Behind the Book

The idea for this book came when I was on holiday in New Zealand’s gorgeous Marlborough Region. Those of you lucky enough to have visited there (or live there!) will know it’s full of picturesque vineyards and wineries. I couldn’t *not* set a book there!

The very lovely Emily Gee http://www.emilygee.com/ has shared some of her photos of Marlborough vineyards so you can see the area where Nico and Beth’s story takes place.

I managed to sneak in a mention of a very special dog into this book. In real life, Misty the Dalmatian lives with my mother, but in The Blackmailed Bride’s Secret Child, Misty lives with Beth’s mother and is Marco’s best friend.

In the photos here, the real life Misty is in her backyard with her human and her brother, Lockie. Misty is notoriously difficult to photograph because she wriggles and wanders away. Note in the close up photo, Mum is holding her quite tightly, but Lockie is happy to be involved!