Saturday, November 12, 2022

GUEST POST with Angela Britnell, Author of A Little Christmas Panto


Did I mention it's beginning to READ a lot like Christmas? Because I think I have, and if not, my posts keep reminding me 😁. Today's is on the same seasonal track with a spotlight on another must read title perfect for decking your reading shelves and spending a little time with by the fire. Alongside the introduction, we've got a great Guest Post from the author herself sharing more behind the story information, and a glimpse of her writing world. Ladies and gents, may I present...



A Little Christmas Panto
by
Angela Britnell 


About the book...
Can a little Cornish village panto convince a troubled Hollywood heart throb to act again?

Oh no it won’t! At least that’s what Zach Broussard initially thinks when the eccentric Anna Teague tries to railroad him into helping out with her community pantomime production in the run-up to Christmas. Zach has his reasons for leaving Hollywood behind, and his retreat to the remote village of Polcarne in Cornwall signals the start of a new acting free life for him.

But when Zach meets Anna’s daughter, Rosey – an ex concert pianist who has swapped Mozart for panto tunes – he starts to wonder whether he could change his mind, and not just about acting.

If nothing else, will the residents of Polcarne ensure Zach has a Christmas he never forgets? Oh yes they will!











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~~~   GUEST POST with Author Angela Britnell ~~~

Thank you so much for hosting me today to talk about my new Christmas book, A Little  Christmas Panto. Before I start to chat about the book I wanted to say how much I love the name  of your blog because I too am an insatiable reader. In fact if it wasn’t for the wonderful libraries  I’ve enjoyed all my life I would no doubt be bankrupt by now in an effort to feed my reading  habit!  (Wouldn't we all! 😂)

I thought your readers might enjoy hearing a little about the inspiration behind my book. It started life as a short story written as promotion for my last year’s Christmas book, A Cornish  Christmas at Pear Tree Farm. From out of that magical place in my head that I’ll never truly  understand, but am incredibly grateful for, the character of Zach appeared as a Hollywood star  who retreats from acting after a personal tragedy. When he rents a cottage in a small Cornish  village he gets drawn into helping with the local pantomime and that sets him on a new path in  life. When my publisher read the short story she casually said – do I see a Christmas book here?  – which got my brain whirring! The essence of the short story ended up becoming the next to last  chapter end of the book so it was really a question of discovering what led up to that point.  

One side of the research needed was relatively easy because I grew up in a small Cornish village  and was in the junior chorus of our local pantomime on several occasions. I’m fortunate enough  to have several good friends who either were involved in putting on the show in the past or are  doing so now and they’ve all been incredibly generous with their insights. Of course my  pantomime is a fictionalised version and when they read it I’ve no doubt they’ll raise their  eyebrows at certain parts of the story that stretch the bounds of possibility at bit but hopefully  they’ll forgive me in the name of artistic license! The British pantomime is a unique thing and I  used Zach’s ignorance of what it’s all about to put in explanations for readers who aren’t familiar  with the traditional show. I used my American husband’s help for some for this as he has never  seen a pantomime. Here’s an extract where Rosey is explaining a little of the history of  pantomime to Zach: 

‘Oh right. I’ve heard of your English pantomimes but never seen one. They sound strange.’ ‘I suppose they are. The whole thing is a very British tradition, although it has its roots in the  Italian “Commedia dell’Arte” and the early Elizabethan and Stuart masques.’ Rosey chattered on  about the first acknowledged pantomime in 1721 based on the characters of Harlequin and  Columbine, and caught Zach’s amusement. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to bore you. It’s a fascination  of mine and I tend to forget not everyone shares it.’ 

Of course I went down a little bit of a rabbit hole when I started doing this research because it  was so fascinating. Most of it didn’t end up including because it wasn’t necessary to the  development of the story but I learned a lot which is never a bad thing.

I hope you and all of my readers will enjoy their visit to Cornwall and pantomime land – Oh Yes  I Do!




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About the author...


Angela grew up in Cornwall, England and returns frequently from her home outside of Nashville, Tennessee to visit family and friends, drink tea and eat far too many Cornish pasties!

A lifelong love of reading turned into a passion for writing contemporary romance and her novels are usually set in the many places she's visited or lived on her extensive travels. Thanks to almost four decades of marriage to her wonderful American husband she's a huge fan of transatlantic romance and always makes sure her characters get their own happy-ever-after.

She is a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association. Her first novel ‘Truth and Consequence’ was published in 2006 and she’s now had over 40 novels published internationally and multiple short stories in women’s magazines.







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Special thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for the chance to bring this tour to you as well as the author for the great guest post... it was wonderful learning more about your writing process and the story behind the story. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, this tour, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available now, so click on over to your favorite online retailer to snag your copy today! Be sure to check out the rest of the tour for more bookish fun.




Until next time, remember... if it looks good, READ IT!


1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much, Gina for joining in this great blog tour and for letting me stop by and chat about my new book today. It really was a fun one to write and came quite easily - not all of them do!

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