Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have just started writing my 20th book. I was born in London England but moved to Australia many moons ago. I have been writing since I learned how to put a sentence together but only began in earnest after I retired early. I write Romance in many genres including Historical, Time-Travel, Contemporary, Family Saga/mainstream, and fantasy sci-fi.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Challenging Mountains, my latest release is book 3 in my Settlers series. Set in the early days of Australian colonisation the series starts in the early 1800s when transportation was at its height. The first book in the series features Bella and Tiger and this latest is their eldest son, Tim’s story. The earliest settlers resided in and around Sydney and in Challenging Mountains young Tim has the urge to travel further afield and sets his sights on Port Philip down south, the settlement that became Melbourne.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not as such, but I guess I am different to a lot of other writers who work to a schedule. I have always been unable to do this and just write as the fancy takes me. When I am well into a book I will write until my dogs tell me it is time to take a break as it is coming up to their meal time.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many it’s too many to put here. Because Time-Travel has always fascinated me I guess some of the authors who write in this genre had a huge influence on me. One name that springs to mind when I think of historicals is Catherine Coulter. Oh and I read a lot by Candace Camp in the early days.
What are you working on now?
I have just started research for my 4th book in the Settlers series. Originally this was meant to be a two book series but then Tim’s story needed to be told and now his younger sister began pestering me to write about her, so here I go again.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have a very long list of sites where I have an author page and promote regularly, and then there is Facebook. Links to my author pages are on my Web Site, where Awesome Gang will be added. Every writer has their favourite way of promoting and it is a necessity in this day and age
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I think the best advice I was ever given when I started was that to become a writer you must simply write. Get criticism from those you trust to be completely honest with you. I’ve had friends who began writing at the same time as myself and they fell by the wayside because they often never got past the first chapter. Do not keep reading over what you have written each day or you will never ever reach the final page. Personally I like editing and re-reading, and often surprise myself by what I have written down when I go back over it after I have reached the end.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Ditto to what I said above. Like any profession it must only improve with practice. Also, never be too disheartened by rejection, there is always something to be learned even from the harshest criticism.
What are you reading now?
When I begin a new book I seldom have time to read so currently I am not reading, because I am deep in research.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Continue research as I go along. Writing historicals is an ongoing learning process. As you reach a place in time you might be stuck by a small detail which has to be researched. It’s useless saying, “she turned on the tap,” when no irrigation system had yet been built in that year. That’s just a simple example. The same goes for Time-Travels. I tend to fret about how my protagonists would clean their teeth say in 1050.
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?
Definitely romances, but books with a touch of humour. And most of my own books contain at least one animal, usually a dog or horse, so I would take books where an animal features largely.
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