www.susannebellamy.com
  • Home
  • Books by Susanne Bellamy
  • PRINT BOOKSTORE
  • Under the Dark Moon
  • About Susanne
  • Editing Services
  • All the World's a Page
  • Data Protection Information
  • Subscribers Only

Italy – cruising – Venice – Amalfi - Lee Christine has it all! 

6/4/2015

8 Comments

 
Picture
Italy – cruising – Venice – Amalfi – billionaire yacht-builder – how could a girl resist this winning combination? 

Welcome, Lee. (serves up Limoncello and almond bread)  

1.     What does “Italy” say to you? 
Classical music, opera, Luciano Pavarotti, the Vatican City, architecture, gelato, Venice, Amalifi Coast and the Italian Riviera. I could go on and on. 

2.     Why the Amalfi Coast as a setting for this story? 
I visited Italy, including Venice, the Amalfi Coast and the Italian Riviera five years ago. It really is a magnificient part of the world. My hero is a naval architect who builds super yachts and my heroine is a violinist. The Amalfi Coast was the perfect setting in which to bring all the elements of the story together. It's the perfect setting for almost anything. Seriously! 

3.     What is the appeal of a millionaire male? 
For some people maybe the fantasy, the escapism in reading a novel that transports them into another world. For me, I don’t write multi-millionaires who have inherited their wealth. My heroes are all self-made men. They’ve achieved their wealth through hard work, discipline, and in Dean Logan’s case, because of his innovative yacht designs. It’s those qualities I find appealing. I'm with you, Lee!  

4.     What are two of the most interesting finds from your research for this book? 
The first would be how common intellectual property theft is and how vulnerable businesses really are. It’s frightening how many people have their files encrypted and are then subject to blackmail by anonymous internet hackers, without it becoming public. Many make the decision to pay up so they can retrieve their files.

Something else I found interesting was despite all the on-board sophistication such as radar, sonar, electronic charts etc, and the ability of these super/mega yachts to sail themselves, there still needs to be someone manning the bridge at all times keeping a look-out for objects submerged below the surface. I assumed my ‘nautical adviser’ was speaking of logs but apparently one of the most common things are shipping containers that have fallen off freighters for some reason or another, usually during rough seas. Gives a new meaning to 'it fell off the back of a truck'!

5.     What music inspired Marina’s violinist character? 
It wasn’t actually the music which inspired me. I learned alto saxophone at the Newcastle Conservatorium for fourteen years and always wanted to write a female heroine who is a classical musician. Unfortunately, a wind instrument doesn’t show the heroine in the most flattering light, (picture brows knitted together, cheeks puffed and lips pulled into an unattractive embrasure). So I decided to make my heroine a violinist. 

6.     Quick round: Favourite Italian ... 

a.     Drink - Campari
b.     Food – Pana cotta
c.      Book – Beach Music by Pat Conroy. (It’s only partly set in Italy but as it’s one of my favourite books of all time, I had to nominate it).
d.     Singer/song – Pavarotti’s Nessun Dorma
e.     City - Rome
f.      Experience – Taking the local bus from Portofino to Santa Margherita and then walking back along the coastline into Portofino. Such breathtaking scenery, I had to put Santa Margherita and Portofino in the book. (See attached photos.)
g.     Movie – Angels and Demons.

7.     When you return to Italy, where would you like to go next/again?  Lake Como, the Dolomite Mountains, and back to the Amalfi Coast and the Italian Riviera of course! *hand high in the air and waving madly* Need someone to carry your bags, bring your drink, keep you company? 

Picture
Picture
When violinist Marina Wentworth arrives in Venice en route to a cruise ship for a short working holiday, the last thing she expects is to be confronted by a handsome stranger demanding answers. After going to great lengths to keep her real reasons for the trip a secret, Marina refuses to let her immediate attraction to Dean Logan derail her plans.

Desperate to recover his latest super yacht designs, Dean doesn’t want to believe the lovely violinist is involved in the devastating cyber-attack that threatens to destroy his yacht building empire. However his growing feelings for Marina fail to extinguish the nagging suspicion that she is hiding something.

Set against the backdrop of Italy’s Amalfi Coast, Dean and Marina must navigate the dangerous waters of secrecy, attraction, and the fusion of two very different worlds. Will their lives remain discordant, or will they take the chance at true harmony?

Click on the image or here for your copy!

Connect with Lee: 
www.leechristine.com.au
https://www.facebook.com/leechristine59
@leechristine59
https://www.pinterest.com/leechristine59/ 

8 Comments
Susanne
6/4/2015 09:43:45 am

Lee, thanks so much for dropping by and sharing your Italian experience with us. Stunning photos! Made me jealous and nostalgic by turn!

Reply
Lee Christine link
6/4/2015 10:21:47 am

Thanks so much for having me on All The World's A Page Susanne. It was a trip down memory lane for me too!

Reply
Noelle_Clark link
6/5/2015 10:21:43 am

Oh girls! You had me hooked just with the pictures! I've come over all swoony reading this wonderful interview. Lee, I'm off to buy this book right now. Anything Italian has got my interest, but a millionaire yacht builder and a classical violinist? Supremo!

Reply
Lee Christine link
6/5/2015 12:54:30 pm

Thanks Noelle! Hope you enjoy the read!

Reply
Susanne
6/5/2015 05:55:07 pm

We just love all things Italian, Noelle. And so does Amy Andrews, I see! Lee is in grand company! I think we have a writing group to go to Italy! ;)

Reply
Amy Andrews link
6/5/2015 03:27:18 pm

Oh Lee, hubby and I had 5 days in Positano back in 2006 (eep! almost 10 years ago now!) and I'm convinced I was a Roman goddess in a past life. Amalfi coast is absolutely divine and if I could only ever go back to one country to visit all my life it would definitely be Italy. I'm going next year on a Med cruise ending in Venice and we'll also be walking the Cinque Terra (hopefully!)

Did you go up in the hills to Ravello? It has quite the classical music history.

Reply
Lee Christine link
6/5/2015 04:26:47 pm

We were on a cruise Amy, starting in Venice then to Slovenia, Croatia, Malta, Sicily, Amalfi Coast, Cinque Terre and ending in Rome. It was absolutely divine! I loved it. I didn't go to Ravello but I put the ampitheatre in Taormina in the book as my heroine is a classical violinist. Also the Venice conservatorium as I went there. Italy is such an amazing country. If you can get to Santa Marguerita and Portofino do so. With the exception of the Venice ones, the above photographs are from that area.

Reply
Susanne
6/5/2015 05:58:06 pm

Amy, we stayed in Atrani, next to Ravello, and climbed the hills behind Amalfi. Can't think of a place I want to revisit more than the Amalfi coast. We didn't walk the Cinque Terra; there had been a couple of bad rock falls and a death just before we got to Italy. Perhaps next visit! :)

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Story elements surround us every day, from new places to a favourite piece of music or an odd moment witnessed in passing that becomes a scene in our work. On this weekly post, fellow authors will share some of what inspires their stories and their lives. Sit back and make yourself comfortable with the drink of your choice as the curtain rises. 

    Archives

    June 2020
    April 2020
    November 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    December 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012

    Categories

    All
    Contemporary Romance
    Devika Fernando
    #motorbikes #queenofspeed #GWGibson #romance
    Multi-cultural Romance
    Seduced In Spain
    Susanne Bellamy

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.