A dose of Roselle Lim's magic...plus a book giveaway

Photo by Shelley Smith

We're pleased to have Roselle Lim here today to celebrate the recent publication of her sophomore novel, Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop. Melissa enjoyed it as much as her debut, Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune and has a review to share. We enjoyed learning more about Roselle today and she sounds as interesting as her books! Thanks to Berkley, we have one e-book (via NetGalley) for a lucky reader!

Roselle Lim was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada as a child. She lived in north Scarborough in a diverse, Asian neighbourhood.

She found her love of writing by listening to her lola (paternal grandmother's) stories about Filipino folktales. Growing up in a household where Chinese superstition mingled with Filipino Catholicism, she devoured books about mythology, which shaped the fantasies in her novels.

An artist by nature, she considers writing as "painting with words."

When she isn't writing, she is sewing, sketching, or pursuing the next craft project. (Bio courtesy of Roselle's website.)

Visit Roselle online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Synopsis:
Vanessa Yu never wanted to see people's fortunes—or misfortunes—in tea leaves.

Ever since she can remember, Vanessa has been able to see people's fortunes at the bottom of their teacups. To avoid blurting out their fortunes, she converts to coffee, but somehow fortunes escape and find a way to complicate her life and the ones of those around her. To add to this plight, her romance life is so nonexistent that her parents enlist the services of a matchmaking expert from Shanghai.

After her matchmaking appointment, Vanessa sees death for the first time. She decides that she can't truly live until she can find a way to get rid of her uncanny abilities. When her eccentric Aunt Evelyn shows up with a tempting offer to whisk her away, Vanessa says au revoir to California and bonjour to Paris. There, Vanessa learns more about herself and the root of her gifts and realizes one thing to be true: knowing one's destiny isn't a curse, but being unable to change it is. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing?
It's a tossup between readers who claimed the book had made them hungry versus those who praised the book for its cinematic and sensory quality.

What is something you learned from writing Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune that you applied to Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop?
I focused on improving my writing skills before I dove into Vanessa: To plot better, to write tighter prose, to track the tension and release, and to create more satisfying emotional arcs. My goal is to find one thing to improve upon with each subsequent manuscript.

If Vanessa Yu was made into a movie, who would you cast in the leading roles?
Vanessa Yu - Elizabeth Ho or Jamie Chung
Marc Santos - Sam Milby or Manny Jacinto
Aunt Evelyn - Michelle Yeoh
Girard - Pierce Brosnan or Antonio Banderas
Uncle Michael - Will Yun Lee
Auntie Faye - Ming Na Wen
Ines - Aissa Maiga

You use magical realism in your books. What is something so beautiful to you in real life that it almost seems magical?
There's a lavender farm and vineyard outside town where, pre-pandemic, they held a summer festival with live music at the gazebo and hayrides through the fields and into the vineyard.

Walking through a field of lavender transports me to another reality.

As the perfume of French and English lavender hangs in the summer air and bumble bees and butterflies flit from plant to plant, nothing else brings me closer to magic on earth. I could stand amidst that undulating sea of violet and white flowers, the sun bathing everything, forever.

What is the last movie you saw that you would recommend?
Old Guard on Netflix. It's a high energy, fast-paced, action movie starring a diverse cast led by Charlize Theron. It's a great summer blockbuster movie.

What is your Zodiac sign and how similar is it to your personality?
My sign is Aries and, yes, I do have the infamous Aries temper!

Fortunately, my birth date lies closer to Taurus. I’m thankful for its grounding influence as it tends to soften my more volcanic outbursts.

Thanks to Roselle for visiting with us and to Berkley for sharing her book with our readers.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends August 18th at midnight EST.