A Little Bit of What I Love by Lucy Felthouse
Thanks to Judith for having me here todayto share a little bit about my novella, LoveThrough Time, which was just released as part of Noble Romance's Timeless Desire collection.
The background of my story is simple – thetheme was chosen for us. "Timeless desire" was to be out theme tointerpret as we wished. I scratched my head for a while trying to come up withsomething that I was happy with, and wanted to write. Once I had the idea,though, there was no stopping me. Because, you see, after then I simply went onto write a little bit of what I love.
I love country houses, libraries and books.I spend lots of my weekends going around visiting country houses and admiringtheir interiors and exteriors. I see a lot of their libraries, some moreimpressive than others, and more houses still which have bookshelves here,there and everywhere.
When I came up with the idea for Love Through Time I immediately knewthat I wanted to set it in a country house. Preferably in a library. Which ishow the idea of making the main character, Emily, a book conservator came about.That way, she could be working with books in a library, inside a country house.
Right there, you have three things that I love, all rolled into one story!
The house in the story, Westbury Manor,doesn't really exist. It's an amalgamation of different houses. I've basicallychosen my favourite features from many houses and put them together to make asuitable setting for my novella. The library, however, is based on a realplace, with some tweaks to make it work better within my story.
It was great fun to write about theseplaces in Love Through Time, and setthe action within places that I'm enthusiastic about and love to visit. It'sstories like this that make being a writer so much fun! I hope that you'll readthe story and be mentally transported to the setting, seeing what I've seen,and exactly why I'm so enthusiastic about it.
Happy reading!
Blurb:
Westbury Manor is a stately home with afascinating past, and when book conservator Emily Stone starts uncovering it,she's startled by what she finds . . . .
Emily arrives at Westbury Manor with a jobto do. She's to clean and conserve all of the books in their impressivelibrary, preserving them for future generations. Not long into her stay at thehouse, she bumps into the night guard, George. She'd expected an old, baldingguy with a comb over, so the hunky chap she actually meets is a very pleasantsurprise. The introductions complete, George leaves Emily in peace to get onwith her job. But when a falling photograph sets off a chain reaction ofghostly events, Emily and George are thrown together in order to find outwho—or what—is causing them. Their investigation uncovers a tragic past, a lostlove, and a stunning secret.
Buy link: https://www.nobleromance.com/Authors/162/Lucy-Felthouse
Excerpt:
Emily received some strange looks andfrowns from the people she passed as she walked across the graveled drivetoward the front entrance of Westbury Hall. She could appreciate theirconfusion. It was closing time for the stately home, and the last of thevisitors were being politely ushered out of the building, yet she was headinginside. She'd been invited. She had a job to do.
An elderly lady stood in the porch, smiling and nodding asshe held the door open for those departing the hall. Most of them seemed in nohurry to leave, stopping to make comments to the woman at the door, thankingher for a lovely visit and so on. Emily waited patiently to the side, allowingthe patrons to leave before attempting to enter. When the staff member—mostlikely a volunteer, Emily thought—caught sight of her, she gave her a politenod of acknowledgment.
Finally, the last of Westbury Hall's visitors moved out,leaving Emily free to enter. Climbing the single, stone step to the threshold,she took the hand already offered her.
Shaking Emily's hand with a surprising firmness, the womansaid, "You must be Miss Stone." Her smart appearance and theintelligence in her eyes indicated that despite her age, she was far from pastit. "I'm Mrs. Thompson, house supervisor."
"I am," Emily replied, dropping her hand back toher side, "but please, call me Emily. It's lovely to meet you. So, housesupervisor? Do you live on site?"
Indicating Emily should step inside the entrance hall, Mrs.Thompson proceeded to close and lock the porch and front doors of the house,securing them in.
"I do," the older woman said, turning back to faceEmily, "I have rooms in a separate building just off the back of this one.So you needn't worry about me disturbing you."
"Oh no," Emily said, worried she'd inadvertentlyrubbed Mrs. Thompson the wrong way. "I didn't mean that. I was just curious.You're more than welcome to see me at work, Mrs. Thompson; although, I'm afraidyou won't see anything terribly exciting."
Mrs. Thompson smiled now, the warmth reaching her eyes. Emilysighed silently with relief. She'd yet to see the extent of the work she had todo, but she'd been told it was no easy task, so she could be here for sometime. The last thing she needed was to upset any of the staff.
"Oh, you'd be surprised, my dear. This is a fascinatingold place. Of course, all these old houses have history, but Westbury Hall's isparticularly rich."
Emily smiled. The woman's enthusiasm was infectious. "Wellthen," she replied, "I can't wait to learn more about it. I hope you'llfeed me full of historical tidbits while I'm here?"
Mrs. Thompson gave an enigmatic smile. Then, startling Emilysomewhat, she turned smartly on her heel and walked deeper into the house. "Come,my dear, I won't hold you up any longer. I'll show you to the library, whereyou'll soon start uncovering Westbury's illustrious history for yourself."
*****
Lucy is a graduate of the University ofDerby, where she studied Creative Writing. During her first year, she was daredto write an erotic story - so she did. It went down a storm and she's neverlooked back. Lucy has had stories published by Cleis Press, Noble Romance,Ravenous Romance, Summerhouse Publishing, Sweetmeats Press and Xcite Books. Sheis also the editor of Uniform Behaviour and Seducing the Myth. Find out more athttp://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk.You can also find her on Facebookand Twitter.
