Monday, September 25, 2017

Interview with Romance Author Christina Lorenzen


Christina started writing as a young teen, jotting stories in wire ring composition notebooks. Her first typewriter made it faster to get all those stories out of her head and down on paper. She is busy working on a modern take on her favorite fairy tale, Rapunzel for a summer release. When she isn’t writing or reading, she can be found walking her dog, talking to her herd of cats and spending time with her family.

Welcome to my blog, Christina. Please tell us about your novel, The Silvershell Beach Inn.

The Silvershell Beach Inn is a sweet romance that’s set in the small town of Marion, Massachusetts. My publisher had a call out for a collection of stories set in the state of Massachusetts. As a child and young teen, I spent several weeks every summer at my grandparents house in Marion. I decided to use the beach we spent every summer on but took a little fictional liberty and created the Silvershell Beach Inn. I also brought in some of my mother’s side of the family’s, culture. My mother’s parents are from Portugal so my characters are all Portuguese and my grandmother’s soup, Canja, plays a role in the story as well. As a bonus, I’ve included the recipe for readers at the back of the book.

Where did you get your inspiration for this story?

Because the publisher wanted stories set in Massachusetts, the inspiration came from my childhood and early teens. I have such sweet happy memories of summers in Marion. Writing the book was like taking a trip back in time to a simpler time. The inspiration for the characters mentioned came from a mix of people I knew in that town and my own family members.

What kind of research did you do?

Since I haven’t been back to Marion in quite some time, I did some basic research. I went online to the town’s website to look at pictures and get a few town facts. I’m also lucky enough to still have a cousin in the neighboring town who could get a few street names verified and share some summer time memories. She’s also the only one in the family that had a copy of my grandmother’s Canja soup.

Tell me about one of the main characters and what you love about him or her?

I love my characters. Jacinta, or Jacy as she’s called, is a creative so I do love that about her. But my hero, Zach Silva, is my ‘pet’ right now lol. He’s been groomed to be a businessman from the time he was a teenager. He’s torn between following his father, who wanted to forget the culture and Americanize the family, and his pride for his culture. He’s the one who decides to bring Jacy’s grandmother, Augusta Penna, on board to the inn, bringing the Portuguese to the very elegant, beach side resort that his family owns.

Where is your website and blog so my readers can check out your recent and past books that you have written?

I love for readers to visit my online home at
http://christinalorenzen.com/. They can also visit my blog, as I am in the process of updating it. Right now I do a Friday feature called The Reading Bag, but I will have other features as well, including my original Small Town Saturday posts. http://christinalorenzen.com/the-reading-bag-3/

Thanks for having me here, Linda! It’s always a pleasure to visit with you and your readers.

Thank you, Christina, for this wonderful interview. I appreciate it. I hope my followers will check out your novel.

6 comments:

Nancy said...

Looks like you used a lot of childhood memories as a lot of inspiration. Sounds very interesting. Thanks for this opportunity.

Sonja said...

I like to write about my memories, too. That must be a really sweet romance! Would love to read this.

Christina said...

Yes, Nancy, I did. Writing this book gave me the opportunity to relive memories I had also forgotten. I truly loved writing it. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Christina said...

Sonja, I think writing about your memories is a wonderful way to hold on to them. I'm hoping to write another story set in my grandparents town and explore more memories soon. This sweet romance was the first. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Anonymous said...

Awesome book and enjoyed the character and storyline very much ! Dixie-Lee Campell

Linda Weaver Clarke said...

Congratulations to Sonja. I hope you enjoy this book.