But I Smile Anyway…

One of my oldest blogging friends!

I am absolutely thrilled to have a wonderful blogging friend, and writerly sister, Lucy Mitchell, visit today to discuss books, writing, podcasts and her newest release, I’ll Miss You This Christmas!

Hello, and welcome to But I Smile Anyway, Lucy! Let’s get you set with a drink, first. Tea, coffee, herbal tea, hot chocolate, or maybe a masala chai?

A green tea with honey would be perfect.

I’ve got all sorts of nibbles here, from Indian savouries, to freshly baked cookies and even a carrot cake. What do you fancy?

I tasted your cooking back in 2016 at the Annual Blogging Bash Awards and your cakes were beautiful.

Aw, thank you, Lucy! I am glad you remembered my Bake Off attempts!

Please, can I have a generous slice of your carrot cake?

Of course.

You and I have known each other for a long while now, pretty much since we started blogging. I know you’ve wanted to be a published writer since forever… can you share your journey, from Wattpad to self-publishing, to being with Bloodhound Books?

You and I go back years. You’re right, we met in the WordPress blogging community many writing moons ago. We then met in the flesh at the Blogging Awards in London, and I knew we would always be friends. You have always been a true supporter of my writing and likewise me with your wonderful writing. Do you remember when I interviewed you on my blog and you had what you referred to as your teenage WIP (lol), was it 19 years old?

Absolutely! I remember that blog post well! I think it has hit at least 18 years when I had finally finished it!

I woke up on my 40^th birthday and decided it was time to sort out my life dream of becoming an author. Everyone stared at me in bewilderment when I announced to the family over breakfast, that I was going to be an author. I had not written anything proper for years. When I was 12 weeks pregnant in 2003 with my first daughter, high on pregnancy hormones, I did write a Space romcom which defied the laws of science. I had read it back once since giving birth and cringed so much at my characters having saucy moments as they passed the Rings of Saturn that I had to forget about writing for 10 years.

😂 I feel like I need to read this…

So, my husband paid for me to go on a 12-week writing course. This was a game-changer. I realised a lot of things over those 12 weeks. Firstly, I couldn’t call myself a writer and not write anything (lol), I couldn’t write books and not read books regularly, and everyone on that course was far better than me at writing. The tutor recommended we develop our craft and start a blog. In 2014 my blog was born.

I blogged every day for about 2 years. Short, snappy and diary-like entries about my life.

I loved those entries!

I won the Funniest Blog award for 2 years running, made a ton of writing friends, realised I had found my tribe and LOVED every single minute. Blogging taught me so many valuable things, most importantly discipline. I turned up every day to write.  Then someone told me I should write a book….

I wrote a dreadful thriller which will never see the light of day again and I also went on Wattpad and wrote – The Diary of Roxy Collins. https://www.wattpad.com/story/54120403-the-diary-of-roxy-collins?utm_source=web&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share_myworks

Roxy Collins is my fictional heroine. Her funny diary entries got me 70k followers on Wattpad and over 270k views. She will always be my favourite character. She gave me validation that I could become an author.

Roxy has a special place in my heart, too. I keep telling you your publisher needs to do something with her stories. She is fab!

I wrote my first romance novel – Instructions for Falling in Love Again, and after a ton of rejections, I self-published it in 2019. This was one of the best things I have ever done and was a brilliant experience. It changed my life, and from that point on, I knew I wanted to be published before the age of 50. I had several years of working with agents, going on submission, a lot of rejections and then, at the start of this year, I got signed by Bloodhound Books. The book I wrote in the weeks after my dad died – I’ll Miss You This Christmas is coming out on 15 September.

https://geni.us/MissYouChristmas

Even better is that my first novel, Instructions for Falling in Love Again, will be re-published by Bloodhound Books in November. Yes, I have signed a 4-book contract with Bloodhound Books. I am becoming the author I used to dream about when I was a kid – squeal!

