Q & A

Here are some Questions and Answers suggested by a questionnaire that was sent to me by Goldsboro Books.

Q1: Did you have much difficulty in getting published?
It took 6 years of submissions. I had a fair bit of interest from several agents, and one publisher. But then I did one more rewrite, and Macmillan New Writing picked it up last year.

Q2: How do you write? Typewriter, hand, or PC?
PC

Q3: What do you read for pleasure or do you mainly read for research?
When I was writing Another Time and Place I read almost nothing except books about World War II. The book I’m working on now is contemporary so I’m free to read all kinds of fiction and history. Recent books I’ve enjoyed include Saturday by Ian McEwan, Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka, Turning Point by Tim Winton, Elizabeth by Alison Weir, 1599 by James Shapiro. All time favourites include anything by Hemingway, Hardy or the Brontes. Oh, and Michael Ondaatje. Currently I’m reading Night Watch by Sarah Waters.

Q4: Do you have any input on the design of your covers?
A little. The first draft showed a Lancaster Bomber in flight against a beautiful sunset. It was a lovely image but I had to point out that my hero actually flies a B17 Flying Fortress. So they changed it.

Q5: Would you like to see your books made into films for screen or TV?
Love to.

Q6: What is the title of your future release and can you give any information about it?
I’m currently working on a book called After The Twelfth. Here’s the Blurb:
Everyone has a secret.
For the first time in twelve years, Lorraine Gardiner has forgotten her wedding anniversary. A simple lapse of memory or the first hint of deeper trouble?
When husband Paul unravels the secret of Lorraine’s affair with the man next door, the consequences for the family are devastating. Forced to move far away from their neighbour, Stuart Freeman, and far away from their beloved Sydney beaches, they head for Paul’s native England to begin again. But Paul has secrets of his own in England, a past he had hoped to leave behind him years ago.
Struggling to repair their marriage and make a new life in England, they are desperately homesick, and it is many months before they finally start to feel at home.
Then two unrelated events take place that will throw their fragile relationship into further jeopardy. A face from Paul’s past appears, a face he has tried to forget. Terrified that Lorraine might now discover the truth from someone else, Paul decides he must tell her himself. But by then Lorraine’s parents have invited her home for their fortieth wedding anniversary. Should he still admit to the truth? And should he trust her to be that close to Stuart Freeman again, even for a short time?
Moving back and forth across the continents in an intense and emotionally compelling narrative, After the Twelfth raises significant questions about the nature of honesty and deception, and explores the legacy of keeping secrets from the people we love.

Q7: Which of your books is your favourite?
I think I’ll always have a soft spot for Another Time and Place, but I tend to get caught up in whatever I’m working on at the time.

Q8: What is your writing schedule like?
I have a young son, so generally I write when he’s at school. In between doing the shopping and housework that is.

Q9: What are your favourite and least favourite things about being a writer?
I like: setting my own hours, being able to go for long walks as part of the job, reading (for the same reason), having privileged insight into someone else’s story.
I don’t like: trying to get published, feeling lonely (sometimes), the lack of a steady income.

Q10: Do you read your reviews, good and bad, and do they make a difference to you?
I had my first review a few days ago and it was extremely positive so I was very pleased, but the bad ones will hurt.

Q11: What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a writer?
Read a lot and Persist.