Today I’m delighted to feature author Eliza J Scott.  Although Eliza and I have only met via social media I know we’d get on, she lives in one of my favourite places and loves tea and cake, that’s my kind of gal!

 

About Eliza :

Eliza has wanted to be a writer as far back as she can remember. She lives in North Yorkshire with her husband, two daughters and two black Labradors. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found with her nose in a book/glued to her Kindle, or working in her garden and battling against the weeds that seem to grow in abundance there. Eliza enjoys bracing walks in the countryside, rounded off by a visit to a teashop where she can indulge in another two of her favourite things: tea and cake.

So over to Eliza,

 

Which 5 pieces of music/songs would you include in the soundtrack of your life and why?

 

 

Okay, so I’m really going to show my age here, but the first song would have to be White Horses by Jacky (Jackie Lee). It was the theme-tune to a series that was popular in the seventies. Whenever I hear it, it triggers happy memories of sunny summer days at my grandad’s house.

 

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‘Bedshaped’ by Keane is a fabulous song. I love all of their music, but this is my favourite. I saw them live with some friends in Dalby Forest in North Yorkshire and they were absolutely brilliant. Tom Chaplin’s voice was faultless.

 

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‘West End Girls’ by the Pet Shop Boys. I can remember hearing this track on the radio for the first time and being blown away by it. It was so catchy and different. I think it still sounds really fresh today.

 

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I was a huge Duran Duran fan in my teens. You couldn’t put a pin between the posters of them on my bedroom walls – John Taylor, in particular, featured rather heavily! I saw them play live a couple of times and they were fabulous. My favourite Duran Duran song has always been ‘My Own Way’.

 

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Joseph Canteloube’s Bailero from Songs of the Auvergne is just stunning and gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. When my husband and I got married we had it playing softly in the background. It definitely added to the emotion of the occasion!

 

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What 5 things (apart from family and friends) would you find it hard to live without?

 

Top of the list here would have to be books. Whether they be ebooks or a physical books, I always need to have something close to hand to read for when I have a spare moment – and I always manage to find a spare moment for a spot of reading!

Yorkshire Tea tea-bags. You can’t beat a mug of tea – the stronger the better as far as I’m concerned. Which leads me nicely onto the next item on my list…

Ginger biscuits. They’re a must during the writing process and are great for dunking in tea. Actually, they’re a must at any time!

A garden. I love spending time in ours. When we first bought our house the garden was very bare and the lawn was badly thatched. It’s now full of flower beds and borders, and I’m currently thinking about creating a pond. I don’t get to tend it as often as I’d like, but I do enjoy having a cup of tea outside with the delicious fragrance of roses wafting around on the breeze.

Something to write with, whether it be my laptop or a notebook and a pen. I definitely need to have something for scribbling ideas down.

 

Can you offer 5 pieces of advice you’d give your younger self?

 

Don’t sweat the small stuff. It’s actually a piece of advice I regularly tell myself now. Some things really aren’t worth the time and energy they take up worrying about them. And worrying doesn’t change anything anyway.

Take the leap. Don’t talk yourself out of doing something if you’d really like to do it. You’ll only regret not doing it when you’re older. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Distance yourself from people who make you feel bad about yourself. They’re not true friends if that’s the way they make you feel.

Don’t let anyone hold you back from something you’d really like to do in life.

Don’t let your sister dye your hair. I let my sister loose on mine when I was seventeen. She had a bottle of hair dye and a promise that she knew what she was doing. Big mistake! Turned out it was bleach. She had a whale of a time doing it and I, on the other hand, had a headful of frazzled yellow hair and had to wear a beret until I managed to get an appointment at the hairdressers!

 

Tell us 5 things that most people don’t know about you?

 

I’m tone deaf. Completely and utterly. When I sing, I even sound bad to me! I’ve been told my singing sounds like a cat being strangled, and I’m afraid I have to agree. I mime the words when I have to sing in public – there’s no way on this earth I’d inflict my tuneless warbling on the poor unsuspecting soul who’s singing beside me. I do, however, have a good old sing-along to myself when the house is empty. It’s just as well our neighbours don’t live too close!

