UNCOVERED INTERVIEWS: Maggie Le Page

Maggie Le Page's latest novel The Trouble With Dying is available now, and is perfect for those who are partial to a humorous romance with a paranormal twist! The lovely Maggie has joined Chick Lit Uncovered for the weekly Q&A so that we can find out more about what inspired her to write The Trouble With Dying, and what she'll be up to next!

Tell us about your latest novel in 15 words or less.
Comatose and fighting amnesia, out-of-body Faith must rediscover herself and wake up before she’s murdered.

What inspired you to write The Trouble With Dying?
I’ve always had a fascination with “spooky stuff”: life after death, angels, clairvoyancy. And when a friend mentioned an out-of-body experience she’d had after a bad accident, and how she’d heard and seen things she shouldn’t have known about (because she had just flatlined in the hospital), it got me thinking. How would it be for someone in a coma? Voila! The Trouble With Dying was conceived.

Where do you do most of your writing?
On my laptop. I sit on the couch, or in our bay window, but when I’m in a real writing funk I head down to my local café and set myself up there. It goes without saying my coffee is always needing a refill. A lot of my writing also happens in the dead of night, when the rest of the house is asleep.

What is your favourite book?
Ack! What a question! I’ve loved so many! Confession: I’m not really into “literary” books—I’m more of a commercial fiction girl. It started with Mary Stewart (eg Touch Not The Cat), expanded to Wilbur Smith (OMG! River God!) and James Patterson (eg When The Wind Blows). Then I discovered chick lit and Marian Keyes (eg Rachel’s Holiday) and… yeah. Eclectic tastes, I guess.

Which part of The Trouble With Dying did you enjoy writing the most?
The flashbacks. Faith’s flashbacks contained the essence of the past she and Nate had shared, and I couldn’t wait to reveal their story to readers.

Who is your favourite literary heroine?
What—I can only have one? Unfair! I’ll go with Anne Frank. She showed so much hope and courage in the face of the Holocaust’s horrors. I read her diary as a young teen and it had profound impact on me.

Do you have any tips for readers who are looking to become published writers?
Write write write. And don’t expect to succeed overnight: be in it for the long haul. (This is where it helps if you have persistence—aka bloody-minded determination—in your genes.)

Are you working on anything else at the moment and if so, can you tell us?
I’ve just started book three which is a sequel to my rom-com, A Heat Of The Moment Thing. It’s about a woman who inherits a house when her great-aunt dies but, for all sorts of reasons, it’s a house she really doesn't want.

Thanks, Maggie!

You can find out more about Maggie Le Page and her books at her website, Facebook, Amazon page, or by following her on Twitter.

The Trouble With Dying by Maggie Le Page
When Faith Carson wakes up on a hospital ceiling looking down on her body in a coma, it’s a bad start to the week. A very bad start. She has no idea who she is or how she got there or why, and the biggest mystery of all is why she married the schmuck who wants her ventilator switched off. 

As if that’s not enough Faith has a dead gran haunting her, a young daughter missing her, and one devilishly delicious man making her wish she could have a second chance at life. 

And maybe she can, if she finds a way back into her body and wakes up by Friday. But if she doesn’t, this will be her last bad week—ever. 

Nate Sutherland decided long ago he’d settle for friendship if he couldn’t have Faith’s heart. But now, as she nears death, he’s going to have to listen to his feelings in a whole new way—and act. Because if he doesn’t, this week will be the worst damn week of his life. He’ll lose everything he’s ever loved.

IN THE MAIL: Weightless / The Dish / The Trouble With Dying

This week was made by some great novels arriving in the mail, including an intriguing new book by Sarah Bannan, the new release from Stella Newman (author of Pear Shaped and Leftovers) which I've been rather excited about - and a paranormal tale from Maggie Le Page...

Weightless by Sarah Bannan
Adamsville wasn't a place that people came to. It was a place you were from, where you were born, where you were raised, where you stayed… 

Before Carolyn Lessing arrived, nothing much had ever happened in Adamsville, Alabama. Each week, at dinner tables and in the high school assembly, everyone would pray for the football team to win. Each year, the Adams High hotlist would be updated, and girls would rise and fall within its ranks. Each day, everyone lived by the unwritten rules that cheerleaders did not hang out with the swim team, seniors did not date freshmen and the blistering heat was something that should never be remarked upon. But then the new girl came. 

All Carolyn's social media could reveal was that she had moved from New Jersey, she had 1075 friends – and she didn't have a relationship status. In beach photos with boys who looked like Abercrombie models she seemed beautiful, but in real life she was so much more. She was perfect.
This was all before the camera crews arrived, before it became impossible to see where rumour ended and truth began, and before the Annual Adamsville Balloon Festival, when someone swore they saw the captain of the football team with his arm around Carolyn, and cracks began to appear in the dry earth.

The Dish by Stella Newman
The Dish by Stella Newman is the new novel from the much-loved author of Pear Shaped and Leftovers. This is a warm, passionate novel that will delight fans of Jill Mansell and Mhairi McFarlane and leave you happy and hungry in equal measure.

Love is on the menu. With a side order of lies.

When Laura Parker first crosses forks with Adam Bayley, she's only after one thing: his custard doughnut. But when she takes a closer look she sees a talented, handsome man who outshines the string of jokers she's been dating.

There's just one problem. Adam's job means Laura has to keep her job as restaurant critic for The Dish, a secret. Tricky for someone who prides herself on honesty.

Can the truth be put on ice long enough for love to flourish?

And how can you expect your boyfriend to be honest if you're not quite telling the truth yourself?

The Trouble With Dying by Maggie Le Page
When Faith Carson wakes up on a hospital ceiling looking down on her body in a coma, it’s a bad start to the week. A very bad start. She has no idea who she is or how she got there or why, and the biggest mystery of all is why she married the schmuck who wants her ventilator switched off. 
As if that’s not enough Faith has a dead gran haunting her, a young daughter missing her, and one devilishly delicious man making her wish she could have a second chance at life. And maybe she can, if she finds a way back into her body and wakes up by Friday. But if she doesn’t, this will be her last bad week—ever. 

Nate Sutherland decided long ago he’d settle for friendship if he couldn’t have Faith’s heart. But now, as she nears death, he’s going to have to listen to his feelings in a whole new way—and act. Because if he doesn’t, this week will be the worst damn week of his life. He’ll lose everything he’s ever loved.