Amy Hutton launches second book

Only a year after her debut novel, Northern Beaches author Amy Hutton has followed up with her second book.

Ms Hutton (main image) launched her second romance-comedy (rom-com) novel ‘Love from Scratch’ at Manly Library last Wednesday evening (03 July). She sat down with friend and fellow author Claudine Tinellis (image below, right) in front of an engaged audience of around 25 supporters to explain how the new book came together hot on the heels of the first.

Her first rom-com ‘Sit, Stay, Love‘ focused on Sera, the owner of a Northern Beaches animal shelter who found herself at the centre of a love triangle between Toby, her friend and a veterinarian, and Ethan, a gorgeous movie star who comes to Sera to overcome a fear of dogs.

Losing out on love in the first book, but gaining a dog called Harry, movie star Ethan becomes the protagonist of Amy Hutton’s second novel ‘Love from Scratch’. She said she fell in love with the character of Ethan as she wrote the first novel.

“I just loved how he turned out. He kind of wandered into ‘Sit, Stay, Love’ one day, because that’s how I write. He turned out wonderful, and I thought he deserved his own book.

“He deserved more of a story, and I wanted to dig into him a little bit more. The book is about him, he’s a movie star. He’s had one substantial hit and now he’s launching into the first movie where he’s number one on the call sheet.

“He’s had an incident with dogs that has haunted him for a long time, but he’s got to the point now where he has a little dog that helps him through the anxiety he has with dogs.

“The new movie has dogs, so he decides to take his dog and he needs somebody to help him. That brings in the other character, whose name is Hazel. She’s a chef who is on hiatus, through a bit of an incident that happened in her life,” explained Ms Hutton.

As with her debut novel, animals and their relationship with people form an important part of the evolution of the story. Ms Hutton explained that for many people, animals play a role in how we interact with the world and others.

“My stories are about humans and their love. The animals are not in the background, because they are quite important parts of the stories. That comes from not just my love of the story but the real world.

“The vast majority of people have a pet, and they’re a big part of our lives. So it makes sense for me to have them there. They manipulate us and they move us through our lives. We get up and walk in the rain because of our dogs, so they do push us into things,” said Ms Hutton.

Asked about her ability to produce a new novel so quickly after her first, Ms Hutton put it down to having committed full-time to writing, and demand from her publisher, after the success of her first book.

“I try to write most days to be honest. I know that I should probably not but it depends what I’m doing. If I’m writing to a deadline, then I’ve just got to get in that room and get that thing done, because they’re expecting it by a date, and I need to get it there.

“If I’m writing beyond that, and working on the next project, I guess there’s a little bit more flexibility but I have a tendency just to write most days.

“I don’t plan out my stories as such, I have an idea and I will probably write a little blurb for myself and my publisher. It won’t have a beginning and end, but it’ll be the vibe, and I work off that,” shared Ms Hutton.

Although ‘Love from Scratch’ occurs after the events of ‘Sit, Stay, Love’, Ms Hutton said the two books can be read independently of each other.

“I didn’t want to have it so you had to read the first one first. You absolutely don’t. You can read them completely independently of each other, and lots of people have,” reassured Ms Hutton.

‘Love from Scratch’ by Romance Author Amy Hutton is published by Simon & Schuster Australia and available now at booksellers in paperback (288 pages) and via audiobook through Audible.

Images: Northern Beaches Advocate