Book Reviews: Escaping Into Stories Amidst Stress.

Another month has passed by in a blur of medical appointments both for me and my cat. Unexpectedly I’ve had two lots of surgery in November. Luckily nothing serious, but two basal cell carcinomas close to my eye were concerning and better removed. Alexei, who had recently been diagnosed with diabetes was out and about in our enclosed garden, and I thought I didn’t have to worry about him. When he was on my knee I noticed an odd tuft of fur on his head. I assumed he’d been under a bush, and it was sap. Two days later it was still there and when I teased it apart, I saw he was developing an abscess. So, another expensive vet visit.

Reading was a welcome escape for me from stress and worry, but I didn’t read quite as much as I had hoped to.

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig.

The remarkable next novel from Matt Haig, the author of #1 New York Times bestseller The Midnight Library, with more than nine million copies sold worldwide

“What looks like magic is simply a part of life we don’t understand yet…”

When retired math teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan.

Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the island, Grace searches for answers about her friend’s life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past.

Filled with wonder and wild adventure, this is a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning.

324 pages, Hardcover First published September 3, 2024.

My Review.

I didn’t enjoy it as much as The Midnight Library, but how can you compete with that? Another story that requires a suspension of disbelief. Grace is an interesting character, and her unexpected inheritance challenges her in a myriad of ways that I found quite relatable. There is a fantastic part to the story which you can accept or not.

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

“She smiled a soft, troubled smile and I felt the whole world slipping away, and I wanted to slip with it, to go wherever she was going… I had existed whole years without her, but that was all it had been. An existence. A book with no words.”

Tom Hazard has just moved back to London, his old home, to settle down and become a high school history teacher. And on his first day at school, he meets a captivating French teacher at his school who seems fascinated by him. But Tom has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he’s been alive for centuries. Tom has lived history–performing with Shakespeare, exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald. Now, he just wants an ordinary life.

Unfortunately for Tom, the Albatross Society, the secretive group which protects people like Tom, has one rule: Never fall in love. As painful memories of his past and the erratic behavior of the Society’s watchful leader threaten to derail his new life and romance, the one thing he can’t have just happens to be the one thing that might save him. Tom will have to decide once and for all whether to remain stuck in the past, or finally begin living in the present.

How to Stop Time tells a love story across the ages–and for the ages–about a man lost in time, the woman who could save him, and the lifetimes it can take to learn how to live. It is a bighearted, wildly original novel about losing and finding yourself, the inevitability of change, and how with enough time to learn, we just might find happiness.
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

My Review.

How versatile is Matt Haig? Another story that asks you to suspend disbelief, but one that when you do, makes perfect sense. It appeals to the romantic idea that there is one perfect soulmate, one perfect love, Having once found that, to lose them would leave you bereft. Yet, you live on and on… searching for your elusive twin soul. Reminiscent of The Time Traveller’s Wife.

A Love Letter to Paris By Rebecca Raisin

Late at night when I wander the streets of Paris, my thoughts turn to her… How do I tell her how I feel? Perhaps, I need to show her…

The pretty little streets of Montmartre are abuzz with a rumour. Apparently a mystery matchmaker, known only as ‘Paris Cupid’, has somehow helped the city’s most famous bachelor find love.

But old-fashioned romantic Lilou is staying very quiet. She’d just wanted to set up her best friend, and to get on with her life selling whimsical old love letters, in Paris’s famous St. Ouen market.

She hadn’t imagined her little Paris Cupid project could ever have attracted so many people looking for true, heartfelt romance. Though the truth is that Lilou adores helping people find the right person. Even if her own love life is nothing short of disastrous.

But then a message arrives. And it’s just for her. Someone is in love with her. Someone who knows her secret. But they’re keeping their own identity secret too… Could it be from cheerful, talkative, flame-haired Felix? Or quiet, beautifully handsome Benoit? Or even Pascale – who drives Lilou mad every day?

After so long of helping others find their soulmate, is it time for Lilou to find love of her own in Paris herself?

273 pages, Kindle Edition Published July 8, 2024.

My Review.

This is a story about Paris, and a love letter to Paris. It felt as if I was strolling down the boulevards and side streets of The City of Love. A matchmaker has to believe in love, even if it has eluded her. Lilou has a talent for matching people and starting Paris Cupid has allowed her to indulge that talent. Her own love life though is disastrous, but someone starts sending her letters. There are three potential candidates, but I thought it was fairly obvious who the love interest was.

If I Tell You… I’ll Have to Kill You. Edited by Michael Robotham.

What is the secret to good crime writing? No one better to ask than a group of Australia’s leading crime writers. Their conclusions are fascinating, provocative, often surprising, and they are all drawn from the hard school of personal experience. What pieces of advice do the writers have in common? That there is no substitute for hard work! One tells us there is no such thing as writer’s block – “just do it” is a common theme. There is a fun part though: research. The writers could not vary more in their research and the way they approach it; from Shane Maloney’s near-death experience in a freezer to Leigh Redhead’s adventures as a stripper, Barry Maitland’s endless walks through the streets of London to Gabrielle Lord’s night out at a Gangster and Molls party, the search for ideas and atmosphere is never done and never dull. These writers also read voraciously, and they all give us their five ‘must reads’ – it’s interesting how much they coincide. As do their Rules for Writing. All in all a treasure trove for all fans of crime fiction, be they aspiring writers or simply want to get to know their favourite writers better.

Contributors: Kerry Greenwood, Shane Maloney, Peter Corris, Barry Maitland, Garry Disher, Michael Robotham, Gabrielle Lord, Katherine Howell, Liz Porter, Leigh Redhead, Leah Giarratano, Lindy Cameron, Angela Savage, Malla Nunn, Geoffrey Mcgeachin, Lenny Bartulin, Lindsay Simpson, Marele Day, Peter Lawrance, Tara Moss And Adrian Hyland.

My Review,

An enjoyable read. You don’t have to be an aficionado of crime to find these pieces readable and relatable. Both writer and readers will enjoy the insights gained about the writing process. One thing shines through all crime writers have an endless curiosity about people and motivations.

The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre.

FORGET WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW
THIS IS NOT THAT CRIME NOVEL

You know Johnny Hawke. Hard-bitten LAPD homicide detective. Always in trouble with his captain, always losing partners, but always battling for the truth, whatever it takes.

You know Penny Coyne. The little old lady who has solved multiple murders in her otherwise sleepy village, despite bumbling local police. A razor-sharp mind in a Sunday best hat.

Against all the odds, against the usual story, their worlds are about to collide. It starts with a dead writer and a mysterious wedding invitation. It will end with a rabbit hole that goes so deep, Johnny and Penny might just come to question not just whodunnit, but whether they want to know the answer.

A cross-genre hybrid of Agatha Christie and Michael Connelly, The Cracked Mirror is the most imaginative and entertaining crime novel of the year, a genre-splicing rollercoaster with a poignantly emotional heart.

480 pages, Hardcover Published July 18, 2024.

My Review.

Cleverly done Mr Brookmyre. Read it once and then immediately wanted to go back and read it again. Hard to describe without giving things away. You may be surprised, you won’t be disappointed.

As the month winds down, I am hoping for a less stressful December.

A Quick Note. I am an expat Brit now living in Australia, as such I still use British spelling.

Chatting with Nancy Cunningham, About her January 2024 New Release Crossing the Bridge.

Are you in the cooler Northern Hemisphere or basking in the sun in the Southern Hemisphere? Either way, why not pause and give yourself the gift of time to rest and relax, maybe read a new book.

It’s a pleasure to welcome author Nancy Cunningham to talk about her new book Crossing the Bridge.

Thank you for joining us- tell us about your book Crossing the Bridge which will be released 1^st January 2024. You can pre-order it NOW

1944. Widow Poppy Guilford is fighting to save her farm, the one thing tethering her to her husband—and the legacy promised for their young son. But a devastating secret from her husband’s past threatens to derail her struggle to save the property and keep her son by her side.

Former soldier JB Beaton’s wartime injuries and personal losses have left him with scars, both inside and out. Believing he’s too damaged to be the father his son deserves, he leaves him with his sister and takes on a job as a farmhand, far away from the city and his failures.

Poppy, battling the elements and the heartache caused by her husband’s secret, finds the new farmhand is never far from her thoughts, and JB’s world is thrown into disarray by one of the most beautiful and capable women he has ever met. Neither can fight the surge of attraction they both feel.

In a small town where gossip reigns, will they surrender to duty or follow their hearts?

‘You’ll be cheering for this wartime Australian heroine well before the last page as she fights to find her voice, her feet and love after heartbreak. Nancy Cunningham’s emotional debut novel is a cracker.’ —Bestselling Australian author Victoria Purman.

‘Crossing the Bridge’ is available as an eBook through the Harper Collins/Escape website and all good online stores: https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=9781867299738&camp=247…

https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9781867299738…

https://books.apple.com/…/crossing-the-bridge/id6458265282

https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/crossing-the-bridge-9

An early Christmas present for yourself or someone you know perhaps?

I was fortunate enough to receive an Advance Reader Copy through Net Galley ( you can see my review on Good Reads) and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Nancy will be in conversation with Victoria Purman on Sunday the 21st of January at Payneham Library and celebrating Crossing the Bridge with a CWA-style afternoon tea. You will need to book your place

What drew you to this topic, why did you want to tell this story?

When I wrote the first draft of Crossing the Bridge, I happened to be reading a lot of historical fiction stories but was surprised to find that there weren’t a lot of 20^th Century historical Australian stories on the shelf, and I wanted to write that story – basically, I wrote the story for me!

Are you writing anything else?

