Bride Of The Emerald Isle - Behind The Scenes

And here we are with another one... So the only behind the scenes you don't have now are the first: The Bridal Bet - and then Marriage Lost And Found, The Wedding Surprise, O'Reilly's Bride, Project: Parenthood and Rescued: Mother-To-Be...

Yell if you want any of them...

So... Bride Of The Emerald Isle, was the book I tackled straight after *tough one to write* The Return Of The Rebel (aka At The Billionaire's Bidding) and aslmost as if the writing gods knew I was in need of a better writing experience, it was a darlin of a book to write!

With it's wistful setting of Valentia Island, it stemmed from the eight month tour I took of Ireland as a co-ordinator with the most amazing group of young singers, some of whom proved to be true soul mates... and during a period of my life that lived up to the saying of being 'the best of times and the worst of times'.  I had been through a few of the traumas they tell you effect your life most - a break-up, moving house... and I should point out moving house for me involved not just a household of stuff to be split up but fifteen horses and all their acoutrements... And I guess I went on tour to run away. What it did lead to however, was a break in my writing. And this was risky at best. Because my first book wasn't even in print until halfway through the tour and my second I had been invited to *set to one side* - so in the UK there was an eighteen month gap between my first and second books...(the second being the one thing I felt I had control of - so instead of leaving it be I re-wrote it and re-wrote it to prove I could... but it was a tough ride... I wouldn't recommend it!)

Anyhoos, it was nearing the end of the eight months spending five days out of seven away from home, when we all stayed on Valentia - a tiny island off the coast of County Kerry. And I have a lot to thank that island for...It was the first place I had calm to think about what I wanted after the tour, to look back on my life - you know all that soul searching stuff we do from time to time - and it was the first place where I felt the need to write again after my long break. If you ever get a chance to visit there, you'll understand why - it's just so very, very beautiful! I spent a lot of time thinking and pondering and I'll admit it - crying and letting stuff out - because it's the kind of place that makes you do that and I just *had* to write. It was calling to me again...So that was the first gift Valentia gave me... 

When I was looking for a new plot and a new setting after Rebel the first seedling came from - of all places - a blog comment. From my good, good friend Natasha Oakley - who made a throwaway out-of-nowhere comment about a man coming to an island with a bunch of old love letters, searching for the heroine who sent them... The newly formed strong hero creator in me said he would never have waited to bring them or to find her - but I saw potential in there - my imagination was sparked...And then the person carrying the letters became a heroine. And then they weren't her letters, but her mothers. But where to have her bring them to? Somewhere remote my mind said, somewhere out of her comfort zone, or at the very least very different to what she'd been used to. And it was then that Valentia Island called to me again. And I'm so very glad it did, because there was just something about this book - a little piece of magic if you like - but I felt it all the way through. And it must have shown, because it sailed through without so much as a single word of revision!!!

A miracle unto itself. Trust me.

Keelin was my first truly beautiful heroine. One who to the outside world would have appeared to have everything. And yet was so lonely inside that the discovery of an old bunch of love letters in her mothers belongings drew her into a kind of quest. And knowing Valentia I could see how two people would have fallen in love there. It just has so many echoes of the past that you have a real sense of the people who visited and soul searched there before you. So I knew she would be seduced by the serenity of the island to begin with, well, once she'd gotten over the initial culture shock that was...

And then I needed a hero to literally sweep her off her feet. One just so, well, *romantic* in the truly classic sense of the word, that she would be stunned by the effect he had on her from the get go. Now if you've read the book you'll probably have guessed it was written around the time the DVD of Matthew McFadyan walking through the mist as Darcy in Pride and Prejudice came out - I'll make no bones about that - anyone who has seen the movie will know what an amazing scene it is. What better way to sweep my heroine off her feet than to have Garrett make that kind of entrance??? And once he arrived on the page like that he became the kind of hero who tugged at my own heartstrings the whole way through.

The initial danger was that fine line between letting the reader feel her anxiety at being attracted to a potential half-brother and giving too much of the plot away too soon by revealing he wasn't...

But the story unfolded very naturally. As each new character arrived on the page they added something more - an extra layer if you like. And by making doubly sure there was no way Garrett and Keelin were related in any way, I found another layer. Frankly - this book could have been a much bigger story. It was the first of my *shorter* books that pointed that out to me. Because it would have been so very easy to layer in the story behind the love letters, so that the two love stories were told side-by-side. I can't begin to tell you how tempting it was to do that! But the word count limit held me in check and kept my imagination grounded and focussed me on the one story.

