When not visiting local farmer's markets or indulging her love for chocolate, Andrea Hurst is an author and literary agent.
Her passion for books drives her to find and write stories that take readers on a journey to another place and leave them with an unforgettable impression.
She is a developmental editor for publishers and authors, an instructor in creative writing at the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts, and a webinar presenter for Writers Digest.
She lives with her dachshunds in the Pacific Northwest, on an island much like the fictional Madrona, with all of its natural beauty and small town charm.
Her published books include Always With You, The Guestbook, The Lasy Dog's Guide to Enlightenment and Everybody's Natural Food Cookbook, and she co-authored A Book of Miracles.
To learn more about Andrea and her books, visit www.AndreaHurst-author.com.
Join her on Facebook for book giveaways and more delicious recipes and scenic photos from Madrona Island at www.facebook.com/andreahurstauthor
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About The Book
Title: Always With You
Author: Andrea Hurst
Publisher: Independent Self Publishing
Publication Date: February 6, 2014
Pages: 348
ISBN: 978-1495326783
Genre: Women's Fiction
Format: Paperback, eBook (.mobi / Kindle)
"Always With You is the bittersweet and poignant love story of a woman trapped between temptation and the ties that bind."
~Tracey Garvis Graves, New York Times bestselling author of On the Island and Covet.
"Hurst captivates from page one, and keeps you hooked until the very last word, in this entrancing story of the power of love and all its consequences.”
~Melissa Foster -New York Times & USA Today bestselling & award-winning author.
"Warm-hearted, wise, touchingly written, and exploring the depths of human emotions. This book about forbidden love is not to be missed."
~Bharti Kirchner, Author of five novels including Darjeeling and Tulip Season.
1977 is a glorious time to be alive in the beautiful wine country of Northern California, and Cathy has everything she thought she wanted - from a thriving health food café to loyal friends.
Since the devastating failure of her short-lived marriage, Cathy has buried herself in her work and kept men at arm’s length. But when an old high school friend, Pam, brings her family for a short stay, Cathy’s stone walls begin to crumble when she meets Jamie. Jamie, whose compassion and warmth slowly break down her defenses. Jamie, whose devotion to his four-year-old daughter melts Cathy's heart and makes her desperate for a family of her own. Jamie… who is married to Pam.
A profound love that transcends time and place is impossible to resist. But is love more important than friendship? Are loyalty and fidelity an anchor or a chain? In the end, it’s all about choices – tough ones that can break hearts. Now Cathy must make the most difficult choice of her life.
For More Information:
Can you tell us what your book is about?
Always With You is reminiscent of the exploration of
conscience found in Bridges of Madison
County, and the passionate and often tear-jerking love stories of Nicholas
Sparks. New York Times bestselling author of On
the Island , Tracey Garvis Graves, said, “Always With You is the bittersweet and poignant love
story of a woman trapped between temptation and the ties that bind.”
In Always With You, Cathy has buried herself in her work and kept men at arm’s length since the devastating failure of her short-lived marriage. But when an old high school friend, Pam, brings her family for a short stay, Cathy’s stone walls begin to crumble when she meets Jamie. His compassion and warmth slowly break down her defenses as his devotion to his four-year-old daughter melts Cathy's heart and makes her desperate for a family of her own. But there is just one problem – Jamie is married to Pam.
A profound love that transcends time and place is impossible to resist. But is love more important than friendship? Are loyalty and fidelity an anchor or a chain? In the end, it’s all about choices – tough ones that can break hearts.
In Always With You, Cathy has buried herself in her work and kept men at arm’s length since the devastating failure of her short-lived marriage. But when an old high school friend, Pam, brings her family for a short stay, Cathy’s stone walls begin to crumble when she meets Jamie. His compassion and warmth slowly break down her defenses as his devotion to his four-year-old daughter melts Cathy's heart and makes her desperate for a family of her own. But there is just one problem – Jamie is married to Pam.
A profound love that transcends time and place is impossible to resist. But is love more important than friendship? Are loyalty and fidelity an anchor or a chain? In the end, it’s all about choices – tough ones that can break hearts.
