Guest Post by Emily Kerr - author of 'Who Does He Think He Is'? ( @EmilyKerrWrites )

It’s a pleasure to welcome to the blog, Emily Kerr. Emily’s debut Who Does He Think He Is?‘ is a romantic comedy, published on 15 December 2016 by Crooked Cat Books and is available in both ebook and paperback. I will let Emily tell you a little more about the book and the background to the story.

Lights, camera, action!

First of all, thank you to Karen for welcoming me to her blog. Let me introduce myself. I’m Emily Kerr and I’m here to tell you about the inspiration behind my debut romantic comedy, ‘Who Does He Think He Is?’ published by Crooked Cat Books. The book is set in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales, and is all about Lady Aurelia Osbourne-Lloyd whose stately pile is actually more of a pile in a state. She’s trying (and failing) to turn the family fortunes around by welcoming tourists to the house. When a Hollywood production company chooses the estate as a location for a Regency movie, a whole new level of chaos enters Aurelia’s life, especially as it seems the leading man may have an ulterior motive for wanting to get close to her…

I love the movies and have always been fascinated by what goes into creating the magic. My day job is as a journalist and our newsroom shares its home with the studios of a popular TV soap. This means that I am lucky enough to get tantalising glimpses of the weird and wonderful world of television drama production. I never quite know what I’ll encounter when I pop into the canteen for a sandwich. One day I’ll be queuing by the coffee machine behind a woman in a wedding dress, and the next I’ll be waiting at the vending machine as two police officers and a man with a head wound chat about the weather.

The world of make-believe looks pretty fun, but from being in the same environment as the soap cast and crew, I’ve come to appreciate how much work goes on behind the scenes to create the on-screen worlds we love to watch. It all seems pretty full-on and definitely rather hectic at times. I started wondering what it must be to have a film unit appear at your home and take over.

When a film crew arrives, it’s like having a miniature town move in. With their mountains of kit and countless trailers housing everything from kitchens to dressing rooms, they are their own self-sufficient enclave. I think it would be pretty exciting but overwhelming at the same time to have this strange new world arrive on your doorstep.

I’m very lucky to live in Yorkshire, and there are some beautiful stately homes near me which have been the locations for many famous TV shows and films. I’m sure I’m not the only one to have day-dreamed about living in one of these grand old houses, but I suspect the reality of having to deal with constant upkeep would be pretty tough, especially if you had to cope with it all by yourself.

That’s exactly the situation my main character Aurelia finds herself in, as her feckless father has left her in charge while he’s travelled to Thailand to ‘find himself’. Her stately home Leydale Park has been passed down through the family for centuries, and as a consequence Aurelia feels a huge weight of responsibility for the place. She’s developed a strong sense of humour dealing with all the issues that come with owning a huge old house, but the chaos of the film crew descending on the place definitely tests it. She may not be an actress herself, but Aurelia soon realises that when it comes to film units, there’s even more drama off-screen than on!

Lady Aurelia Osbourne-Lloyd has long wished her bank balance was as big as her name. But her home, Leydale Park, is more of a pile in a state than stately pile, and with her father off ‘finding himself’ in Thailand, it’s up to her to turn the family fortunes around by entertaining demanding tourists.
When – thanks to her father’s interference – a Hollywood production company chooses the estate as a location for a Regency movie, a whole new level of chaos enters Aurelia’s life. Her quiet days shattered and privacy non-existent, she has no choice but to go with the flow and let them take over.
Never mind the added distraction of dishy leading man, Xander Lord, who may have an ulterior motive for wanting to get close to her…
Can Aurelia keep her cool in light of all the upheaval?

Author biography:

Emily Kerr has been scribbling stories on bits of paper all over the place since she learnt how to write. She earns her living as a journalist and loves the interesting variety of people she gets to talk to on a daily basis.

Her debut novel ‘Who Does He Think He Is?’ was runner up in the Festival of Romance New Talent Award.

She spends her spare time devouring books, running and looking after her dog and guinea pig. She is also learning Greek for the day when she finally does a Shirley Valentine and swaps her home in Yorkshire for sunnier climes.