I have lots and lots of story ideas and currently have around 5 unpublished manuscripts, one I have out on submission, and the other I am polishing as just last week I had a request for a full manuscript and will also send it to my current publisher (Harper Collins) the other 3 are sitting waiting in a bottom drawer somewhere! I have too many ideas and too little time.

About Nancy

I am in awe of Nancy who works as a scientist- (please tell me your proper scientific title!) and also writes romance. That is quite a leap from the logical analytical part of the brain to the emotional, feeling part of the brain. Does it ever cause problems or confusion?

For me anyway. I find I can compartmentalise the different aspects of both being a research scientist and a romance writer and I rarely get confused between the two. I work as a senior (insect researcher) and am involved in entomological-related projects. As part of my role, I also curate the Waite Insect and Nematode Collection – a large collection of insects and arthropods – many specimens date back over one hundred years! Being the collection manager, it appeals both to my scientific curiosity but also the historical aspect of the collection is fascinating!

Nancy also contributes insightful and supportive comments to the Romance Writers of Australia Aspiring Writers Group.

Some quick-fire questions.

Late nights or early mornings?

Early mornings/mornings I find are when I am at my brightest. Night times are usually a little fraught as I am usually pretty tired and sometimes exhausted. It’s often the time I spend relaxing with my family.

What’s for breakfast?

I like to vary it, Weet-bix/muesli/porridge sometimes toast or a poached egg, I occasionally have fruit smoothies!

Night out or Netflix?

I’m definitely a homebody but not opposed to the occasional evening out.

G &T or Tea/Coffee?

Tea and coffee every day, G and T for those days you come home and its hot and you want to chill.

Perfect weekend?

Saturday – A little sleep-in followed by brunch out, come home, relax in the garden, or read. Yummy dinner, either home-cooked or takeaway, Sunday – rinse and repeat!

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a zoologist, but also a scriptwriter (for the movies!)

What is for dinner tonight? Can you cook? What would you rather be eating?

Tonight, it’s an easy stir fry with beef, veggies, and noodles (probably teriyaki). I can cook but find during the week especially I prefer really easy to prepare dishes. I think I feel like pasta tonight!

What brings you joy? Lifts your spirits, and chases away a down mood.

I have a relatively sedentary role both at work and as a writer, so I like going for a walk every day – usually with my dog and sometimes my daughter comes too. I love time just to relax and unwind either with family or friends but also, I love time alone just reading a book or occasionally going out and having a massage (there’s a place in every shopping centre these days!)

Your hero?

My partner – he really grounds me and makes me laugh! I am definitely richer for having him in my life.

If you could choose three people (living or dead) to invite to a dinner party, who would they be and why?

Marie Curie – a ground-breaking female scientist – I’d like to know what motivated her to continue when she had so many setbacks. Agatha Christie – because she writes the most wonderful murder mysteries where she hides everything you need to know in plain sight! David Attenborough – because he is utterly awesome and I’m sure we could discuss anything and everything!

Do you have any non-writing-related interests?

I like to draw, have made wooden furniture and like doing graphic design stuff (including making book covers!)

What would surprise people to know about you?

I love playing video games (usually with female protagonists in story-rich games) and have written many words of fanfiction (before I decided maybe to give this original fiction author business a go!)

Life lessons-what do you wish you’d known earlier?

That it’s okay to fail because what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!

Questions about Writing.

What is your writing process like?

I like to plan my first draft – I often spend a lot of time thinking about it before I’ve written a single word. Then I plan roughly each scene/chapter indicating beats – I like to use beat sheets and I write a rough GMC for each chapter. Then with my first draft, I read my GMC for that chapter and go for it. The first draft is very ugly – lots of grammar and spelling errors and I often have to do more research. 2nd draft is a tidy-up and to check structure, 3^rd and 4^th drafts are polishing and prepping for submission.

Do you have any other projects in the works?

I am currently working on another 1st draft which is a follow-up/sequel to Crossing the Bridge and will feature characters Ronnie (Veronica) and Charlie, set post WW2- fashion, wine, a little bit of espionage and a whole lot of love! I am also tinkering on a novella.

Have you ever resuscitated a project you’d shelved? What helped it work better the second time around?

I wrote a short story that failed miserably in a competition – some of the judge’s comments were odd and not really helpful (they didn’t like WW1 stories so marked me down) I shelved it and then about a year later Clare Griffin asked if I’d like to contribute with her and two other writers, Ava January and Sarah Fiddelaers, to a self-published anthology – 20^th Century Historical Romance with an Easter theme.

I resuscitated/rewrote it into a longer story and I am very proud of that contribution! Clare, Ava, Sarah and I went on to do another anthology, this one based around a store in Paris, through the seasons and through four different time periods. We’ve been trying to organise a fourth but we’ve all been so busy!

What writing resources have been most helpful to you?

Scrivener is a fantastic tool and I love ‘One Stop for Writers’ which is the online version for all the thesaurus that Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have produced (‘The Emotion Thesaurus’) I’ve also found the many writing groups on Facebook a font of knowledge for writing-related questions.

What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the beginning of your writing/publishing journey?

Do not ever compare your journey to others – you will only find discontentment!

What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?

I like to write my first drafts in a very short amount of time (National Novel Writing Month is good for that!) then I edit and edit and edit and edit.

What inspired your new book?

I knew when I wrote Crossing the Bridge that my side character of Veronica Guilford was a fab character, in fact, she was one of 3 POVs (Point of View)in the original story! She had to have her moment in the sun – and now it’s time!

What is the most difficult part about writing for you?

I think getting the structure and beats right. If you miss those there is often something off about the story. Also, your main character’s goal motivation and conflict has to be rock solid. Sometimes that needs work!

Did you do any research for your current book?

I write historical so there is always the need for research! Today I was looking up Australian female jazz musicians who worked in bands in the 1940s and 50s!

Do you have a favourite character that you have written? If so, who? And what makes them so special?

That’s like asking me who my favourite child is (I only have one child so that’s kind of given she’s my favourite) but I love all my characters in different ways. Poppy and Ronnie from Crossing the Bridge I have a great fondness for. I love Poppy because the way I initially wrote her she didn’t have a great character arc (it was pretty flat, and she didn’t have a lot of agency) – I worked hard on her to make her all the things a reader would like without compromising what I loved about her. Ronnie is my sassy character and I have to say I love writing how rude and loud she is! I really loved writing from a male perspective too– and JB was a lot of fun to explore!

Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions?

Not necessarily – I did Becca Symes’s Strength for Writers’ workshops and discovered that my top five strengths are empathy, harmony, positivity, adaptability and woo (working others out). Most of these are in the relationship-building area not the areas that are supposedly related to writers – but the empathy one I had a real revelation as Becca said in the workshop that people with high empathy often have difficulty getting emotion onto the page. Which seems at odds with the very thing being experienced. The reality is that people with high empathy are so caught up in feeling the emotion they are writing – they think it’s been translated to the page when it’s not– learning to translate that to the page is a technical skill that must be learned. How many times has an editor or beta reader said to me when reading my work ‘Nancy, tell me how she feels!!!’

Best writing advice/ Worst writing advice you ever received?

Best – At my very first Romance Writers of Australia conference I was walking to the venue and I met this lovely lady on the street going to the conference. We talked about writing and romance, but it wasn’t until we got to the venue that I realised that it was the late great Valerie Parv, I was gobsmacked, and she wrote about our meeting in her memoir how for a moment we were just two writers talking – Valerie always said that perseverance for a writer is key. Finish that manuscript. Get a rejection? Submit again. Not getting traction? Keep writing, write another manuscript, then another and another. Keep learning, keep writing, keep submitting, it’s a long game and you must have the stamina to keep going if you are to be a success. For me, I like to think it’s a ‘when’ not an ‘if’.

Worst – you have to write every day. Working full time and having a family and other commitments makes it physically, intellectually, and emotionally impossible to write some days. To write you don’t need to flog yourself! A little bit each day goes a long way.

Best money you have spent as a writer?

Joining the Romance Writers of Australia.

Do you have a favourite author and why?

I absolutely love Beatriz Williams novels – honestly, every book she writes is like a dagger through your heart – the story, the characters, the settings, the beautiful writing. I read her work and think I will never ever be that good. She’s amazing!

What are you reading now?

I’m a multitasker – I usually have a few on the go – an audiobook for my commute to work- After the Forest by Kell Woods and I have just received ‘A Country Vet Christmas’ by Lily Malone, Alissa Callen, Penelope Janu, Stella Quinn and Pamela Cook

What books or authors have most influenced your writing?

Beatriz Williams, Amy Harmon, Victoria Purman, Penelope Janu, Soraya Lane

Favourite quote (does not matter the source)

“We’ve got to live, no matter how many skies have fallen.” D.H. Lawrence.

Favourite book/story you have read as an adult?

It’s gritty but I cannot go past Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North. I read it several years ago but there are still bits I think about that move me to tears. It was a book that touched my soul.

Favourite book/story you have read as a child?

Enid Blyton’s Magic Faraway Tree books were favourites of mine growing up!

Nancy Cunningham is a historical romance writer from Adelaide, with several award-winning short fiction and unpublished manuscript excerpts under her belt. When not working in her role as an entomologist, looking after family, reading, watching too many historical dramas and spider wrangling, Nancy writes about spirited and stoic heroines of the past overcoming adversity.

You can find Nancy at:

Where History and Science meets Heart

https://www.instagram.com/nan_writes

https://www.facebook.com/NancyMCunningham197

Thank you so much for spending time with us Nancy and best wishes for your book’s success.

Chatting with Lisa Stanbridge, about Lonely in Paris.