Why did you write your book?
The idea came to me in a
dream—a very powerful dream. It must have resonated with me deeply because I
had to write that story. The story flowed out of me in just a matter of months.
I sat down and started writing in first person, present tense, which I’ve never
done before, even though the story ended up in third person. I could basically
hear Cathy’s voice telling me the story. And I really reacted to it as if I was
hearing it, because I found myself very sad in parts of the book. Just thinking
about the book today, it’s still a very emotional experience. In the end, it is a book about love and the
choices we make from our hearts.
Can you tell us a little about your main and
supporting characters?
Cathy is my favorite character from the book. She was a
character I felt extremely connected to right away. She owns a health food café in Always With You and I
actually owned a health food café, myself in 1977 called Over the Rainbow in
Petaluma, CA, so, in that way, I had some experience with it. Cathy also had a difficult childhood
that she managed to overcome and find love.
Jamie is essentially the
perfect man. He’s an intelligent, handsome man – a talented chef, wonderful
father, compassionate animal lover, avid gardener, and gentle soul. It would be
very hard not to fall in love with him.
Pam, Jamie’s wife and
Cathy’s best friend from high school has deep scars from the neglect she
experience in her childhood, and as a result feels the world owes her
something. She wants a successful husband, a big house, and a life others would
envy. She is a pretty unapologetically selfish person at this point in her
life.
Do you tend to base
your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
Some are based on people in my life and some
just come to me. In my first novel, The
Guestbook, Betty and Shirley, the elderly sister who live next door to the
main character, Lily, are based on some very dear friends. All the other
characters are fictitious, but have qualities of people I have known.
Are you consciously aware of the plot before you begin a novel or do you discover it as you write?
My
process has been different for each book, but there is always one main event
that inspires the story and everything moves from there. Always With You came from a dream. It inspired the characters, and
with that novel, the main protagonist,
Cathy, just started talking to me in first-person present tense and told me her
story in 42,000 words. After that, I filled in the story through research,
world-building, and some personal memories.
Does the setting play
a major part in the development of your story?
Absolutely, one of the
key scenes in Always With You is when
Jamie and Cathy explore beautiful Napa/Sonoma Valley. They end up at the
Russian River for the day and start to really fall in love with each other here.
Have you suffered from writer’s block and what
do you do to get back on track?
I think every writer does at some point. Every
Wednesday, I go down the Coupeville Pier and join a group of writers at a
coffee house that overlooks Penn Cove. We call ourselves Just Write. Writing
can be very isolating, and I find the company of other writers to be very
supportive. Looking out the windows
at the coffee house, I am surrounded by water and this is where I do some of my
best writing.
What do you like the most
about being an author?
I love being able to artistically
express the things that are most important to me in life. Women’s fiction
focuses on women and their day-to-day struggles---on women finding their
passion and gaining confidence in their abilities. It’s an empowering genre
that I enjoy. Love stories are very compelling to me and this book also has
strong romantic elements. With romance, I love merging two lives together and
focusing on how they the face life’s challenges. What is it that makes someone
fall in love with someone else? That question is always fun to try to answer
and show to my readers.
What is the most pivotal point of a writer’s
life?
I always wanted to be a
writer, so for me it was getting that initial spark of inspiration that was
powerful enough to lead me to eventually publishing my first book. This idea
that made me first want to write a novel was one I got while I was at the
Farmhouse Bed and Breakfast on Whidbey Island with a good friend. Every spare
moment she got, she was reading entries in their guestbook. Finally, I asked
her what was so fascinating, and she said that she loved hearing about other
people’s lives, experiences, loves, and adventures. In that moment, the story
for The Guestbook, my first novel, just took hold of me and never let go.
What kind of advice
would you give other fiction authors?
My process has been different for each book, but
there is always one main event that inspires the story and everything moves
from there. So, find your main thread of inspiration and just let it flow.
Focus on getting that first draft out of your mind and onto the page and worry
about the details and editing later.
