Spotlight – A Blend of Magic by Kate Kenzie

I will be kicking off an extra special spotlight tour with romance novelist Kate Kenzie to celebrate her novel, A Blend of Magic, which was a semi-finalist in the Book Bloggers Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) 2024.

About BBNYA and the Spotlight Tours

The Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA) is celebrating the books that made it to the semi-finals with a mini spotlight blitz tour for each title.

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 16 finalists and one overall winner.

If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

A Blend of Magic is a 388-page romance fantasy for adults that was published on the 31st October, 2023. Here is the blurb:

Blurb

A witch cannot exist on potions and tea alone.

Hiding in the shadows, staunch singleton Willow Anderson is content running her successful business, The Enchanted Emporium. With Christmas days away, she’s eager to exchange selling bespoke tea blends and spells for extended bubble baths and binge-watching festive movies snuggled next to her Maine Coon, Vincent.

Nate never usually runs away from his problems, but drunk and disorientated, he finds himself in a small fisherman’s cottage in the Yorkshire coastal town of Whitby. After discovering his girlfriend’s affair, he is in no rush to return to the City. His wish for time alone in a Christmas-free zone comes true until an uninvited feline guest arrives.

Neither Nate nor Willow want company, especially from each other, but they have little choice when concussion means they must spend at least twenty-four hours together. Sparks fly and not just the romantic kind. When darkness from Willow’s past returns and threatens to destroy all she has worked for, pursuing a love affair is the last thing she needs.

With meddling ghosts and a teenage apprentice with her own matchmaking agenda, love and change are in the air.

But can Willow face her fears, and the past, to capture the happiness she deserves?

My stop on this spotlight tour involves a author interview. So with no more distraactions here is what Kate Kenzie had to say about the writing of A Blend of Magic.

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Tell us a little about your novel A Blend of Magic.

A Blend of Magic is a paranormal romance with elements of Practical Magic, Netflix’s The Good Witch and Sabrina, The Teenage Witch. Set in Whitby, North Yorkshire, modern witch, Willow Anderson, discovers she needs more than making potions and blending tea for her customers but she is reluctant to face her dark past to have the life and love she deserves.  Heartbroken Nate arrives in Whitby to escape the festive season and wants to be alone, until a ginger Maine Coon leads him to the door of an old apothecary, The Enchanted Emporium, and a grumpy Willow. With meddling ghosts and an interfering teenage apprentice, can love flourish or is it destined to fail?

What draws you to writing paranormal romance?

I adore magic and am drawn to anything paranormal. Whether it is witchcraft or hauntings, I am fascinated by how things fit in our everyday world, so I’m surrounded by books and boxsets on the subjects. It felt natural to eave this into my writing and it is a genre I also love to read. Paranormal romance is the ultimate escape without being full on high fantasy – I don’t think I have the skills for that yet – and at times, everyone needs the comfort of a happy ever after.

Talk us through your writing process.

I’m not sure I have a process and if I do, it isn’t efficient or recommended. I’m disorganised and my brain constantly hops from one thing to another. My writing process reflects this especially in the beginning. Usually, I start with a character and setting. Once these are fully formed, I can discover their story, who they are now, where they want to go and where they came from. Willow began as a side character in an unfinished WIP about her apprentice, Amber, but an exercise in my local writing group prompted her to demand a story of her own. As I loved The Enchanted Emporium, I was happy to accept the challenge. While I always know the beginning, middle and end, I struggle to write in chronological order, so I have a hotchpotch of scenes, dialogue and ideas smothering my desktop and hidden in notebooks which I then weave together to make a coherent plot and first draft.

Why Whitby? Talk us through the research you did to recreate this atmospheric setting.

I adore Whitby and it has been my happy place ever since we moved to Yorkshire. If it wasn’t so hilly and I wasn’t so scared going down slopes in my wheelchair, I’d love to live there. The Abbey ruins and the quirky buildings and its links to gothic literature make it hum with the past. It has a magic of its own. Once there walking down its cobbled streets, it was easy to imagine the Enchanted Emporium nestled down one of the many snickets and yards. Research wise, it was mainly absorbing the atmosphere while visiting, photographs and imagination. I have several books on its history which I hope I’ll use more in other books I have planned for the Whitby Witches.

Do you have a favourite character in your book?

My favourite character is Mrs Marley, one of the emporium’s resident ghosts. A gossip, she is comfortable in herself and always speaks her mind. I can’t wait to explore her character more in the next book I’m writing.

Have you got any writing rituals?

I try to write in the morning before everyone wakes, with a strong cup of tea made in a teapot. The ritual of teamaking always helps me get into the creative zone. Each book has its own playlist, and each character has their own song which is either relevant to their story arc or personality. Listening to their music helps me connect to them and their story.

Is there a particular place you like to write?

I’d love to write in cafes but getting out alone is difficult so I mainly at home. I have created a writing space in the tiny spare room.  My old desk is surrounded by books on witchcraft, ghosts, folklore and writing. With my cauldron, candles and crystals, it is my own little enchanted space.

What writing advice would you give to people wanting to write paranormal romance?

There is so much advice out there for would be romance authors. Apart from making sure you have the required happy ever after, I’d say have fun and try to enjoy the process. Excitement for your characters or book helps with motivation and determination to tackle any obstacles which there are many. As a genre, there are many threads you can follow – witchcraft, ghosts or other paranormal entities so you can experiment and allow your imagination to fly.

Is there anything else you would like to tell readers about A Blend of Magic?

Only that I hope those who read it, enjoy visiting the emporium and meeting its residents as much as I did writing them. If you want more from the Whitby witches and Rosa, they have their own book blog, The Enchanted Emporium’s Bookshelf, where they share their love of reading, particularly fantasy, paranormal or magical books. Rosa also reviews any romance books that arrive in-store or on her Kindle. They also interview authors for their Monday Merry Meets slots.

The Enchanted Emporium’s Bookshelf blog: https://theenchantedemporiumbookshelf.com

Where is the best place for people to buy your book?

While A Blend of Magic is available at Amazon and on Kindle Unlimited, I am a huge an of indie bookshops and libraries so they can be ordered from them too. I am privileged have signed books stocked at The Whitby Bookshop. It is a lovely shop to pop into if you are ever in Whitby soaking up the sea air and atmosphere.

Signed copies are also available direct from me and through my ko-fi page if you’re in the UK.

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Author Bio

Kate Kenzie may not be Yorkshire born and bred, but it’s where her heart is and why her fictional worlds are set in the Moors and her favourite haunt, Whitby. Creator of the Enchanted Emporium and its residents, she blogs book reviews and author interviews at The Enchanted Emporium Bookshelf.

Part-time writer, and full-time dreamer, if she’s not reading from her over flowing TBR pile, she is writing or drinking tea. Like many, she always dreamed of being an author but notebooks of half-finished novels and children’s stories were pushed aside in adulthood until a random Facebook conversation rekindled her passion for world building. By receiving a bursary for the RNA New Writer’s Scheme, she found her tribe.

Awarded the Katie Fforde bursary this year, she writes romantic and paranormal fiction, especially witch lit.

Her short story, The Ghost Writer, is available in an anthology, Byline Legacies by Cardigan Press.

You can find ouut more about Kate kenzie by subscribing to her newsletter: http://subscribepage.io/katekenzie and by following her on her social media:

To read reviews of A Blend of magic by Kate Kenzie take a look at:

Amazon Links:

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/198956715-a-blend-of-magic

The Story Graph Link: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/2acb90e8-ea3b-4a7c-89ef-092cd111082e 

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