It’s a pleasure to welcome author Lisa Stanbridge to talk about her new book, Lonely in Paris. Lisa recently placed third in the Romance Writers of Australia, Sweet Treats contest. This is a highly prestigious award and it attracts many, many entries. Congratulations Lisa!

Lisa Stanbridge, author of Lonely in Paris.

Some getting-to-know-you questions.

Late nights or early mornings? Late nights all the way. My imagination comes alive at night and that’s when I do my best writing. Unfortunately, I also have a full-time job so late nights are not a good idea as I always wake up tired.

What’s for breakfast? Bacon, eggs and hashbrowns. Yum!

Night out or Netflix? Netflix for sure, I’m such a homebody.

G &T or Tea/Coffee? I like tea and coffee, but I’ll always choose coffee first.

Perfect weekend? A weekend at home with hubby, relaxing, writing, watching movies or playing games.

What did you want to be when you grew up? An author! It’s nice to be able to check that off.

What is for dinner tonight? Can you cook? What would you rather be eating? I can cook and do enjoy it, but tonight we’re having spaghetti bolognaise which hubby is cooking!

What brings you joy? Lifts your spirits, and chases away a down mood. Going to the beach. Not to swim, but to walk along the sand. There’s nothing quite like the ocean breeze washing away the worries of the day.

Your hero? A family friend named Barry. He’d have to be in his 80’s now and I haven’t seen him for years, but he ‘saved’ me twice in my life and I’ll never forget him. The first time was when I was at a wedding and I was probably about 12 years old. I didn’t have anyone to dance with and I desperately wanted to, but he came up and gave me my first dance. I was flying high for the rest of the night!

The second time was about a year later when my Nana died. I loved her so much and I was absolutely devastated. At her funeral, I wasn’t allowed to sit in the front row with my family and instead had to sit by myself in the row behind. There were some other people around me, but no one I knew. I couldn’t stop crying throughout the whole funeral but I had no one to comfort me…until Barry came up and held me while I cried. He is truly my hero.

You don’t have to be a superhero to change someone’s life

Do you have any non-writing-related interests? Is reading considered a writing-related interest? Because I love reading but always struggle to find enough time to do so. I also love gaming, the relaxing type. Animal Crossing, House Flipper, Stardew Valley, and Pokémon…just to name a few.

What would surprise people to know about you? I used to dance when I was younger. All types of dance—tap, highland, jazz, Irish, and ballroom. Never professionally, but I danced for a good few years in my teens. Sadly, I never kept it up.

Life lessons-what do you wish you’d known earlier? That adulthood is hard!

**Let’s talk about your new book Lonely in Paris which was released, today 16^th January 2023**

Lonely in Paris is a bit of a passion project. Ever since I visited Paris a few years ago I’ve wanted to write a story set there. I did try writing one about three years ago but I wasn’t happy with it so it went into the ‘maybe’ pile.

Then I decided to join a Paris anthology and I wrote a new story, which is how Lonely in Paris was born. I knew it would work better as romantic comedy/chick lit and so that’s what I did, and it pretty much wrote itself. It’s a fun, light-hearted romantic comedy with some serious aspects because you can’t have romance without a little uncertainty.

The eBook is available from the 16^th of January and will be Amazon exclusive. Anyone can purchase it from Amazon, but anyone with a Kindle Unlimited subscription can read it for free. A paperback will be available wide but will be delayed by a couple of weeks.

Tell us about it.

Jane’s #1 rule in Paris: Don’t fall in love

After ending a disastrous relationship, Jane accepts a job in the City of Love. The trouble is she speaks very little French, has no friends to enjoy Paris with, and she’s awfully lonely.

Then she meets Jacques DuPont.

Rich, handsome, and the cream of the Parisian crop, Jacques is living the dream. Just not his own. His father wants him to follow in his footsteps, but Jacques wants to earn his success. Trapped in a life chosen by his family, he’s always been alone.

Until he meets Jane.

He’s from money. She’s not.
He’s a planner. She’s impulsive.
He’s serious. She’s definitely not.

They couldn’t be more different, but they will fall. Hard.

Together Jane and Jacques will learn why Paris is the City of Love. But when an expiring visa, a jealous colleague, and a manipulative family threaten their fledgling relationship, their loyalties will be tested to breaking point.

Jane broke her #1 rule, now they must decide what they are willing to sacrifice for love.

Are you writing anything else?

Lonely in Paris is book 1 in a 3-book series

Confession: Lonely in Paris was meant to be a standalone, but as I wrote it and the characters grew, I just knew it could be a series. Rather than having different characters in the other 2 books, they’ll instead feature Jane and Jacques during their evolving relationship and the many blips along the way. Book 2 is scheduled to be released on 16th May 2023 (pre-orders will be available when Lonely in Paris is released). Book 3 I’m aiming to release on 16^th September, but that date isn’t set in concrete yet. I’ll see how much progress I make on it when I release book 2.

Questions about Writing.

What is your writing process like? Like my current manuscript…a work in progress. It’s an area I’m still trying to perfect. Juggling writing and working full time is something I still haven’t got right.

Do you have any other projects are in the works? So many, my mind is full of ideas and future series. As I mentioned above, I’m working on books 2 and 3 of this series. I’m also editing manuscripts I finished a few years ago that I plan to publish in 2024.

Have you ever resuscitated a project you’d shelved? What helped it work better the second time around? My debut novel, Abandoned Hearts (published in 2020), was a resuscitated project. It took me 6 years from start to publication because I just couldn’t get it right and I kept sitting on it. In that 6 years, I worked on my writing, perfected my voice, learnt and learnt and learnt, until I finally I got it right.

Writers never know when an idea will strike!

What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the beginning of your writing/publishing journey? Drafts don’t have to be perfect. I often expected perfection first go and sometimes even led myself to believe my first draft was perfect even though it was far from it. There’s nothing wrong with a dirty draft where you just spill the words on the page and then go back and fix it later. I’ve started doing that recently and it’s such a great feeling. The words flow better without the pressure of getting everything right.

What is the most difficult part about writing for you? Actually getting it down on paper. I get the idea in my head and it all sounds so amazing, but then it comes to writing it and I really struggle sometimes. Since I’ve started writing dirty drafts though, it’s made this a little easier.

Did you do any research for your current book? Yes, because it’s been a long time since I went to Paris, so I needed to make sure what I remembered was still relevant (and in some cases, it wasn’t). I also had to make sure I got the French translations correct.

Do you have a favourite character that you have written? If so, who? And what makes them so special? Oh, this is hard, as I have many. 🙂 Michael and Claire in Abandoned Hearts are close firsts, as is Jacques in Lonely in Paris. But there’s also Hamish in my unpublished manuscript, The Final Masquerade, and Gavin in another unpublished manuscript (planned for 2024 release) Oceans Apart. How do I choose?

Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions? I think anyone can be a writer, but if someone doesn’t feel emotions it’s going to be a lot harder for them. But since I’m an over-emotional person, I can’t even comprehend not feeling emotions.

Best money you have spent as a writer? Purchasing Atticus to format my manuscripts and paying an editor to get my manuscript up to scratch.

Do you have a favourite author and why? I’ve got many, but my top two would be Katie Fforde and Sophie Kinsella. They were instrumental in helping me find my writing style and voice.

What are you reading now? Let it Snow by Beth Moran

What books or authors have most influenced your writing? Ha, see above!

What favourite book/story you have read as an adult? It’ll always be Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I agree and the BBC 1995 Adaptation With Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle is about as perfect as you could get.

What favourite book/story you have read as a child? The Tin Can Puppy by Wendy Orr and Brian Kogler

Thank you so much for talking with us and good luck with Lonely In Paris.

I was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy of Lonely in Paris and have posted a review on Good Reads and in last month’s blog post.

Buy link for Lonely in Paris: https://books2read.com/LonelyinParis

Buy link for Abandoned Hearts: https://books2read.com/AbandonedHearts

Meet Margaret Cameron, Author of Under a Venice Moon.

I was delighted that Margaret Cameron agreed to join us and answer some questions about her recent memoir Under a Venice Moon.

Have you secretly longed to do something different? Could you throw it all in and start somewhere new? Would you risk it and would you want to? Maybe it’s something you dream of? Reading this memoir may just give you the inspiration you need!

Thank you so much for joining us, Margaret. We will explore a little more about the memoir, but first some quickfire questions

Late nights or early mornings? Late nights, most definitely.

What’s for breakfast? One slice of mixed grain toast with avocado and three cups of tea. It never varies. I don’t like decision-making as a start to my day.

Night out or Netflix? Night out. G&T or Tea/Coffee? Tea.

Perfect Weekend? Catching up with friends for a meal or a game of bridge one day, working in the garden the other.

What did you want to be when you grew up? My plans varied at different ages and stages, ranging from a cloistered nun to an air hostess (as they were then called). In other words, I had no idea – the future seemed so far away.

What is for dinner tonight? Can you cook? What would you rather be eating?Dinner tonight will be pasta with tomatoes, chilli, garlic and lots of fresh herbs from the garden. Perfect for a cold night: there’s nothing I’d prefer. If pressed, I can whip up some half-decent meals, but I’d rather be reading a book – or writing one.

What brings you joy? Lifts your spirits and chases away a down mood? Small things, I guess. A day of sunshine after rain, a kindly word, doing something that’s been languishing on the must-do list. Or persuading someone else to do it.

Your hero? So many to choose from. I’ll go with my brother-in-law David, for his courage and unrelenting good humour through seventeen years of health adversity. An everyday hero.

If you could ask three people for a dinner party (dead or alive) who would they be and why? I don’t mean to be controversial here but: Jesus Christ. Did he really say what we now attributed to him? And, if so, did he really believe it? Or was it like the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Superstar suggests, and things got out of hand? That concept has always intrigued me. I think it would be such a compelling conversation I wouldn’t need /want other guests.

