Coffee Break with Ella Allbright (Nikki Moore)
I am so excited to
have this chance to welcome Nikki, who also writes commercial women’s fiction
under Ella Allbright - her first novel of this genre The Last Charm is out in August! Which has been one of my most
anticipated reads for 2020. She is the author behind the much loved
#LoveLondon romance series.
Thank you so much for stopping by today!
Hi Katie, and thanks so much for asking me along
for a chat – I’ve really appreciated your support for The Last Charm and am so glad you enjoyed reading it. Your review was lovely and
really touched me.
You are most welcome! I just loved it and really wanted my review to do this beautiful story justice. First of all I have to ask about your adorable beagle puppy Luna, how
is she?! I am a little bit in love & love seeing your posts and pictures of
her!
Aw thank you – we
think she’s adorable too, and as a beagle she’s such a character; hence why I’m
always posting pictures of her on Twitter (#SocialDistancingWithMyDog) or Insta.
She’s very photogenic, does the funniest things, gets two walks a day and generally
keeps us on our toes!
She really is!! The Last Charm is out so soon on the 21st August & I am very excited for you, can you
tell us about your plans & what happens around publication day?
Thank you - I’m really excited. The lovely Rachel
Gilbey of Rachel’s Random Resources is running a week-long blog tour starting
on publication day (21st August) with the support of 36 incredible
bloggers. My wonderful publisher One More Chapter (HarperCollins) are also
pulling together a very special event which will hopefully be announced soon. I’ll
be taking time off the HR day job to chat with people about the book across
social media platforms. A bottle of champagne usually features on publication
day, so look out for a ‘cheers’ celebration photo!
All very exciting! Where did you get the inspiration from for The Last Charm, the
characters & what does it means to you?
My amazing editor Charlotte Ledger pitched
me the concept of an epic love story based around a charm bracelet several
years ago. We spent time coming up with a loose plot and setting, agreeing it
would be a Dorset based book. Over the next few weeks, I came up with a
detailed twenty chapter outline which luckily Charlotte loved. It’s been a very
collaborative process and I really enjoyed it.
The Last Charm is very
close to my heart, especially as it’s about love, loss and hope. I suffered
several bereavements in 2017 which stopped me writing for 6 months. Eventually
the words started flowing again, and I was able to channel my grief into the story.
The reviews mentioning how heartfelt The
Last Charm is or how it resonated
with that person really mean a lot to me because of the journey I’ve been on.
I love the cover for The Last Charm, I just knew I was going to love
it. How did you feel when you first saw it? It must be very surreal!
Thank you! Seeing the book cover is what always makes
the book feel ‘real’ to me, rather than some text in a Word document that’s come
out my head! The designer and OMC team have done a fabulous job with the cover,
which was originally a lovely beige but is now a warm, welcoming shade of blue.
I love the line drawing of Leila and Jake - it really captures the beauty of
their relationship and how much they mean to each other. I’m also a fan of the
little heart-shaped balloon because it’s very poignant, which reflects the tone
of the book.
What made you want to become a writer?
I’ve always been an avid reader and love
escaping into books, visiting new places, making new (book) friends, and
learning something from them. The idea of being able to do that for other
people - and to connect with them - seemed like the most amazing thing. Writing
has always been part of me. Starting off with short stories in primary school,
being on the school newspaper at secondary school, and coming close to
publication with Mills & Boon in my early twenties. Following a serious
illness in 2010, I started writing seriously to get published and was offered
my first contract in 2013.
Being an author is a privilege and I feel
very lucky to be published and have such a supportive team around me –
including my fiancé, family, friends, OMC, Hattie, readers, bloggers and
reviewers.
What exciting things are happening for you, coming up?
I’m currently editing my next book, a lot of
which I’ve written during lockdown as a form of escape. It’s another love story,
this time joining Will and Izzy on an Italian road trip. Once I’m done it’ll go
off to my fabulous agent Hattie Grunewald (The Blair Partnership) for her
thoughts, and then it’ll be back to editing again before it gets sent out. I’ve
also written the outline for the book after that, which will be a little
different to my other. Watch this space…
I can't wait to meet Will and Izzy! Share a photo of one of your favourite things!
I’d normally post a picture of a book with a glass of wine, but this time, it has to be Luna!
She is just adorable! Thank you so much for your time and having a chat!
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