The Love Programme
by Zanna
Mackenzie
Reading through the blurb,
reminds me of how much I loved my time in Scotland, so this book is definitely
a "must read" for me ... and I'm sure as soon as you've read through
this post, it'll be on your TBR list as well. :-)
1 – What gave you the idea for “The Love Programme”
Many
years ago there was a comedy drama series on TV in the UK called Monarch of the
Glen. It was about a reluctant laird who had to take on the running of a
Scottish country estate complete with castle, lochs and thousands of acres of
land. The estate had financial problems so he was forced to come up with all
these different ways to generate money to try to save it from bankruptcy. There
were lots of twists and turns as well as plenty of romance during the seven
series the programme ran for. I loved the series and my husband and I even
visited all the filming locations in and around the Highlands of Scotland for
our holiday one year. All of which inspired the setting for The Love Programme.
In the book the fictitious country estate I created is home to a reality TV series which is being filmed in the castle. Lucy, desperately in need of some advice when it comes to her disastrous love life, finds herself becoming a last minute replacement on the series which, thankfully, even has its own relationship psychologist!
Unfortunately things end up getting more, not less, confusing for Lucy – as if having her childhood sweetheart (now ex-boyfriend) pursuing her across the country and the TV series ‘love interest’ Isaac taking her on tailor made dates isn’t enough to contend with! When, strolling by the loch, she meets the estate’s owner, the laird, Paul, she finds herself drawn to spending time with him - even though the TV people have made it clear he’s firmly ‘off limits’ to the reality show contestants.
As I wrote the book I got to conjure up all those amazing Scottish landscapes in my head and I got to enjoy the holiday photos again too – all in the name of book research!
In the book the fictitious country estate I created is home to a reality TV series which is being filmed in the castle. Lucy, desperately in need of some advice when it comes to her disastrous love life, finds herself becoming a last minute replacement on the series which, thankfully, even has its own relationship psychologist!
Unfortunately things end up getting more, not less, confusing for Lucy – as if having her childhood sweetheart (now ex-boyfriend) pursuing her across the country and the TV series ‘love interest’ Isaac taking her on tailor made dates isn’t enough to contend with! When, strolling by the loch, she meets the estate’s owner, the laird, Paul, she finds herself drawn to spending time with him - even though the TV people have made it clear he’s firmly ‘off limits’ to the reality show contestants.
As I wrote the book I got to conjure up all those amazing Scottish landscapes in my head and I got to enjoy the holiday photos again too – all in the name of book research!
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2 – You say you love the great outdoors - especially Scotland, the
Lake District and Derbyshire's Peak district. What is it that draws you to
those places?
Oh,
so many things. I love the scenery of the great outdoors especially dramatic
mountain landscapes. I adore going on long walks outdoors where you can just
soak up the nature, the weather, the views and all of that wonderful peace and
quiet all around you. I feel at home when I’m outdoors – whether that’s in
wellington boots digging up and redesigning the garden at home, walking our
four Labrador dogs with my husband every day or hiking up hills with a rucksack
and waterproofs on!
3 – Tell us a little bit about your current project.
I’m
soon to launch a series of romantic comedy mysteries. Book 1 is written and out
with beta readers for feedback and book 2 is half written. I have plot outlines
in place for books three and four in the series. I’ve found I really enjoy
writing romantic comedy (often called ‘cozy’) murder mysteries though I have to
admit the plotting aspect is a huge challenge! It’s simple enough coming up
with a setting, a murder and a ‘how’ but the piecing together of the various
clues and red herrings on the way to Charlie and Amber solving the crime has
been known to give me brain ache!
Blurb:
What
do you do when your childhood sweetheart and now ex-boyfriend won’t accept it’s
over?
Lucy’s
life is a mess. With her ex pursuing her across the country, she flees to
Scotland and finds herself part of a reality TV show about love… will she find
some answers or end up even more confused in matters of the heart?
