Two worlds, 4,000 miles apart. Is their love strong enough to keep them together?
Rachel Hardy dreams of being a successful country music singer in Nashville’s Music City, four thousand miles away from her lonely life in Dorset. When Jackson Phillips, an independent record label owner, encourages her band to audition for a nationwide ‘Open Mic’ competition, she decides they have nothing to lose.
But when she starts to fall in love with Jackson, the stakes suddenly get higher and she finds herself with a great big dilemma on her hands. Should she abandon her dream and take the easy way out or should she leave the life she has always known behind and take a gamble on a man who has personal demons of his own?
Follow Rachel and Jackson as they learn to trust in love again to see whether their music really can unite them.
Q&A
- Did or do you like to read comic books/graphic novels? Which ones?
I used to read comic books when I was young, by which I mean things like The Beano, The Dandy and The Beezer, and I absolutely loved them. I found some old annual copies in my loft recently and it was a real pleasure to look at them again.
I’ve not really read any graphic novels myself, although when I was a teacher, I did share some with the children in my class.
- Whom did you inherit your love for books/reading from?
My mum was always reading when I was a child and she started taking me to the library when I was very young, which also encouraged me to read anything and everything. We used to go every week with my grandparents and my aunt and I loved the time we spent there. I would always take out the maximum number of books, read them all and then wait impatiently until it was time for us to go again!
- When you need a murder victim or someone you can diagnose with a serious disease or someone who is involved in a fatal accident do you sometimes picture someone nasty you have met in real life and think ‘got you’ LOL?
I have certainly used real-life people as inspiration for my characters, both good and bad. I’ve never created a character that was based entirely on one person though because I don’t think that would be fair, and it’s probably not a good idea for various reasons. I did name one of my unpleasant characters after someone famous that I don’t really like (just the first name obviously), but that’s about as close to the wind as I’ve sailed!
- How do you come up with the names for your characters?
Well, that follows on nicely from the previous question! Usually, I find the main characters’ names come to me quite easily, as they did for Rachel and Jackson in From Here to Nashville. I think I chose the name Jackson after the name of one of my favourite songs by Johnny Cash and June Carter. It seemed to fit well as the name for someone from Nashville.
In The Vineyard in Alsace, I named the main female character, Fran, after one of my French relatives, Françoise, and the main male character, Didier, after one of my early crushes while on holiday in France!
- Do you write other things beside books (and shopping lists 😉 )?
In the past, I used to write poems and music lyrics but I don’t have the time for that any more since I started writing novels. The only other writing I tend to do now is blog posts, either of my own or for other people.
- If your movie or series would be made from your books, would you be happy with the ‘based on’ version or would you rather like they showed it exactly the way you created it?
Having watched quite a few films and TV series adapted from books, my temptation would be to say that I’d prefer it to be exactly the way I created it, but I think that must be really difficult to pull off. I think a ‘based on’ version would be more realistic and then to hope that you would be involved as an executive producer or something similar so that you could have some final input. I’d love to have this issue to worry about!
- Who would you like/have liked to interview?
I would like to interview Barbra Streisand and Billy Joel, who are two of my favourite musicians. They also have a connection in that they’re both from New York originally and have also sung together. I’ve been lucky enough to see them both sing live, although only Billy was at his peak when I saw him, and it was so sad to hear that Barbra’s voice was not as strong as it once was. I might not mention that to her though! They’ve both had amazing careers and led fascinating lives so it would be great to be able to talk to them in more detail about that.
- Do you have certain people you contact while doing research to pick their brains? What are they specialized in?
I’ve never had to contact anyone specific to help me with research. My research for From Here to Nashville and also my latest book, The Bistro by Watersmeet Bridge, was all done on the Internet if I didn’t already know it. For The Vineyard in Alsace, I was already very familiar with the setting and the subject matter as I had worked in the wine trade myself for a few years and I’ve travelled across France visiting vineyards as part of that job.
- Is there someone you sometimes discuss a dilemma with?
Usually if I have a dilemma, I discuss it with my husband first. He’s been very good at listening to difficulties I’m having with my writing and helping me to sort them out, even though he’s never actually read one of my books from start to finish…
- What is more important to you : a rating in stars with no comments or a reviewer who explains what the comments they give are based on (without spoilers of course)
There’s nothing nicer than reading a review with comments where the reviewer explains why they enjoyed reading the book. However, we don’t all have the time for that so a review with no comments is also gratefully accepted.
Thank you, Julie Stock and Rachel’s Random Resources
About the author
Julie Stock writes contemporary feel-good romance from around the world: novels, novellas and short stories. She published her debut novel, From Here to Nashville, in February 2015 and her second novel, The Vineyard in Alsace in March 2017. Over You (Sam’s Story) and Finding You (Jenna’s Story), her follow-up novellas to From Here to Nashville were published in 2018, making the From Here to You series complete. She has also published a boxed set of the From Here to You trilogy of books.
The Bistro by Watersmeet Bridge was published in August 2019, followed by Bittersweet, a collection of 12 Short Stories for Modern Life in September 2019.
Julie is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and The Society of Authors.
Julie is married and lives with her family in Bedfordshire in the UK.
Author Links
Website – www.julie-stock.co.uk
Twitter – https://twitter.com/wood_beez48
Facebook Author Page – www.facebook.com/JulieStockAuthor
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/julie.stockauthor/
Book Link
B for Bookreview 