Questions about Writing.

Can you tell us a little about your background?

I grew up in the Perth foothills and my childhood was idyllic; riding my bike with my mother and sister, playing in empty paddocks with the children next door, pinching apricots from the trees when I knew my mother wanted them for jam.

School was a treat – learning turned out to be fun, homework was never a chore (what a nerd!) My eventual career in nursing brought huge satisfaction; I worked as a senior RN in the busy intensive care unit of a public hospital. It was my husband who suggested I undertake a university degree program. I thrived on it. I completed a research-based degree at the University of Western Australia, and my love of reading, writing and words returned after years of taking a back seat to a career.

Have you always written? Apart from letters to magazines and the like, no. But I’ve always thought about it. I remember reading Nancy Friday describe an afternoon walk she took in New York’s Central Park, to clear her mind and prepare for the next chapter of her book. I thought ‘How cool would that be?’ Now I walk through Bold Park for the same reason. Fortune smiled, and I’m grateful.

What inspired your new book? How long did it take you to write it? Inspiration came during my second visit to Venice in 2014. I couldn’t believe the changes – and not for the better – since my initial trip there forty years previously. Tourists! Everywhere! But I found an off-grid neighbourhood, reminiscent of the city I’d loved on that first trip, and decided to return the following year for a one-month stay. I wanted to find the Venice of the Venetians. And by then I’d done a bucket-load of research and was totally caught up in the quirky stories from the city’s history.

I met Rossano (caro mio di Venezia) during that 2015 holiday and started writing straight away. I was smitten; love-struck. With him. With Venice. I decided to weave my adventures in Venice around the broader story of Venice itself. The book was completed on my last trip to Venice, pre-Covid, in 2919. So four years of writing, were interrupted by a year away from the keyboard as I struggled to improve my French language skills. Rossano spoke no English but fluent French; I spoke no Italian but (I thought) reasonable French. It made sense to build on what I had.

After the writing came another two years of manuscript assessment, submissions to publishers and the whole editorial process. Writing the original manuscript – and those annual trips to Venice – was by far the most enjoyable part!

Margaret wanted to find more than the tourist’s Venice.

In memoir writing, is it about selecting what is interesting to others or making it interesting? Both, I think. I wrote about what I found interesting, reasoning that if I found it interesting, then my readers would too. A clear notion of my readership demographic allowed this. But a story still has to be told with a certain voice, a certain energy, that makes it engaging

Do you have a writing routine? No. It tends to be late at night when all the household tasks are done and I can relax.

Choosing the most productive time to write

Are you an ‘edit as you go’ type, or do you go back and do it later?

I’m attending a series of writing workshops by David Allan-Petale; excellent, by the way. He endorses the ‘get it down’ approach, as do just about all the writer-presenters I’ve come across. I see their point: why spend time perfecting something which may later be omitted? Author Portland Jones said in a recent talk that she perfects – polishes to a high sheen, really – each chapter as she goes along. I fall halfway between, in that I take pleasure in getting the first chapter the way I want it, and then I just write.

What is the best and worst advice you’ve received as a writer? The best advice ever came from John Harman. The nine rules of writing, he maintains, are read, read, read; write, write, write; edit, edit, edit. And I so agree. Worst advice? I’m not sure I’ve had really bad advice. Writers are pretty canny folk, I find.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers? Just to reiterate John Harman’s advice. And to believe in what you are doing: persevere, and be kind to yourself during the journey.

Are you working on anything now? I’ve delved into that bucket of research I mentioned earlier and decided to go down the historical fiction path. The plot follows a braided narrative of three sisters living very different lives. It’s set in late sixteenth-century Venice and has as its theme changing fortunes and circumstances. To quote one twentieth-century icon ‘You don’t always get what you want.’

Now that sounds intriguing! I will look forward to reading it.

Here is information about Under a Venice Moon.It’s on my TBR pile and it should be on yours!

Life isn’t a sort of practice run, something you can afford to play around with. They don’t offer second and third chances to get it right. Use it better. Live it fuller.

A week in Venice ignites Margaret Cameron’s interest in the private city behind the tourist facade and the obscure tales from its history. Tantalised by stories of this lesser-known Venice she returns the following August for a month-long stay, determined to uncover the Venice of the Venetians.

Stepping out from her comfort zone, Margaret finds that friendships – unexpected and spontaneous – blossom within palazzi walls and she makes a discovery: life can lead you along rewarding paths, if you let it.

As each day passes, her time in Venice becomes more than just an interlude; soon, the city feels like home. Could she leave her satisfying life in Perth and start anew in Venice? The question becomes urgent when romance waits where she least expected to find it . . .

Published February 23rd 2022 by Hachette Australia

ISBN0733648312 (ISBN13: 9780733648311

Available at good book stores and on Amazon.

Meet Hearts On Fire Author, Jenny Lynch.

It’s a pleasure to welcome author Jenny Lynch to talk about her new book.

Thank you for joining us- tell us about your new book Hearts on Fire which releases on 25^th July 2022.

“Hearts on Fire” is my new novelette, which began its life as a (long) short story. I wrote it to submit to Dragonfly Publishing earlier this year. They’d put a call out for submissions for a romance anthology. Unfortunately, the anthology is not going ahead, but I was offered a contract for my story to be published as a stand-alone novelette. I was rather flattered…and extremely excited!

A hot heartthrob features in Jenny’s book.

This fun-filled little book is going to be launched on Monday 25^th July, at 2pm, at the Gosnells Bowling Club on Albany Highway, Gosnells. The event is free and anyone is welcome, but registration is essential through Eventbrite.

Perth Australia people book your tickets via Eventbrite

Are you writing anything else?

I’m currently writing another children’s Christmas book for Pink Ribbon Books (my fundraising project). Plus, I’m always writing something—whether it’s flash fiction, short stories or rhymes for my writing group (Gosnells Writers Circle), or a piece of writing for a writing competition.

Some quick-fire questions. Late nights or early mornings?

Definitely late nights (and lazy sleep-ins with breakfast in bed).

What’s for breakfast?

I’m not a huge big breakfast fan unless it’s for a special occasion. So, usually just cereal or toast, and definitely a nice hot cup of tea or two.

Night out or Netflix?

Netflix…or other streaming services, of which there are now plenty to choose from.

G &T or Tea/coffee?

Tea at home mostly, but a nice, large flat-white coffee when out. I must admit though, I am rather partial to a G&T on the odd occasion…with lemon or lime, and lots of ice.

Perfect weekend?

Spending time with family and friends is always a perfect way to spend a weekend. The simple things in life are usually the best.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

Believe it or not, a teacher…which I never did become! I studied computer programming and systems design instead, gaining a Bachelor of Business degree. My husband and I ran our own computer consulting company for 34 years.

What is for dinner tonight? Can you cook? What would you rather be eating?

Dinner is whatever my wonderful Masterchef husband is cooking. I think tonight might be green chicken curry. I can cook (if I have to) but truth be told, I have been known to burn boiled eggs…more than once!

What brings you joy? Lifts your spirits and chases away a down mood.

Spending time with family and friends; doing good deeds for others; fundraising for worthy causes, especially breast cancer research—which is why I created Pink Ribbon Books. I donate all profits to the Breast Cancer Research Centre-WA, as I am a breast cancer survivor. It’s my way of ‘giving something back ‘for my good health.

Your hero?

I’d have to say, my mother and late grandmother. I can’t think of anyone else who could reach the height of their pedestals. Whatever good values I possess, they were instilled in me by these two remarkable women.

If you could choose three people (living or dead) to invite for a dinner party, who would they be and why?

Celebrity guests for an informal dinner party

J.K. Rowling (because I admire her literary success and creative imagination)

Celeste Barber (because that crazy woman cracks me up! She’s the only celebrity I follow on Instagram, and she’d be the life and soul of the dinner party.)

Regé-Jean Page from season one of Bridgerton (no explanation required J!)

I applaud your choice!

Do you have any non -writing-related interests?

I’m a wedding celebrant, so I enjoy being part of couples’ special day, creating a beautiful ceremony and taking care of all the legal paperwork. I also TRY and exercise, so I belong to a local walking group and exercise class.

Helping couples celebrate their special day.

Questions about Writing.

What writing resources have been most helpful to you?

Joining a local writers’ group has taught me so much about writing. We not only learn from various workshops, but we learn from each other, simply by sharing our written work. We have been taught how to edit each other’s work too, and that has been extremely beneficial to me.

What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the beginning of your writing/publishing journey?

How to ‘show not tell’, and what POV and head-hopping are!

What is the most difficult part about writing for you?

Trying to think up plots and characters that are unique but still believable, so that my story is unlike any others.

Did you do any research for your current book?

Of course. Google is my best friend!

Do you have a favourite character that you have written? If so, who? And what makes them so special?

From my novelette “Hearts on Fire”, I adore the character of Lizzie. She was such a fun grandmother to create! I hope I’m just like her when I’m in my eighties.

From one of my children’s picture books, “Bootsie and Snudge”, I adore the two cute little elves who help Santa out when he’s tired and has become forgetful. Obviously, the elves’ names are Bootsie and Snudge and they are adorable. Personally, I think ABC should turn them into a cartoon show…they’d certainly give Bluey a run for his money.

Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions?

I certainly think it would be hard to ‘show’ and not tell if the writer lacked emotions.

Creativity allows us to express our dreams.

Best writing advice: edit, edit, edit and then when you finish, edit again! And then get someone else to proofread your work.

