Meet the Author Monday: Margaret Amatt

It’s Meet the Author Monday! Each week we meet a new author and get to know a little about them, their writing process, publishing experience, and tips for other writers. Today we’re talking to Margaret Amatt, author of Stolen Kisses at the Loch View Hotel.

About Margaret Amatt:

Margaret is a Scottish author and chocolate lover who has been writing stories for  over twenty years (possibly more if you count her primary school efforts). Her early works will  never see the light of day and are locked in dusty vaults on some old floppy disks. But after all  those years of practice, Margaret released her first novel A Winter Haven in 2021. This is the  first of a ten-book series set on the gorgeous Scottish Isle of Mull. They are all available now  and Margaret is busy writing a second series, which is a spinoff from the first and set in the  fictional Highland Perthshire town of Glenbriar. Stolen Kisses at the Loch View Hotel is the first  in the new series. It hit #1 in new travel releases on Amazon on its release day. The second  book is due out in April. 

All Margaret’s books are unashamedly romantic but with lots of drama and an eclectic mix of  characters. Each book can be read as a standalone but followers of the series will enjoy  catching up with previous characters.

About Stolen Kisses at the Loch View Hotel:

One hotel. One week. And a secret that could change everything.

Ever-optimistic Briony Dalgleish has watched her dreams evaporate. Now, the only way to save her beautiful hotel in the Scottish Highlands is to sell up. In desperation, she agrees to a deal with an American businessman, but when his representative arrives, Briony recognises him as someone she’d rather forget.

American sci-fi geek Zach Somerton is on a last-ditch mission to redeem himself after an epic business fail. If he messes up this time, his career is over. But Scotland’s like another planet, and Zach’s facing crazy locals, bizarre legends, and a woman who’s out of this world. When his boss forbids him to reveal to Briony the real reason he’s at the Loch View Hotel, Zach’s loyalty is tested to the limit.

Forced to work together, Briony and Zach investigate the hotel’s murky past and face up to their own. But getting too close could end their careers. Can Briony and Zach find a way to let in love? Or will secrets and lies crush their chance of happiness?

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Author Interview with Margaret Amatt:

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1. How do you select the names of your characters? 

I love names, so naming characters is one of my favourite parts of story planning. I generally  choose names I think will fit the characters age and background. Sometimes, I give them  nicknames or shortened names if it suits them. I once bought a huge name dictionary in a  second hand shop to help me with character name choices, then had to try to explain to the  person on duty, I wasn’t naming a baby! I don’t think she believed me!! 

2. Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

Sometimes, I check in to see if I have any new reviews and good ones always make me smile. I  think it’s natural to feel disappointed by a bad one, but I guess you can’t please everyone all the  time. So far, I’ve been blessed with a high percentage of good reviews and hopefully that means  my books are reaching the right people, who are ready to enjoy them. 

3. Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Occasionally, yes! I don’t do it very commonly but there are one or two ‘in jokes’ that some  people close to me will get. What I really like doing is dropping little treasures throughout a  series that can be picked up later by sharp-eyed readers. This often happens with characters 

who appear as just a walk-on part or even just a name drop, then end up getting their own book.  Readers of my first series will know this happened throughout and in the case of Blair, the hero  in A Hidden Gem, I had readers actively asking me for him to get his own story!

4. What was your hardest scene to write? 

Any highly charged emotional scene can be difficult to write. What I find is that the hard bit is  thinking about them. Once I knuckle down to doing it, it’s usually fine. 

5. How long on average does it take you to write a book? 

Believe it or not, I drafted one of my books in five and a half days, but that was the exception not  the rule. Getting out that first draft is just the beginning. There’s a huge amount of editing to be  done after that. It usually takes me up to two months to write a draft, then at least another two  for self edits. After that I give it at least a month for further edits after it’s been with beta readers  and my editor for their comments and suggestions. 

6. How long have you been writing? 

I’ve enjoyed writing as far back as I can remember! I even have a school report from age 5  where my teacher praises my creative writing. The first full-length book I wrote was in 1999.  I still have it but I won’t ever publish it. It was written in diary format and was about a  teenage girl with lots of talent and potential but a messed up background. When I wrote A Winter Haven, my first published book, the lead character Robyn was loosely based on the  girl I wrote the diary about, though I made some significant changes (including her name!).  

7. Do you find it more challenging to write the first book in a series or to write the  subsequent novels? 

The first! I find that one the trickiest as you have to set up the whole world. As a series goes on,  the world already exists, side characters have appeared quite naturally and are often ready to  become a story on their own. Also, there’s a familiarity and it feels quite natural in later books. I  find setting the tone and the location quite tricky in book one. 

8. How many books have you written? Which is your favorite? 

I now have eleven published books and drafts for four more. I don’t know if I have an all time  favourite but the two I enjoyed writing the most were A Spring Retreat and A Perfect Discovery.  They both feature the enemies to lovers dynamic and that makes for instant banter opportunities  which I really love writing. 

9. What was the highlight of writing this book? 

I loved investigating the legends of illicit whisky making in Scotland in the Victorian era. That  only forms a small part in the background of the story, but it was really fascinating finding  out all the ways these crafty Scots used to fool the excise men! 

10. Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers  about? 

Sure! I’m working on four more books for the Glenbriar Series. They’re all in various stages  of drafting and I actually just finished the last one a few days ago. The next book is due out  in April and has an Easter theme, so it’ll be very seasonal. The one after that is set during a  week on a campsite and it’ll be out in the summer.

To learn more about Margaret Amatt, here’s where you can find her:

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Website: http://www.margaretamatt.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MargaretAmattAuthor
Instagram: @margaret_amatt_author
Twitter: @amattauthor

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