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Introduction
Hannah is a new author, with a romantic comedy releasing May 28th called “Elephant and Castle”. It’s a story about a young woman traveling around London, trying to get over her ex and spending a lot of time with the ex boyfriend’s best friend because she needs a guide around London. But things start to change, the more time they spend together, and who knows where it will all go from there!
Elephant and Castle
If only there was a guide book on how to land the London boy of your dreams…
Nora Shrapsan is literally writing the book on London, and she’s not going to let fantasies about her sexy British ex-boyfriend break her stride. So what if she has been reunited with semi-famous rock star Hugh Jeffries, and their chemistry is still palpable? He’s engaged, and Nora needs to focus on…anything besides Hugh’s lips.
Julian Rhodes is Hugh’s best mate, and his secret feelings for Nora are one thing that won’t stay in the past. When a desperate Nora begs him to help her navigate London, Julian has to say yes—strictly to keep her from getting fired, of course. Surely, they can go to murder tours, magic shows, and museums without any feelings getting in the way. No problem.
But the more time Nora and Julian spend together, the less Nora finds herself thinking of Hugh. Maybe her second-chance romance didn’t go according to plan, but that doesn’t mean Nora could ever fall for her ex’s best friend, right?
Interview with Hannah Ledford
Q: Let’s start out easy – what are some of your favorite hobbies (other than writing)?
A: Mainly reading, honestly! But I also love hiking, board games, going to local festivals and craft fairs, and kayaking when I’m able.
Q: Those are some really fun activities! We play a lot of board games in our house, so I have to know, what’s one of your favorite games to play? (We play a lot of Monopoly!)
A: I am terrible at Monopoly! I think my favorite classic board game is Clue, but my family loves to try out new ones all the time. Lately, we’ve been playing Splendor and a game called Patchwork that’s based on quilting. It’s awesome.
Q: You mentioned that you’ve lived in a lot of different places, what would you say was your favorite place to live?
A: I feel like I should say London, because that’s where the book takes place, and I do love it there! But I only lived there a short time, so my real answer is Southern California. You can’t beat the weather. And the views—snow-capped mountains with colorful sunsets? Gorgeous!
Southern CA is a beautiful place. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting San Diego a few times and loved the views there!
Q: What book (other than your own) do you recommend to everyone that they have to read?
A: Maybe everyone has already heard about it by now, but I loved Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I just couldn’t put it down, and it’s so delightfully weird. The Beautiful Ones was a good read as well.
I’ve heard a lot of great things about “Mexican Gothic”, I still need to read that one 🙈
You should! I thought it was unique, and I loved the spookiness.
Q: Tell us a little about what inspired your debut, “Elephant and Castle”.
A: I came up with the idea for the novel when I returned from studying in London. I was only nineteen, and I was so enamored with England. I knew I wanted to write a contemporary romance set there. It took years to actually finish it, but I always kept going back to the idea of an American travel writer in London.
Q: What a fun and exciting age to studying abroad! Would you be willing to share a funny or memorable experience during your time in London?
A: Of course! One of my favorite adventures was when I was going on a bus tour to Windsor Castle. I had to get up super early, and I was exhausted, but then the bus driver asked if we wanted to take a little detour, and we ended up going to Queen Elizabeth’s birthday parade. I got to see the royal family riding along and waving from their carriage. Then we hopped back on the bus and went about our tour. I just loved that the driver was like, “let’s take a quick pitstop to see the queen!”
Q: As a traveler, what location do you want to visit that you haven’t been to yet?
A: Definitely Greece. It always looks so beautiful in movies, and I’ve been dying to go there for years.
Q: What has your experience been like so far with releasing and promoting this book? Has it been easy? Hard?
A: I guess I would say it’s been hard but fun! I’ve studied writing for a long time, but when you actually start to publish there is so much other stuff to learn. I didn’t even have an Instagram account, and I still have to beg my very active and awesome friends for help so they can tell me which little icons to click when I have no idea what I’m doing.
What’s nice is that most of this community is incredibly friendly and willing to help!
I have definitely found that to be the case. It’s really lovely how supportive everyone is of each other.
Q: Are there lessons you’ve learned through the release process that you would change for your next book?
A: I think I would just start planning things earlier. I was so focused on writing and editing, and then all of a sudden I was like, “oh shoot! The book is coming out already! I haven’t planned all the things I was going to do!” There’s a lot to think about.
It does all happen really fast!
Q: Are you working on another book or have any plans in mind for another?
A: Yes! I love traveling, so I like the idea of writing more romance in international locations. You might be able to guess where the next book takes place by the time you get to the end of Elephant and Castle.
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Looking for book recs…
Adventures in Literature 
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