Today we are very pleased to welcome Annie Seaton to Book Lovers Inc. Annie’s first two books Holiday Affair and Winter of the Passion Flower both released on March 15th! Annie is here today to talk about the inspiration for her beautiful locales in her stories.

Stella: Your descriptions of the exotic setting were very evocative and vivid, have you been to the Whitsunday Islands on a sailing trip? (If not, why did you choose this exact location? any special reason? What inspired it?) Or did any other of your own experience, travels inspire details of the novel?

Annie Seaton: I am so pleased that my description of the exotic setting in the Whitsunday Islands evoked a response and my words translated into vivid pictures for the reader

Every July for the past ten years or so, my husband and I have chartered a bareboat sailing catamaran with two or three other couples, and sailed around the seventy-four islands of the Whitsundays. If you need your batteries recharged and want to take the opportunity of experiencing Mother Nature at her best…this is the trip to take.

Seven days and nights of lazy life basking in the winter tropical sun. Deserted islands, fantastic snorkelling, great food and wine, and of course the opportunity to laze on the deck and read a book with the sails snapping above.

Each of the descriptive Whitsunday scenes in Holiday Affair was based on a real place and my visit to them. At Butterfly Bay, I stood entranced among thousands of black butterflies.

Each evening, the five crew and the skipper (my husband) would all vie for the best sunset photo of the day and many of these actual photos can be seen on my face book photo gallery! (annieseaton26)

We would wander along the beaches at the islands where there were resorts and listen to the many different languages of the back packers as they enjoyed the Whitsunday experience.

Of course, romance is always in the air and the romance of Nick and Lissy was inspired as I watched tanned backpackers stroll hand in hand along the beach.

A visit to New Zealand and my awe at the number of boats and marinas in Auckland planted the seed for them living on a boat . We always dream about living in a marina when we return from our sailing holiday each year! Nick and Lissy fulfilled the dream for me.

My background of working in an academic environment and my study of Pacific history in my undergraduate history studies was the inspiration for Lissy’s role in the history faculty in the University.

I hope readers enjoyed the story of Lissy and Nick and the romance of the tropical locales. Look out, there will be more exotic locales to follow!

Staid professor Lissy McIntyre believes that choosing a mate should be based on common sense, not runaway passion. And she would certainly never pick a rolling stone like Nick Richards for long-term love. But a red-hot, tropical romance? Oh, yeah. He’s got a body just made for sinning and his sizzling kisses leave her senseless.

When Nick blows into town, he’s stunned to discover that his no-nonsense new neighbor and co-worker is the same sultry creature he seduced for one night of forbidden island pleasure. He’s unaccustomed to staying in one place for long, but he just can’t seem to keep his hands off the multi-faceted woman. Will Nick break loyal Lissy’s heart or will she be the one woman he simply can’t walk away from?

Annie Seaton lives on the edge of the south Pacific Ocean on the east coast of Australia. Recently retired from the world of full time work, she is fulfilling her lifelong dream of writing, and her first two books were both published on the same day!

She writes across genres steampunk, historical and paranormal romance, romantic suspense but her favorite genre is contemporary romance.

She lives with her own hero of many years. Their two children are now grown up and married, and two beautiful grandchildren have arrived. They share their home with “Bob” the dog and two white cats.

Annie’s working life went through several major career changes…., librarian, teacher, technology consultant and university tutor. She has now retired and spends her days writing down all the stories in her head. When she is not writing she can be found in her garden or walking on the beach… or most likely on her deck overlooking the ocean, a chilled glass of sauvignon blanc in hand.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*~*Giveaway*~*~

Entangled Publishing have generously offered an ebook copy of Holiday Affair to one lucky commenter!

All you have to do is leave a meaningful comment about the post and answer this question: what exotic location would you like to travel to?
(You can read our full giveaway policy here)

Please be sure to include a valid email address in the comment form (need not be in the actual body of the comment).

This giveaway is open to all!

Giveaway ends on Saturday, April 7th, 2012; we will announce the winner on Sunday.

Good luck!

About Stella

Stella is a proud bookaholic and a self-taught multilinguist in training. Besides reading, her other great passions are travelling and baking. When she is not globetrotting she lives in sunny Budapest, where she loves to spend her free time preparing (and feasting on) delicious cookies or devouring equally yummy books. Her favourite genres are urban fantasy and romance and she couldn't live without her daily dose of sunshine. Besides being the Latin Lover on BLI Stella also blogs about books and a bookish life on Ex Libris.

• View all posts by Stella →
• Blog
• Twitter
• Facebook