Guest Blog with Ms. Carly Phillips author of Perfect Fit and Serendipity NY Novels
UPDATES!!!!! GIVEAWAY: The amazing PR team at Berkley has let me offer this to all of you, Tweet a link to this article or comment, or Facebook (is that a word) it and you can win a copy of Serendipity, Karma OR Destiny in Paperback!!!! Just make sure you email me (you all know it) or Tweet me @alixntaylor, or Facebook Message me with the link and One person will win. Closes on 1/5/13 at 12am and open to US only (sorry canadians, you have healthcare we get books). —–>GO!
Why SERENDIPITY?
By Carly Phillips
Readers tell me they’ve fall in love with the town of Serendipity and I’m so glad. Very often I’m asked how did I create the town? Is it based on someplace real or is it all in my imagination? The answer is a combination of the above. When I set out to create Serendipity, it wasn’t just the town that came to me, but many of the places and characters within it. I wanted readers to be able to imagine living there because the people are friendly and familiar, you want to be their friend.
In my current hometown, there’s one street that runs through town. I recall getting that same feeling in upstate Saratoga Springs, and really – any small town I’ve visited. So there’s Main Street in Serendipity and I draft the rest of the setting from there. Though to be honest, I’ve never mapped out Serendipity and it’s much more a product of my imagination than anything set in stone or on paper.
To create a small town, there are certain things you need – a gathering place, which to me is the Family Restaurant. No fancy name needed. It’s homey, warm, and like any diner you might have encountered on the east coast – because I’ve come to understand that diners don’t exist everywhere. In New York, we have them and Serendipity is located in a fictional New York town. No town would be complete without a coffee shop, and so Serendipity has Cuppa Café, which plays a role in every story, some more than others, like Serendipity and Destiny.
But the one place in Serendipity that has been a fundamental part of every story is Joe’s Bar. By now we know every Wednesday night is Ladies Night and you can always find characters you’ve grown to love hanging out there, either alone searching for answers to whatever’s bothering them, or meeting friends. My town doesn’t have a Joe’s but as a reader (and a writer) I can see and feel the appeal!
There’s the apartment over Joe’s Bar in which – unplanned by the way – a hero or heroine in every Serendipity book has lived. Faith Harrington rented above Joe’s in Serendipity. When she married Ethan, she gave up the apartment and Kelly, the heroine in Destiny moved in. After Kelly and Nash stopped bickering long enough to get together for good, Dare Barron needed a place to live once he moved out of his brother’s. And he moved in. But of course, when Dare married Liza, she already had a home of her own, and that’s where they now reside. That brings us to Perfect Fit – and when Mike Marsden returns home, it’s temporary, or so he thinks. So the apartment over Joe’s is the perfect pit-stop for him until he leaves town. I happen to think there’s a good chance that he won’t be needing that small unit by the time his story winds down, but you’ll have to wait and see! But if Mike is able to move out of Joe’s, there’ll be an open apartment for rent when Cole Sanders, the hero of Perfect Fling, comes to town …
About Ms. Phillips….
Carly Phillips has written over 35 romance novels with contemporary characters and small town settings that today’s readers identify with and enjoy. She’s currently focused on the New York Times bestselling Serendipity series set in the small fictional town in upstate, New York. Carly is a writer, a knitter of sorts, a wife, and a mom to two daughters (16 and 20!) and two crazy dogs (a 1 year old Havanese named Brady and a 5 year old wheaten terrier named Bailey). In addition, she’s a Twitter, Facebook and Internet junkie and is always around to interact with her readers. Carly lives in Purchase, New York and would love for you to like and follow her on the web.
Find Carly:
Carly’s Website – www.carlyphillips.com
Carly on Twitter - www.twitter.com/carlyphillips
Carly on Facebook - www.facebook.com/carlyphillipsfanpage