Worst advice: Write what you know. With the internet at my fingertips, I have written lots of stories about places and events I’ve never visited or experienced. All you need is a little bit of online research time and a lot of imagination!

Best money you have spent as a writer?

Some money is worth saving and some is worth spending.

My annual fees at my writing group and an online ‘Writing and Editing’ course run by Nas Dean. I learnt so much from that course.

Do you have a favourite author and why?

I have several favourites actually: Jane Harper, Trent Dalton, and Liane Moriarty to name a few.

What are you reading now?

“Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens. I absolutely love it and I can’t wait for the movie to be released here in July. (But I always read the book first…that’s a golden rule!)

Favourite quote (does not matter the source)

“Believe you can, and you’re halfway there!” (Theodore Roosevelt)

Favourite book/story you have read as an adult?

“A Fortunate Life” by A.B. Facey. I can’t find enough superlatives to describe how much I loved this extraordinary book. It’s an autobiography of Albert Barnett Facey’s life, growing up in Western Australia in the early 1900s. I have actually read it several times now. It’s modestly written but is such a moving memoir, I highly recommend it to everyone. It certainly opened my eyes to how hard life was back then, and how privileged we are these days.

Favourite book/story you have read as a child?

Absolutely everything and anything written by Enid Blyton.

Jenny’s book is available on Amazon for pre-order before it is released on 25th July.

I was lucky enough to read an early copy and I enjoyed it. My review appears on Good reads.

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Meet Ruth Morgan, Author of The Whitworth Mysteries.

It’s a pleasure to welcome author Ruth Morgan to talk about her book The Whitworth Mysteries

Ruth lives in Lismore, New South Wales where the whole community has been devastated by flooding. We are talking unheard of flood levels of up to 14.4 metres. Lives and homes and businesses were lost. Even more cruelly, a month after the first flood, when the cleanup was well underway, Lismore endured a second flood. While helping out in her local area, Ruth is still writing. She is also promoting a re-stocking drive for the Lismore library which lost 29,000 books.

DETAILS HERE. https://rtrl.nsw.gov.au/  – Flood Recovery Donation page.

So, I am very grateful that Ruth has taken the time to talk to us. We will discuss her writing later, but first some quick-fire questions.

Late nights or early mornings? Always early mornings.

What’s for breakfast? Toast and coffee.

Night out or Netflix? Night in, with a good book.

G &T or Tea/coffee? All three – but not at the same time!

Perfect weekend? Going for a walk, catching up over coffee with friends, and time spent in the garden getting dirty.

What did you want to be when you grew up? I’m not sure I’ve grown up yet! Everything! Reader, writer, dancer, nurse, vet, work in a zoo..

What is for dinner tonight? Can you cook? What would you rather be eating ?Love cooking. Dinner tonight – probably leftovers! Preference these days is vegetarian, and when the veggie garden is productive, whatever is in season is usually what’s for dinner. I love it though when someone else cooks.

What brings you joy? Lifts your spirits, chases away a down mood. Cats – always cats. The sound of a purring cat, being head-butted, sat on – magic. Or going for walk, sitting by the ocean, listening to beautiful music.

Two of Ruth’s cats.Muscat and Champurrs.

Your hero? I don’t know that I have a hero. If I look around me at the moment my community is full of heroes. To deal with two floods a month apart makes heroes of us all. A hero is someone who doesn’t quit, although they may want to, even when the odds appear overwhelming, they just keep going. Those who help clean up after the flood, those who listen, those who are running a business from their damaged premises and are operating through the back door, yet still going. The battlers, the fighters, those putting one put in front of the other… Those wonderful heroes who came from nowhere in droves to help, the wonderful Sikhs who drove 27 hours to come and cook the most amazing food for everyone, groups who turned up offering food, water and fruit to the mud army, those who run the Resilient Lismore FB group…

Ordinary people, emergency services, the fire service and even the army were called in to help.
Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash
It seemed perfect as a representation of the Lismore Heart symbol

If you could choose three people to invite for a dinner party,( dead or alive)who would they be and why?

Only three! Probably Laurens van der Post, Arthur Upfield, Agatha Christie and Carl Jung – maths was never my strong point!

Questions about Writing.

Have you always written? I’ve been a storyteller since childhood. Growing up in a very isolated location threw me back on my own resources for entertainment. So I learned at a young age to see stories everywhere and in the most mundane events. In my first years of primary school, I began writing. There have been long periods when I haven’t though and always felt something was missing. Now it’s a full-time occupation, and I’ve never been happier.

What inspired your new book?

Mildura. My home town renamed Whitworth for the book. I love the wide-open spaces, the red dirt, the river red gums, the river… The breathtaking sense of solitude that standing in the middle of somewhere like the Hay Plains brings. The sense of peace. I grew up in Mildura when there were lots of interesting things going on – especially for a budding crime fiction writer. I wanted to explore links between events, characters, to explore what was hidden, and always to learn why people do what they do.

What time of the day do you usually write? Much prefer mornings. Brain is fresher and ideas emerge more easily.

What is the most difficult part about writing for you? When my characters refuse to co-operate, or tell me what’s going on. Sometimes threats work, cajoling, offers of tea or something stronger. They fall silent when I’m taking the story in the direction I want it to go, rather than how they want it told. When we work in harmony it’s so much easier.

What is your work schedule like when you are writing? It depends on where I’m up to in the process. Always start early and often work through. If I have a deadline, I just keep going. If I have time, usually finish about lunchtime and do other things in the afternoon.

What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk? Being able to close my eyes and watch the characters interact, eavesdrop on conversations, see what’s unfolding through someone else’s eyes. And if the characters are playing nicely, be able to ask questions. That’s a fabulous quirk to have!

Did you do any research for your current book? Yes. Because it’s a police procedural I need to understand how things are done, interviews conducted, the treatment of a crime scene. A lot of information can be gathered by reading widely, asking questions, but in the end how you put the research together, which sections you use are all determined by how the story wants and needs to be told.

Do you have a favourite character that you have written? If so, who? And what makes them so special? It would have to be David. The man in my current novel who didn’t want to be the hero. His refusal to take on the role ground the entire story to a screeching halt. It was only when I asked a writing group I’m part of why he was being unhelpful that someone made the suggestion that perhaps the wrong person was in the hero role. I listened to the characters, to the story, and swapped the hero. A flood of ideas and events, layers and understanding emerged and I have to type more quickly in order to keep up.

Coco all grown up! .Cats just get everywhere..

Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions? Possible. But perhaps not fiction. So much of what goes on in a story, love, loss, anger, grief, hope – are strong emotions and for many felt physically as well as in the mind. It would be hard to be convincing if the emotion wasn’t felt.

Best writing advice/ Worst writing advice you ever received? Best advice – get the story out of your head in whatever way works for you. Worst advice – draft everything. That takes out all the fun of discovery.

Best money you have spent as a writer? The first course I did at the NSW Writer’s Centre, was in about 1996. I don’t remember now what it was, but I remember the teacher and her belief that I had the capacity to tell gripping stories. No one had ever given me that backup before.

Do you have a favourite author and why? Favourites change from month to month, there are always new discoveries to make. I always come back to Garry Disher and Peter Temple. I love the speed in Temple’s work, and the dark depths and how he handles dialogue. I love the spartan writing in Disher’s work and how the landscape is a powerful part of what unfolds.

What are you reading now? Gary Jubelin’s I Catch Killers, and Fiona Macintosh’s The Spys Wife.

What books or authors have most influenced your writing? I think everything I’ve ever read has added something. The way of describing a scene, an emotion, a discussion between characters – I’ve taken some piece of information, view, learning from every book I’ve read. Some books show me how NOT to tell a story. The influences can be positive and negative.

Favourite book/story you have read as an adult? How much paper do you have! So many remarkable books and all have had a different impact on how I see stories. I loved the Far Pavilions, Len Deighton’s Hook, Line and Sinker series, Ruth Rendell, Simeon, Arthur Upfield. Arthur Upfield’s, Death of a Swagman has a special place in my memory. It was the first book set in a country that I knew well and had grown up in. Jon Cleary, Trent Dalton, Kate Forsyth….

Favourite book/story you have read as a child? Lord of the Rings was the first book I read as an early teen that has stayed with me and is reread on a regular basis. But I don’t write or read fantasy. There is such depth to the story that it always enriches anything I’m working on. LOTR is a place to retreat, to emerge inspired and restored and after, well, some decades, it always has something new to offer that I hadn’t discovered before.

Flood waters at the second floor of The Lismore library.Photo taken by Dannika from the Lismore library page.

If you would care to donate to the library appeal ,as I did, more details can be found on the Lismore library home page.

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https://www.facebook.com/Ruth-Morgan-Writer-102267447887269

Meet author Rod Baker.

Rod and I have been friends for a few years, drawn together by our love of writing. Both of us are ex-pat Brits. He lives in Canada and I live in Australia. Neither of us can remember where it was that we ‘met,’ but it was probably in one of the many online writers’ forums. Unusually, among my writer friends, Rod writes memoirs. Over time I have read and enjoyed all of his books and I think you might, too.

Thanks for joining us. Prior to your writing, you have had a varied career; can you tell us a little about that?

Like many sixteen-year-olds, I was bored with my home, my home town, my parents, and probably myself. I wanted something bigger, better, an exciting life, adventure! When someone said to me, “You should join the merchant navy and see the world,” two weeks later, I did.

Samuel Johnson said, “Life at sea is like being in prison, with the added possibility of drowning.” While true, I loved visiting over 20 countries, meeting the local people and talking with them. Lives in Africa, Central America, China, Japan, Tahiti, Canada, to name a few, were so interesting, so different from mine. It stretched my knowledge of humankind and made me a more understanding person. When I was 19, I fell in love with a girl I met on a blind date in Vancouver, emigrated to Canada at age 21, and got a job working on the tugboats. One December night in the far north, the tug ran aground and the barge carrying 18,000 gallons of gasoline and lots of heavy equipment crushed the tug. I escaped with my life and decided to get a job ashore.

