Cover Reveal!
We are back again, with another exclusive interview and cover reveal, and today we really do have something special.
Andie Newton is the USA Today Best Selling author of The Girl from Vichy, and The Girl I Left Behind. With a compelling and powerful writing style, it is no surprise that Andie is quickly becoming a recognisable voice in the historical genre where she focuses on female-driven World War II fiction.
Now, Andie is back, and better than ever, with her latest novel The Girls from the Beach.
Before we delight you with the cover reveal for this beautiful work of fiction, we thought it would be nice to have a chat with the author herself and find out a little more about the inspiration behind this novel and the author who wrote it.
In 1944, four American nurses disappeared for five days. No one knew what happened to them. Until now.
When Kit and Red set foot on French soil during the Normandy landings, they know they have to rely on each other. As they head for the battlefield, their aim is simple: save lives. But when they’re called away on a top-secret mission to patch up a few men behind enemy lines, everything changes.
Alongside fellow nurses, Roxy and Gail, they’re told to prepare for the worst, trading in their nurses’ fatigues for civilian clothes and hiding medical supplies under their skirts. But it’s a lie. Their real mission tasks them with the impossible – to infiltrate the Reich and steal something the Nazis desperately need to win their losing war.
I guess we should dive in with the easiest question first, tell us a little about what inspired you to write this book?
I have no idea. The idea came to one day and I let it sit. I wanted to write about women. All my books are about women who do incredible things during wartime. I looked at the market and I didn’t see anything quite like what I had in mind, so I went with it. I read several books and started my research. That took some time. Once I started reading the diaries of nurses who served on the frontline after D-Day, I was certainly inspired even more. So many ideas. I had to turn them off at one point and go with my outline.
It is incredible to think that the first nurses arrived just four days after D-Day. They trained like the men, wore button fly pants and military boots. Many worked fourteen-hour days with limited supplies and were shot at. In addition, like many of the soldiers, there wasn’t much waiting for them in regards to mental health when they returned to the US, which is noted in my book.
Historical fiction is so popular, it must be hard to stand out among the crowd, so we can see why cover art is so important in this genre. What are some of the elements in this cover you love the most?
I love this cover, and hats off the graphic designer who did an outstanding job. It wasn’t what I had in mind when I wrote the book, but that was the case for all my covers. And in the end, I love all my covers and can’t imagine them any other way. The yellow dress is very striking, and the stormy sky is a very important element in the book. This story is set in September 1944, and the rain during this time was well documented. In the novel, the rain becomes more than just part of the atmosphere, in many ways it becomes another character, an antagonist. When I saw this cover come through it took my breath away. This woman looks like Kit, the main character. She is determined and you can see the drama all around her.
Tell us a little more about yourself, when did you start writing seriously?
I started writing seriously the day I began my debut The Girl I Left Behind, October 3rd 2009. I say this because I wrote every day after that. I started with zero experience, armed only with my ideas. I think the number one thing that stops writers who have great ideas is not writing regularly.
You don’t need to have years of writing experience or have longed to be an author your whole life. But you do need to sit down and write, AND then work at it every day (and hopefully get better at it). My first pages were awful. AWFUL. I just kept at it. Oddly, that book was published 10 years to the date on October 3rd 2019.
So many authors have different tips and tricks to help them get into the ‘zone’ when writing, do you listen to mood music when you write?
I totally listen to music. Mainly only when I’m starting new content, though. When I’m editing I usually don’t. I listen to everything from classical to alternative. While writing The Girls from the Beach, The Band of Brother’s Main Theme was probably the one that I listened to the most, next to the entire Braveheart soundtrack.
Writing as a profession can be a solitary job, with many ups and downs throughout the publishing journey, what do you love most about being an author?
This may shock people, but the part I love the most is also the part I hate the most: Structural edits. These are the changes my editor suggests in the form of an editorial letter.
My first book’s edit letter (The Girl I Left Behind) was 7 pages long, my second letter (for The Girl from Vichy) was five, and the edit letter for The Girls from the Beach was also five pages long.
I think the biggest misconception is that people think an editor actually changes your manuscript, or the publisher does. Oh no, I’ve written every single word. The edit letter consists of broad suggestions, followed by smaller points. It is up to the writer to figure out how to apply those suggestions to the story.
The reason I love and hate structural edits is simple. I have to write under a deadline, which is stressful, but I love it because I can see the manuscript changing into something wonderful and strong, much stronger than it was originally, and that is why I love it. For me, the last day of edits is usually bittersweet, as it is the last time I’m knee-deep in my character’s lives. What follows are the copy edits and proofs, and at this point, all story elements are done.
It’s creeping closer to your publishing date, highlighted even more by today’s cover reveal, how excited are you to have this book out in the wider world finally?
So excited. Beyond excited. This is a story about four women who cross enemy lines to steal something the Third Reich has. They are not prepared. They are not trained to be spies. But the stakes are very high and each woman must decide what she’s willing to risk.
This is the kind of story, as a reader, I crave. It was an absolute joy to write and edit. I can’t wait for it to be out in the world.
So – without further ado… here is the cover for The Girls from The Beach by Andie Newton in all its glory!
To PRE-ORDER this fabulous book, you can click on any of the links below:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3tvAKnA
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3crPDjI
Google Play: https://bit.ly/30CdbwN
iBooks: https://apple.co/38A7iVj
