It's Fake Friday with Samantha Tonge

Yay! It's Friday... well, sort of, it's Fake Friday :) And today I have Samantha Tonge on my blog to chat about herself and her new book, Doubting Abbey! (Loving the book title!)

Did you manage to get the first book you wrote published, or is it tucked in a drawer somewhere?

It’s tucked under the bed along with the rest - I wrote several novels before getting my publishing deal and learned an awful lot along the way about plotting, character development and actual writing. Yes, the rejection was hard, but now I thank goodness that those early ones never saw the light of day.

Which of your characters is your favourite, and why?

Gemma. She is the best friend every woman should have – guileless with an impulsive sense of humour, loyal and strong. Despite her reservations, she agrees to pretend to be her best friend Abbey for two weeks and swap her fake tan and short skirts for a more conservative life at Applebridge Hall. The subsequent difficult and embarrassing situations she endures mean that Gemma often wants to run away – but she would never let her best mate down.

Are you nervous about friends reading your book?

No, I’m more nervous about strangers reading it because if friends hate it I’ll probably never know! But more seriously, no – I really do feel this book is the best I’ve written, this being backed up by the support I’ve had from my agent and Carina UK. This doesn’t mean I think everyone will love it or that I’ll not get a single bad review – but it does mean I’m proud of what I’ve achieved with the story, and as a writer it’s great to finally conquer just a little of your self-doubt.

Do you love or hate Facebook?

I adore Facebook. And Twitter. Plus recently I’ve discovered the wonderful Pinterest. TOO MANY DISTRACTIONS!

Starbucks or Costa?

Costa, every time - especially for their selection of gluten-free cakes which means my husband can enjoy a bite to eat as well.

About Doubting Abbey

Swapping downstairs for upstairs… How hard can it be!?

Look up the phrase ordinary girl and you’ll see a picture of me, Gemma Goodwin – I only look half-decent after applying the entire contents of my make-up bag, and my dating track-record includes a man who treated me to dinner…at a kebab shop. No joke!
The only extraordinary thing about me is that I look EXACTLY like my BFF, Abbey Croxley. Oh, and that for reasons I can’t explain, I’ve agreed to swap identities and pretend be her to star in the TV show about her aristocratic family’s country estate, Million Dollar Mansion.
So now it’s not just my tan I’m faking – it’s Kate Middleton style demure hemlines and lady-like manners too. And amongst the hundreds of fusty etiquette rules I’m trying to cram into my head, there are two I really must remember; 1) No-one can ever find out that I’m just Gemma, who’d be more at home in the servants quarters. And 2) There can be absolutely no flirting with Abbey’s dishy but buttoned-up cousin, Lord Edward. Aaargh, this is going to be harder than I thought…

About Samantha Tonge

Samantha lives in Cheshire with her lovely family and two cats who think they are dogs. Along with writing, her days are spent swimming, willing cakes to rise and avoiding housework. A love of fiction developed as a child, when she was known for reading Enid Blyton books in the bath. A desire to write bubbled away in the background whilst she pursued other careers, including a fun stint working at the EuroDisney theme park. Formally trained as a linguist, Samantha now likes nothing more than holing herself up in the spare room, in front of the keyboard. Writing romantic comedy novels and short stories is her passion. Samantha has sold over 80 short stories to mainstream women's magazines. Her work appears regularly in The People's Friend.

Links:  Website ~ Doubting Abbey Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Amazon UK 

Thank you, Samantha! Good luck with your book. Sounds like a fun, flirty read. Yes, Costa all the way! And I agree about Twitter and Facebook being a distraction.