1 What were you in your life before you became a writer? Did this influence your writing?
I have a degree in chemical engineering from the Universty of Calgary. I worked for a number of years in Alberta's oil and gas industry then my husband and I decided to strike out on our own and formed our own engineering company. We got bought out a number of years back and I (quite happily!) retired. I suppose the biggest thing I notice about not having a regular day job anymore is that I now have a more flexible schedule to write when I please as opposed to only evenings or lunch hours. I think my technical background makes me detail oriented as far as research and I want my books to be historically accurate. Also, a manuscript is much like an engineering drawing, requiring many revisions during the writing process to get the final best product.
2. 2 Are you genre specific or general? Why? I don't mean genres like romance, mystery, fantasy etc. There are many subgenres of the above.
I write historical romance because that's what I like to read. I don't have a favorite time period and I've covered many different eras, everything from Prohibition to the Viking age to the Regency period. To tell you the truth, I'm not really interested in writing anything contemporary - I like history and really really enjoy the research as it gives me story ideas. For example, in A Heart Enslaved, I discovered a slave could buy their freedom so that became a goal for the heroine, Gisela who has been captured by the hero, Thorvald in a raid.
3. Did your reading choices have anything to do with your choice of a genre or genres?
In my later childhood years, I read a lot of science fiction ie Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov and action adventure stories ie Alistair McLean. Then thanks to my father, I started reading books by Catherine Cookson which got me on the historical path. About the same time, I discovered my mom's Harlequin romances. Historical romance from authors such as Kathleen Woodiwiss, Rosemary Rogers and Bertrice Small really came into its own during my university years and for me it's the perfect blend - history and romance!
4. What's your latest release?
Barkerville Beginnings, Book 4 of the Canadian Historical Brides Collection put out by BWL Publishing i honor of Canada's 150th birthday.
5. What are you working on now?
I have a couple of projects on the go - Freed By Love, another Viking romance, this time set in Vinland in the year 1000 with Maria, a blacksmith's daughter, and Geir, a runaway slave. Also Her Seaswept Scoundrel, set in the early 1800s withHeath, a naval captain whose ship has been seconded to act as a convict transport to Australia and Leah, one of the convicted women.
6. Where can we find you?
2 comments:
Always a pleasure to learn more about my fellow authors.
A big thank you to Janet for featuring me on her blog! :)
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