It’s a pleasure to meet author Fiona M. Marsden, to talk about her new book, A Matter of Trust. Fiona lives in beautiful Stanthorpe, Queensland and spends her time as a dual carer of her mother and younger son and is a volunteer in the disability sector.
Thank you for joining us- tell us about your new book which releases on 4th July 2021.
A Matter of Trust is my first release with Escape Publishing.
Twelve years is a long time to hide a secret…or two.
Forced from his self-imposed exile, Doctor Morgan Cavanaugh must face his demons and confront the girl he left behind. Becca Walters became a woman in that time with life-altering revelations of her own.
Becca fought her way to respectability, but it came at a cost. With Morgan’s return she must face the consequences of long-ago decisions, made without his knowledge. Together they have to face the past; in order to make a future.
Sounds intriguing. What else are you writing?
I’ve just finished a Historical novella for an anthology being released on the 15th July 2021. Secrets of the Soho Club.
Late nights or early mornings? Late nights definitely. I’ve never been a morning person.
What’s for breakfast? Summer it’s whatever catches my fancy. In winter it’s porridge.
Night out or Netflix? It depends. I like action movies on the big screen but happy with anything else on Netflix.
G &T or Tea/coffee? I’m one of those tricky people who don’t drink tea or coffee and most alcohol. I will have a Bailey’s Irish Cream for Christmas and New Year. The rest of the year it’s water, Ginger Beer at home and Frozen Coke when travelling.
Perfect weekend? Reading, reading and maybe some reading.
What did you want to be when you grew up? It would be easy to say writer but that was only one of my ambitions. I wanted to be a singer but sadly my voice is under par for public singing.
What is for dinner tonight? Can you cook? What would you rather be eating?
My family are very much meat and three veg afficionados. Tonight was honey sausages from Woolworths slow cooked in gravy and served with mashed potato with onion and parsley. There would usually be pumpkin with sweet potato mash, cauliflower and greens. Usually broccoli but it was wong bok tonight. I can cook, but would rather be doing other things.
What brings you joy? Lifts your spirits, chases away a down mood. A good book and time with my family.
Your hero? Am I supposed to say my DH? He’s pretty patient with me but after 39 years we have rubbed off most the rough edges.
If you could choose three people to invite for a dinner party, who would they be and why? They would probably all be dead. Agatha Christie, Georgette Heyer and maybe Dorothy L Sayers. I have a feeling I read somewhere the last two didn’t like each other but that could add spice.
Do you have any non -writing related interests? I have gone through a few hobbies over the years. I collected musical instruments for some time but for financial reasons am starting to divest some of them.
What would surprise people to know about you? I am highly introverted.
Life lessons-what do you wish you’d known earlier? Some things we stress about when we are young, don’t really matter in the long term.
Questions about Writing.
What life experiences have shaped your writing most?
That’s rather funny. All my life I’ve wanted to travel but have never had the opportunity. I always chose to read books that took me on a journey to a far away place and when I began writing, that was what I tried to write .Now here I am, with my first Rural Romance coming out and it’s very close to home, reflecting my lifelong experience of living in small country towns.
Were you a young writer, a late bloomer, or something in between?
Somewhere I have some notebooks from my teen years where I started writing what would be considered fan fiction these days. Mostly Heyer inspired historicals and McCaffrey inspired SFF set in the Pern world. I dabbled a bit over the years but never seriously. In 2010 I had a bit of an epiphany when I realised I hadn’t accomplished any of the things I planned. Even my 12-year-old daughter had written and self-published a book. That was when I started to write again seriously.
What advice would you give to others who took up writing at a similar life phase? Don’t be discouraged. I wrote 13 category length books in that first year and only one is ever likely to see the light of day. Every word you put on the page is one word closer to producing a polished product. I attended numerous seminars and conferences to improve my craft. You can never assume you have learned all you need to know.
What is your writing process like? I think a lot in my head before I really start to put down words. I’m a classic pantser. Once I have my characters sorted in my head, I put them together on the page and push them.