I became an apprentice boatbuilder and learned how to build 55-foot boats out of wood. Each payday, I would buy myself a new tool for my toolbox, on my slow four-year journey to become a tradesman. You can read more about it here.

After getting married, buying a house becoming a father of two, I lost my job and couldn’t pay the mortgage. Scary! I couldn’t find any work, so, clutching at straws, I started a boat repair business, which I ran for 20 years. Business taught me to be accountable and responsible.

Unfortunately, that marriage ended and we divorced. I had no energy to run the business anymore, so I sold it and retrained to be a psychological counsellor. All the theories were really interesting, and I ended up getting an MA in Counselling. It felt good to help people. I learned that my problems were minor compared to many. For a while, I was a counsellor in a refugee centre. Such awful stories of people’s lives disrupted forever. Chilling! I was also an addiction counsellor for a couple of years.

Counselling can help[ with a range of problems.

My counselling and business experience equipped me to run a non-profit organization for people with mental illness. We provided housing and support for them. I also started an outreach program for homeless people. This sort of work made me realize how lucky I was. Well, not always completely lucky. After I got hired as executive director for the Simon Fraser branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, they told me they didn’t have enough money to pay me! Yes, I was pissed off! I started a thrift store (charity shop) largely run by our mental health clients, which made a lot of money and helped pull us out of financial difficulties. It also gave our clients a chance to give back and learn new skills.

Which job appealed to you the most?

They were all interesting. Running the nonprofit was probably the most rewarding because it was the most complex, and I saw the results of my work in the daily lives of the people we were supporting.

What gave you the impetus to begin writing, what are essentially memoirs?

I had to write a lot of really boring funding proposals in the ten years I worked in nonprofits. I promised myself when I retired at 65, I would write something, more interesting, more fun, more entertaining. I hoped I achieved that! Plus, I only usually read non-fiction so memoirs just rolled out naturally.

Which one gets the most comments?

“I Need My Yacht by Friday – True Tales from the Boat Repair Yard,” gets the most comments and sells the most. People who have run any business can relate and boat owners can really understand the various themes.

How do you have such a good recall?

Some notes, some photos, but I have an excellent memory for emotional events, they just stick in my brain. As I had a number of different careers, there were lots of first time experiences. It’s easy to remember those. I often can recall word for word what was said — it just resonates and sticks in my brain.

If you were starting out writing now, would you do anything differently?

Yes, I would start earlier than I did at age 65.

As a migrant do you ever feel nostalgia for ‘home’ or is ‘home’ wherever you are?

I miss the English countryside, the humour, the pubs, the regional accents and BBC radio. I don’t miss snobby, pretentious people or the class system. To a point, home is where I am, except I lived in Italy for a year in 2008, and that didn’t feel like home. Ha, I could write about that!

What do you like to read? Any favourite authors or genres?

Alexandra Fuller, Farley Mowat, Gavin Maxwell, Gerald Durrell, Lawrence Anthony, Cheryl Strayed, Jared Diamond.

I think I have read all of your books, but my favourite is the one about managing the Charity Shop.

Thanks, Sonia. In some ways, it was the most difficult to write, so I’m glad you enjoyed it!

Rod is currently working on a memoir of his earlier life, provisionally called The Shilling Thieves. I have read some extracts and it is hilarious. So, look out for that soon

All of Rod’s books are available on Amazon and if you are in Canada through rodbakerbooks.com

Rod left home at 16 years old and went to sea as a deckhand. He migrated from England to Canada at age 21and found work as a mate on the British Columbia tugboats. After the tug sank in the Haida Gwaii islands, he quit going to sea and worked as an apprentice boat builder, marine repair shop owner, psychotherapist and executive director of non-profit mental health associations.

Since retiring from full-time work in 2012, he has written four memoirs and is currently working on a book of humorous short stories. rodbakerbooks.com

Which Books Did I Read in October 2021?

October was a rainy month, which certainly favoured more reading. Although I would love to buy all the books I read, I can’t. Instead, I enjoy getting books through my local library. Libraries have been transformed from those “temples of silence,” I knew as a child. Now, libraries are vital community spaces, as well as knowledge hubs. My local library will request books they haven’t got in stock. I also attended an author talk by New York Times best-selling author Natasha Lester. Additionally, this month I started attending a drawing class.

Wouldnt you rather be inside, reading a good book?

The Riviera House by Natasha Lester

The New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Secret weaves a lush and engrossing novel of World War II inspired by a true story and perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Pam Jenoff.

Paris, 1939: The Nazis think Éliane can’t understand German. They’re wrong. They think she’s merely cataloguing art in a Louvre museum and unaware they’re stealing national treasures for their private collections. They have no idea she’s carefully decoding their notes and smuggling information to the Resistance. But Éliane is playing a dangerous game. Does she dare trust the man she once loved with her secrets, or will he only betray her once again? She has no way to know for certain . . . until a trip to a stunning home on the French Riviera brings a whole new level of peril.

Present Day: Wanting to forget the tragedy that has left her life in shambles, Remy Lang heads to a home she’s mysteriously inherited on the Riviera. While working on her vintage fashion business, she discovers a catalogue of the artworks stolen during World War II and is shocked to see a painting that hung on her childhood bedroom wall. Who is her family, really? And does the Riviera house hold more secrets than Remy is ready to face?

Natasha Lester brilliantly explores the impossible choices ordinary people faced every day during extraordinary circumstances, weaving fact with fiction and celebrating women who push the boundaries of their time.

My Review.

A new Natasha Lester book always fills me with anticipation, wondering will I enjoy it as much as her previous book? I needn’t have worried, this book with its compelling mix of intrigue and danger in wartime France was exactly what I had expected. The story concerns the wholesale art thefts perpetrated by the Nazi’s. In exploring this, every sentence is a work of art, arguing the value of art to civilisation. There is also Éliane’s captivating love story, fraught with danger and deception.

In the present day, Remy’s life has lost its meaning and she is far away from Australia in the Riviera House. She can run her vintage fashion business from anywhere and craves solitude. Her gregarious neighbours are determined to involve her in their lives and are impossible to overlook. Allowing herself to experience more, she finds the catalogue of the stolen artworks and is intrigued enough to want to take it further. She is helped by a gorgeous photographer who understands sadness and grief.

Man Drought by Rachael Johns.

Imogen Bates moved to the small rural town of Gibson’s Find to start a new life for herself after the death of her husband. Tired of being haunted by the painful memories of her old life, Imogen set her last remaining hopes on the little town and, in particular, pouring her heart and savings into restoring The Majestic Hotel to its former glory. But while the female-starved town might be glad to see a young woman move in, not everyone is happy about Imogen’s arrival.

Sheep and crop farmer Gibson Black once dreamed of having the kind of family his grandfather reminisces about, but he’s learnt not to dream anymore. Living in the mostly male town suits Gibson down to the ground…and he won’t have anyone — least of all a hot redhead from the city — change a thing.

Imogen has never been one to back down from a challenge, especially when it concerns her last chance at happiness. She’s determined to rebuild the pub and create a future for the little town. But can she create a future for Gibson and herself, too?

My Review.

Intrigued by the title, I picked this up. It’s one of Rachael Johns earlier books and obviously inspired by programs like Farmer Wants a Wife. If you enjoyed that show, you would probably enjoy this book. I did, it’s effortless reading ( which means hard work writing it by the way.)

Imogen is a character who appealed to me, and I was inspired by her gutsy life-changing decisions. What is a woman without her friends? Immy’s friends are horrified by her plans but support her anyway. In a town full of men, one catches her eye, and while everyone else is super friendly he remains remote and distant. Meanwhile, his grandfather Charlie can’t sing his praises high enough and would love to get them together. Maybe the Man Drought weekend that Imogen has organised will provide the spark?

Meet Me In Bendigo by Eva Scott.

Small-town Australia meets You’ve Got Mail in this rural romantic comedy about online dating, second chances, and following your heart.

Small-town sweetheart Annalisa Cappelli has returned to Wongilly to take over her family’s hardware store while she heals from a tragic loss. The business was hit hard by the pandemic, and now a Carpenter’s Warehouse hardware superstore is opening in the district. There’s no way Annalisa is going to let two hundred years of history go down the drain, but she’s going to need to fight to keep her family’s legacy alive.

The one simple thing in her life is her no names, no complications, easy-breezy online relationship with GardenerGuy94. For now, their online flirtation is the only kind of romance Annalisa needs. Until she meets Ed Carpenter. Sexy as hell, he’d be the perfect man … if he wasn’t trying to destroy her business.

Ed Carpenter is in Wongilly to offer the owner of a small hardware store a payout to pave the way for his family’s next superstore. What he doesn’t expect is for the owner to be the woman he’s been talking to online. Annalisa is beautiful and passionate, and he’s sure she’s the one for him. But how can he reveal the truth without losing her?

My Review

Understandably we are drawn to the story of an underdog and in this case, two hundred years of history is going to be lost. Reinforces a message that when we are online, do we know who we are talking to? Confiding online with GardenerGuy94 Annalisa feels a connection. Yet meeting her nemesis, Ed Carpenter surprises her with a sense of attraction. Although enjoyable, I felt the idea the book was based on hadn’t enough legs to be the whole plot

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Four septuagenarians with a few tricks up their sleeves
A female cop with her first big case
A brutal murder
Welcome to…
The Thursday Murder Club

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty, but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case. As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it’s too late?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it refreshing that retirees were portrayed as vibrant and intelligent individuals. The murder itself has enough intrigue to make its unravelling pleasantly complicated. Great characters and nice plotting. I obviously must have been living under a rock, but I had no idea that Richard Osman was a celebrity.

