I’m delighted to be welcoming Rose Amberly back to my blog today, not least because it means another fabulous book in her Kendric House series is coming out – The Five Colours of Hope.
When Rose Amberly was little, she pestered her mother for stories every night (and morning and afternoon.) In the end, her parents taught her to read so they could have some peace, but very soon she pestered them for books and more books. By the age of six, she started to make up stories and tell them to her parents pretending she’d read them in a book. Happily, now she’s all grown up and no longer has to pretend.
Rose has travelled widely and tried different careers in education, therapy, art management and even briefly, bookkeeping but none of them were as much fun as making up stories.
She lives in London, which she thinks is the most fabulous city in the world but loves to set her stories in beautiful villages to share with readers some of her favourite places.
Can you tell us something about The Five Colours of Hope, Rose?
In Rose’s third book of this series, we’re back for another visit to the gorgeous Kendric House, a place full of exquisite stained glass & mosaics, Welsh legends and old family secrets.
Unlucky in love, Evie is offered her dream job. Restoring a romantic Victorian garden would make her name, but it looks like an impossible challenge. Three months to transform ten acres of dead bushes into an enchanting landscape of colour and rare flowers.
To make matters worse, Evie has to work with the man who once broke her heart.
Last time, it took her years to get over him, the last thing she needs is to fall for him again, And not here, please, not in Kendric House.Set in the picturesque Welsh countryside, Kendric House is a stunning but neglected stately home. Evie is the newest member of a small group of artists, entrepreneurs and volunteers who invests all their savings to restore the house and grounds. It’s a happy, supportive, exciting place to work. For Evie who burned all her bridges to come here, failure is not an option. But unrequited love will completely derail her. Does she risk losing all her money and reputation or risk breaking her heart?
So, Rose, we’re back at the lovely Kendric house and it’s lovely seeing how the residents have moved on. I’m fast coming to the view that it would be the perfect place to live. Obviously now that Leonie has opened her restaurant it seems appropriate to talk in there, I’m on a mission to find the best sausage rolls in the UK, at least, so I’m looking forward to having one of those!
The gardens sound amazing. I know you live in London, but are you a gardener? Tell me about your garden, or a favourite garden close to home that you can visit? And why.
I’m increasingly interested in gardening. there’s nothing more rewarding than growing plants. That line I say in the novel about the way plants go on giving and giving with minimal effort from you, I’m always humbled by how my lobelia fills my planters and cascades over the edge like a waterfall of blue flowers.
And you promised me last time that the blue lady, the tiles and the stained-glass windows would make a reappearance, so I was delighted to see them back Are they based on somewhere real?
Ha ha. No I’m afraid that was all invention. Obviously you digest impressions and art works you’ve loved and they evolve in your mind over the years, so who knows, I may have seen something long ago. But I love mosaics. On a recent holiday in Morrocco, we saw so many beautiful and fascinating mosaic designs. I must have taken 600 pictures.
I love the names you’ve chosen for your hero and heroine in this book, they are unusual, how did you arrive at names for your characters and in particular these two?
Names are very important to me. I spend ages selecting each name especially for major characters. And sometimes have to change it several times until I feel a connection. For example, Evie was originally called Angela but as I started writing, Angela seemed too carefree, not quite right for who Evie was shaping into. Osian by contrast was one of those names that jumped off the page at me. as soon as I saw it, the picture of the character came to me.
When you’re writing a character, how much do you need to know about them before you start? So if I asked you what would be five things you could be guaranteed to find in Evie’s handbag what would they be?
Ah, this is the most important step. I can’t write unless I know the character really well. It’s the first thing I did before ever writing a word. I start with picture research, trawling through images of actors and models, people in the news, even old friends of mine until I have someone who speaks to me. from then on, my imagination does the rest. But it’s like spending time with people in your head, getting to know them. Imagining what they might do. For example, Evie’s lack of cooking skills, Osian’s reliance on microwave meals, Leonie’s struggles with being a pretty blonde, and Lessa (From Wishlist of Impossible Things) who changed her appearance to look like a serious woman. All these things grow as you let the character come to life in your head.
Most writers include a little of themselves in each book, what element of you is in this book?
This is a surprisingly difficult question. Probably a lot more than I want to admit. … hmm let me think … I think perhaps Evie’s need to create something new after a setback. Her ability to ‘fall upwards’ comes from my desire to always make a new start bigger and better than what I lost
Okay, I have to ask did you have any crushes at school?
LOL. What do you think? I think I was in a constant state of infatuation from the age of twelve or thirteen. Most unrequited, I’m afraid. I mean having a crush on a young Liam Neeson was never going to be requited, was it?
You left this book on a bit of a cliff hanger, without giving too much away what’s next for Kendric House?
As you can probably guess already – Owen isn’t going to give up easily. He’s a vindictive mean-spirited man who cannot forgive his brother. One of the things I feel strongly about is not to make the villain always a woman. Too many writers, particularly male authors, do that. So, while there are female characters who cause problems, e.g. the staff at the care home in book two, there are also men capable persistent vengeful acts.
Last time we talked, you told me that you were a bit of a “pantser”, and you’re writing a series, so I’m imagine there is really a fair degree of planning going on, but do you sometimes find half-way through a book you find a minor character who wants their story told?
Sometimes? All the time! they all want their own stories. I don’t always give them one. For example, Lord Du Montfort in the English Channel has his own story in my head, and so does Joanie the French Algerian chef, Liam the physiotherapist and of course, Haneen Hemingway. As you can see, only Haneen got a novel. Just because you can imagine a story, doesn’t mean it will work as a standalone novel. But the sense of a story helps make these side characters more rounded and more interesting.
Thank you for popping by to chat today, Rose, good luck with the Five Colours of Hope, and I look forward to returning to Kendric House soon. Anni x
Social Media and Book links for Five Colours of Hope
Website: https://www.roseamberly.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rose.amberly.35
You find Home is The Five Colours of Hope at: https://amzn.to/4fC2UVP