What other projects are in the works? I am about to dive into a sequel to my Tule book from my Kurrajong Crossing series with Dakota Harrison for release mid next year and a sequel to A Matter of Trust is on the go. I also have another historical novella percolating and some sequels to my indie-published books.
Have you ever resuscitated a project you’d shelved? What helped it work better the second time around? I think an earlier story I’m relooking at it will be the increased skills in writing. It had all the cliché’s of beginning writing but I loved the concept so I will take that and rewrite it from scratch. Fortunately it’s a rural romance so I’m hoping it will fit into one of my current series.
If you were to genre-hop, which genres would you most like to try writing? I am already genre-hopping. I was writing straight contemporary first but then made the switch to rural romance for which I have two contracts. Then there are the historical novellas. I do have some SFF manuscripts buried deep on my computer but I need to get my current workload under control before I could look at them.
What writing resources have been most helpful to you?
Conferences in particular. The Friday intensive sessions have made an enormous difference. I have also interacted on the old Harlequin boards and entered the So You Think You Can Write competitions until they finished. Before You Hit Send by Angela James, I’ve done multiple times. Queensland Writer’s Centre seminars. Really anything and everything.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the beginning of your writing/publishing journey? There’s no money in it? It’s hard work and sucks out your soul and often it feels like there is no reward. Then someone tells you how much they enjoyed a story you wrote and it’s all worth it.
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing? Chaotic. As a carer, I have draws on my time that are often unpredictable. When I can sit down uninterrupted, I can write fast. It’s finding those times.
What inspired your new book? A Matter of Trust is a doctor nurse romance in a rural setting. I’ve always enjoyed romances with professional men rather than the classic billionaires though they can be fun too. I was a nurse before my marriage so it seemed logical if I was to write a rural romance, to start with what I know. A small medical centre in a small town.
What is the most difficult part about writing for you? Being organised in the chaos.
What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk? Interesting is a bit of a difficult question. I write my first drafts on scrivener on a laptop that I don’t have social media set up. I then go for a drive to listen to what I’ve written. My DH feels that’s an expensive way of doing things.
Did you do any research for your current book?
I did a little medical research for A Matter of Trust around medical conditions that appear in the book. I already have a good basic knowledge but things change fast in medicine.
Do you have a favourite character that you have written? If so, who? And what makes them so special? I wrote a story years ago which I used to hashtag as #sleazeguy on twitter. He was everything I was annoyed by in some heroes I was reading at the time so I guess I wanted to get one of those heroes under my control. He was surprisingly adorable. I am currently bringing his story up to date in the hope of finally putting him out in the world.
Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions? That’s a difficult judgement to make. I’m not sure if there is such a person. We often write about protagonists who have stifled their emotions after some kind of trauma. We never assume they have no emotions at all. Unless of course they’re a cyborg which is a whole other trope.
Best writing advice/ Worst writing advice you ever received? Write what you know is both. I thought at first it meant only writing within my own lived experience but I realise now that my lived experience gives me an understanding of the human condition that is translatable across a large range of settings.
Best money you have spent as a writer? Membership of Romance Writers of Australia perhaps.
Do you have a favourite author and why? I have multiple authors that I will read everything they write and the ones I reread are probably my favourite. One special book I’m not sure of. If I could only take one book with me to a desert island I would probably take The Lord of the Rings because it is so dense I think it bears study.
What are you reading now? A mix of historical and contemporary. I just finished Pamela Hart’s “Digging Up Dirt” which is a cozy style mystery set in Sydney.
What books or authors have most influenced your writing? I once did one of those “What famous author do you write like?” things on the internet and the answer was Agatha Christie. Which is probably right because I’ve read all of her mystery novels multiple times. That’s a lot of books.
Favourite quote ? Almost anything from The Princess Bride.
Favourite book/story you have read as an adult? That’s hard to define. I am a re-reader so I’ve read many books multiple times.
Favourite book/story you have read as a child? The Owl and the Pussycat was my favourite children’s book.
https://books2read.com/AMatterofTrust
https://books2read.com/Secrets of the Soho Club
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Sonia Bellhouse- Author. 
Thank you Sonia. This was a fun exercise and I even surprised myself with some of the answers.
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