The Magic Ingredient
Lindy Miller
(A Bar Harbor Holiday Novel)
Published by: Rosewind Books
Publication date: October 13th 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
The end of summer is approaching, but even at the height of Bar Harbor’s tourist season, Eve Silver is having a hard time keeping enough money in the bank to sustain the family business. Her only hope of paying past due bills is to win the catering bid for the town’s upcoming Harvest Happening Festival. Otherwise, it’ll be lights out for Mount Desserts & Tea by Christmas.
Widower Jeff Parish is moving with his twelve-year-old daughter, Candy, from Manhattan to Maine with one goal: starting over. When sparks fly between Jeff and Eve as the town readies for the annual harvest festival, Candy wishes she had a love potion to help her dad fall in love again.
Will Eve be able to save Mount Desserts & Tea—and open her heart to Jeff—by the most bewitching night of the year? It’ll take a lot of love, a little bit of luck … and just a pinch of magic.
—
Interview with Lindy Miller :
What inspired you to write The Magic Ingredient?
I had been playing with the idea of writing a story set in my former hometown of Bar Harbor for some time, but had never settled on the right hook—would it be historical, reflecting on Maine’s witchy history, or inspired by beautiful Acadia and maritime history of the area? Would it be romance, a story that helped readers fall as much in love with Bar Harbor as I had?
What eventually led me to the story idea that became The Magic Ingredient was when I realized how much like home Bar Harbor felt, even though I didn’t live there anymore. There is such an incredible sense of community there—a feeling of belonging. I wanted to write a story where everyone—readers and characters—found their own special home in Bar Harbor, and that developed into the growing universe in the Bar Harbor Holiday Series with Rosewind Books, starting with The Magic Ingredient.
When or at what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I have never not been a writer—I honestly can’t remember a time when wasn’t writing. My first short stories and poems were included in elementary school showcases. My first “publication” was in the local newspaper when I was thirteen. From there, I went on to continue writing as a career, spanning across genres in fiction and non-fiction. Some people say, “writing is in the blood” and that is, at least for me, something I find to be very true.
What is the earliest age you remember reading your first book?
Sort of like writing, books have always been a staple in my life; I have always been an avid reader. My dad read to me nightly, my mother and grandmother kept me stockpiled in books, and—for better or worse—no one ever put many restrictions on my reading proclivities when I was a young reader. I can’t say I remember my first book, but I have several early memories of hiding my flashlight under blankets late at night and reading Mrs. Piggly Wiggly and Goosebumps books. I distinctly also remember my Little Mermaid bedsheets, so I must have been six or so around then.
What genre of books do you enjoy reading?
Honestly, I read almost everything, though I am most drawn to dark fantasy and historical fiction. I like to travel in my reading, whether to other worlds or through time, and those are the two genres that most often take me there.
What is your favorite book?
Always an impossible question to answer, and one I think to which the answer changes on a daily basis! I can’t say it is definitively my favorite, but one book I routinely revisit and re-read is Wally Lamb’s She’s Come Undone. I read this book—which follows the coming-of-age narrative of a flawed by resonant character in Dolores Price—for the first time when I was in middle school. Whether it was the timing or the circumstance surrounding that first read, I connected so strongly to Dolores that when I go back and read through her words again it feels like I’m catching up with an old friend.
You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?
Anne Rice has always—and will always be—my favorite author. I first picked up a torn mass market copy of Interview with the Vampire on a flea market shelf when I was a freshman in high school, and I’ve spent the past 20+ years feeding my addiction to her characters and her world-building. I couldn’t quit her if I tried (which I won’t do either!)!
If you could travel back in time here on earth to any place or time. Where would you go and why?
Studying history is one of my oldest loves, and without a doubt if I could travel back in time it would be to the Golden Age of Piracy in the early 1700s. Sure it was dirty, grimy, and dangerous, but it was also a time of freedom, of adventure, and of exploration—out on the open sea.
When writing a book do you find that writing comes easy for you or is it a difficult task?
One of the most difficult tasks for me when writing is sticking to my plan! I always tend to plot stories out pretty thoroughly, but often characters have a way of adjusting course. It then becomes a question of resistance—do I resist my need to stick to a predetermined path, or do I need to resist my characters’ shenanigans.
Do you have any little fuzzy friends? Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets
I do! I have a golden retriever named Finn, who zoomed in and stole my heart when he was born a year ago, and a very old and cantankerous kitty named Ferrous, who cares naught for my heart so long as he can nap on top of my head.
What is your "to die for", favorite food/foods to eat?
I am an obsessive tea drinker, and I love spicy food. I am also a vegetarian and always love experimenting with new and unusual food combinations. Really, I’m very easy to woo with food.
Do you have any advice for anyone that would like to be an author
Write! It doesn’t have to be pretty or perfect at first—and it won’t be—but write. Get words on paper, practice, and polish your craft. And, of course, read—but don’t restrict yourself to only reading what you want to write. You never know when inspiration will strike!
Author Bio:
Lindy Miller is an author of feel-good love stories that are full of sweet moments and happy endings. She believes the best time to fall in love is during the holidays, preferably over a cup of warm tea or a delicious vegan pastry - two things she can't get enough of.
A free spirit, Lindy loves to travel and has a soft spot for Bar Harbor, Maine though she grew up at home in the South. She is married to her childhood sweetheart and bakes as often as she can for her husband, son, and pets - especially her golden retriever, Finn, who has a tendency to show up in her stories (and her Instagram!)
Lindy is represented by Gandolfo Helin & Fountain Literary Management and supported by Smith Publicity.
Member Romantic Novelist Association (RNA).
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Hosted by:
2 comments:
Thanks for hosting today! :)
Great cover, thanks for sharing!
Post a Comment