The story behind The Tanglewood Village books.

Many villages in Wales have community and friendship at their heart, and I especially love the little market towns in the Welsh Marches (that's what the land along the border between England and Wales is called). The Tanglewood Village series is loosely based on one of them - Crickhowell. Set in a green valley with a river running through it and mountains on either side, it’s a place I would love to live. It has a couple of cafes, a pub or two, a florist and a bookshop. These kind of places feature in the Tanglewood series (not the exact same ones), and I've also made some vital alterations to the village itself. I moved the river, for instance, because where it's actually situated in relation to the town wasn't right for Tanglewood. I'm not making any apologies - it's my village, so I get to decide where the river goes!

The storm in The Tanglewood Tea Shop is based on real events. The photo of the river (above) was the view from one of the bridges over the River Usk. As far as I know, this particular bridge wasn't forced to close, but others downstream were. Thankfully, the water subsided again fairly quickly. I wrote this line in the book, 'It was remarkable how quickly a river could rise, and just how swiftly it could fall again.' It's true - the river does rise incredibly fast!

The Tanglewood Tea Shop actually started life in around 2005 as something rather different. I'd penned two novels before I began writing this one (dark family dramas that will never see the light of day) and I found that humour kept creeping into my writing, so I thought I'd give something more lighthearted a go.

Originally titled "Black Cats and Cupcakes", the story had a strong hint of magic running through it, where Stevie, the main character, had been gently cursed: if there is such a thing as a gentle curse, that is! Remnants of the original story can still be seen in Betty (I think the photo of an older lady sticking her tongue out depicts her personality perfectly!) and the way she appears to know things she has no business knowing, and Peggy the cat.

I didn't actually complete the story as it was. I got about a third of the way through it, and sent the first three chapters to a publisher - who sent back a rather scathing reply, asking me what she was supposed to do with it. She had a point. Back then there weren't as many genres and sub-genres as there are these days, so she had no idea where to place the story nor how to pitch it. These days, it would probably sit nicely alongside books by Jenni Keer. There's definitely a market for chick lit with a bit of 'otherworldliness' about it now, but I didn't have the courage to continue with "Black Cats and Cupcakes" so I shelved it for over ten years.

When I got it out and dusted it off, it became The Tanglewood Tea Shop and I'm delighted with the way it turned out. Readers seem to enjoy it too, and that's all that really matters.

From the minute I set eyes on "Field Day Flowers", a little florist shop in Abergavenny (another market town on the Wales/England border), I knew this was The One. It was a perfect representation of the shop in The Tanglewood Flower Shop. So I asked the owner, Jackie, if she'd mind me using her shop's name and photo, and she very kindly said she'd be delighted.

 The Tanglewood Flower Shop isn't just flowers. though. Rex, the hunky male lead, is a ranger for the Brecon Beacons National Park, and it was walking in this magnificent landscape that gave me the idea for his job.

The Tanglewood Wedding Shop grew out of a love I used to have (and still have) of sewing. In the distant past, I have been known to make my own clothes, and I even recovered a sofa and two armchairs once. But I've always had a penchant for satin and lace, beads and corsets, and long trailing dresses, and so my lovely single mum, Edie, was born.

Here are some of the images that inspired me to write The Tanglewood Bookshop - and the shop in this story is also based on a real-life bookshop in Crickhowell. The visit to the distillery was also inspired by a real distillery in the area, and the second-hand bookshop idea was a result of the many second-hand book shops in the town of Hay on Wye, a place I've visited often.

And this, below, is my pathetic attempt to paint some images of Tanglewood. I don't think I'll be making a living as an artist any time soon!

Here is a full list of Lilac Mills books.

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About the Author

Lilac Mills writes heartwarming romance inspired by life in the Welsh countryside, her love of simple pleasures, and the beauty of everyday moments. She’s the author of over twenty feel-good novels, and also writes as Liz Davies and Etti Summers. Meet her here.