About the Book:
Paradise is no more. She’s a stranger in her new home…
… as she sails the choppy waters of teen life. Teresa longs for picture-perfect love, but in the real world you often have to say “No”, even if it breaks your heart.
From tropical Mozambique to drab, 1970s Lisbon, from the golden beaches of Durban to five-star holidays in verdant, mountainous Madeira, and even the Moroccan kasbah, follow Teresa as she stumbles and falls and picks herself up again.
Will Teresa’s grandparents let her out of their sight for a minute? Can she forge her own path in a country that struggles to emerge from fear and taboo? Will she find true love, or is she forever fated to navigate an ocean of boys who demand more than she is willing to give?
“It’s emotional, it’s fun…it is outright inspiring. A roller coaster of emotion filtered through the candid eyes of a rebellious teenager” – Arturo Fuentes de La Orden
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Author Interview:
1: Tell us a little about yourself and what got you in to writing?
I’m Portuguese, but I was born in Mozambique, in East Africa. I have two sons, aged 27 and 23, with wildly different personalities. I pursued a career in the financial sector. As a child I loved writing and devoted tons of energy to my pen-pals. I only tried my hand at fiction about seven years ago. Currently I have a book, Love Secrets Lies, and a short story, First Love, out on Amazon.
2: Do you have a favourite time and place where you write?
Normally I write in the afternoon. Inspiration just seems to flow more freely. I love the ocean and, although I have never tried to write at the beach, because I don’t want sand getting in my laptop, I do have a place by the sea with a wonderful view that helps me get in the right mindset.
3: Where do your ideas come from?
Observation. Both in my personal and professional life I’ve had to deal with intriguing situations and a few of those inspired not only my first novel but quite a few blog posts as well. The fact that I grew up with two diverging cultures and at a time of moral and political transition was a blessing in disguise. It gave me a wealth of material to work with.
4: Do you have a plan in your head of where the story is going before you start writing or do you let it carry you along as you go?
Yes, I absolutely have a plan. But sometimes the characters have ideas of their own and start pulling in directions I did not expect. When that happens, I do my best to follow them wherever they want to go.
5: What genre are your books and what drew you to that genre?
Women’s fiction steeped in memoir, but I like to think there’s some romance DNA spliced in there and a few stray comedy genes.
6: What dream cast would you like to see playing the characters in your latest book?
I’d never really thought about that, but I’d be over the moon if Rachel Zegler, who played Maria in West Side Story (2021) were cast as Teresa, the main character in Love Secrets Lies. Austin Butler (Elvis, 2022) should star opposite Rachel as Teresa’s boyfriend Paulo. Teresa’s Granny is a key figure in the story, and I like to imagine someone like Meryl Streep in that role. I think she’d turn in an amazing performance.
7: Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors?
I always keep a book on my nightstand! If they outlawed books overnight I would gladly risk ten thousand jail terms. There are several authors I admire, and among them I would highlight Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Barbara Erskine, George Orwell, and nineteenth-century Portuguese realist Eça de Queiroz.
8: What book/s are you reading at present?
Just began The Alaska Sanders Affair by Joel Dicker. I’m a huge Joel Dicker fan and I am so excited for this one.
9: What is your favourite book and why?
Difficult question. If I had to pick one it would be Orwell’s 1984. It is a book of extraordinary empathy, because when it shows you the two main characters at the end, crushed by unbearable pain and irrevocably broken, even though they have betrayed each other, the narrative voice does not condemn them. It merely exposes the infinite cruelty of the system they live in by giving a candid account of the living death they will have to endure until the end of their days.
10: What advice would you give for someone thinking about becoming a writer?
Never give up, don’t worry about perfection or mastery, just write. All the writers you know and love have faced rejection over and over, so it’s par for the course. Keep at it, your readers are waiting for you.
11: What are the best Social Media Sites for people to find out about you and your work?
Instagram, Facebook, the Love Secrets Lies website and my blog.
Website: www.lovesecretslies.com
Blog: www.themanystoriesofawoman.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/teresavaleauthor
Facebook: www.facebook.com/teresavaleauthor
About the Author:
Like the protagonist, Teresa Vale was born in Mozambique and experienced being uprooted, the sorrow of leaving behind the place where she was born. Teresa Vale has since then lived in Lisbon, Portugal, where she pursued a career in the financial sector. Love Secrets Lies is her debut novel.
“I wanted to focus on telling a good story and represent the realities of growing up in 1970s Portugal,” Teresa says.
“And I wanted to deal with subject matter that may be somewhat delicate but needs addressing, such as adapting to what is essentially a foreign country, even though it is the wellspring of your culture; not to mention women’s role in a changing society, gender equality, and the right to do with your body and your person as you see fit.”
Reading Nook 