Welcome, Author Christine London!

This week I am welcoming author Christine London to Gina's World of Good. A prolific author, Christine's novel WHEN WE WERE AMAZING was selected as Author 100 Romances Best of the Year. It a delight to have her visit this week. Leave a comment and be eligible to win a PDF of WHEN WE WERE AMAZING and a $!) Amazon Gift Card. Welcome, Christine!

Now let's get on with our chat.

What makes a book great in your eyes?

   The emotions it evokes. For a book to do its job, for it to have meaning and maybe even change my life it has to ring true to something important. Whether that is the oh-so-real challenges faced by fictional characters or the depth of thought in a nonfiction work, the key to success, to reaching me, is through my heart.

  Uplift. Educate, Entertain. Inspire.

What is the hardest scene you ever had to write?

   Australia, France and California. In spite of the globe hopping backdrops the hardest scene I ever had to write was a car accident. A three year old girl, Livvie, is struck, hand yanked from her brother, Cooper. Her mother Carrie arrives moments later to see the floral print dress of her little girl, limbs askew, peeking out from beneath the car that struck her. Just recalling it now makes my heart squeeze tight in my chest. Anyone who has loved a three year old. Anyone who has had a child. Anyone would feel the same.

Pastel painted facades of six story buildings abutted the frontage, like Lego blocks in a child’s display of idealized reality lining the curve of river. Pedestrians walked along narrow sidewalks. A balloon-tired bike darted onto the street with the thrum of rubber against cobblestones. It all seemed surreal, as though the camera of life had broken, shifted into fluid encumbered ballet.

From around the corner she came, Livvie toting Cooper. Determination in her stance she pulled on him like a dog on its lead. A spotlight of happiness shone, her children in the midst of the gloom. They reached the curb. Carrie lifted her hand to wave, to call.

And then the world slowed into eternity.

The grip was broken. Livvie dove into the street headlong, unseeing toward river’s edge. A screech of tires. The blur of metal. Then interminable silence. Carrie wanted her heart to stop, because if what she saw was true, her life was over.

She froze, blood turning to ice in her veins. Power unknown shot through her. Muscles fired to life propelling her forward. She was at the front bumper of the white sedan before she could take another breath. Hands on the hood, she pushed with the strength of heaven. The car rolled back, and Livvie’s crumpled form appeared, an unnatural twisting of limbs, clothing, hair. Her face was turned toward the undercarriage, ear and cheek the only visible features.

Carrie’s first reaction was to hold her, rock her in her arms like the baby she was. Sing a

lullaby, the aural version of motherly shield from harm. Feel the weight of her, the reassuring warmth, the powder sweet scent of her ivory flesh against hers, in her nostrils reassurance of home, safety, life.

But like a china doll, Livvie lay motionless, broken.

The scream that erupted from her core sounded distant, yet it tore something irreplaceable from her. It was like her own blood poured forth on that street in Lyon, all color, all light draining from the world in an instant. Carrie looked up as though a magnet drew her eyes.

Cooper jolted to a halt above her, face contorted in horror.

Torn from her, Carrie’s heart vacated her chest, leaving in its place a chasm of cold, hideous death.

“Call. Get help.” More disembodied words, the sound coming from her, but not real. She

turned back to the rumpled form below, covering her with the tent of her chest, so carefully surrounding the sweet floral fabric of Liv’s dress. Cheek placed on cheek, she listened for respiration.

*****************

Excerpt from: When We Were Amazing - Christine London (http://christinelondon.com/books/when-we-were-amazing )

 Twenty three year old Aussie wine heir Bryan Lassiter wanted nothing more than to be a self made man. When online love, California ranch owner Carrie Sorrell flies half way round the globe to visit him, she’d no idea his magnetism would erase both their fourteen year age difference and her common sense. As fate and a powerful family collide to tear them apart, will she have the strength to let him go or will it be the secret she’s so carefully protected that destroys… or heals?

What is your favorite place in the whole world?

   Those who read my blog know I adore exploring new places. From California's golden grassed hills to Paris and London's historical wonders, to Australia's wine country and back. I have happily traveled to many gorgeous locales.

   At the end of the day, it is my own back garden that I adore. Perhaps it is the familiarity of home. Maybe the plants that I have memorized over the years as I care for them. Maybe the dancing twinkle of lights strung along my pergola or the happy tinkle of the wind chime. More likely, it is the place my closest friends and family have gathered, sometimes around the round of raised brick fire pit, sometimes at the simple white rimmed and glass picnic table. Maybe it is their love and presence that makes it so.

   My back garden is my favorite place in the world.

If someone hasn't read any of your work, what book would you recommend they start with and why?

  Now that would depend of if that someone was a fan of short reads or full length novels, spicy or sweet. End of October or first of November my anthology of short stories, 55 Portobello Road, is slated to come out in both e and print format at Amazon.com. Six of the eight shorts are already available at Amazon in electronic format for 99 cents.

Notting Hill Scrooge -  http://tinyurl.com/qagpnhb

Happy New Year Baby - http://tinyurl.com/q69dgk6

Valentine Huntsman - http://tinyurl.com/ojwu9sz

Pancake Race - http://tinyurl.com/nhlewqr

Cait the Cat Burglar - http://tinyurl.com/pkhcsqx

Caught Being Good - http://tinyurl.com/kvu6hhn

 They are a great way to get a taste of my American/British tinged tales in a short, sweet doses you may not wish to end.

   

Full length fleshed out tale? My first is the story of my heart that got me into this biz (Soul In His Eyes http://christinelondon.com/books/soul-in-his-eyes ), though unless you like celebrity-meets-every-day-girl stories with the celeb having the most to learn, you might prefer the lavish, sexy love letter to Hawaii (Reluctant Companions http://christinelondon.com/books/reluctant-companions ) or the touching tale of a young woman coming to terms with the recent diagnosis that has shattered her world—Leap of Faith http://christinelondon.com/books/leap-of-faith .

  

Hard to say, and certainly as personal a choice as the clothes you wear. All can be sampled at christinelondon.com  under the pull down menu of the "Books" tab.

What three things bring you to tears?

These days, a lot. Maybe it is the softening of the heart as we age or the fluctuating hormones that does it.

- The beauty in nature, be that a breathtaking sunrise or a snow capped mountain jutting from the verdant green of the valley below. God's paintbrush is unrivalled.

-A heartfelt note from a reader whose life has been touched by what I have written.

-The distance and infrequency in seeing my Marine First Lieutenant daughter stationed clear on the other side of the continent—and how very proud I am of her courage and accomplishments. Trying to come to terms with the fact that my disabled son may never enjoy all the things in life with which I have been blessed. (Oh, that four— Sorry.)

   Thank you for leading me through this amazing journey with the thoughtful questions you have asked, Regina. I love visiting you and your readers.

Thank you for visiting, Christine! Please come back again soon.

Here are some ways to find Christine in cyberspace:

Christine London
Author 100 Romances Best Of the Year, When We Were Amazing
Tweet sweet with Christine at https://twitter.com/ChristineLondon
Facebook cool stuff: https://www.facebook.com/christine.london
Amazon Author Central: http://www.amazon.com/Christine-London/e/B003MX4AW6/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Impossibly Pretty Pinteresting: http://pinterest.com/christinelondon/