That is awesome! I am so proud of you and happy for you! (Doing my happy dance! 💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽)

And, I know you have written several novels already, but this is only the second one that has been published, so far. Will the other ones be coming out any time soon for a tweak and a publish?

Yes, I have signed a 4-book contract with Bloodhound Books. I am becoming the author I used to dream about when I was a kid – squeal! 🎉🎉

Where is your favourite place to write and create? I know you have a heap of notebooks (who doesn’t?) that you love to post about. Do you handwrite any of your draft, or just the plans?

This is what I have created for myself in terms of a writing space. I love it and even my cat – Harry loves it too.

He looks so much like Sonu Singh!

I am a true pantser. I write a few notes and then dump everything onto a Word document. I also think I have a weird writing process as I write things out of order and then piece them back together years later. Very odd. My ideas don’t come fully formed. They come in bits with no instruction manual.

Oh, if only there was a manual…

I am a huge lover of romantic novels of all sorts. What pulled you towards that genre?

I love reading romance. I love crying my eyes out over a good romance. I love thinking about the fictional couple for weeks after and wishing the author would send me an update on how their Happily Ever After is going.

Talking of romance writers, tell the readers about your newest non-writing project, Love At First Write – a podcast with the fabulous Lucy Keeling and Bettina Hunt! (who have both popped over for a Book & A Brew in the past, too!) What gave you three the idea to start this new venture?

I recorded a podcast back in 2016 when podcasts were very new. I recorded The Diary of Roxy Collins. Back then I don’t think audio-books were big. Anyway, I recorded her diary entries whilst huddled in my daughter’s shoe cupboard with a gin and tonic. I had such a giggle. One of the most enjoyable things I have done creatively.

And I loved listening to you reading them!

So, the podcast idea never left me. I wanted to reach out to a different audience of readers and romance writers. Then, I met 2 like-minded souls, Lucy Keeling and Bettina Hunt. At the start of this year, I pestered them both about creating a podcast and voila – Love at First Write was born.

We have had so much fun putting this together and it’s also been a steep learning curve.

It’s a podcast aimed at newbie romance writers, romance authors and romance readers who want to know what it’s like writing romance. It’s funny and full of useful tips. We are on all the main podcasting platforms and we go live on Friday 1^st September with our weekly episodes. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/love-at-first-write/id1697505295

I’ve already heard the intro episode which is such fun! I was one of your first listeners on the 1st… well, after I finished my first day back at school! 🙄

Now, let’s come back to your new release, I’ll Miss You This Christmas. There are layers of grief among the rest of the romance and light-heartedness in this lovely story. I know you suffered your own loss around the time you were writing this. Was it cathartic?

Yes, very much so. I wrote it on the trains back and forth from Leeds after Dad died suddenly in May 2021. I live in Wales, and he lived in Leeds. The train journeys were so painful, and I think on the first one I cried the whole way there. I’d spoken to him a few days before and he was his usual happy self. Then I got a call to say he had suffered a huge stroke and was on end-of-life care. We spent 5 days by his bedside in a Leeds hospital. He never woke up and it broke my heart. On the way home, I knew he’d want me to write. He was my biggest supporter of books and writing. So, I did. My novel, I’ll Miss You This Christmas, was born.

Huge hugs, Lucy. 🤗🤗

I love how the title reflects the different meanings of ‘miss’ within the story. Missing people emotionally and missing them physically. What made you think of setting the majority of this story on the trains?

It was all the time I spent on trains going back and forth from Wales to Leeds. Not only after he’d died but also in the weeks after to support Mum.

I have already told you this, but I loved the fact that you had a third main character, Felix, who is a young boy, and his point of view about the whole story. He is pivotal to the plot. Did you base him on anyone you know?

He was a boy on the train who I saw when I was crying over dad. A young boy with freckles and red hair was down the carriage and he was doing what Felix does in the book. I won’t give the game away as that’s an important part of my story.

Oooh, now that is even more intriguing!

