1. What were you in
your life before you became a writer? Did this influence your writing?
First off, I would like to
thank you for having me once again as a guest on your blog, Janet.
I worked in the fashion
industry all my working life, and was fortunate, as far as my writing went,
that my back problems forced an early retirement. It was then that I was able
to write full time. My husband was going off to work each day, so leaving me in
writer’s paradise, as I was able to then sit at my typewriter/word processor
(before the days of a computer) for hours at a time. As far as my job
influencing my writing, I guess the answer to that is not really, except
working in a large factory, populated by people from around the world, taught
me a lot about people in general. A Heart
in Conflict, is the only one of my books featuring the fashion world and
that was fun to write.
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.
Because I have
always just written what took my fancy at that time, I write across several
genres including Time-Travel, Historical, Contemporary, but all have romance at
their heart, even my mainstream.
3. Did your reading
choices have anything to do with your choice of a genre or genres?
Most definitely.
My first effort at a full-length novel was a contemporary romance, because
someone gave me a box full of Mills & Boons, and I thus tried that genre
without further thought. That first book has never been finished or published
(perhaps I will drag it out one day). Even when a child, I read many
time-travels. As an adult, I read a lot containing Scottish Highlanders or
Viking warriors both of which fascinated me. My list of favourite authors
in those early days was a mile long but just to name a few: Jude Deveraux,
Catherine Cookson, Catherine Coulter, Victoria Holt and Bertrice Small
influenced me.
4. What's your
latest release?
Crying is For Babies is a true story based on
the life of one of my sisters who suffered at the hands of callous surgeons
when she was eight years old. The butchery received saw her confined to bed for
three years and left her with a disability and pain that lasted the rest of her
life. Despite this, or perhaps because of this, she was a woman of amazing
talent and strength, loved by all who knew her.
5. What are you
working on now?
For years readers
have been asking me when I am going to write book three in my Settlers Series,
so I thought it about time I did this. The first book in the series, Mystic Mountains, began in Sydney Town
in the early 1800s when it was a mere collection of huts and people were
transported there from Britain for petty crimes. The convicts made up the vast
population of the town. In book three, Challenging
Mountains, we move on to 1840 when Bella and Tiger’s eldest son Tim has
just turned twenty-one. As his father before him, Tim has
an insatiable urge to travel and seek out new pastures. Only he has no desire
to be a sheep farmer like his Pa. Along with his Uncle Carlos, he sets out to
go overland to the newly settled township of Port Philip (later called
Melbourne). The journey might not be as treacherous as the one his father,
Tiger, undertook to cross the Blue Mountains, but nonetheless there are still
many hazards to face along the month long trek. One of the biggest challenges
thrown Tim’s way is a young woman with a stubborn streak and a sense of
adventure to match his own.
6. Where can we find
you?
Or here on my Books We Love
author page:
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