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 Natalie Kleinman to Sunday Brunch
Thank you for inviting me, Jo. They don’t let us writers out much so it’s a great opportunity to let my hair down and have a good chinwag.
Welcome, Natalie. What
favourite food are you bringing to Sunday brunch?
It has to be dessert. Much as I love savoury food, I have in later years developed a very sweet tooth, so it’s Raspberry Pavlova. With lashings of cream of course.
Would you like a pot of English breakfast tea, a strong Americano, or a glass of Bucks Fizz?
English breakfast tea with barely a touch of milk. My sweet tooth doesn’t extend to tea and I’m so fussy about my brew that friends now leave me to make my own. So, if you don’t think I’m being rude…
Where shall we eat brunch – around the kitchen table, in the formal dining room, or outside on the patio?
Around the kitchen table please. A nice place to chat. I’ve never taken to eating outdoors and can you just imagine the bees making, well, a beeline for that Pavlova? Maybe a cup of tea in the garden later if the weather’s nice?
Shall we have music playing in the background, and if so do you have a favourite piece of music?
My all time favourite piece of music may well be The Pearl Fishers duet, "Au fond du temple saint" – sorry, just nipped away for a few minutes as your question prompted me to call it up on You Tube. It was the version by Jussi Björling and Robert Merrill that I listened to but there are so many. Not in the background though, if you don’t mind, as it would definitely distract from our brunch and kill our conversation at the same time.
Which of your literary heroes (dead or alive) are joining us for Sunday Brunch today?
How many can I have? Agatha Christie, with Hercule Poirot on one hand and Miss Marple on the other. I’d like to hear them discussing some of their cases. My top-of-the-pedestal author though is Georgette Heyer whose writing I discovered when I was about eleven and who has entertained me over so many years. The only writer whose books I have read so often that some have fallen to bits and had to be replaced. She has a whole shelf to herself in my home. What an honour it would be to meet her.
Which favourite book will you bring to Sunday Brunch?
The Unknown Ajax. Yes, it’s a Georgette Heyer. She weaves such wonderful story. A great hero but the dénouement is I think the most skilfully-written I have ever read and it never fails to satisfy.
 |
| Arrow 2005 |
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!
Absolutely. So many people to meet between the covers, so many worlds to investigate. There will never be enough time but it’s amazing what you can get through if you ignore the housework. As for a particular book, there are some classics I have yet to read. Well, quite a lot actually.
Where do you find the inspiration for your novels?
All around me. I love people-watching. It’s amazing how just the grain of an idea can grow into a whole field waiting to be harvested.
Have you a favourite place to settle down to write and do you find it easier to write in winter or summer?
Mostly I write with my laptop in the place it was designed for. I have one of those chairs where the feet raise and my laptop sits on a cushioned tray. I do like my comfort. Some years ago my husband had the smallest bedroom converted into an office for me but it was cold, both in atmosphere and in its ability to inspire me. Too clinical. Winter or summer? It makes no difference.
When writing to a deadline are you easily distracted and if so how do you bring back focus on your writing?
I can procrastinate with the best but I am also quite disciplined. A deadline is an obligation and writing is a job as well as a pleasure.
Give us four essential items that a writer needs?
Discipline – a book doesn’t write itself.
Imagination – unless it’s non-fiction.
Patience – it takes a while to write and then hone one’s work into something (hopefully) worthy of being sent out into the world.
A sense of humour – but I think that’s essential for every walk of life.
Can I add focus as well please.
What can you tell us about your latest novel or your current work in progress?
It’s less than three weeks since Love’s Legacy was published, my fifth Regency with Sapere Books, and early reviews are very encouraging.
 |
| Sapere 9 March |
Patience Worthington is left without a home when her reverend father dies and the vicarage passes to the new incumbent. She looks to his brother for help, only to discover that he too has died and it is his son, Gideon, who is the new viscount. A long-standing family feud drives a wedge between them and Patience seeks to stand on her own feet. She has a social conscience and looks for a way to help unmarried mothers and their children. But Gideon has a secret and it’s not one he’s prepared to share with her, even when she confronts him. Will these warring cousins ever find comfortable ground?
Natalie, where can we follow you on social media?
Twitter @NatKleinman
Facebook @NatalieKleinmanAuthor
Instagram @nataliekleinman6279
Natalie Kleinman began her writing career with short stories, of which some fifty have been published in magazines in the UK and internationally. She was winner of the Christmas-themed John Walter Salver Competition 2021 run by the SWWJ. Her first three novels were contemporary romantic fiction before she moved to Regency historical romance. Raised on a diet of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, she is never happier than when immersed in an age of etiquette and manners, fashion and intrigue, all combined into a romping good tale. She now has five books published in this genre.
When she isn’t writing, Natalie enjoys lunching at country pubs with her husband and friends. In addition, a lifelong resident of London, she has been able to take advantage of all the culture and entertainment that amazing city has to offer, with visits to museums being top of the list and where much research for her books has taken place.
Natalie is a member of the Historical Novel Society, the Romantic Novelists Association, the Society of Authors and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists.
Natalie, thank you for sharing Sunday brunch with us today
It’s been a lovely visit, Jo. Thank you so much for having me.
Follow us on Twitter @jaffareadstoo #SundayBrunchwithJaffareadstoo
Thank you so much for inviting me, Jo.
ReplyDeleteI've had a truly love time
Natalie xxx
Come back and see us again soon x
Delete