The Year of the Fox (The Good Life #1) by Merren Tait-Review, Interview & Giveaway
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 4, 2019
I started My New Life with a wild leap of faith and a screw driver in my back pocket. Turns out I needed a power tool arsenal…
Nancy Myers is having a hard time. She’s broken-hearted, homeless and unemployed. And she’s just turned forty. But Nancy has a secret weapon. Desperation.
Relying solely on her finely-honed ability to make stuff up as she goes along and the battery life of her cordless drill, she’s determined to make a fresh start (one that on no account features men of the falling-in-love-with variety).
After purchasing a rural property on a whim at the foot of the Southern Alps in New Zealand, Nancy attempts to settle into country life. She finds the vista of the mountains healing. She also finds a tall, dark and gumbooted stranger (who proves to be therapeutic in other ways).
But when she discovers her precious view is about to be taken away, Nancy faces a hard choice. Should she play saboteur to protect her own happiness, even if it means losing the man who just might possibly be the key to it?
Maybe her fresh start is actually a false start. Or maybe she’s learning a thing or two about how to be a kick-arse, self-reliant woman.
•••••••
REVIEW: The Year of the Fox begins with Nancy Myers having packed up and moved out of the city to some land she purchased in a rural town. She is still having issues with a breakup that left her reeling and needs a fresh start. Her plans are to build a house on the property that has a stunning view of the Southern Alps. As she starts to put her plans into motion, she is full of self-doubt. One day in particular, Nancy decides to take a little hike to explore the land around hers and comes upon a pond and decides to take a dip. It only takes a few minutes for a man, Angus, to appear to inquire what she is doing on his land and in his pond. She is mortified that she has been caught skinny dipping and tries to extricate herself from said pond with as much dignity as she can muster.
Angus is going through a lot personally, but finds his interest piqued by his new neighbor. As he and Nancy become friends, he ends up hiring her to work part time on his farm. He needs the help and she needs the money. Seems her savings is being depleted faster than she had planned for and she is desperate to see her home built. However, when she finds out that her view of the mountains will be lost due to plans that Angus and his family have for the surrounding land, she finds herself torn between being attracted to someone who has made it clear he is not looking for anything long term with her and her dreams going up in smoke.
The Year of the Fox is a nicely written story with great characters. Nancy is laugh out loud funny at times. Her dogged determination to make a new life for herself will tug at your heartstrings one minute and leave you laughing the next. She finds herself torn with decisions that have to be made and one particular realization literally caught me so off guard that I went back and read certain passages to see how in the world I could have missed something that ends up having such a huge impact not only on her life, but Angus’ as well. Angus leaves you wanting to thump his ears a couple of times, but ends up being a wonderful character as well. His loyalty to his family and the development of their land endears him to the reader. The secondary characters are very well written and leaves you wanting more. If you’re a fan of romance with a lot of steam and a lot of humor, you’ll not go wrong with this one. This is the first I’ve read by this author, but look forward to more. Well done, Merren Tait!
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Vickie
TRC: Hi Merren and welcome to The Reading Café.
Congratulations on the recent release of THE YEAR OF THE FOX
MERREN:Thank you. It’s a big deal for me – introducing my first book baby into the world. I’m very proud of it.
TRC: We would like to start with some background information. Would you please
tell us something about yourself?
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Merren: I am from New Zealand and live at the foot of a mountain on the west coast of the North Island. As a teacher and librarian, I’ve been lucky enough to have had a twenty-year career being surrounded by books. Now I’m lucky enough to get to create them.
TRC: Who or what influenced your career in writing?
Merren:My love of literature. My entire life path as been made in the pursuit of it and I get daily inspiration from what others write. But I guess the catalyst was the wartime love story of my maternal grandparents. I’ve always wanted to write a version of it (with a lot of artistic license) and have had a notebook of ideas I’ve been nurturing for years. I’m getting closer to telling it.
TRC: What challenges or difficulties did you encounter writing and publishing this story?
Merren:I chose to self-publish purely to ensure The Year of the Fox found an audience (traditional publishers take 1% of submitted manuscripts, so I didn’t rate my chances). As a result, I’ve had a very steep learning curve because I’ve had do everything that a publishing house does – organise editing, formatting, book covers, marketing, distribution etc etc etc. I feel very empowered by it, however, and I like that I am completely in control of my intellectual property.
TRC: Would you please tell us something about the premise of THE YEAR OF THE FOX and The Good Life Series?
Merren:The Good Life gets its name from a British TV show from the 1970s that followed the fortunes (and comic misfortunes) of a couple who seek to become self-sufficient. The Year of the Fox is the first of several novels that tell the story of women seeking a change from an urban-led lifestyle to a rural one. In this first book, the main character, Nancy, is on the rebound from a humiliating break-up and makes an impulsive decision to buy a large property near the Southern Alps. She has little experience with country living and livestock raising, and her sometimes clueless approach leads to hilarious misadventure and, ultimately, triumph. At its heart, The Year of the Fox is about female empowerment.
