Lifting The Curtain on ‘The Theatre of Dreams’…
I am delighted to be chatting with the wonderful debut novelist, Rosie Travers today on the blog. It’s not every day an author has the honour of endorsing a book, and I was blown away when Rosie asked me if I’d provide a quote for her story’s beautiful cover:
“A witty and colourful treat!”
And it REALLY is. Without further ado, here is Rosie to tell you all about it:
About The Theatre of Dreams
The wonderful thing about being an author is being able to re-write history – my inspiration for The Theatre of Dreams is the historic Lee Tower which was once situated on the sea front at Lee-on-the-Solent in my native Hampshire. The Art Deco complex was constructed in 1935 and originally comprised a cinema, ballroom, restaurant and 120ft observation tower. The buildings were demolished by the local council in 1971, which today seems a travesty in a town with so few amenities. The site is now a car-park. I spotted a commemorative notice about the tower and my imagination was captured!
I’ve set my novel in a fictional south coast resort, and exchanged a multi-purpose entertainment complex for a small family run theatre. My main characters, the elderly but devious Kitty Keaton, disgraced musical theatre actress Tara, and bankrupt architect Dominic Flynn, are united in their desire to save an iconic local landmark, but each has a very different motive.
About Me
I grew up in Southampton on the south coast of England and loved escaping into a good book from a very early age. As a teenager I landed my dream job working in a book shop, and spent much of my spare time scribbling numerous short stories and novels, none of which I was ever brave enough to show anyone. Sadly, the real world then took over and my writing habit was put on hold for marriage, mortgages and motherhood. In 2009 I moved back out of the real world and across the Atlantic to Southern California when my husband took up a three year overseas work assignment. Life as an ex-pat wife wasn’t quite as glamorous as I’d first envisaged, so to fend off the loneliness and homesickness, I began a blog about our life in Los Angeles, which re-ignited my creative juices.
When I returned to the UK I undertook a creative writing course, always intending to turn our US adventures into book, but it never happened. Instead, boosted by a couple of competition successes I concentrated on short stories, until another overseas assignment followed – this time to the Netherlands, and I thought, what better way to fill those long, grey, damp Dutch winters than by writing a novel.
The Theatre of Dreams will be published by Crooked Cat Books on 1 August 2018.
http://MyBook.to/theatreofdreams
Official Blurb
Musical theatre actress Tara is down on her luck and in desperate need of a job.
When terminally-ill octogenarian Kitty invites her to take over the running of her former dance academy in the old-fashioned resort of Hookes Bay, Tara thinks she’s found her guardian angel.
But it soon becomes very clear Kitty is being far from benevolent. Too late, Tara realises helping Kitty will signal the end of an already tarnished career, unless she can pull off the performance of a life-time.
Contact Info
Website: www.rosietravers@hotmail.com
Twitter @RosieTravers
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rosietraversauthor
Instagram: rosietraversauthor
Isabella May Author 