Deal Sharing Aunt: Castaway in the Caribbean by Janice Horton Giveaway & Interview

Vacationing on the beautiful Caribbean island of Antigua, Janey Sinclair is persuaded by her magazine editor boss to do a quick island hop in order to supervise an impromptu photo-shoot for the front cover. With no flights immediately available, Janey is directed to the harbour.

Captain Travis Mathews hates tourists, although he’s not above making a bit of money off a prissy and sharp tongued young British girl when she’s desperate to get to the neighbouring island of Tortola.

After striking a deal, they set off together in Travis’s weather-beaten old boat. When the vessel comes to a sudden full stop in the sea, the mismatched pair end up as castaways on an uninhabited island.

In this fast moving romantic adventure about a vacation that turns into a tropical nightmare there’s more fun than you’ll find in any travel brochure.…

Message from the Author

I was incredibly fortunate to spend the summer of 2014 in the Caribbean, writing and researching this novel. I found it challenging only in the respect of being continually distracted from the manuscript by the tropical sunshine, the white sand beaches, the warm aquamarine sea, rum cocktails, and the fabulous social scene on offer. Many of these distractions are well documented on my website, blog and Facebook page, if you are interested in reading the details and seeing the photos!

For the purposes of proper research for Castaway in the Caribbean, I travelled to and explored many Caribbean islands and, despite my tendency for sea sickness, I also spent a lot of time in boats. I even got to sail around Tortola, the larger of the British Virgin Islands, in a restored schooner that had been used in the filming of the original Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

The Virgin Islands inspired me with the modern day setting for Castaway in the Caribbean because, of this chain of around 90 small islands, islets, cays and rocks in the Caribbean Sea, many are uninhabited.

I eventually settled down to write this romantic adventure story on the Caribbean island of Utila, the smaller of the Bay Islands, just off the coast of Honduras. Likened to the Key West of long ago, Utila is a quaint, unspoilt and laid-back little island. Sitting on the largest barrier reef in the western hemisphere, it is also a paradise for scuba diving, which is exactly was what my husband was doing every day while I was busy writing this story.

Research is a valuable tool for a writer, so I do hope all the fun and adventure I had in the Caribbean has found its way into the pages of Castaway in the Caribbean.

Janice xx

Janice Horton writes contemporary romantic fiction with a dash of humour and a sense of adventure. Look out for Janice’s new release for 2015 ‘Castaway in the Caribbean’ and her Amazon Kindle bestselling books 'Bagpipes and Bullshot' and 'Reaching for the Stars' and her fun ‘Voodoo Romance’ series of novellas. Her nonfiction guide to online promotion 'How To Party Online' is recommended reading for all authors and writers by publishers. Janice is a regular blogger from her website at janicehorton.co.uk and you'll also find her on Facebook and Twitter.

INTERVIEW

Where are you from? I am English born but my husband and I moved to Scotland 27 years ago, where we brought up our three sons, so I think of Scotland as my home. However, at the moment, I’m living in the Caribbean on a tiny island just off the coast of Honduras.

Tell us your latest news. I’m delighted to tell you that my latest book, a romantic adventure novel entitled ‘Castaway in the Caribbean’ is now available from Amazon for Kindle. It will also be available as a paperback by mid-summer. I’m excited that Castaway in the Caribbean has been at #1 in the Amazon Kindle Bestsellers charts since it launched a month ago and is garnering some fabulous reader reviews.

When did you first consider yourself a writer? I’ve always been an avid reader and have always felt a strong desire to write. I have a vivid imagination and love to tell a story. In my teens and in my twenties I began lots of novels but never actually finished them. Eventually, I did finish one. It took me four years to write and it was traditionally published in 2004. Only then did I feel like a ‘real’ writer but of course now I realise I’d been a real writer all along!

What inspired you to write your first book? My first book was a coming of age story about a young woman infatuated by an older man who happened to be her father’s business partner. I’m not quite sure where the inspiration for this story came from but I was interested in exploring the intensity and the consequences of young love.

