Today, I’m pleased to welcome Karen Louise Hollis to Off the Beaten Track. Her latest book is called Starting Again in Silver Sands Bay.
Tell us what inspired you to write Starting Again in Silver Sands Bay?
I was doing one of the RNA writing courses – Jessica Redland’s Writing A Novel or Series in a Coastal or Country Setting. I had published my first novel Welcome to Whitlock Close in 2022 and I wanted to write Book 2 in the series, but had lost my mojo, so I hoped the course would inspire me to get back to it.
Instead, it inspired me in a totally different way. The idea of a coastal setting took me back to our family holidays in a static caravan in Ingoldmells, near Skegness, in the 1970s and ‘80s and this whole story came to me while I was on the course – the characters and everything.
It is a romance between a fifty-year-old single mum and a 48-year-old single dad who both have eleven-year-old children. Being in my fifties myself and a single parent, I basically wrote something I’d like to read myself.
When did you start writing seriously?
I’m not really sure. I first self-published a poetry collection in 2003, but that was for family and friends really. I had a book traditionally published in 2010 and again in 2015, they are both factual books linked to Doctor Who – the first a memoir of my experiences going to conventions, the second a biography of the actor Anthony Ainley. That’s been my most commercially successful book.
When I split up from my ex four years ago, I realised I needed to take my writing more seriously. I’ve been writing gymnastics books for many years, but had never finished a novel. I became a full-time carer for my mum, so knew I had to work from home. Taking inspiration from the wonderful Chick Lit and Prosecco Facebook group and from connecting with authors online, I got some great tips and completed my first novel in 2021. One of those was to write every day and that’s something I have found really helps me to keep going. I try to write 1000 words per day.
What do you love most about being an author?
The writing really! I love having ideas and being able to share them with people. I get to know and love my characters and I want other people to discover them too. I love it when someone has read my book and we can chat about the characters like they’re real people!
When I did my recent blog tour for Starting Again in Silver Sands Bay, some of the reviews were just amazing, I could tell they’d really connected with the book and the characters. When someone just exactly gets what you’re trying to say, that’s very special.
What are you working on now?
I was working on a cosy mystery series featuring an elderly man (based on my dad) and his elderly dog, who help the village policeman solve crimes. But sadly, Dad’s dog died in real life and I haven’t been able to go back to it yet – but I will do.
So I’m currently writing a novel about two elderly women who live next door to each other. During the pandemic, they had their interconnecting back garden fence taken out, so they could have socially-distanced conversations to help with the loneliness and isolation. It’s now the present day and they still meet outside and chat, about small and big issues and things happen, which I won’t go into. But I love these women, it’s a joy to visit them every day in my head and write down what they’re doing and saying!
What do you hope readers will take away from Starting Again in Silver Sands Bay?
It’s a second chance romance, so I hope it will give hope to people who are single in middle-age. Both the main characters, Becki and Dan, have had difficult times, but meeting each other proves to them that there still is time for them to find love.
I also hope readers will enjoy an old-fashioned seaside caravan holiday through my book, a bit of nostalgia. Although it’s set in the present day, the caravan site is a bit basic and old-fashioned. But we all love the beach, an amusement arcade and a chip shop, don’t we? Simple times.
Well, thank you so much for sharing that with us, Karen.
Tell us a little more about you.
I was born in Lincoln, England in 1969. I loved writing from an early age, being the daughter of two journalists. I am a mum to five children and have three grandchildren. I have had over twenty books published and have written about a variety of topics including motherhood, poetry, Doctor Who and gymnastics. My first novel Welcome to Whitlock Close came out in 2022, with this latest book coming out earlier this year.
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More about the book
Becki is fifty and a single mum to eleven-year-old Jemima, after being widowed five years ago.
Dan is forty-eight and a single dad to eleven-year-old Freddie, after his wife left him five years ago.
They have both given up on love.
But when they all go to Silver Sands Bay on the Lincolnshire coast for the summer, will they be able to put the past behind them and find love again?
Buy the book
Sandy Barker | Author 
What a lovely catch up 💛
Thanks so much, Sandy!