Paris is always the perfect idea. The French capital has long led the way in fashion, culture and art-but during the late nineteenth century, Paris was something else. The city of love resonated with everything modern and luxuriant and uproarious and risqué-Paris was, quite simply the epicentre of the Belle Époque. In FROM A PARIS BALCONY, we meet the Parisian courtesan Marthe de Florian-inspired by the real life demimondaine, whose real abandoned apartment in Paris was rediscovered in 2010 after being locked up for seventy years. I wanted to delve into both Marthe’s world and her feelings, but first, what was the scene in Paris when she was young? Three world fairs, in 1878, 1889 and 1900 contributed to Paris being the leading cultural capital in the world. Life in the city was an intertwine, an entanglement of burgeoning industry, artistic modernity and the pursuit of pleasure. The Third Republic, starting in 1870, is considered the Golden Era of the highest class of prostitutes, Parisian ‘It girls’ now known as ‘demimondaines.’ A generation of young men from all over Europe came to France’s capital to play with the forbidden fruits. Enter one of my characters, the charming heir to one…

By the time you read this, my sophomore novel, “>Can’t Help Falling, will have just been released. Coming just under six months from the release of my debut novel, Close To You, has made for a busy year! Before I was published I remember hearing a few times that your second novel is scarier than your debut. As I prepared for the release of my first book, I couldn’t understand how that was possible. Your debut is the first of everything! First time working with a publishing house, first time navigating cover and title selection, first one-star reviews, first readers letting you know what they didn’t like about your book or what you got wrong. You’re (Usually) Writing Under Contract For the First Time When I wrote Close To You it was the crazy story that I genuinely believed no publisher would be interested in. Who would want a romantic comedy set in New Zealand about a Lord of the Rings tour of all things? I had no expectations and no deadlines beyond the (moveable) ones that I set for myself. If life got in the way of writing it wasn’t a big deal. When I signed my publishing contract…

I’m all taken up with Christmas this month. It’s always this way for me. I get two Christmas’. One the first weekend in November and the other in December with the rest of the world. My November Christmas is really my mother’s bash and the month of October is consumed with last minute preparations. When I was kid Mom would take me around to boutiques and would show me things that she thought were beautiful. I remember how excited she felt. I wasn’t sure about all the stuff, but because she was excited, I was happy, too. I loved those times. They were like the official start of the holiday season for me. She used to tell me that someday she’d like to run her own holiday boutique. And now she does. Because when you want something badly enough, if you keep the dream alive and work hard for it, dreams really do come true. Mom has a group of crafting ladies who meet at her house all year long. They donate talent and many of the supplies and make gorgeous things. They work at home, too. And then, for two days, they sell their wares at Mom’s church. All…