Name? Patricia Sands

Do you write under your real name or is this a pen name you use? 

This is my real name.

Where are you from?  

I call Toronto, Canada, home. But I also spend a few months in the south of France each summer and then part of the winter in Florida. My life is a bit nomadic!

List 3 interesting facts about yourself.  

 1. Change has been a big factor in my life. I was widowed when I was 43 and went back to university to become a teacher. 

2. Eight years later, when my two sons were off to university, I remarried a man with five children. All of the children are adults now and we have seven grandchildren. 

 3. I published my first novel when I was sixty-five. (That’s why I like to encourage women of all ages to be a possibilitarian! It’s never too late to try something new!)

What was the first thing you ever had published? 

The Bridge Club, which won several awards and is loosely based on my real-life bridge club. I had not intended to publish and only did so because friends pushed me, saying I was telling women’s stories and that their book clubs would want to read this book. So that began a journey that once again changed my life!

Do you have a writing routine? 

I write every day and begin around 7 a.m.. I check my social media platforms first to make certain there’s nothing urgent to deal with. Then I work on my current WIP for two hours before I do anything else.  I play two hours of tennis two mornings a week and often have other commitments like lunch with girlfriends or seeing family. Then I will write in the evening until I go to bed.

Do you have any writing rituals?  No, I can’t say I do. I love to write and am more a pantser than a plotter, although I always have a strong story outline organized. However (as writers of fiction know) often as a character develops, he or she  brings surprises into the story that I didn’t see coming. It’s part of the fun of writing fiction!

Where did the idea for your most recent book come from? 

On planning our travels to France in 2016, my husband and I received an enquiry about doing a home exchange in the town of Arles. (We’ve done 15 great home exchanges.) I had visited Arles a few times, loved it and realized I would have a couple of weeks to research the area and take photographs. Although I had planned to continue writing my Love in Provence series, my editor at Lake Union Publishing suggested I write a stand-alone story next, so I decided to set it in Arles and the Camargue. It’s a unique area and it was exciting to explore as the details of the story came alive in my head.

Who was the first person you shared your book with?  

 My husband is always my first reader and best critic … always honest. In fact, he thought up the title of Drawing Lessons. When I sent my final manuscript to my editor at Lake Union, I sent along four possible titles and the marketing team all loved Drawing Lessons. Now my husband says I owe him some royalties!

Drawing Lessons is my fifth novel and will be released on October 1, 2017. 

Do you have a current work in progress?  

Yes, I do. Because so many readers ask for more stories with the Love in Provence characters, I am writing another. I have grown to love those characters too, so it’s great fun to be back in their world.

Do you have any advice for budding authors? 

Believe in yourself. Network with other authors and learn from them. Read, read, read. Write every day … even if it is a blog post or a few sentences of your current WIP or simply playing with new ideas. ALWAYS use a professional editor, not a relative or your best friend. Ooops ~ I may have overdone this “advice”, but there’s so much to learn … and once you commit to the wonderful world of writing, you will love it!

About the Author

A confessed travel-addict, award-winning author Patricia Sands lives in Toronto, Canada, when she isn't somewhere else, and calls the south of France her second home. She is the author of The Bridge Club and the bestselling Love In Provence trilogy. Her fifth novel, Drawing Lessons, will be released October 1, 2017. Represented by Pamela Harty of The Knight Agency, find Patricia at her Facebook or Amazon Author Page or her website.