Do you have a specific writing style? Yes, I believe I do. Authors call it their ‘voice’ and it’s the one thing that makes each author uniquely recognisable to their reader. It took me a long time to recognise my style and to hone and polish it. Interestingly, when I look back at my earlier writings, I see it was there all along – I just hadn’t quite claimed it as my own style.

How did you come up with the title of your new book? My latest novel is entitled ‘Castaway in the Caribbean’ and being castaway in the Caribbean is exactly what happens to the two main characters in the story - so it was an easy and natural choice of title!

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? Oh yes, all my books have a message and a moral or two woven into the story and they are easy to recognise. In ‘Castaway in the Caribbean’ for example, my sweet but weak minded heroine gets to realise that she is a stronger and more capable woman than she ever dreamed possible and the hero and unlikely love interest in the book is the kind of man who helps her to discover and bring out that strength of character.

How much of the book is realistic? The story is complete fiction but some of the experiences I fictionalise are my own, in the respect that I researched my setting extensively, and even climbed and jumped from a waterfall in the same way my heroine has to do in the story – so that bit is very real indeed!

Are experiences based on someone you know or events in your own life? I write about real places and real emotions and feelings but no - I never write about real people. That’s the fun part for me – I get to make them all up!

What books have most influenced your life? Many books have influenced my life. Growing up it was Enid Blyton books, then pony books. In my teens and twenties it was Jilly Cooper and Jackie Collins and all those fabulous big glitzy bonk buster style novels. I still love them all now!

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor? I’ve been fortunate to have had many top writers as my mentors over the years - but I could not choose one over another because they have all belonged to a single group. I was invited to join The Romantic Novelist’s Association as a member as soon as my first book was published and can honestly say that the experience of meeting with other writers in the association, attending their conferences and writing workshops, has made an enormous difference to both my attitude to being a professional author and to my confidence as a writer. The RNA has been there for me in times of both struggle and success, and so I would certainly consider it to have been my mentor during the years I’ve been a published writer.

What book are you reading now? I’ve just finished reading Taking Hollywood by Shari King – it’s written in the style of those glitzy bonkbuster style novels I was telling you about. I loved it!

Are there any new authors that have grabbed your interest? Absolutely. I’m constantly finding new and talented authors and books to read and recommend. I write a monthly feature for the award winning online magazine Loveahappyending Lifestyle. My feature is called The Bookshelf and I like to showcase readers, authors, book news and reviews. Check it out to see what I’m recommending as your next must-read! www.loveahappyending.com

What are your current projects? Currently, I’m on a two month virtual book promotional tour with Castaway in the Caribbean, which I hope will introduce my new book and also my backlist to lots of readers. I mentioned that I have a monthly book feature with Loveahappyending.com but I also write occasional travel featured for the magazine too – I call them my ‘Snap Gap Travel’ features. Travel is another passion of mine and I like to blog about my writing and my travels on my website janicehorton.co.uk. I’m also an avid participant of Facebook and Twitter. Other than that, as I’ll be in the Caribbean for the next couple of months, I’m going to be taking a little time out before I begin researching my next novel.

What would you like my readers to know? I write fun to read adventure romance novels and I’d like your readers to check them out on Amazon. Amazon has a useful ‘look inside’ facility which enables you to read and download for free the first couple of chapters of a book before you commit to making any purchase. If you do enjoy reading one of my books, I’d love you to consider leaving a review on Amazon, as that helps me as an author as much as it helps other readers to make informed reading choices. My books are available worldwide exclusively from Amazon. Thank you!

Janice Horton - writer of romantic adventure novels

My Author Website & Blog at janicehorton.co.uk

Follow me on Twitter: @JaniceHorton

Friend me on Facebook Page

Link to my Amazon Author Page

Check out my page on Goodreads

My LLm Bookshelf

Senior Editor at: Loveahappyending Lifestyle Mag