When You Are Mine by Michael Robotham

A heart-pounding psychological thriller about friendship and obsession

Philomena ‘Phil’ McCarthy is a promising young officer in the London Metropolitan police.

But everything changes when she is called to the scene of a domestic assault. Unbeknownst to her, the abuser is a decorated detective and Phil’s efforts to protect his girlfriend – Tempe Brown – from violence result in Phil being unjustly struck from the force.

In the fallout, Phil begins to teach Tempe self-defence and they strike up a tentative friendship. Tempe is thoughtful and sweet, and within a matter of weeks the two women are inseparable – talking, socialising and confiding their deepest secrets in one another. But something isn’t right. Sinister things keep happening and, when a body is discovered, Phil realises that Tempe is hiding deadly secrets of her own. Secrets she is willing to kill for . . .

This pulse-racing standalone psychological thriller from the internationally bestselling author of The Secrets She Keeps is Michael Robotham’s finest yet, and confirms his reputation as the Mastermind of Crime.

My Review

Tautly plotted and tension-filled, this book had me reading just a bit more each time. Michael Robotham ‘gets’ women and writes well in the female voice. I couldn’t find a false note. The premise of the daughter of a crime family joining the police is intriguing and Phil( short for Philomena) is a feisty and likeable character. How her life escalates after attending a reported domestic violence incident is well-paced and believable. I couldn’t put it down.

Flying The Nest by Rachael Johns

They say a change is as good as a holiday…but what if you don’t want either?

Is her family’s happiness more important than her own?

The first time Ashling Wood realises her marriage is on the rocks is when her husband, Adrian, suggests they try nest parenting. Heartbroken, Ash suddenly finds herself living a double life – one week with her children, the next cohabiting with her happily single sister-in-law. Her friends think the modern custody solution is an exciting opportunity for her to spread her wings, but all Ash wants is her family back together.

An offer to renovate a seaside cottage seems like the perfect distraction for Ash while waiting for Adrian to come to his senses. She’s determined to fix her marriage as well as the cottage, but life gets even more complicated when she meets local fisherman Dan Emerson.

Soon, each home-stay becomes more dysfunctional, while for the other week Ash enjoys the peaceful life of the beachside community. The more time Ash spends in Ragged Point, the more she questions what she really wants. Is a sea-change the fresh start she needs to move on?

When tragedy calls Ash back to the city, she’s torn between the needs of her family and her future. Can her family life fit in with a permanent move to the beach or could Ash’s newfound independence attract Adrian back to the nest?

From the get-go, you feel for Ashling, who is blindsided by her husband Adrian’s suggestion of Nest Parenting. A term I hadn’t heard before. She is not just heartbroken. but emotionally broken, that her ‘perfect life’ has come crashing down. She tries to put a brave face on it for the children, but inwardly she feels like howling. A chance to get away to Ragged Bay offers an escape, although the derelict cottage isn’t exactly welcoming. Slowly, she begins to sort out an alternative life for herself. Her life takes on a rhythm of weeks with the children. and weeks at Ragged Bay. These lives are quite different and begin to allow her to reflect on who she is, and what she wants.

Grief Works: Stories of Life, Death and Surviving by Julia Samuel

Death affects us all. Yet it is still the last taboo in our society, and grief is still profoundly misunderstood…

In Grief Works, we hear stories from those who have experienced great love and great loss – and survived. Stories that explain how grief unmasks our greatest fears, strips away our layers of protection and reveals our innermost selves.

Julia Samuel, a grief psychotherapist, has spent twenty-five years working with the bereaved and understanding the full repercussions of loss. This deeply affecting book is full of psychological insights on how grief if approached correctly, can heal us. Through elegant, moving stories, we learn how we can stop feeling awkward and uncertain about death, and not shy away from talking honestly with family and friends.

This extraordinary book shows us how to live and learn from great loss.

Sadly, I didn’t find it helpful, but it may work for you.

My Review

After a family bereavement, I picked up this book. Grief is a silent companion, one that you often do not wish to burden others with. I had hoped for a compassionate guidebook to help me through the process. While others say they have found it helpful, it just didn’t feel that way to me. I read the relevant chapters and some of the end of the book but found it was depressing me even more.

Bleed for Me by Michael Robotham

She’s standing at the front door. Covered in blood. Is she the victim of a crime? Or the perpetrator?

A teenage girl — Sienna, a troubled friend of his daughter — comes to Joe O’Loughlin’s door one night. She is terrorized, incoherent, and covered in blood.

The police find Sienna’s father, a celebrated former cop, murdered in the home he shared with Sienna. Tests confirm that it’s his blood on Sienna. She says she remembers nothing.

Joe O’Loughlin is a psychologist with troubles of his own. His marriage is coming to an end and his daughter will barely speak to him. He tries to help Sienna, hoping that if he succeeds it will win back his daughter’s affection. But Sienna is unreachable, unable to mourn her father’s death or to explain it.

Investigators take aim at Sienna. O’Loughlin senses something different is happening, something subterranean and terrifying to Sienna. It may be something in her mind. Or it may be something real. Someone real. Someone capable of the most grim and gruesome murder, and willing to kill again if anyone gets too close.

His newest thriller is further evidence that Michael Robotham is, as David Baldacci has said, “the real deal — we only hope he will write faster

My Review.

I hadn’t planned on reading another Michael Robotham so quickly, but a friend lent me this book. Of course, reading the blurb, I was intrigued. I’ve ‘met’ Joe O’Loughlin before, and like the character. This is book four in the series, but I was able to read this as a standalone. It was easy to be drawn into the story while continually questioning what was, or wasn’t the truth. The story flowed well and had believability, but two things didn’t sit right with me. One was a scene I wish hadn’t been included and the other was the final explanation.

A Bad Day for Sunshine by Dyranda Jones

Sheriff Sunshine Vicram finds her cup o’ joe more than half full when the small village of Del Sol, New Mexico, becomes the center of national attention for a kidnapper on the loose.

Del Sol, New Mexico is known for three things: its fry-an-egg-on-the-cement summers, strong cups of coffee – and, now, a nationwide manhunt? Del Sol native Sunshine Vicram has returned to town as the elected sheriff – thanks to her adorably meddlesome parents who nominated her–and she expects her biggest crime wave to involve an elderly flasher named Doug. But a teenage girl is missing, a kidnapper is on the loose, and all of this is reminding Sunshine why she left Del Sol in the first place. Add to that the trouble at her daughter’s new school, plus and a kidnapped prized rooster named Puff Daddy, and, well, the forecast looks anything but sunny.

But even clouds have their silver linings. This one’s got Levi, Sunshine’s sexy, almost-old-flame, and a fiery-hot US Marshall. With temperatures rising everywhere she turns, Del Sol’s normally cool-minded sheriff is finding herself knee-deep in drama and danger. Can Sunshine face the call of duty – and find the kidnapper who’s terrorizing her beloved hometown – without falling head over high heels in love . . . or worse?

Do you judge a book by its cover? Or by its title? In this case, both appealed to me

My Review.

I picked this book based on the title. Initially, I found the style a little confusing, but then I got into the story. It reminded me of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series in some ways. There is a mysterious disappearance, that had been predicted, and an off-limits love interest and storyline that is set to continue both into the past and the future.

A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz

The New York Times bestselling author of the brilliantly inventive The Word Is Murder and The Sentence Is Death returns with his third literary whodunit featuring intrepid detectives Hawthorne and Horowitz.

When Ex-Detective Inspector Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, author Anthony Horowitz, are invited to an exclusive literary festival on Alderney, an idyllic island off the south coast of England, they don’t expect to find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation—or to be trapped with a cold-blooded killer in a remote place with a murky, haunted past.

Arriving on Alderney, Hawthorne and Horowitz soon meet the festival’s other guests—an eccentric gathering that includes a bestselling children’s author, a French poet, a TV chef turned cookbook author, a blind psychic, and a war historian—along with a group of ornery locals embroiled in an escalating feud over a disruptive power line.

When a local grandee is found dead under mysterious circumstances, Hawthorne and Horowitz become embroiled in the case. The island is locked down, no one is allowed on or off, and it soon becomes horribly clear that a murderer lurks in their midst. But who?

Both a brilliant satire on the world of books and writers and an immensely enjoyable locked-room mystery,  A Line to Kill is a triumph—a riddle of a story full of brilliant misdirection, beautifully set-out clues, and diabolically clever denouements.

My Review. Alderney, a remote location, among the Channel Isles is not the sort of place to hold a literary festival. Horowitz’s publishers are enthusiastic about testing out the duo of Hawthorne and Horowitz in such an out of the way spot. Despite misgivings, Horowitz is forced to agree and finds himself once again observing Hawthorne at work. This time though there isn’t a murder in sight. Confounding Horowitz, the usually taciturn Hawthorne charms at the literary festival. Then, the festival’s sponsor is murdered and everyone on the island, including the guest authors, is suspected. Horowitz plays Watson to an increasingly confident Hawthorne, who knows more than he is telling. One solution is arrived at, but is that the end? Then there is a hint of where the next book will be set.

Chatting with Kath Engebretson about The Blooming of Alison Brennan.

Hi Kath, It’s lovely to welcome you back to talk about your new book. The Blooming of Alison Brennan which was published recently by Next Chapter.

A family full of secrets…and one girl who must survive.