The background of my story is simple – thetheme was chosen for us. "Timeless desire" was to be out theme tointerpret as we wished. I scratched my head for a while trying to come up withsomething that I was happy with, and wanted to write. Once I had the idea,though, there was no stopping me. Because, you see, after then I simply went onto write a little bit of what I love.
I love country houses, libraries and books.I spend lots of my weekends going around visiting country houses and admiringtheir interiors and exteriors. I see a lot of their libraries, some moreimpressive than others, and more houses still which have bookshelves here,there and everywhere.
When I came up with the idea for Love Through Time I immediately knewthat I wanted to set it in a country house. Preferably in a library. Which ishow the idea of making the main character, Emily, a book conservator came about.That way, she could be working with books in a library, inside a country house.
Right there, you have three things that I love, all rolled into one story!
The house in the story, Westbury Manor,doesn't really exist. It's an amalgamation of different houses. I've basicallychosen my favourite features from many houses and put them together to make asuitable setting for my novella. The library, however, is based on a realplace, with some tweaks to make it work better within my story.
It was great fun to write about theseplaces in Love Through Time, and setthe action within places that I'm enthusiastic about and love to visit. It'sstories like this that make being a writer so much fun! I hope that you'll readthe story and be mentally transported to the setting, seeing what I've seen,and exactly why I'm so enthusiastic about it.
Happy reading!
Blurb:
Westbury Manor is a stately home with afascinating past, and when book conservator Emily Stone starts uncovering it,she's startled by what she finds . . . .
Emily arrives at Westbury Manor with a jobto do. She's to clean and conserve all of the books in their impressivelibrary, preserving them for future generations. Not long into her stay at thehouse, she bumps into the night guard, George. She'd expected an old, baldingguy with a comb over, so the hunky chap she actually meets is a very pleasantsurprise. The introductions complete, George leaves Emily in peace to get onwith her job. But when a falling photograph sets off a chain reaction ofghostly events, Emily and George are thrown together in order to find outwho—or what—is causing them. Their investigation uncovers a tragic past, a lostlove, and a stunning secret.
Buy link: https://www.nobleromance.com/Authors/162/Lucy-Felthouse
Excerpt:
Emily received some strange looks andfrowns from the people she passed as she walked across the graveled drivetoward the front entrance of Westbury Hall. She could appreciate theirconfusion. It was closing time for the stately home, and the last of thevisitors were being politely ushered out of the building, yet she was headinginside. She'd been invited. She had a job to do.
An elderly lady stood in the porch, smiling and nodding asshe held the door open for those departing the hall. Most of them seemed in nohurry to leave, stopping to make comments to the woman at the door, thankingher for a lovely visit and so on. Emily waited patiently to the side, allowingthe patrons to leave before attempting to enter. When the staff member—mostlikely a volunteer, Emily thought—caught sight of her, she gave her a politenod of acknowledgment.
Finally, the last of Westbury Hall's visitors moved out,leaving Emily free to enter. Climbing the single, stone step to the threshold,she took the hand already offered her.
Shaking Emily's hand with a surprising firmness, the womansaid, "You must be Miss Stone." Her smart appearance and theintelligence in her eyes indicated that despite her age, she was far from pastit. "I'm Mrs. Thompson, house supervisor."
"I am," Emily replied, dropping her hand back toher side, "but please, call me Emily. It's lovely to meet you. So, housesupervisor? Do you live on site?"
Indicating Emily should step inside the entrance hall, Mrs.Thompson proceeded to close and lock the porch and front doors of the house,securing them in.
"I do," the older woman said, turning back to faceEmily, "I have rooms in a separate building just off the back of this one.So you needn't worry about me disturbing you."
"Oh no," Emily said, worried she'd inadvertentlyrubbed Mrs. Thompson the wrong way. "I didn't mean that. I was just curious.You're more than welcome to see me at work, Mrs. Thompson; although, I'm afraidyou won't see anything terribly exciting."
Mrs. Thompson smiled now, the warmth reaching her eyes. Emilysighed silently with relief. She'd yet to see the extent of the work she had todo, but she'd been told it was no easy task, so she could be here for sometime. The last thing she needed was to upset any of the staff.
"Oh, you'd be surprised, my dear. This is a fascinatingold place. Of course, all these old houses have history, but Westbury Hall's isparticularly rich."
Emily smiled. The woman's enthusiasm was infectious. "Wellthen," she replied, "I can't wait to learn more about it. I hope you'llfeed me full of historical tidbits while I'm here?"
Mrs. Thompson gave an enigmatic smile. Then, startling Emilysomewhat, she turned smartly on her heel and walked deeper into the house. "Come,my dear, I won't hold you up any longer. I'll show you to the library, whereyou'll soon start uncovering Westbury's illustrious history for yourself."
*****
Lucy is a graduate of the University ofDerby, where she studied Creative Writing. During her first year, she was daredto write an erotic story - so she did. It went down a storm and she's neverlooked back. Lucy has had stories published by Cleis Press, Noble Romance,Ravenous Romance, Summerhouse Publishing, Sweetmeats Press and Xcite Books. Sheis also the editor of Uniform Behaviour and Seducing the Myth. Find out more athttp://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk.You can also find her on Facebookand Twitter.
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