And I’m sure my readers would love to know… what do you have in the pipeline? Is there anything up your sleeves, already?

Instructions for Falling in Love Again – November 2023

The Car Share – April 2024

My Café story – but not confirmed title yet.

Thank you for having me over, Ritu.

You are most welcome, Lucy. It was a pleasure having you visit! And, I can’t wait for the other books, now, too! 😊

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of The Christmas Trip so please find my review below, as well as the buy links and some more information about my fabulous guest, Sandy!

The Blurb

As the holidays draw near, she’s missing him—again and again. . . . “[Mitchell’s] writing is deliciously funny and has so much heart.” —Sandy Barker, author of One Summer in Santorini

Emily feels like her life’s been shattered into tiny pieces and glued back together the wrong way. With her heart still aching after her sister’s sudden death, Emily has stepped up to care for her nine-year-old nephew, Felix. Trying to do the right thing, she also ended her two-year relationship with Rory, who wasn’t ready to settle down, so she could focus on Felix.

But when she takes Felix into London to see the Christmas displays, he wanders off and the two of them wind up on a train to Leeds . . . where Rory just happens to live. The long ride will give her time to reflect on whether she made a mistake letting Rory go. But as Rory embarks on his own journey at the same time, will the three of them manage to cross paths in time for Christmas?

My Review

I’ll Miss You This Christmas: A life-affirming and uplifting Christmas romance by Lucy Mitchell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have been looking forward to reading this for a long time now. Lucy Mitchell’s second book was eagerly anticipated!
Emily is not looking forward to Christmas. It is far too different to Christmases past, with loved ones no longer around her and a new responsibility on her head. That of a carer to her nine-year-old nephew Felix, and a rather overexcited dog, Baxter, who has a penchant for running off with her underwear!
Things used to be so good between them, but nowadays, they spend forever fighting, bickering, and generally having no fun whatsoever.
She misses Vivi, her sister, who was tragically taken from her. And she desperately misses her ex, Rory, though she doesn’t really know that.
But Felix does. And he tries his hardest to help in his own nine-year-old way.
The story is set over the space of a couple of days, and trains feature heavily as the characters end up on eventful journeys to try and find their own happy endings, with so many near misses!
This story is written in multiple POVs; Emily, Rory and Felix.
Can I start by saying I loved having Felix’s side of the story? Felix is a beautifully complex character with his secrets and wishes, and the ideas he has to help his little family be happy are just epic, cute and kinda crazy!
I just wanted to hug Emily and tell her things would be okay. It’s a lot to take on responsibility for a child, even if that child is your nephew.
And Rory. Bless him. He’s suffering his own grief and trying to overcome everything without the woman he loves by his side.
My heartstrings were tugged from the book’s first pages as we were thrown into the midst of chaos, with arguments, tantrums (and Baxter running off with Emily’s lingerie!)
Grief shows in many different ways and the way Lucy has explored this through various angles is sensitive and heart-rending, but there are brilliant dashes of humour to keep the reader upbeat.
I wanted that happy ending and kept turning pages, on the edge of my seat, as they very nearly got there… then something else happened to stop the inevitable, but each and every twist kept me hooked through to the end.
An incredibly wonderful story. Funny, poignant and hopeful.
I can’t wait for the next Lucy Mitchell story!

These are the buy links for #MissYouChristmas

https://geni.us/MissYouChristmas

And here’s a little about Lucy.

I live in a house with two teenagers, an over-excited Labrador, a gang of unruly cats and a rugby-mad Welsh husband. On the morning of my 40th birthday, I decided to follow my dream of writing books. I’ve always enjoyed writing funny stuff and my mum still has the letters I used to write to her when I was at university and turned aspects of my student life into a comedy. When I am not writing, I am eating scampi & chips at my local pub, reading romance books or co-hosting the podcast – Love At First Write.

Follow Lucy:
linktr.ee/LucyMitchAuth