Author:
Zanna
Mackenzie lives in the UK with her husband, 4 dogs, a vegetable patch that’s
home to far too many weeds and an ever expanding library of books waiting to be
read.
Being
a freelance writer and editor of business publications is her ‘day job’ but, at
every opportunity, she can be found scribbling down notes on scenes for
whatever novel she’s working on.
She
loves it when the characters in her novels take on minds of their own and start
deviating from the original plot!
Zanna
has written three novels, The Love Programme, How Do You Spell Love? and If You
Only Knew.
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ZannaMacKenzie
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/zanna.mackenzie
http://www.pinterest.com/zannamac/
Purchase
Links:
Amazon
USA ebook link:
Amazon
UK ebook link:
Excerpt:
“Just sit on this suitcase, will you, Fi? I can’t get
the stupid thing shut!”
Fiona,
obligingly perching her bottom on the bulging case so Lucy could tug the zipper
to close it up, said, “I can’t believe you’ve agreed to do this. You’re going
to be on a TV show about love! Won’t you be embarrassed having everyone know
all your business?”
Her
face red from doing battle with the suitcase and, thankfully, managing to win,
Lucy shook her head. “No. Where else could I get a few extra weeks off work and
live the life of luxury whilst a man tries to impress me with extravagant
dates? Plus, I’ll be getting relationship coaching from a top expert.”
Lucy
checked around the room to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. “Do you
think I’ve packed the right clothes?”
Fiona
lay back on the bed, stretching and spreading her arms out around her as though
she was making the duvet version of a snow angel. “How should I know?”
“Mel
said the programme is being recorded at the home of some Scottish laird. It’s a
real mansion with a spa and acres and acres of land.”
Fiona
pushed herself into an upright position, suddenly all attentive. “A laird, eh?
Sounds interesting. What else do you know about him?”
“He’s
not going to be one of the dates so don’t get all excited. He’s just rented his
home out to the TV production company. Apparently he’ll be away on business
most of the time we’re there, so we probably won’t even get to meet him.”
Fiona
shook her head. “Shame, how exciting would it have been? Meeting a real life
laird would be amazing.”
“He’s
probably about sixty, balding, as round as he is tall and arrogant to boot.”
Fiona
slapped Lucy on the arm. “Don’t spoil it for me. I was just picturing him as
about our age, the classic tall, dark and handsome type. Big brown eyes…” She
sighed happily. “Is it just me or do you find all those green wellies and
Barbour jackets the country gents wear incredibly sexy?”
“No,
it’s definitely just you!” Lucy shook her head despairingly.
As
Fiona stared into space, no doubt continuing her little country gent fantasy,
Lucy flopped down onto the bed. “Do you think I’m doing the right thing?”
“Of
course you are. This could be a life-changing opportunity.”
“I’d
like to be able to go on dates without feeling guilty about Marcus all the
time.” Sighing, Lucy added, “I want to be free to have relationships like
everyone else does.”
“I
know you do. So, how can you doubt if you’re doing the right thing? You have to
go to Scotland. You know you do.”
“I
suppose so but will you be okay? I hate leaving you with your wedding just
weeks away. There’s still some preparations to do and I am chief bridesmaid.
Maybe I shouldn’t go. This is all crazy, I won’t go. I must be mad even
contemplating it.”
“You’re
going! End of story! The wedding is being perfectly managed by my mum and by
Luke’s mum, so no worries there.” Fiona hauled Lucy to her feet. “What time’s
your train?”
“I’m
getting the overnight sleeper up to Inverness and then Craig, the TV guy, is
going to meet me at the station and drive me to the country estate.”
“I’m
so envious.” Fiona sulked, folding and unfolding the corner of the duvet around
her fingers.
“I
thought you were happy with your Mr-Not-So-Perfect?”
“I
am.” Fiona sighed. “But a girl can dream, can’t she?”
