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Welcome to It's Raining Books. What would we find under your bed?
Most likely dust; nothing exciting.
What was the scariest moment of your life?
The scariest moment in my life was having an emergency operation to one of my eyes.
Do you listen to music while writing? If so what?
I listen to music occasionally, not always, but I always listen to classical music. It can be orchestral, instrumental, opera or a score to a ballet but it has to be harmonious, emotional and touch me in some way or other. My favourite classic composer is Mozart so I listen to his music any time, whether I’m sad or happy or need inspiration. Mozart has it all.
What is something you'd like to accomplish in your writing career next year?
I don’t know. I don’t tend to have long term goals, as I don’t really see the point in them. I write because I love to do it and because of all the stories floating in my head. It is something I can’t not do but goals and objectives don’t come into it. I write first and foremost for the fun of it and because I truly enjoy it.
How long did it take you to write this book?
To write the first draft took me approximately a year, including necessary historical and subject matter (ballet) research, but the real hard work comes after that first draft. Countless revisions by myself, then when I’m happy with it, I send it to my editor. After her revision I will need to go through the novel another two or three times. Finally there are two or three people who will read it before it’s published. They all give me feedback and sometimes suggestions, which I may or may not choose to incorporate. After these stages there is one final proof-reading by myself and another by my editor. All this takes at least another six months or a year. Only after that does the publishing process begin. So in total 18 months to two years.
A woman living alone in a coastal Sussex town in 1998 plants a copper beech sapling at 3 a.m. on a dark, cold night. Why?
A ballet dancer in 1960s East Germany is oppressed, longs for escaping with his little daughter but not his wife. Why? Will he make it?
In 2022 Karsten von Stein, widower and principal of the Royal Ballet, with two young children, meets Ivone Benjamim, a Portuguese, newly-arrived principal dancer. They discover a magical chemistry when dancing and soon it transfers to their private lives.
Against the background of ballet and its dancers, a woman called Grace tells her story from a rehab centre. Obsessive, delusional she begins believing Ivone robbed her of the man of her dreams—Karsten. And then a skeleton is found in a garden...What connects all these people and their stories?
You’ll be the audience facing the stage of this balletic novel.
Read an Excerpt
First Variation – Amadeus
Berlin, East Germany, July 1965
Amadeus gazes at his wife. Margarete or Grete, as is her preference, sleeps, exhausted from the effort of birth. Her hair appears glued to her forehead, wet from perspiration. Next to her, in a plain white hospital baby cot, their daughter is also asleep. He touches the little girl’s head gently. The baby, a small bundle inside the clothes too large for her, stirs marginally but does not wake. He arranges the cover around her slight body to keep her warm. She was born with hair, if one could call the blonde fluff hair. His chest swells. He already loves that little person with all the force of his being. Swallowing a couple of emotional tears he realises he will do anything, anything, to protect her. He wants her to grow up in peace, in freedom, to be able to make her own choices. With a heavy heart he wonders whether such wishes will ever be possible in this German Democratic Republic where democratic is a word devoid of meaning.
East Germany may be a lot of things but democratic is not one of them. Will he be able to adequately protect this tiny being and give her all she deserves? His chest tightens. He may have to shelter her from her own mother. Feeling shivers down his spine he recalls how his fears, his suspicions were confirmed a few months earlier, just after Grete told him she was pregnant.
About the Author:
Website: https://www.flowingprose.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/m.g.da.mota
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margarida-mota-bull/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mgdamota/
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Hello, I'm M G da Mota, author of Arabesque. Thank you so much for featuring my book today.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for featuring ARABESQUE today.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a very good book.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteThe blurb and excerpt sound great.
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