🍴 Sunday Brunch with Jaffareadstoo ~ Lily Hayden

  

On this quiet Sunday morning why don't you put the kettle on, make your favourite breakfast and settle down for Sunday Brunch with Jaffareadstoo

🍴I'm delighted to welcome Lily Hayden to our Sunday Brunch today🍴

🍴Good morning, Lily. What favourite food are you bringing to Sunday brunch?

A huge basket of pastries and fruit.

🍴Would you like a pot of English breakfast tea, a strong Americano, or a glass of Bucks Fizz?

An Americano for me. I don’t think I could survive without coffee.

🍴Where shall we eat brunch – around the kitchen table, in the formal dining room, or outside on the patio?

Al fresco dining has to be the choice if the weather is right. In rainy Wales, it’s nice to get out in the fresh air whenever you can.

🍴Shall we have music playing in the background? And if so will you share with us a favourite song or piece of music that makes you happy?

I’m a huge rap fan, which always surprises people. As someone who works with words, I enjoy the storytelling, the word play, the punchlines. It is immersive listening though, so maybe we’ll go without background music today.

🍴Which of your literary heroes (dead or alive) are joining us for Sunday Brunch today?

Louisa May Alcott. Louisa was very forward-thinking for her time, plus Jo March is one of my favourite literary characters.

🍴When you are writing do you still find time to read for pleasure? And is there a book you would like to read but haven’t had time for …yet!

Oh, always. It’s a lovely way to procrastinate too. I’m attempting to expand my reading this year by reading one non-fiction, one classic, and one indie author for every one of the popular contemporary books that I would usually devour. One book that I’m looking forward to reading that I still haven’t got around to yet is Girl, Woman, Other.

Penguin 
2020

🍴What’s the oldest book on your book shelf?

The complete Enid Blyton Adventure series that were printed in the ‘50’s and belonged to my mother. I have a few Famous Five books of about the same age knocking around somewhere, but the Adventure series were always my favourite.

🍴Where do you find the inspiration for your novels?

People! I write character-driven contemporary fiction. In school, my favourite subject was Sociology over English Lit, and I think it definitely shows in my books. I’ve worked in Inclusion and Diversity, and Health and Wellbeing roles for large corporations, and my fascination with the complexity of human beings has never faded.

🍴When writing to a deadline are you easily distracted and if so how do you bring back focus on your writing?

Lockdown was a tough adjustment as there are six of us (including my four children between ten and fifteen) in the house with an assortment of animals that also demand their fair share of attention. My house is noisy, and with everything in the world, my head has been noisy too. A method that I’ve adopted when I’m really struggling to focus is writing a random scene for my characters out of chronological order. Sometimes it makes the cut, sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s never a waste as it helps me to work out who my characters are and their motivations.

🍴Give us four essential items that a writer absolutely needs?

I’m not sure I can speak for all writers, but for me it’s coffee, a laptop, at least one cat, and resilience.

🍴What can you tell us about your latest novel or your current work in progress?

My latest novel Bad Blood is a character-based ‘whodunnit’ that tells the story of four estranged siblings and the events that lead up to the death of their father.

Hayden Woods Creative
15 February 2021

Lily,where can we follow you on social media?

 Twitter @hwoods_creative

Facebook 

Instagram

Website

More about Lily

Lily Hayden writes chick lit with a kick.

Modern women want modern heroines, and Lily’s characters want sizzling romance, rewarding careers, and equal partnerships, but like all of us they face many challenges, and it isn’t always easy.

A mother to four children, Lily graduated with a degree in Business in her hometown in South Wales and enjoyed a successful career in Financial Services before fulfilling a lifelong ambition to write books.

Thank you for taking part in Sunday Brunch with Jaffareadstoo.

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