We are pleased to welcome Olivia Lara to CLC today to feature her debut novel, Someday in Paris. Enter for a chance to win a copy over at Goodreads! (E-book; US only.)
Olivia Lara was born and raised in Bucharest in a family of booklovers and storytellers. Since university she has worked as a journalist and marketer in Romania, France and the United States. She is currently a marketing executive in San Francisco and lives in the Bay Area with her husband, young daughter and four cats.
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Finding the one is only the beginning...
1954. Zara is fifteen the first time she meets Leon. During a power cut in a small French museum, the two spend one short hour in the dark talking about their love for art, Monet and Paris. Neither knows what the other looks like. Both know their lives will never be the same.
1963. In Paris, Leon no longer believes he will ever find the girl he lost that night. After dreaming about him for years, Zara thinks she has already found him. When they meet at an exhibition, they don't recognize each other – yet the way they feel is so familiar...
Over the course of twenty years, Zara and Leon are destined to fall in love again and again. But will they ever find a way to be together?
'It's about dreams and taking chances. Missed opportunities and mistakes. Loss and sacrifice. But above all, it is about love. The kind of love that survives time, distance... even death. The kind of love I wish for you.'
A magical new love story about star-crossed lovers, perfect for hopeless romantics and fans of One Day and The Notebook.
'An epic, sweeping romance about soulmates and second chances' ~Holly Miller
'An absolutely unforgettable love story' ~Mandy Baggot
'A deeply moving, richly evocative story of love, loss and the power of hope' ~Miranda Dickinson
Oh, so many things. I wrote manuscripts before, but never showed them to anyone and didn’t finish them 100%. This was the first time I felt I had something special, a story that I couldn’t get enough of and thankfully I also felt confident enough in it to show it to my husband. He loved it and urged me to try and publish it. I’ll forever be grateful to him for this (and countless other things).
I learned to trust my instincts and listen to the characters. I learned that I can only write what I believe in, and I can only spend months and months with characters I have strong feelings for (not always love). That I am a hopeless romantic. That I tend to write as much as I talk. Which is A LOT. That writing is rewriting. That, while writing a book is a solitary endeavour, publishing a book takes a village of dedicated, talented people. That finding the right agent who will champion your book and love it as much as you do is probably the most important decision you’ll make in your publishing career. I learned that characters can stay with you long after you write ‘the end’ and the only way to fill the void they left in your heart is to write a new story and allow other characters to invade your imagination.
What were the biggest reward and biggest challenge with writing Someday in Paris?
There were so many rewards, truly. And they keep on coming. Someday in Paris has only been published three months ago, and I’m sure more wonderful things will happen. The look in my husband’s eyes when he finished reading it. My agent’s reaction when she read Zara and Leon’s story, my editor’s reaction. The first early reviews from readers floored me. Their love for Someday in Paris was a dream come true. I feel that with every person who reads and loves my debut novel, I’m getting all the rewards that I need.
The biggest challenge? I’d say it was figuring out how to tell the complex story of Zara and Leon, over twenty years, and keep it within a ‘decent’ word count. Deciding what to include and what not to kept me up at night as we were going through edits. Thankfully, both my agent and my editor are brilliant, and their guidance was incredibly valuable in this process.
If Someday in Paris were made into a movie, who would you cast in the leading roles?
Oh, I love this question. And, actually a lot of readers mentioned they would definitely see Someday in Paris made into a movie, so…who knows? Maybe someday…
To be honest, when I wrote the book, I imagined real people; I saw their faces and they weren’t those of famous actors. So, unknown, new actors would work just perfectly for me. But, if we’re talking about known actors, hmm, let’s see.
Zara — Marion Cotillard or Emma Watson
Leon — Matthew Goode or Alexander Skarsgård
Vincent — Jake Gyllenhaal or Oliver Jackson-Cohen
Nicole —Amanda Seyfried or Margot Robbie
JJ — Tom Hanks (because Tom Hanks is always the answer) or Kevin Costner
What is the last movie you saw that you would recommend?
Emma. I quite enjoyed this version.
What do you do to maintain those gorgeous curls of yours?
All my childhood and way into my adolescence I wanted to have perfectly straight hair like everyone else and I used to keep my hair in a ponytail. In time, I learned to appreciate the unruly curls. I think they maintain themselves...haha. I don’t do anything special and usually just try to let them be.
What is the cutest thing one of your cats did recently?
Pumpkin, our Maine coon mix, who sometimes stays with me while I write or edit, insisted on contributing to my latest manuscript with lots of ‘hhkhuukh’ and “lklklkl”. My agent is going to have a blast reading the draft.
Thanks to Olivia for visiting with us and to Rachel's Random Resources for coordinating the interview.
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1 comment:
Love the cover! Sounds like a good book!!
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