I’m a dab-hand at DIY and don’t mind rolling my sleeves up and doing a spot of plastering, re-pointing, or tiling – which is the next job on my list here at home.

I used to be allergic to strawberries when I was a child. I’d come out in an awful, itchy rash whenever I ate them. Thankfully, I’ve outgrown the allergy, which I’m really happy about as I love a bowl of strawberries and cream.

I’m not keen on the colour orange. It’s one I always tend to avoid. The only exception would be a beautiful, fragrant rose.

I don’t like mince-meat – the savoury variety. Just the thought of it makes my stomach churn.

 

Tell us 5 things you’d like to do or achieve.

 

For a long time now it’s been my dream to travel on the Orient Express and it’s definitely something I intend to do with my husband to celebrate a special anniversary. I suppose I’d better start saving…

I’d love to be able to speak conversational Italian. Italy is somewhere we tend to favour for holidays and I’d really like to be able to make the effort to converse properly when ordering food or buying things in shops.

I know it’s a dream of quite a few of us authors, but I’d really love my Life on the Moors series to be optioned for a TV series. It would be great to see North Yorkshire on the telly of a Sunday evening. And I’d love to see my characters come to life. That would be amazing!

I’d love to visit Nantucket. It looks so pretty and is definitely on my bucket list.

I’d like to conquer my fear of heights. I’ve had the phobia for as long as I can remember and it’s never got any better. Even if something that’s filmed from a high vantage point comes on the TV it terrifies me. Totally irrational!

 

Thank you so much for inviting me to take part in your Five on Friday, Jill, it’s been great fun.

Thanks so much for joining us Eliza, it’s been great finding out more about you. I’m always happy to meet another book loving, tea-drinking, ginger (biscuit) dunker! Many thanks for the ‘White Horses’ memory I haven’t heard that in years and it took me right back (showing my age too!). I agree with your take the leap advice too – I never want to look back and regret missed chances. Not keen on the colour orange either (we’re spookily alike). I really hope you get to tick off those to do dreams – I hope your conversational Italian goes better than my Spanish! 

 

Eliza’s Books

(NB contains affiliate links)

 

Tell that to My Heart (Heartshaped Book 1)

Jemima Dewberry wears her heart on her sleeve. Her weakness for bad boys, coupled with her track record for making bad decisions has led to endless heartbreak. The only trouble is, she can’t seem to kick the habit.

On top of that, her “dream” job at Yorkshire Portions magazine hasn’t turned out to be what she’d hoped, and she seems to have developed the knack of annoying her boss without even trying. It doesn’t help that the new girl seems to have taken an instant dislike to her. All that’s keeping her there are her best friends Anna-Lisa and Aidey, who have picked up the pieces of her shattered heart more times than they care to remember.

When Jemima’s latest boyfriend turns out to be no better than the rest, the hurt and humiliation is almost unbearable. She declares she’s finally through with love, and swears off men for life. But when charismatic Caspar De Verre walks into the office with his dangerous good looks and mesmerising smile, she’s utterly captivated, and her promises to Anna-Lisa and Aidey not to let her heart rule her head are soon forgotten.

But is Caspar all he seems? Anna-Lisa and Aidey have their doubts. And Herbert, the happy-go-lucky black Labrador Jemima’s looking after, doesn’t seem to like him either.

As Jemima falls for Caspar’s charms she finds herself being forced to confront the struggle between her head and her heart. But which one will prove the most powerful?

And will Jemima get the happy-ever-after she so desperately craves?

