Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I completed this form previously, but in case it’s lost in the stratosphere: I’d always written but took up fiction after moving to be closer to our daughter. Setting up practice in a new community was really difficult and after dreaming I was a famous Mills & Boon author I decided to give it a go, even though I didn’t read romantic fiction. It is MUCH more difficult than I thought it would be! I made it easier for myself by setting my first series (4 stories so far) in Polynesia, where we’d live for many years. I know what it’s like to live on an isolated island with infrequent shipping and the occasional hurricane and erotic dancing under the moon. And experienced first hand the challenges of living in a culture so very different from the one I’d been raised in.
Anyway, I began the Southern Seas Historical Series and decided to set it a hundred or more years ago. It’s about people who journey to Polynesia for all sorts of reasons and make their home there. At that time the South Pacific was rapidly changing with increased shipping and European settlement in New Zealand and Australia. Polynesia was a little quieter – just an influx of traders and missionaries and teachers!
I’ve written four novels so far and have another that should be complete early next year. I’ve also written a trio of books in the Now and Then Series – about women who for some reason become “mature” students, i.e. they defer entry to tertiary education much older than the usual late teenage.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Shattered” is part of the Now and Then Series. The heroine is about to start university with a group of friends from school. The day before she’s due to travel she’s involved in a car accident that kills her father and leaves her mother bedridden. All her plans are in turmoil and change.
As I said, I was a mature student myself and what surprised me was how many other men and women were “mature” too. We all did surprisingly well, but then we were beyond the age of missing deadlines because of parties or boyfriends! The stories of my heroines and heroes are not based on the stories told to me, but they sometimes include a fragment that has developed into a rather different story.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, though I think of myself as a professional. I see myself as a writer and treat writing seriously.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love John le Carre and the Scandinavian writers – Jo Nesbo and Henning Mankell. I hadn’t read romantic fiction until I saw Lavyrle Spencers’ books in a bookshop. The Gamble is still my favourite romance. I also enjoy Mary Balogh, Philippa Gregory and Barbara Ewing.
What are you working on now?
“Mistake” – set on a tiny Polynesian island. The longterm missionary and his wife are planning their departure from their island. They will travel to the new colony of New South Wales where their children will live with the sort of people they would have met had they remained in England.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I haven’t found one yet, although you assisted my promotion a year or two ago and that helped with downloads.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write because you want (or need) to rather than look for huge sales.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be interested in the lives of your characters.
What are you reading now?
Mary Balogues’ “The Escape” and John Fowles” “A Maggot”
What’s next for you as a writer?
Another South Seas adventure
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Spencer “The Gamble”
Nesbo “Son”
Domning “Spring’s Fury”
Author Websites and Profiles
Gwen w/a Gwendoline Reekie w/a Ewins Website