Single in Buenos Aires
The Polo Diaries Book 1
Roxy plays polo… but dreams of love. Forty-one-year-old polo player Roxy arrives in Argentina with
a to-do list that includes healing from a polo injury and falling in love with a handsome Argentine. From polo boots to tango shoes, the adrenaline of riding horses to glamorous after-game parties, Roxy learns to navigate this unfamiliar landscape with the help of new friends who teach her to take life as it comes. But will she find true love? Over three months in Buenos Aires, nothing goes according to plan, and yet, all the items on her list mysteriously get ticked off in the end. Just not the way she had imagined.
Fans of the Bridget Jones series will love the blend of humor, travel, and romantic comedy at the heart of Single in Buenos Aires, all topped off with the unforgettable flavor of life in one of the most sensual and passionate cities in the world.
Book Links
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07T8C3TN6/
US – https://www.amazon.com/Single-Buenos-Aires-Polo-Diaries-ebook/dp/B07T8C3TN6/
A Horse Called Bicycle
The Polo Diaries Book 2
Roxy found love . . . but is it enough? In the second installment of the Polo Diaries series, polo player
Roxy goes back to Argentina a year after the events in Single in Buenos Aires, filled with dreams of settling down with the man she loves. This time, once again, Argentina is full of surprises and things are not what they appear to be. Or maybe they’re exactly what they’re meant to be, as a fortune-teller informs her.
Roxy takes a leap of faith and follows her dreams once again. She spends time at glamorous party venues of Buenos Aires and travels to the rough and wild pampas. Along the way, Roxy’s friends support and champion her quest for love, but when things get out of hand, Roxy realizes she needs to listen to her own inner voice and must make a hard choice. Two paths open in front of her, each one with far-reaching consequences. Which will she choose?
Book Links
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B082P34YPF/
US – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082P34YPF/
Q&A
When and where do you prefer to write?
I write when it comes wherever I am. Single in Buenos Aires was written in 3 weeks in an apartment rented on Airbnb in Mallorca. It was October and it rained almost every single day. I was writing all day long.
I started writing ‘A Horse Called Bicycle’ in Argentina, in a flat also rented on Airbnb. I was there for a couple of months and I wrote a bit every day. Then I went to India – to the Ayurveda retreat mentioned in the book – and I continued writing there. I finished the book at a bar overlooking the Lamai beach on the Island of Ko Samui in Thailand. I wrote at that bar every day for a week, each day for about 5-6 hours. The last two days there was a huge storm, the waiters were trying to protect the terrace with plastic sheets and and I was pretty much the only customer there.. writing non stop under the raging storm.
- Do you have a certain ritual?
Yes I meditate and connect to the book I am writing. I ask the book to come, I dialogue with it as if it were a person. I ask it what it is about, what it needs from me. I visualise the end product finished, I clean and ground it. I also keep a journal. The journal of a book for each book that I am writing. When I’m out of inspiration I turn to the journal and I keep on writing – pretty much everything that comes to my mind about that book – fragments of the book, soul searching, questions I have and for which I have not received answers yet. Ideas for marketing. Brainstorming. Anything. I just write it all in the journal.
- Is there a drink of some food that keeps you company while you write?
Not necessarily food but I like to keep well hydrated. I have a glass of water on my desk always.
- What is your favourite book?
The Alchemist by Paulo Cohelo.
- Do you consider writing a different genre in the future?
I write what comes to me. I wrote a travel memoir (Through Dust and Dreams), a self help non fiction book (Personal Power – Mindfulness Techniques for the Corporate World), a trilogy of contemporary woman’s fiction (The Polo Diaries) and I’m now working on a novel (The Boyfriend Experience).
- Do you sometimes base your characters on people you know?
Yes. AlwaysJ That’s why I always add ‘Inspired by a true story’ even on my fiction books. Because they are.
- Do you take a notebook everywhere in order to write down ideas that pop up?
No I just let myself absorb the moment. Then, if I’m present enough the setting and dialogues and ideas will be engraved in my mind and my soul and easily retrievable when I start writing. I found that I could retrieve from my mind whole dialogues I had with various people just because their words though me deeply. When a fragment of a new book comes to me I usually have to sit down and write them pretty quickly – otherwise they go. These fragments when they come have a melodic quality and this is how I now I have to pay attention and really write them down. I write directly on my computer though not on a notebook.
- Which genre do you not like at all?
I would never write horror. I have troubles imaging writing Sci-Fi or erotica.
- If you had the chance to co-write a book. Whom would it be with?
With my husband! He’s a writer as well and we’re discussing writing a children’s book together.
- If you should travel to a foreign country to do research, which one would you chose and why?
I’ve already travelled extensively to foreign countries. My trips to Argentina were used as a basis for The Polo Diaries. And my trip across Africa was the basis of my travel memoir – Through Dust and Dreams.
Thank you, Roxana Valea and Rachel’s Random Resources
About the author
Roxana Valea was born in Romania and lived in Italy, Switzerland, England and Argentina before settling in Spain. She has a BA in journalism and an MBA degree. She spent more than twenty years in the business world as an entrepreneur, manager and management consultant working for top companies like Apple, eBay, and Sony. She is also a Reiki Master and shamanic energy medicine practitioner.
As an author, Roxana writes books inspired by real events. Her memoir Through Dust and Dreams is a faithful account of a trip she took at the age of twenty-eight across Africa by car in the company of two strangers she met over the internet. Her following book, Personal Power: Mindfulness Techniques for the Corporate World is a nonfiction book filled with personal anecdotes from her consulting years. The Polo Diaries series is inspired by her experiences as a female polo player–traveling to Argentina, falling in love, and surviving the highs and lows of this dangerous sport.
Roxana lives with her husband in Mallorca, Spain, where she writes, coaches, and does energy therapies, but her first passion remains writing.
Author Links
Website – https://www.roxanavaleaauthor.com
https://www.facebook.com/RoxanaValeaAuthor/
https://www.instagram.com/roxanavalea_author/
https://twitter.com/roxana_valea?lang=en
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