As I write this I'm having lunch at my part-time job in a wonderful little village library just north of Wellington, New Zealand. I'm surrounded by books, I'm talking to people about books, and thinking about what to write in my next book. At the moment , sunshine is streaming into the old library, there are three children under ten, snuggled up onto beanbags poring over books, and all I can hear is bird song, the thwack of tennis balls from the courts next door, and the occasional swish of a turning page. Some people wonder why I continue to work as a librarian but, really, what's not to like? Plus I get to talk to actual people rather than the ones in my head which must be good for me!
But the people lurking in my head have been making more noise recently, wondering when I'm going to write their stories. I've had a bit of a break since I published At the Sheikh's Pleasure in December so I can actually read some books and do normal things like housework. But I've discovered housework is over-rated, plus my recent move to this lovely little library has provided the inspiration for my next series—Summer Beach. The nearby town of Raumati Beach means summer in Maori, so it seems like the perfect name.
The Summer Beach series of books will be about family and community and, most importantly, romance. So I hope you're going to come along for the ride. The first book features Jen a thirty-something divorcee and her son who return to Jen's childhood home. She's back living with her mother in a rambling home overlooking the wide sandy expanses of the Kapiti coast. And she has a lot of things to sort out, not least the state of her heart. And that's where her ex-boyfriend, Sam comes in...
If you want to keep up-to-date with my progress and when the books will be published, you can either subscribe to my newsletter or keep an eye on my blog.
Happy reading!
Diana