BooksChatter: ℚ Maybe Tomorrow: Forgive or Forget [1]

Today we have the pleasure of meeting up with author Erin Cawood to talk about Maybe Tomorrow (16 November 2015, Booktrope Editions, 171 pages), book one of the Forgive or Forget series, a contemporary women's fiction love story and family saga.

Cawood's love inspired medical romance series follows the close-knit McGowan siblings; Keon, Kiera, Cormack, and Cara, as they face the difficult choice between forgiving or forgetting true love after a broken heart.

"Erin's novel is reminiscent of work by Jodi Piccoult and Emily Giffin, two very different women's fiction authors who both have an incredible knack for understanding and conveying the complexities of human relationships." ~ Wendi Nunnery

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A very warm welcome to Erin Cawood; thank you for joining us on BooksChatter.

What was the inspiration for Maybe Tomorrow?

"Inspiration comes from anywhere and everywhere. With Maybe Tomorrow, I woke up one morning with this deep sense of loss and guilt. I heard Keon impatiently waiting for me to write down the things he wanted to tell his daughter. Things about life he couldn’t explain to her in words, because she was too young to understand, and he knew that by the time she was old enough to understand he wouldn’t be able to tell her, it would be just too painful to step back into the past and relive his final moments with the only woman he’d ever loved."

How much of yourself is reflected in this book, and how?

"I think there is a great deal of any author is reflected in anything they write. My work is fiction, I research what I need to and speak to experts where possible. Having said that, there is a good deal of nostalgia in Maybe Tomorrow. When I was little, my brothers and sisters and I would play rounders, and football. I’ve been squished so many times when we’ve ‘all piled on’ top of one another. Now, as adults, our family get-togethers are late, loud and crazy. I wouldn’t exchange them for the world."

The first thing that draws me to a book is its cover. Can you tell us about your cover for Maybe Tomorrow - why you chose that concept and who the artist is.

"Darcy and Keon’s marriage ended abruptly and without warning, but the majority of the damage to their relationship was done over the year that followed. It’s that residual damage that is the wall between the models you see on the cover. But for me, the cover is all about their hands. It represents how despite everything that’s happened in the past, they’re still connected.

I spotted this stock image about two years ago and knew instantly that it captured everything I wanted to communicate through the cover of Maybe Tomorrow. The initials designs were by myself but I have a fabulous cover designer, Michelle Fairbanks at Fresh Designs, who took my designs and turned them into the amazing cover you see today."

Why should we read Maybe Tomorrow and what sets it apart from the rest?

"Maybe Tomorrow will take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. It’ll make you laugh, and cry. You’ll hate some characters and love others. It opens with a bang, when after ten years of absence, Keon’s first wife Darcy makes a sudden reappearance in his life when she’s brought into his A&E Department. The first thing they do is argue.

Then, Darcy is diagnosed with a fatal condition and without treatment she has just months to live. Keon is torn when Darcy chooses not to have any treatment. He has to choose between allowing Darcy to spend time with their daughter, and protecting his daughter from the connecting with her mother only to lose her again when Darcy dies. Keon decides he can’t prevent Lily from at least creating a few memories of Darcy, even if she doesn’t know Darcy is her mum. But in doing so, Keon thrusts himself and Darcy in a situation where they can no longer avoid what happened between them.

Maybe Tomorrow is a story about what happens when bad decisions lead to a lifetime of regrets. It’s about the choice between living for today and planning for tomorrow. It’s about second chances when the possibility of obtaining a happily ever after is thrown into question, and Keon and Darcy question whether those second chances are worth fighting for when they can only lead to more hurt at the end. It’s about putting someone else’s needs before your own."

Can you tell us something quirky about Maybe Tomorrow, its story and characters?

"Keon and Darcy met in after an earthquake. Keon is searching for a missing scientist and happens to find her trapped beneath a tree. It’s love at first sight. This chapter was excluded from the final version of Maybe Tomorrow, but it’s available to read for free when you sign up to my mailing list."

Who would you recommend Maybe Tomorrow to and what should readers be aware of (any warnings or disclaimers)?

"One of my reviewers recently compared Maybe Tomorrow with authors such as Jodi Picoult, Emily Giffin and Jojo Moyes. It deals with a tough subject but in a delicate way. I’d say be prepared to question yourself, and what you’d do in Keon or Darcy’s situation."

If you could / wished to turn Maybe Tomorrow and the Forgive or Forget series into a movie, who would be your dream team?

"I haven’t thought about it, for Maybe Tomorrow, or any of my other books. But I’d have to say Richard Curtis and Marc Lawrence behind the scenes because both are Chick-Flick legends and have been involved in some of my all-time favourite movies.

It’ll probably come as no surprise that, if I have those two, then my lead actress would be Sandra Bullock. Bullock has played quite a few uptight bitter and bitchy lead characters, with whom we develop a love/hate relationship at the beginning, I’m thinking of The Proposal. But for Keon… I don’t know… any suggestions?"

You have to love Sandy B... I need to know more about Keon... uhm... going on gut-favourites... Christian Bale or Desmond Harrington.

What do you like to write and read about? Do you stick to a particular genre or do you like to explore different ones?

"My tagline is ‘On the Edge of Romantic Fiction’ because I tend to write quite dark storylines. At the heart of Maybe Tomorrow is a story about Darcy’s right to die. But it also deals with alcohol abuse, sexual harassment and post-natal depression, and the people who are indirectly a victim of their effects. I like to write characters whose lives could be as real as yours or mine. For that reason, I tend to fall into the Women’s Fiction bracket. But I’m working on a thriller, a mystery, and a paranormal. So I guess I like to genre-hop also."

What is your writing process?

"I just sit down and write. I attempt to outline, even if it’s just a couple of handwritten pages, but most of the time I end up starting an outline and writing an entire scene or first draft. Once it’s completed, I put it away for a few weeks and work on something else before I begin the editing process."

What is in store next?

"Up next is book 3 in the Behind Closed Doors Series, which is out on the 3/3/2016.

In the meantime, I’m working on Cupid Moments, which are serialized novellas that explore the trials and tribulations of five best friends over the course of one year.

Then I’m moving on to the second in the Forgive or Forget Series, Beyond Tomorrow, which is about Keon’s fun loving younger brother Mack. It’s a flashback to how he met and fell in love with Bernadette, even though she is many years younger than he is."

And on that note, I'd like to point out that readers can currently (for a limited time) catch up with the Behind Closed Doors series for FREE! Tainted Love, book one, can be downloaded from Amazon and all other platforms, and Blurred Lines, book two, is being offered FREE by signing up to your newsletter.

And as a final quirky thing, to get to know you a little bit better... do you have a pet or something that is special to you that you could share with us?