Fine Tuning Hanna by Tiina Walsh-Review and Interview with the Author

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date

Would saying the magic words ‘I love you’ in time have stopped it all going so wrong for Hanna? Or was some other power at play? Finnish piano-tuner Hanna Suvanto loves her new life and friends in Dublin. And the icing on the cake is meeting Ireland’s premium bachelor, the personal development guru, Sebastian O’Reilly. But their whirlwind romance hits a serious obstacle when Hanna’s stay is unexpectedly cut short. Sebastian seems strangely unconcerned about her departure – and then Hanna makes a shocking discovery about the man she thought she knew. Heartbroken and disillusioned with love, she returns to Finland, resolving to rebuild her life. Back in Ireland, Sebastian can’t get Hanna out of his mind. Surely there is more to her abrupt departure than meets the eye?

REVIEW:

Fine Tuning Hanna is a 282 page good read! It’s a great love story with many interesting well written secondary characters.

Hanna Suvanto is a pretty Finnish young woman, working in Ireland. She is a piano technician, mostly tuning pianos for concert halls. She meets and falls madly in love (and her with her) with a positive thinking speaker, Sebastian O’Reilly (God, I love that name! – LOL). Our author gives us a wonderful story with great scenery, wonderful scenes of love and friendships, while teaching us about positive thinking theory. Very interesting stuff!

They have a whirlwind wonderful time, while the deadline for her to return to Finland ticks away. Then a spiteful woman brings the thing to a seeming halt…resulting in heartache, confusion for Sebastian, and so much more. Will they reconcile? Will love be thwarted? Ahhh….

Fine Tuning Hanna is an interesting mix of learning cultural differences, positive thinking theory, friendships and love. There are, of course, the elements of heat-break and redemption! An interesting and intriguing rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, betrayal, and ultimate friendship.

I don’t do spoilers, because you need to read the wonderful details as the author unfolds the story to you. I’m not sure if this is the author’s first book, but it’s well done and I thoroughly enjoyed the story, shed a few tears, laughed out loud and found my heart pounding a few times! What else is there?
Get a nice glass of wine or your favorite beverage, cuddle up and enjoy, I did!

Copy supplied by the author.

Reviewed by Georgianna

TRC: Hi Tiina and welcome to The Reading Cafe.

We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?

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Tiina: I grew up in Finland but when I was 19, I moved to Ireland, fell in love with an Irishman and have lived in Ireland for the past 16 years. My native language is Finnish. I own and run several companies in the real estate sector in Finland and Ireland, which involves traveling back and forward between the two countries a lot. I have always wanted to be a writer, and finally realized my dream of becoming a published author in 2013.

TRC: FINE TUNING HANNA is your August 2013 release. Would you please tell us something about the premise?

Tiina: The book tells the story of Hanna, a Finnish female piano tuner working in Ireland. She falls in love with a famous Irish personal development coach, Sebastian. After the initial romance, things go badly wrong, Hanna goes back to Finland heartbroken, leaving Sebastian baffled by her abrupt departure. But since it’s a romance, there is a happy ending for the couple!

TRC: Who or what was the inspiration behind the characters and the storyline?

Tiina: To some extent, the main character of Hanna is based on me – although it’s my husband who is a piano tuner / player in real life! A lot of the cultural observations about the Finns and the Irish are based on my own experiences. Both myself and my husband are very keen on personal development, hence it was easy to choose Sebastian’s profession ( and he looks quite a lot like my husband…)

Some of the other characters were loosely inspired by some of my friends, yet all characters grew to be their own persons as the story developed.

The storyline itself developed little by little from my initial idea of a Finnish-Irish love story, which incorporated the idea of the main couple at some level not feeling “good enough” for the other one, and both of them having to “grow” during the story to realize that their ideas of themselves were holding them back in achieving a good relationship.

TRC: How much of the “positive thinking theory” premise is derived from your husband? Do you believe in the power of positive thinking?

Tiina: My husband and I discuss positive thinking ideas a lot, and I confess that I often consult him and his wisdom – he really is very knowledgeable and passionate about positive thinking! And yes, I really do believe in the power of positive thinking, as I have seen endless amount of evidence to support these ideas in my own life, and we both continue to study the topic further all the time.

TRC: When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?

Tiina: It would make my ego very happy to think I’m the director, but after the initial idea for the storyline, I’m afraid the characters decide what happens next, and I often feel like a mere spectator of the events unfolding – an act very similar to reading, which is my passion in life.

TRC: Are you a plotter or a pantster?

Tiina: Definitely a pantster. I have not learner the art of “looking around the corners” which I presume is what a plotter can do. I have just finished the manuscript of my second book and this, as well as FINE-TUNING HANNA, was written entirely in a pantster mode. But saying that, I have a great idea for my third book, and I have a feeling that some plotting will be required- I don’t know, as I haven’t started it yet!

TRC: The mark of a good writer is to pull the reader into the storyline so that they experience the emotions along with the characters. What do you believe a writer must do to make this happen? Where do you believe writers fail in this endeavor?

Tiina: The writer must concentrate really hard in feeling and listening to the character, in order to bring the characters’ true emotions alive – only if they ring true, will the reader be engaged. Rushing the storyline and not editing the book enough times to catch more details of the situations unfolding, will make the emotional state of the characters feel too shallow to engage the reader.

TRC: How do you keep the plot unpredictable without sacrificing content and believability?

Tiina: My beautiful characters keep me on my toes! And my excellent editor…

TRC: How do you handle the pressures and anxiety of deadlines?

Tiina: I have a lot of anxiety and deadlines in my day job, so I don’t really feel any anxiety in regards to writing. But then again, as a self-published author, I get to choose what I do and when – one of the reasons why I chose to go down this path. The plan is to publish a book a year, which I believe to be achievable to me, since I love being a (evening time) writer so much.

TRC: What do you believe is the biggest misconception about you?

Tiina: Tough question! Perhaps the fact that some people seem to think that as a non-native English speaker/writer, I shouldn’t be able to write books in English. If only they knew the amount of English text I “devour” all the time…

TRC: Writers Block is a very real phenomenon for many authors. How do you handle the stress and anxiety of Writers Block?

Tiina: I just don’t write when I don’t feel like it – I can’t say I have felt the Block, but it’s probably because I only write when the Muse takes me.

TRC: Many authors bounce ideas with family, friends and fellow authors. With whom do you bounce ideas?

Tiina: I bounce ideas with my husband and my best friend, who is a famous Irish harpist – a true artist. Funnily enough, neither of them are great readers,
yet extremely insightful when it comes to the story format.

TRC: On what are you currently working?

Tiina: I’m working at the ideas level of my third book, and I’m excited and terrified in equal measures about starting the book in early 2014. This is going to be my biggest challenge yet, and I sincerely hope I’m good enough to bring the book alive.

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Tiina: Thank you for this opportunity! I have enjoyed thinking about your questions.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food
Meatballs and mash potatoes (typical Scandinavian fare)

Favorite Dessert
Something very chocolaty

Favorite TV Show
The Mentalist

Last Movie You Saw
The Family

Dark or Milk Chocolate
Both

Pet Peeve
My husband keeps using my pen in the home office – it’s mine!

Secret Celebrity Crush
Edward – wait, he’s not real! Not so fussed about the actor, though…

TRC: Thank you Tiina for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on the release of FINE TUNING HANNA. We wish you all the best.

Tiina: Thank YOU.