Sixteen-year-old Alison Brennan’s mother, Bernadette, is an agoraphobic hoarder, and her father Harry seems to have no past. Struggling every day, Alison seeks the help of a school counsellor.

When an old homeless man is found dead in a Melbourne park, Alison’s life changes. Somehow, the man’s death is connected to her family and the Polish Home Army.

Fighting for her future, can Alison unravel the mystery of her family and the dead man, and find a way to place her trust in others again?

I enjoyed reading it and found Alison such an engaging and relatable character.

Alison lives with her agoraphobic hoarder mother, and her father Harry, who lets life happen. Alison’s everyday life is a struggle, even to get herself to school. As a teacher and academic, did you encounter any children of hoarders?

Not especially of hoarders, but as a teacher, you often encounter children or young people who struggle with difficult home situations. It may be that they’re a carer for a sick parent, or the family may be breaking up, or sometimes it’s just emotional and physical neglect. As a teacher, you can be a listener, but most schools have specialist counsellors or welfare officers who have the skills and knowledge to help. I modelled the school counsellor, Stella Goodall, on such a person.

Most of us will have seen what a hoarder’s home is like from TV. It’s certainly not a normal environment. What inspired you to write about such an unusual topic?

From reading books and articles about hoarding, I began to try to imagine what it must be like for a child or teenager to be trapped in such a situation. They would either be buried in it or try to rise above it. I had to give Alison lots of inner strength and independence to cope with it, but also empathy, or it would have made her hate her parents.

Alison is lucky that she gains help from a school counsellor, but she is also a strong character herself.

Yes, she’s very strong, and in the story, I try to show that it was a characteristic she inherited from her maternal grandmother.

I got impatient with her father, but when his story is revealed, I gained more understanding. I enjoyed how each chapter gave us a different person’s perspective.

Had you always planned to write the book that way, or did you choose to do that later on?

No, it evolved. It began being a story of a child of a hoarder, but then the characters grew. I wove in the grandfather and the uncle and his partner, to give Alison a support base, then the events that unfolded are indirectly based on actual events.

The link between finding the homeless man dead in the park and Alison was a surprise. As were the stories of heroism from the Polish Home Army. You didn’t overload the book with information, but it was clear that you had done your research. Theirs is a story that deserves to be told.

Was the linkage always obvious to you or did that develop as you wrote?

The homeless man found dead in a Melbourne park actually happened some years ago, but I changed it in every detail. Making the homeless man a Polish refugee was something I wanted to do. A friend of our family married a Polish man who had come to Australia after the war. He had been a prisoner of war in Poland and was an activist for Poland’s freedom after the Nazi takeover. He expressed his activism through poetry, and the State Library of Victoria has three of his books of poems, all in Polish of course so I couldn’t read them, not knowing the language. The refugees who came to Australia after the war were often sent to remote places to work on big constructions such as the Snowy Mountains scheme.

Refugees could have been lost at sea. Their experiences too painful to share

Imagine the loneliness and pain, in those stark conditions, especially since many of them would also have lost their families to the war. I try to tell that story through Hobie and his son. Richard Flanagan writes of this immigrant experience in Tasmania in The Sound of One Hand Clapping.

What do you hope people take away from the story if anything?

The triumph of the human spirit, that change is always a possibility, that love is everywhere and when we think it’s not possible, it can come from behind and surprise us.

How long did the book take to write and what’s next on the agenda for you?

I wrote this over one year, but I didn’t find a publisher until now. Reading it again, I’m very proud of it. I’m working on another book now, set in the Victorian Mallee area. I hope to have it out next year.

Oh, I will look forward to that. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us.

Thank you, Sonia, for your interest and support.

You can find the book at Abe Books, Book Depository, or Amazon.

facebook.com/kathengebretsonauthor/

kathengebretson.com

Meet Aussie Expat Katrina Coll, talking about her new book, A Match Made for TV.

It’s a pleasure to welcome author Katrina Coll to talk about her new book

An expat Aussie, Katrina lives in rural Ireland where the countryside really is forty shades of green. She is a keen cook, which is why she’s becoming a reluctant runner with the support of the family dog, Beetlejuice.

Thank you for joining us- tell us about your new book A Match Made for TV which released 16^th September.

Ria De Lorenzo is a damn good doctor. Or was. Burnt out before she’s begun, a three-month paid vacation as the medical consultant to a reality TV show is just what she needs to recover her mojo.

Cancer survivor and headline grabber Griffin Stromberg is desperate to reboot his ultra-macho image. Typecast by years of fame, showcasing his softer side with a picture-perfect relationship should do the trick. Until Ria breaches show protocol and gets Griff’s fake girlfriend disqualified.

Now Ria’s only hope of clocking out of reality is to check in to a fantasy by becoming his new partner. Griff, however, wants their relationship to be the real deal, not one of his infamous life-hacks.

Can a man renowned for taking shortcuts prove he’s ready to commit to a forever relationship? Or will reality bite once filming is over?

Note: This is a steamy romance, which includes swearing and steamy bathroom sex.

Oh, sounds great! Are you writing anything else?

My work in progress returns to the world of reality tv with a reunion romance. My couple are paired on a bake-off—one is a chef, the other a cook. The fallout from past betrayals is massive but they have to work through their past for a much bigger reason than a tv show.

We will discuss your writing, but first some quick-fire questions.

Late nights or early mornings? Late nights. I am not a morning person.

What’s for breakfast? I often do overnight oats in jars with yogurt and fruit.

Night out or Netflix? Netflix on weekends. Weeknights I write.

G &T or Tea/coffee? While I do love a pink gin and elderflower tonic (*Foodie alert), I cannot do without decent coffee.

Perfect weekend? These days it’s any weekend when I get out the house.

What did you want to be when you grew up? An author.

What is for dinner tonight? Can you cook? It ended up a roast rack of rosemary lamb with Catalan-style greens, roasted root veggies, and baby new potatoes. For a bit of fun, here’s a pic:

What brings you joy? Lifts your spirits, chases away a down mood. Taking the dog for a walk always cheers me up.

Your hero? My nanna. She’s a total legend.

If you could choose three people (living or dead ) to invite for a dinner party, who would they be and why? They’d have to be living because I’m prejudiced against zombies. Actually, I’d just love to be able to hold dinner parties again…

Dinner parties seem like a distant dream!

Do you have any non-writing related interests? I’m re-learning the piano (thanks lockdown!) and I’m going for my second black belt. (The first was a loooong time ago.) What would surprise people to know about you? If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise!

I know you have a dog, but I could not resist this picture with the cat!

Life lessons-what do you wish you’d know earlier? Persistence is more important than intelligence.

Questions about Writing. What is your writing process like? Iterative. I write, re-write, write, edit. It is not efficient but it’s how my brain works.

Do you have any other projects are in the works? I have two paranormal romances waiting to see the light of day, a medieval romance (currently shelved), and the sequel I mentioned.

Have you ever resuscitated a project you’d shelved? What helped it work better the second time around? I have some stories on life support so long it’s embarrassing. The bake-off book is one example. I wrote a version before A Match Made for TV but realised that while I had tension, drama and attraction, the relationship never built. Now I build the relationship first.

A competitive environment can spark rivalries and maybe romance?

If you were to genre-hop, which genres would you most like to try writing? Fantasy and historical.

What writing resources have been most helpful to you? The most singularly useful text was Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes. But collectively, it’s been by joining writing organisations like the Romance Writers of Australia.

What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the beginning of your writing/publishing journey? I wish I’d had critique partners sooner instead of trying to do it all solo.

A critique partner makes such a difference.

What is your work schedule like when you’re writing? I’m still at the stage of fitting writing around my work.

What inspired your new book? My love of cooking. And the Aussie TV show the Cook and the Chef.

Always something to learn in the kitchen.

What is the most difficult part about writing for you? Getting new words down and keeping them.

Did you do any research for your current book? I have a chronic need to research, so yes.

Best writing advice/ Worst writing advice you ever received? Finish the damn book has to be the best.’

“A writer is a person who writes every day” is the worst.

Best money you have spent as a writer? Buying Scrivener.

What are you reading now? Playing it Safe by Amy Andrews. And the next book on pre-order is The King’s Cowboy by Madeline Ash.

What books or authors have most influenced your writing? I’m looking looking forward to hearing what readers say about my style.

Favourite book/story you have read as an adult? Current fave is The Hating Game by Sally Thorne.

Favourite book/story you have read as a child? Almost everything by Diana Wynne Jones.

You can catch up with Katrina here.

Web https://www.katrinacoll.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KatrinaCollAuthor

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/katrinacollauthor/

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.ie/KatrinaCollAuthor/a-match-made-for-tv/

BUY LINKS:

Here’s the publisher link (best value as on sale): https://www.evernightpublishing.com/a-match-made-for-tv-by-katrina-coll/

https://books2read.com/A-Match-Made-for-TV

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The Life Impossible by Matt Haig.

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

A Love Letter to Paris By Rebecca Raisin

If I Tell You… I’ll Have to Kill You. Edited by Michael Robotham.

The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre.

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Some quick-fire questions.

Questions about Writing.

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Some getting-to-know-you questions.

Let’s talk about your new book Lonely in Paris which was released, today 16th January 2023

Questions about Writing.

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The Riviera House by Natasha Lester

Man Drought by Rachael Johns.

Meet Me In Bendigo by Eva Scott.

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

When You Are Mine by Michael Robotham

Flying The Nest by Rachael Johns

Grief Works: Stories of Life, Death and Surviving by Julia Samuel

Bleed for Me by Michael Robotham

A Bad Day for Sunshine by Dyranda Jones

A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz

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**Let’s talk about your new book Lonely in Paris which was released, today 16^th January 2023**