The Country Practice, by Meredith Appleyard

The Country PracticeMeghan’s heart jumped into her throat when she heard the crash and then a cry for help. She tossed aside the magazine and ran out of the tearoom and up the corridor. he roudned the corner by the nurses’ station and lammed headlong into a man’s solid chest. He was tall, immovable and it felt like she’d run into a wall – a warm, human wall smelling of dust and sweat.

Meghan Kimble has always dreamed of being a rural GP, but since she graduated she has been on a different path. Now, though, freshly returned from a stint in a London Emergency Department, she is on her first placement as a locum in a small country town. No sooner has she arrived than she is dealing with the life and death decisions that a doctor must make, alongside the more mundane, but equally important aspects of her job. Magpie Creek has been without a regular doctor for a while, and while she is made to feel welcome, the job is not without its complications.

When she meets Sean Ashby he seems one complication too many. Not only does she not want a new relationship, but Sean himself has a past that makes him not keen to fall in love. But as her month in Magpie Creek hurries past, Meghan isn’t sure she’ll be able to leave the town, and Sean, behind.

The Country Practice is a rural romance with a medical flavour. While love is front and centre, the story also deals with many issues facing rural communities, and particularly rural doctors.

Meghan and Sean are likeable, believable characters, with strengths and flaws, supported by a diverse cast, making The Country Practice a satisfying read.

The Country Practice, by Meredith Appleyard
Penguin, 2015
ISBN 9780143799634

Available from good bookstores or online.

Meet My Book: The Country Practice, by Meredith Appleyard

Another visitor! Today I welcome Meredith Appleyard here to answer my quick questions about her new book. Over to you, Meredith.

Meredith Appleyard (Photo credit: Nan Berrett, Word Solutions 2014)

1. Give us the details – title, publisher, illustrator, release date.

Title: The Country Practice
Publisher: Penguin Group (Australia)
Release date: 25 February 2015

2. Why did you write the book?
I can’t imagine life without books. I’ve read and enjoyed so many. I want to make a contribution, and I love making up stories.

3. How long from idea to publication?
About 7 years.

4. What was the hardest thing about writing it?
Writing it was a joy. The hardest thing was having the confidence to ‘put it out there’.Book Cover: The Country Practice

5. Coolest thing about your book?     
The cover – Penguin did it so right.

6. Something you learnt through writing the book?
That I could do it – that I had the tenacity and downright doggedness to keep going.

7. What did you do celebrate the release?
Celebrations started when I received the advance copies in the post! The high point, and probably the best night of my life, was a local book launch on 25 February 2015 attended by friends and family. On the night the local Collins book shop sold out of their 80 copies of The Country Practice! And, I received flowers from the Penguin Team and a letter of congratulations from the Premier of SA. Doesn’t get much better than that.

8. And how will you promote the book?
I have been doing radio interviews, locally and interstate, blogs and Q&As. I’ve been interviewed by journalists for local and interstate publications and I have a raft of author talks across SA.

9. What are you working on next?
Book 2 is almost done. When I’ve finished it will go off to my agent and hopefully you’ll see it in print sometime in the not too distant future.

10. Where we can find out more about you and your book?
penguin.com.au
meredithappleyard.com.au
On Facebook – Meredith Appleyard Author.

 

Thanks for visiting,  Meredith.

The Country Practice is out now.