1. Tell me about your latest release? Genre?
My latest release When Destiny Calls is a time-travel, but
with a slight difference to those that I have written in the past. When the
Covid fiasco began last year, I began to think about pandemics or disasters
that had changed history in this world of ours. This of course made me think
about how the world changed because of these upheavals and the effect it had on
populations.
2. Where did the idea arise?
Because my family
lived through WW11 and specifically the Blitz that changed London irrevocably,
the idea stuck of sending my heroine back to 1940 when the Blitz was at its
worst. Being the youngest in a large family, I was brought up on stories of how
my family coped during these times. Three of my brothers were in the forces and
my two eldest sisters married servicemen the year after the war, therefore I
had quite a good knowledge of how they lived and coped.
3. How much research was involved? Did you stay on
point or be distracted by wanting to look at just one more thing?
Once I decided on the
period I then thought of where to set the story, and thought, why not North
London, an area I knew so well, having spent the first part of my life there
and nowhere else. I had a picture of our home and how we lived always in my
mind, so minimal research was involved there. Like Chloe in my book, we had no
bathroom in the house and all bathing took place in the kitchen (or scullery as
it was called in those days). Chloe longs for a shower and all the other mod
cons. How my mother coped with a large family and no washing machine, dryer or
fridge, I will never know, but she did and remarkably well. Our home was always
spotless despite this depravation of amenities. Writing this book was similar
to taking a trip down memory lane in many ways.
Of course there were some dates of how the war panned out that had to be
double-checked. Then there would be the price of food, clothing and other
commodities, especially during the rationing years. Our mother spent many hours
poring over the family’s ration books trying to juggle how to manage feeding
her large brood as most mothers did during those times.
4. How long did you take to write the book?
I began about May last year when it really hit us
here in Australia that the world was going to change and wrote ‘the end’
probably about Jan/February.
5. Now a bit about you. How long have you been
writing? What is your Sun Sign?
Probably like most
writers, I have been scribbling stories since I learnt how to string words
together but could not write full time until I retired early from the fashion
industry due to a back problem. My first book was finally published in 2000.
That was about the time that electronic publishing was becoming popular and not
many people had heard of e readers or even e books. How times have changed. Oh,
and I am (I think) a typical Scorpio.
6. Do you write in a number of genres or stick to
one?
I write in several
genres but most of my books are romance, including Contemporary, Historical and
Time-Travel. One reviewer pointed out that When Destiny Calls is not strictly a
romance, but nonetheless it does contain a love story.
7. Where on the internet can you be found?
My Web Page: http://www.triciamcgill.com
My Books We Love Author page: https://bookswelove.net/mcgill-tricia/
My Blog: http://triciamg.blogspot.com/
My Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Australian-Author-Tricia-McGill
192885847937078/
Pinterest (mostly for those who share
my love of animals): https://www.pinterest.com/authortriciamcg/
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