Friday Reads – The Girls by Bella Osborne

It’s time for a Friday Reads post again and this week my featured book is the humorous, feel-good novel, The Girls, by Bella Osborne. I love the sound of this book! Let’s take a look at the cover and blurb then get chatting to Bella. 😊

Blurb

Four old friends. Thrown back together after forty years apart. What could possibly go wrong? 

In the 1970s, The Girls were best friends sharing a house and good times: Zara the famous diva actor, Val the uptight solicitor, Jackie the wild child and Pauline the quirky introvert. Now they’re in their twilight years, and Zara suggests that they live with her to support each other through old age.

Initially, being housemates again is just as much fun as in their heyday. But then Zara reveals the real reason she asked them to move in with her, and suddenly things take a sinister turn.

As the women confront their demons they come under the spotlight of the press, the police and an angry parrot. With their lives spiralling out of control can they save their friendships and each other?

Buy links

Amazon uk – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B097VQZ5HM/

Amazon com – https://www.amazon.com/Girls-Bella-Osborne-ebook/dp/B097VQZ5HM/

KoBo – https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-girls-52

Apple – https://books.apple.com/gb/book/the-girls/id1573797846

Hive – https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Bella-Osborne/The-Girls/26341881

Bookshop org – https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-girls-9781801100519/9781801100519

Waterstones – https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-girls/bella-osborne/9781801100519

Welcome to my blog, Bella. Have you always wanted to be a writer?

No, I wanted to be a vet. But given I’m allergic to most furry creatures this wasn’t meant to be. If I’m honest I didn’t think being an author was an option for someone like me. That said writing is always something I have loved since primary school and that I get to wrote every day makes it the best job ever.

Has any author inspired you?

So many and they continue to do so. At an early age I was hooked by Dodie Smith and Enid Blyton’s characters and wowed by Agatha Christie’s plots. These days I am in awe of fellow writers like Jules Wake, Christie Barlow and Darcie Boleyn who write multiple books a year, by Lia Louis who has the most brilliant turns of phrase and Katie Fforde who is so incredibly generous with her support for others.

What do you like writing most?

I love the ideas stage when my characters and plot are forming and I keep getting flashes of inspiration which help to build up the story – it’s very exciting. I also get to use lots of post-it notes which is always fun.

Do you have a special place for writing?

I write in our spare bedroom which we grandly call the study but in the warmer months I decamp to The Shack which is a glorified shed in the garden but it somehow feels like I’m somewhere very different – apart from the cat being there because she follows me everywhere.

Are you a pantster or a plotter?

I am a very dedicated plotter. I was a project and programme manager for over twenty years so it’s in my DNA.

Is your writing ever inspired by your family or real life incidents?

Sometimes. My teenager was horrified to find an incident she had with an oxo cube turn up in my book One Family Christmas. But life is the best material there is for fiction! I think many tiny seeds are sown by the world around me but it’s my imagination that nurtures them and gives them life.

I totally agree!

What are you writing at the moment?

I’ve just completed the proof read on A Wedding At Sandy Cove which will be out in July and I’m now at the exciting planning stage for what will become my summer 2023 novel. It currently features a beach café on stilts, a carer who hides behind her mother’s illness and a mystery man who leaves her messages.

What inspired you to write this book?

The Girls

What time of the day do you write best?

Interesting question. I’m definitely not a morning person and I need my sleep so I don’t burn the midnight oil either. I think there’s a sweet spot just after lunch! Seriously if I’m in the zone I can be at the keyboard for hours surviving only on custard creams and the occasional cup of tea when my husband takes pity on me.

What are your hobbies?

I love to cook and especially enjoy it when my teenage daughter and I cook together. We like to play board games as a family and I love to watch a film on a Sunday afternoon. We are also a release site for rescue hedgehogs, some of which we have to acclimatise first.

How lovely!

What advice would you give to other writers?

Find other writers. They are the only other people who really understand what it’s like to be a writer and they are an incredibly supportive bunch. Either look at local groups or associations or both. When it comes to actually writing grab any time you can if you wait for the perfect few hours they will never materialise. And above all have fun!

Great advice, Bella, especially about finding other writers, they’re the best support you can get. Thanks so much for dropping by to talk to us today, and for such a fascinating interview. Wishing you many sales with your book. 😊

Meet Bella

Author Bio

Bella has been jotting down stories as far back as she can remember but decided that 2013 would be the year that she finished a full length novel. Since then she’s written a number of best-selling romantic comedies and book club reads. She’s been shortlisted three times for the RNA Contemporary Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

Bella’s stories are about friendship, love and coping with what life throws at you. She likes to find the humour in the darker moments of life and weaves these into her stories. She lives in Warwickshire, UK with her husband, daughter and a cat who thinks she’s a dog. When not writing Bella is usually eating custard creams and planning holidays.

Author links

Website – www.bellaosborne.com 

Twitter – https://twitter.com/osborne_bella

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BellaOsborneAuthor/

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/bellaosborneauthor/

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