a writers group, Romance Writers of America---and like a sponge, soaked
in all the information and experience that proceeded me there in the form of
amazing writers---published and aspiring.
Fifteen months from that first tentative keystroke, I had
my first contract. Launched into a world I never imagined, I began attending
conferences, signings and even Hollywood events (I do live awfully close.). I
blogged about these experiences and my travels surrounding future search for
settings and characters… off to Europe (a return as I had spent a year in London
at University and fell in love with all things British) I went...blogging along
my way. Seems folks love to hear and see, if only vicariously, what they may
have only dreamed of seeing. An incredible draw to Scotland made itself even
more apparent as I walked its verdant hills and valleys.
Into Hollywood events I went…and blogged my way.
"Christine Goes Hollywood" series began…and continues on my 'London Blog'.
All my past and present seemed to converge into this
amazing new adventure...author. Me?? Uhhh...yeah. Wow!
Lover of music (I sing in a vocal jazz quartet), baker of
death by chocolate brownies, runner, ex- kindergarten teacher, explorer of
places unknown, photographer of what others might not notice, positivist,
introvert that pretends she is not, new found Hollywood pundit, Anglophile and
best friend to a small group of amazing women, amazing writers, amazing
readers--- and Christine London was reborn.
Here I am saying hello from the sapphire shores of the
Pacific -- *waving*
Christine London
Christine comes out to play:
Website : www.christinelondon.com
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/christinelondon/
Amazon : http://www.amazon.com/Christine-London/e/B003MX4AW6/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1339640330&sr=8-1
Thank you Christine, for sharing this peek into your first book! DON'T FORGET: To be entered into this weeks draw write the name of your favourtie author in the comments!
Thanks for hosting me Corinne. Those haunting character just keep on and on. But then that is the stuff of great fiction. I am blessed to be haunted by British and commonwealth men so they appear in ever book. I adore them! Guess America does too as exemplified by Hollywood's hugely popular love affair with them--Love Actually, Nottinghill, P.S. I Love You, The Holiday...
ReplyDeleteMy fav author? Ahh..so many, but I have to admit Diana Gabaldon writes the most beautiful, visceral moving prose ever. Her Outlander series is epic and unforgettable.
Christine
Christine, fantastic post! Corinne, your blog is awesome. Thanks!
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