KAREN STENSGAARD

My local Story and Song Center for the Arts & Culture in Fernandina Beach, Florida hosts author events and luncheons, besides many other fun events. And they happen to sell books too! If you live here or are passing through, check out their website for upcoming events: Link: https://storyandsongarts.org/event-calendar/

Recently, Sarah Penner gave a fascinating discussion about her unusual entry into writing novels. She’s a confident speaker with interesting twists and turns to her life and writing. I really enjoyed her enthusiastic update. And her new novel, The Amalfi Curse, but her two other books are worth a read too. If you want to jump ahead and order, use Bookshop which supports your local indie booksellers like Story and Song. Link: https://bookshop.org/contributors/sarah-penner

Surprisingly, we have a few things in common. We both worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Finance which involved lots of Excel spreadsheets, but we both wanted to write a novel. We also have three published novels and moved to Florida. But she’s been a huge success, while I’m still a relative unknown and under the radar. But that’s okay since I still enjoy writing.

Her debut novel, The Lost Apothecary, sold over a million copies! I read it years ago and highly recommend it. It will very likely sell another million before too long. The fascinating story takes place in London, blends in history, and tells the story of a woman working as an apothecary aka a pharmacist in the USA.

Her second book, The London Séance Society, a murder mystery whodunnit, is also a bestseller. Somehow, I missed hearing about it, so it’s high on my TBR wish list now.

Her newest, The Amalfi Curse, is set in Amalfi, Italy, a town and coastline south of Naples. If you ever get a chance to go there, don’t hesitate! Setting a book in such a magical place is guaranteed to attract writing muses and some romance. This novel is also climbing the best-selling charts. The cover is beautiful and inside the hardback, the image is pure art. Especially if you are a scuba diver!

She mentioned her new book includes a discussion of what treasure is and isn’t, which is favorite part readers have commented on. I haven’t read it yet so am eager to find out what treasure’s ahead in The Amalfi Coast!

At Story and Song’s literary luncheon, Sarah signed books. She included some Italian recipes at the back of her book, and more are on her website. Story and Song always provides delicious food and for dessert, their chef made Italian Ricotta cookies. The perfect taste of Italy and her new book.

Her website has an event listing and includes some blogs on writing advice for my fellow writers out there. https://www.sarahpenner.com/

Sarah talked about her experience writing and the craft of writing which is especially of interest if you are writer or thinking of writing a book. Although the advice I have heard for new writers is often “quit,” because of how difficult it can be, we must decide what works for us. I also wanted to land an agent and publisher and plan to try again. But many writers become indie authors and self-publish. And some authors juggle both.

Sarah explained how the right side of our brain is used to create and play (write novels) while the left is more analytical and logical (crunch numbers). She was discontent with her Finance career. So she took some online creative writing classes and got up extra early before her day job to write. Her first book had a story premise problem, so she wrote another novel focused on women supporting each other. This book became The Lost Apothecary, and its success allowed her to become a full-time author. Currently, she is writing a follow-up to The Lost Apothecary.

After setting two novels in London, she wanted a new location. Sarah’s a scuba diver and was inspired by the legend of sirens and how many shipwrecks remain along the Amalfi coast. This story is told in contemporary day, and the protagonist learns about the past. This book has a dual timeline like her other books. She also likes having multi-POV and different voices to keep it interesting for readers.

Sarah ends each chapter on a cliffhanger or twist, and chapters jump from present day to the past to keep the story moving. Her finance degree and experience at PwC paid off since she tracks it all in Excel!

The imaginary main character in The Amalfi Curse is like her. Sarah mentioned they are both techies, had similar relationships with their dad, and share a humble upbringing. This book also includes two love stories. Her editor asked for more romance. Despite not reading much romance, she added some romantic illusions and hints. Sarah also believes romance needs to serve the plot.

She likes world building, and readers have commented favorably on this. Sarah uses notes in her phone to record sensory impressions of places when traveling and adds it to the story later. She enjoys the editing and revising part of writing more than creating the initial story. Once the draft is done, she can focus on fine tuning sentences and world building.

If you get a chance, attend a writer’s event to hear firsthand about the process and support them by buying their books. Even if you aren’t a writer or don’t have that desire, you may really enjoy it.

Karen Stensgaard has three novels (Aquavit, Blueness, and Project Onion) available so far with two more coming later this year. None are set in London or Italy but her next two will take place in Europe!