Want to Know Sue Moorcroft's Secrets?

(Did you see what I did there, Sue?) 

So excited! I have Sue Moorcroft on my blog today to talk about her new book, The Wedding Proposal. 

*Takes deep breath and suppresses the inner fangirl* 

Sue, as you know, I’m a huge fan of your books. I love them all, however I would say, Ratty (Miles Rattenbury, Starting Over) is still my favourite hero of yours (closely followed by Martyn Mayfair, Love and Freedom). I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again; Every girl needs a guy like Ratty.

How does your new hero, Lucas Rose in The Wedding Proposal compare? Why will we love Lucas?

Thanks for all your kind words, Teresa. I don’t think I’ve ever quite fallen out of love with Ratty.

I think that those readers who liked Ratty, and also Jed from Is This Love?, will like Lucas Rose. He’s the kind of guy who has the courage of his convictions. He thinks right’s right and wrong’s wrong and he hates secrets. He’s the first to admit he has a huge jealous streak. When Elle used to know him he worked in marketing but after a spell in a California vineyard and now working as a divemaster in Malta, he’s let his hair grow. You can usually find him in board shorts and bare feet. It’s quite a look.

I’m loving the premise for The Wedding Proposal. Where do you get your story ideas from? Do events happen in life? Do you meet someone and think they’d be interesting to put in a book?

My ideas come from all over. Something will enter my mind and I’ll explore it and want to write about it. In the case of The Wedding Proposal I decided it was time I set a book in my beloved Malta again and I wanted to write a reunion book. I love reading them. Had I known how much extra plotting was necessary, I may not have been quite so keen … You have to know SO MUCH about the backstory, it’s untrue.

The book is dedicated To anyone who was ever young. And made a mistake. Not being allowed to forget a mistake is the theme of the book. Part of Elle’s story has things in common with my own life – but I won’t tell you which parts.

The story is set in Malta, not Middledip, like most of your books... any particular reason for this?

I just like to ‘be’ in Malta in my mind from time-to-time. When I was a little girl we could see a yacht marina from our balcony and that’s where I have moored the two boats in the book, the Shady Lady and Seadancer. I thought it would be fun to get together two people who parted four years ago and put them on a 42’ boat for the summer, then see what happened.

Having attended your talk on ‘Matchmaking Heroes and Heroines,’ at the RNA conference recently (brilliant workshop by the way), which came first for this book, the hero or the heroine? Then did you build the other to match-make them?

Thank you! I think Elle came first, but, to be honest, my hero and heroine tend to grow in my mind together as I’m interested in their relationship dynamic from the start. Elle and Lucas are not the ‘match made in heaven’ couple, they’re more the ones who butt heads a lot – opposites attract, you could say. That’s my favourite combination and I think it suits alpha male heroes. My heroes are driving forces in my books every bit as much as my heroines.

The big conflict between Elle and Lucas is their differing attitudes to … well, Lucas would call it ‘secrecy’ whereas Elle would call it ‘privacy’. She doesn’t feel the need to expose everything about herself whereas he might sometimes see this, and her self-sufficiency, as rejections of him. I suppose he’s a possessive guy but trying not to be because he knows it’s uncool.

Last silly one; if you were stranded on a desert island with one of your heroes, which one would it be and why?

Wow. Good question. You know, I think it might be Ratty – because he was the first of my heroes who I really truly fell in love with.

PS You didn’t give him his full name in your opening. It’s Miles Arnott-Rattenbury. Under the tattoos and the car oil, he’s pretty middle class, you know!

I am so sorry, Sue. I will admit, I went to the blurb on the back of the book, and took his name from there. Lol! It’s been a while since I’ve read Starting Over, but I think it’s due for a re-read. Thank you so much for visiting my blog! Good luck with The Wedding Proposal. I already have it pre-ordered. :) 

The Wedding Proposal

Can a runaway bride stop running?

Elle Jamieson is an unusually private person, in relationships as well as at work – and for good reason. But when she’s made redundant, with no ties to hold her, Elle heads off to a new life in sunny Malta.

Lucas Rose hates secrets – he prides himself on his ability to lay his cards on the table and he expects nothing less from others. He’s furious when his summer working as a divemaster is interrupted by the arrival of Elle, his ex, all thanks to his Uncle Simon’s misguided attempts at matchmaking.

Forced to live in close proximity, it’s hard to ignore what they had shared before Lucas’s wedding proposal ended everything they had. But then an unexpected phone call from England allows Lucas a rare glimpse of the true Elle. Can he deal with Elle’s hidden past when it finally comes to light?

Sue Moorcroft writes romantic novels of dauntless heroines and irresistible heroes. Is this Love? was nominated for the Readers’ Best Romantic Read Award. Love & Freedom won the Best Romantic Read Award 2011 and Dream a Little Dream was nominated for a RoNA in 2013. Sue received three nominations at the Festival of Romance 2012, and is a Katie Fforde Bursary Award winner. She’s a past vice chair of the RNA and editor of its two anthologies.

Sue also writes short stories, serials, articles, writing ‘how to’ and is a competition judge and creative writing tutor.

Sue’s latest book The Wedding Proposal is available as an ebook from 4 August 2014 and as a paperback from 8 September.

Website www.suemoorcroft.com. 

Blog http://suemoorcroft.wordpress.com/ 

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Twitter @suemoorcroft