 

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Life on the Moors Series

 

The Letter : Kitty’s Story (Book 1)

To the outside world, she has it all: a chocolate-box pretty home, the perfect marriage and two beautiful children. But you never know what goes on behind closed doors…

Thirty-four-year-old Kitty Bennett is trapped in a loveless marriage to cold-hearted, expert manipulator, Dan, who’s gradually isolated her from her family and friends. Until the day she (literally) bumps into her first love, the handsome and easy-going Ollie Cartwright – someone she’s done her best to avoid for as long as she can remember. Looking into Ollie’s eyes awakens feelings for him she thought she’d buried deep years ago, and he clearly feels the spark, too. As she walks away, Kitty can’t help but wonder what might have been.
Dan senses that his marriage is on shaky ground and knows he needs to win his wife round. He turns on the charm, skilfully using their two children, Lucas and Lily, as bargaining tools. But Kitty’s older brother, Jimby, and her childhood best-friends, Molly and Violet, have decided enough is enough. For years they’ve had to watch from afar as Kitty’s been browbeaten into an unrecognisable version of herself. They vow to make her see Dan for what he really is, but their attempts are no match for his finely-honed courtroom skills and, against her better judgement, Kitty agrees to give her husband one last chance. But, all-too-soon, a series of heart-breaking events and a shocking secret throw her life into turmoil…
Will she stand by Dan, or will Kitty be brave enough to take the leap and follow her heart to Ollie?

Life is anything but peaceful in the idyllic village of Lytell Stangdale, where life unravels, and hearts are broken. Full of heart-warming moments, this book with have you crying tears of joy, laughter and sadness.

 

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The Talisman : Molly’s Story (Book 2)

Molly’s dream of taking over her childhood home at Withrin Hill Farm with husband Pip and their three children has finally come true. And, as they settle into the stunning Georgian farmhouse, with their plans to diversify into glamping nicely taking shape, the family couldn’t be happier. But tragedy suddenly strikes, and Molly’s world is turned upside down.

Heartbroken and devastated, she struggles to face each day. True to form, her fiercely loyal best friends, Kitty and Violet, rally round offering love and support, but Molly doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to smile again. Until the day a tall, dark stranger with twinkly eyes arrives…

Follow Molly’s story in book 2 of the Life on the Moors Series set in Lytell Stangdale, a picture-perfect village in the heart of the North Yorkshire Moors, where life is anything but quiet.

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The Secret : Violet’s Story (Book 3)

It’s been two years since glamorous and ambitious Violet Smith fell head-over-heels in love with blacksmith Jimby Fairfax, moving back home to the North Yorkshire village of Lytell Stangdale to be with him.
Life couldn’t get much sweeter. Their romance is blooming and Romantique – the business she set up with Jimby’s sister Kitty, designing luxurious underwear and burlesque costumes with the odd wedding dress throw in – is thriving.
But on a romantic weekend break, a face from her past triggers a series of events which send Violet into turmoil. She finds herself with no alternative but to reveal a secret she’s buried deep for the past sixteen years. A secret she hasn’t shared with anyone, not even her best friends, Kitty and Molly, and they share everything.
With the revelation forcing a wedge between herself and Jimby, heartbroken Violet fears that he won’t ever be able to think of her in the same way again and won’t want anything more to do with her.
As ever, Kitty and Molly rally round, offering their advice and support but Vi is worried that keeping her secret was just a step too far for Jimby.
Will she succeed in showing him their love is strong enough to overcome it?

 

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A Christmas Kiss (Book 4)

The week before Christmas, GP Zander Gillespie finds his festive plans in tatters. He’s supposed to be flying out to his parents’ chateau in Carcassonne with his high-maintenance girlfriend, Melissa. But she has other ideas. She wants to spend Christmas in London with her party friends – and he’s not invited.

The prospect of facing his family, with their questions and their sympathy – not to mention the ‘I told you so-s’ – just isn’t an option. Instead, Zander decides to head to his holiday cottage in the quaint moorland village of Lytell Stangdale, where he intends to hide away with his faithful rescue Labrador Alf.

Eighty miles away, Livvie’s world has come crashing down. With plans to cook a romantic meal for her boyfriend, she heads home early and walks in on him in a compromising position with their neighbour. Fed-up of his lies and philandering ways, this is the final straw.

With her Christmas plans up in smoke, the thought of spending it with her parents and her smug, married sister with her pompous husband in tow, is enough to bring Livvie out in hives. So, when she fires up her laptop and finds the perfect little holiday cottage in Lytell Stangdale available to rent over the festive period, it seems the perfect solution. Or is it…?

Zander didn’t believe in love at first sight until he set eyes on Livvie.

 

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