Rosie's Garden of New Beginnings - Linda Corbett
- Lynne Shelby
- 13 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Have you ever wondered where authors get their ideas? Today, I'm delighted to welcome Linda Corbett to my blog with a guest post telling us about where she found the inspiration for her wonderful new novel, Rosie's Garden of New Beginnings.
Over to Linda . . .
Rosie's Garden of New Beginnings
by Linda Corbett
Thank you, Lynne, for inviting me onto your blog today to talk about my latest book, Rosie’s Garden of New Beginnings – an opposites attract contemporary romance with a dash of celebrity!
The initial idea for this book actually first popped into my head some years ago when two things happened almost simultaneously: firstly, a good friend of mine, bemoaning the state of his overgrown garden, wondered whether it was possible to rent it out as a way of dealing with the problem patch. And then the biggie: the pandemic hit, and we were all confined to our homes and gardens. Being unable to participate in the online exercise classes that sprung up everywhere, or to manage walks around the park, I realised just how much I appreciated having a garden, and I spent many happy hours in it, pottering, planning and weeding, as well as reading and daydreaming. That period of time also highlighted the importance of community and looking out for our neighbours.
As is often the case, ideas spring up when you are busy doing something else, and as I weeded and planted, several things coalesced and formed the nucleus of a novel. The characters started popping into my head: Rosie, a widow at thirty-eight, looking for a new direction; Connor, a former media celebrity, now disgraced after a wrong place, wrong time photograph is published, who is hiding out in his brother’s flat. I began to imagine what the garden might look like, and who the neighbours were, and from there I created the community of characters who live in Mickleborough Gardens.
As real life returned to its normal busy state, the Rosie notebook got put aside and shortly afterwards, I received an offer from One More Chapter to publish Love You From A-Z. The year after, they published What Would Jane Austen Do? In 2024 the Rosie notebook came out again, and after a big house move and a year full of ups and downs, I am delighted that Rosie’s Garden of New Beginnings is having a new beginning of its own, and I hope readers will be rooting for Rosie as she picks up the threads of her new life.
Thank you for joining us here today, Linda, and with such a fab guest blog. I thoroughly enjoyed your previous book, What Would Jane Austen Do, and I'm very much looking forward to reading Rosie's Garden of New Beginnings. And, by the way, what a beuatiful cover your book has!
About Rosie's Garden of New Beginnings
Sometimes holding on to your dreams means letting go of the past…
Rosie Steadman needs a new start. It’s over a year since her husband died, and there must be more to life than her job in retail. When she spots an advert to rent a garden, it feels like the perfect project.
Media celebrity Connor Forbes is currently lying low in his brother’s flat after a public break-up and, with job prospects drying up, finding someone to look after the overgrown garden is the least of his problems.
For both Rosie and Connor, it’s a strictly business arrangement. But can they keep it that way?
As Rosie gets to know the man beneath the tarnished image, she finds it harder to resist his charms, but she’s been hurt before and Connor has a reputation – can this really be a second chance at love?
To purchase Rosie's Garden of New Beginnings, please follow the link below:
Buy Link
About Linda Corbett
Linda Corbett writes feel-good contemporary romance and is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. She was the recipient of the Katie Fforde Bursary in 2020, and her debut novel, Love You From A-Z, was a contender for the RNA’s Joan Hessayon Award. Her second novel, What Would Jane Austen Do? was published in June 2023.
Linda lives in Oxfordshire with her husband and three permanently hungry guinea pigs, and when she’s not writing she can usually be found reading, crafting or pottering in the garden. For many years Linda wrote a regular column for a disability magazine, illustrating the humorous aspects of life with a complex disability. She is also a member of Shine – the charity that supports individuals and families living with spina bifida and/or hydrocephalus.
If you would like to know more about Linda and her writing, please follow the links below.
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