Guest Post with Ella Griffin ~ JeanBookNerd

Photo Content from Ella Griffin

Ella Griffin always wanted to be a writer, but before she got around to it she was a waitress, a movie extra, a pickle-factory worker, a travel writer, and an award-winning advertising copywriter. Her debut novel, Postcards from the Heart, was published in 2011. The Flower Arrangement is her third novel.

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DEFINING MOMENT DURING YOUR YOUTH WHEN YOU REALIZED YOU WANTED TO BE A WRITER.

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t in love with words. I collected strange and wonderful ones the way other little girls collected Barbie and Sindy Dolls. I can still remember the thrill of ‘minaret’ and ‘flabbergasted’ and ‘luminescence.’

In my teens, I collected more complicated things. The quivering tension of a family row, the frigid chill between two school friends who liked the same boy. I eavesdropped at bus stops and wrote scraps of dialogue and ideas for stories in the margins of my schoolbooks. I would have died if anyone read them. Those scribbled notes felt more secret to me than any diary.

I was the youngest of six, you see. The smallest voice in a loud, unruly, articulate, academic and very critical family. Like so many creative kids, I was way too shy to step out of the shadows into the light.

I wish now that I had started writing in my twenties but I was thirty-three before I had the confidence to search out a writing group. I sneaked off to my Tuesday lunchtime class as furtively as if I was having an affair

We laughed a lot in that class and we cried too. Hauling words in quickly, without looking too closely, can bring up unexpected lumps of hurt. But, slowly, we learned to trust one another and then we learned to trust ourselves.

I started writing travel pieces and had them published. I began some short stories and then, a novel. In a way, going to that that first class was like having an affair It was in the company of my those kindred spirits, I fell in love with words all over again.

Drawing together a delightful cast of characters, Ella Griffin brings her warmth, wit and wisdom to this captivating tale of the connections that bring us all together.

Every bouquet tells a story. And every story begins at Blossom & Grow, a tiny flower shop in the heart of Dublin…

Among the buckets of fragrant blooms, beneath the flickering candles and lanterns, Lara works her magic, translating feelings into flower arrangements that change hearts and lives.

She is no stranger to the power of flowers herself. They gave her hope when she was a child who lost a mother, and, again when she was a mother who lost a child.

But old wounds take time to heal, and life has more heartbreak in store. What will it take for the woman who can unlock everybody else’s emotions to open up her own heart?

Praise for THE FLOWER ARRANGEMENT

“A compelling and human cast of characters, full of humor, heart, heartbreak, and the language of flowers make this perfect for fans of Marian Keyes.” —Booklist

“All human life is in The Flower Arrangement and is portrayed with great tenderness by Ella Griffin, who offers an astonishing insight into people…The writing is exquisite and I cared deeply about the characters.” —Marian Keyes, Good Housekeeping (UK)

“Ella Griffin’s beautiful writing enables you to feel like you are quite literally stepping into the fragrant surroundings of Blossom & Grow.” —Novelicious.com
“One of the most charming books I have ever read.” —Reviewedthebook.co.uk

“A pleasure to read—assured, witty, and highly likeable.” —Irish Mail on Sunday

“This beautifully written story explores the joys and sorrows of Lara, who opens a flower shop in the heart of Dublin following the death of her baby son.” —Candis Magazine (UK)

“This is a book to inspire. Inspire you to think positive thoughts, never judge people by appearances and learn to forgive.” —BleachHouse Library

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