The Tryo must have spent a lifetime perfecting their art and teasing out every single note.
Enchanted by a musical trio, we joined a crowd as they danced, swayed and tapped their feet to the beat. The international language of joy spread across everyone’s face.
Situated next to the Roman Forum, musical notes suspended us in a moment. The entertainers beamed at their audience’s response. As I tapped my feet, I realised how few people placed money in the guitar case, and no one would part with ten euros to buy the compilation. Many people expected the impromptu entertainment to be free.
The Tryo must have spent a lifetime perfecting their art and teasing out every single note. I tried to imagine their stories. Who were the loves of their lives? How did they manage perform the music with such soul? As a gesture of kindness from a writer to musicians, I decided to pay the ten euros for the CD. The trio smiled again but looked a little surprised. My action prompted a few others to buy the music. I do believe that people had forgotten that we can’t always expect to be entertained for free. Alas, other people continued to record the music on their phones and never looked up. However, I did hear the happy clang of coins hitting the guitar as I walked away.
Here I am feeling happy in Delfryn Abbey (inspired by Tintern Abbey).
Listening to the CD at home takes me back to Rome and a moment that bonded a diverse group of people in the city of Romance. This weekend, I was suspended in another moment of joy when readers, across the world, paid ninety nine pence for ‘You Can’t Go It Alone’. My book climbed the charts, and I performed my happy dance. I imagined the coins falling into my handbag ready for me to buy a coffee and another book.
Olivia, Rosa and Matteo’s Olive Tree Café and music venue.
I do wish I could gather the readers of my novel together, smile at them and say thank you to them for buying my words. I would love to be able to invite the readers to the Olive Tree Café, in You Can’t Go It Alone, and ask Rosa, Olivia and Matteo to perform music for them.
Which songs did Jo enter into her writer’s jukebox to evoke the emotions and inspire the tension in A Cornish Affair, her debut novel with Ruby Fiction?
Author, Jo Lambert, celebrates music in her regular blog feature Life Playlists. Music is an inspiration for Jo, and during the writing process music helps Jo to tease out the emotions in her romance novels. I imagine a vintage jukebox playing in the corner of her writing room. Which songs did Jo enter into her writer’s jukebox to evoke the emotions and inspire the tension in A Cornish Affair, her debut novel with Ruby Fiction?
At its heart A Cornish Affair is romantic fiction but it’s also wrapped around a modern day saga. Alongside the ‘will they-won’t they’ going on between Cat and Luke there’s a host of other things – murder and a cantankerous great aunt to mention just two. But this book could never have been written without the music. Like Jessie music has always been a huge part of my life and it’s played an important role in all my writing. With two exceptions, all my books have had their titles taken from songs. And to help the writing process, I create a playlist of tracks; a musical backdrop to writing different scenes.
But Carrenporth is about to experience far bigger scandals than the return of Luke Carrack – and the secrets unearthed in the process will shake the sleepy seaside town to its core …
So this is in Jessie’s words a ‘Books in my Handbag Jukebox’ post. A taster of the music I used for this particular novel.
Jo’s playlist offers a clear insight into the narrative and the emotion. I wanted to discover more about this author.
In June 2018 Jo signed to Choc Lit. Her debut A Cornish Affair, set on the North Cornish coast, was published in June under their Ruby imprint.
Jo Lambert lives on the eastern edge of the city of Bath. In 2008 she published her first novel When Tomorrow Comes. This was the first of five books which became known as the Little Court series, following the lives and loves of four girls growing up in the 1960/70s in the West Country. In 2015 she published Summer Moved On, a contemporary romance set in South Devon. A sequel, Watercolours in the Rain followed in 2017.
In June 2018 Jo signed to Choc Lit. Her debut A Cornish Affair, set on the North Cornish coast, was published in June under their Ruby imprint. She is currently working on her next coastal romance.
When Jo isn’t writing she reads and reviews. She also has an active blog – A Writer’s Journey. She loves travel, red wine and rock music and takes the odd photograph or two. Jo is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Authors
In the close-knit community of Carrenporth in Cornwall everyone knows everyone else’s business. Luke Carrack is only too aware of this. He’s been away for two years but nothing has changed – from the town gossips who can’t see past the scandal of his childhood, to the cold way he is treated by some of his so-called family.
The only person who seems to understand is local hotelier’s daughter Cat Trevelyan, although even Luke’s new friendship with her could set tongues wagging.
But Carrenporth is about to experience far bigger scandals than the return of Luke Carrack – and the secrets unearthed in the process will shake the sleepy seaside town to its core …
