Portobello Book Blog

As part of the launch celebrations for Christmas at the Gin Shack, I’m pleased to welcome author Catherine Miller who has kindly answered my Author in the Spotlight questions. You’ll find more details about the book and how to buy it below.

First of all, would you tell me a little about yourself?

I’m a mum to four-year-old twins. They have just started school so I can be found skipping through fields shouting “I’m free!” during school hours. Although as I’ve managed to write four books since they were born, there may be some hopes of me keeping up my writing output. When I’m not writing I enjoy baking, random adventures and gin.

Tell me about your journey to publication

I’ve written since I was a teenager. It started with bad poetry and then I made my first attempt at a novel when I was about fifteen. It took me another twenty years and a couple more failed attempts before getting a two-book contract with HQDigital. I think motherhood propelled me to a new level of determination and so I went for it against the odds.

In a nutshell, what is your latest book about?

Christmas cocktails! The Gin Shack is doing well, but something is amiss in Westbrook Bay and it’s down to Olive to go about saving Christmas for the local community.

How did you come up with the title for your book?

Originally the two Gin Shack books were submitted as The Gin Shack and The Gin Shack: Christmas Edition. It didn’t take much to agree on the final titles as The Gin Shack on the Beach and Christmas at the Gin Shack.

How do you plan to celebrate publication day?

I had to test some of the recipes for the book, so I think a Mince Pie gin is needed and I’m heading out in the evening for more cocktail tasting. It’s only right I research these things.

Do you have a work in progress just now?

I have a more emotional read, Forever 27, that I need to finish off, a side project, and a couple more gin shack books to keep me going. I think that’s 2018 covered.

What are you reading just now? 

Falling by Julie Cohen. I’ve neglected my reading while writing the Gin Shack books and I’m trying to make up for that now.

How can people follow you or connect with you on social media?

https://www.facebook.com/katylittlelady.author/

https://twitter.com/katylittlelady

 

Christmas at the Gin Shack

Welcome in the festive season with love, laughter and the perfect G&T in Christmas at the Gin Shack – the most uplifting holiday read of 2017!

Gingle bells, gingle bells, gingle all the way…

Olive Turner might have lived through eighty-four Christmases, but she’ll never get bored of her favourite time of year. And this one’s set to be extra-special. It’s the Gin Shack’s first Christmas – and there’s a gin-themed weekend and a cocktail competition on the cards!

But, beneath the dazzle of fairy lights and the delicious scent of mince-pies, Olive smells a rat. From trespassers in her beloved beach hut to a very unfunny joke played on her friends, it seems that someone is missing a dose of good cheer.

Olive knows she’s getting on a bit – but is she really imagining that someone in the little seaside town is out to steal Christmas? More importantly, can she create the perfect gin cocktail before Christmas Eve – in time to save the day?

Purchase on Amazon UK | Amazon US | Kobo

Author Bio

When Catherine Miller became a mum to twins, she decided her hands weren’t full enough so wrote a novel with every spare moment she managed to find. By the time the twins were two, Catherine had a two-book deal with HQDigital UK. There is a possibility she has aged remarkably in that time. Her debut novel, Waiting For You, came out in March 2016. She is now the author of four books and hopes there will be many more now her twins have started school. Either that, or she’ll conduct more gin research on Olive’s behalf.

Social Media Links –

https://www.facebook.com/katylittlelady.author/

https://twitter.com/katylittlelady

https://www.instagram.com/katylittlelady/