Garrett and Keelin are two people fated to meet. In that almost out-dated notion of there being someone-out-there-for-everyone sense.  I'm a believer in that notion, old fashioned romantic that I am, so I guess that means there's a lot of me in this book. But these are also very modern day characters, like my wee self, so both of them were going to have a tough time believing in that old fashioned theory. So Bride Of The Emerald Isle became a story about love at first sight, and whether or not that can still happen these days... In fact the majority of the story runs roughly over the space of about ten days... And yet had a real sense of being timeless...

And just to let you in on a little more of the magic - the young Keelin in the painting near the end? That came outta nowhere. I didn't know it existed until I wrote it. And when I did I got all misty eyed. It was just so right, you know? It added to the poignancy in a way I really hadn't expected... I LOVED writing this book. Every single second of it. And already it has more than paid me back, not just with reader reaction and the reviews (some of which you'll see at the bottom of this blog) but by gaining a Cataromance Reviewer's Choice Award and finalling in the Contemporary Romance Category of the EPPIE Awards (an award we Harlequin Authors are only eligible for from 2007 since the company started making them available as e-books) It's been a pretty magical book for me one way or another

Locations in this book:

From start to finish everything in this book is centred on the location. Without Valentia Island there wouldn't even be a Bride Of The Emerald Isle... (see pic at top of blog of the real place -I did mention how beautiful it is, didn't I???)

Every little detail I mention through the story is real - the narrow roads, the ferry that takes people there from Caherciveen so they can avoid the drive down the coast to the one little bridge that attaches it to the mainland, that one shop in Knightstown where barely more than a handful of people can fit at one time... It's all there. This is no figment of my imagination - it's not a fictional village like the Killyduff in my Marriage Lost And Found... It was, quite simply, calling out for a love story. I only hope the story does it justice...

The realism even runs all the way down to the lighthouse I was told I'd find on the cover when it came out. How did I know there'd be a lighthouse? Well, not only did I know there really is a lighthouse there on Valentia, my gorgeous editor knew too - because she surfed the web for Valentia Island and then sent all the details to the art department... You gotta love an editor that goes that extra mile! I have her to thank for adding to the magic of this book. She even got the title bang on. Bride Of The Emerald Isle is a dream of a title and so, so, so appropriate!

Soundtrack playing: 

There was only ever going to be one soundtrack for Bride Of The Emerald Isle and that was Riverdance. The island demanded it I'm afraid. And if that's just too *twee* for some people then I make no apologies... especially when you listen to the track 'Home In The Heartland'... Yes, this was just one of those books steeped in Irish-ness.

You can order a copy of the album here if you're one of the very few left on the planet that doesn't already have it in one form or another... Scroll down and click on Home In The Heartland for a snippet...

Reviews:

"On her way to meet the man she hopes is her biological father, art appraiser Keelin O'Donnell meets dairy farmer Garrett Kincaid in the mist.  It's a magical moment, but Keelin doesn't believe in love at first sight. Garrett's a casualty of love too, and he isn't any happier about their budding attraction than Keelin is -- but there's no escaping it, even when Keelin leaves. Facing that fact, however, takes both of them quite a while! Trish Wylie's Bride of the Emerald Isle (4.5) is charming, witty and has a beautiful, unusual setting. It also has fantastic characters -- particularly the wounded but wonderful Garrett." Catherine Witmer - Romantic Times

"...let me just tell you boys and girls....this is a HECK of a story. Rarely have I met a hero and heroine so well matched. Garrett is so sigh-worthy...the first scene is very Matthew McFadyen....and Keelin is a delight. As an end note: bring tissues!"   Donna Alward - Romance Author

"With its cast of memorable characters, marvellously evoked setting and heart-warming emotional drama, Bride of the Emerald Isle is another outstanding romantic novel written by Trish Wylie, a writer whose novels never fail to charm, delight and entrance."  Julie Bonello - Cataromance

"There was an interesting undercurrent of fate in this book.  Some people seem to be destined to be together.  It seemed that fate had its eye on Keelin and Garrett. This was such a charming story with great characters that I couldn’t help but fall in love with the lot of them."  Scoobie - A Canadian Reader - Eharlequin 10,000 Book Challenge Blog

 (Waves to Scoobie!) Yes folks, I do take snippets of your lovely reviews to add to my book pages these days  

So there you go - behind the scenes of Bride Of The Emerald Isle. And if you'd like to find out more about Valentia Island you can visit the website here.

H's & K's

Trish

CLAIMED BY THE ROGUE BILLIONAIRE - Harlequin Presents - January 2009
MANHATTAN BOSS, DIAMOND PROPOSAL - Harlequin Romance - February 2009

http://www.trishwylie.com