TRC: How many books do you have planned for the series?
Merren:I have another three books in my head at the moment, but I would like to write at least six.
TRC: From where did you get the idea for THE YEAR OF THE FOX?
Merren:From my own misadventures with country living. I lived in a bus for a year on my rural property without running water and electricity. It was very basic living and I had to be very resourceful. Sometimes I failed to make things work and the outcomes provided very entertaining stories for my friends. When they encouraged me to write my tales down, I found I couldn’t stop and an idea for a novel started unfurling in my head.
TRC: What kind of research/plotting did you do, and how long did you spend researching /plotting before beginning THE YEAR OF THE FOX?
Merren:Absolutely none. I made the eternal mistake of making it up as I went along, which meant several serious rewrites. I won’t make that mistake again.
TRC: What was the most challenging scene to write?
Merren:I thought the sex scenes would be difficult; that I’d feel self conscious writing them. But nope. I had no problem at all (I even rang my mum when I’d written the first one and read it to her to see what she thought) and I’m happy I was brave enough to keep the bedroom door open. I must have done a good job on them, because I get plenty of comments on how enjoyable (and steamy) they are.
TRC: Do you believe the cover image plays a deciding factor for many readers in the process of selecting a book or new series to read?
Merren:Absolutely. Cover image is critical to attracting the attention of readers. I really love mine. I think it’s striking, but it’s been a bit of a gamble as it doesn’t necessary say “chick lit”. Interested readers have to get the clues to its genre from elsewhere.
TRC: When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you
direct the characters?
Merren:It’s a bit of both, I think. My books (my second novel is well underway) are character-driven and while I might have set character types in mind when I introduce them to the page, the action they create tends to develop as I write planned scenes. Sometimes the characters surprise me with what they do or say or feel.
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 writer’s fail in this endeavor?
Merren:Creating sympathetic characters. The reader needs to be able to identify on some level with the main character. Novels can work with protagonists that are unlikable, but it’s rare and takes great skill. I’ve just put down two novels partway through because I simply didn’t care enough about the main character. I wasn’t interested in their story and I couldn’t make an emotional investment with them on any level.
TRC: Do you listen to music while writing? If so, does the style of music influence the storyline direction? Characters?
Merren:No. I am a musical person and I find it difficult to concentrate on anything other than the music when it’s playing. I can write to my heart’s content in crowded, loud cafes, but music playing frustrates the heck out of me.
TRC: What do you believe is the biggest misconception people have about authors?
Merren:That writing is either an indulgence (which is incredibly disrespectful to the art form), or an author can earn a living from their writing. I don’t think people realise how little the average author makes. They tend to be genuinely shocked to learn that traditionally published authors only receive 10% royalty on sales of their books. I believe New Zealand authors who are traditionally published earn between $10,000 and $12,000 a year from their writing on average, and it’s a similar number in the UK. My advice to aspiring authors? As glamorous and appealing as a book deal sounds, you are more likely to be able to quit your day job if you self-publish.
TRC: How should authors measure a book’s success?
Merren:By having readers tell you they love your book. Even if only one person is moved by your book – transported to a place that they grieve when they leave – you have succeeded.
TRC: What is something that few, if anyone, knows about you?
Merren:I kiss my sheep. It’s true and I’m not ashamed. They do tend to have a healthy coating of mucus beneath their nose, though, so it requires dedication and a lot of love (something only a doting sheet mother would want to do, I imagine).
TRC: Who is your favorite author (living or dead)?
Merren:My favourite chick lit author is Janet Evanovich. My favourite book of all time is The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
TRC: On what are you currently working?
Merren:I’m drafting the second novel in The Good Life series, called The Songbird Plot. All the novels in the series are stand alone, so the characters are new and the setting is completely different. This one takes place on a fictional island 150km off the coast of New Zealand, and the isolated nature of the community has produced some pretty interesting characters (and hopefully lots of comedy).
LIGHTNING ROUND
Favorite Food
Scrambled eggs. Just as well really as I own a lot of chickens.
Favorite Dessert
Creme brulee. I can say no to any other dessert (and I often do), but that one is my undoing.
Favorite TV Show
Doctor Who
Last Movie You Saw
This Mountain Life – doco about people’s passion for the mountains of British Columbia in Canada. Riveting. Beautiful.
Dark or Milk Chocolate
Dark
Secret Celebrity Crush
Michael Fassbender. Of course.
Last Vacation Destination
Australia. Did some scuba diving. Saw lots of sharks. I can die happy.
Do you have any pets?
Two sheep, five chickens and one cat
Last book you read
Daisy Jones and the Six
TRC: Thank you Merren for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on the release of THE YEAR OF THE FOX. We wish you all the
best.
Merren Tair is graciously offering an e-copy of THE YEAR OF THE FOX to ONE lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.
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