Independent Jenny by Sarah Louise Smith - author interview

I'm very pleased to be able to welcome back Sarah Louise Smith - author of three chick lit novels published by Crooked Cat Ltd. 

1. Congratulations on the release of your third book, Independent Jenny. How does it feel? 
Thank you! It’s a bit surreal, actually. I never get used to receiving a paperback in the post… it might be the third book but I never get used to it.

2. Can you give us a brief description of Independent Jenny? 
In chapter one, Jenny discovers her husband has cheated on her. He wants forgiveness, but while she contemplates this, she discovers her brother-in-law has feelings for her and she starts to develop a crush on him, too. Unsure what to do, Jenny goes on holiday and meets yet another man she has a crush on. Her feelings go hay-wire and she isn’t sure who or what she wants; just that she doesn’t want to be alone.

3. When you were promoting your second book, Izzy’s Cold Feet, you said that you had already started your third book (which presumably is this one). Did the story of Independent Jenny form easily? 
It took me a while to really develop the story, partly because I had the fourth novel swirling in my head and I was keen to start it, but wanted to finish Jenny’s story first. I went away to the Isle of Skye for a break last year and developed most of the plot while I was there. It’s such an inspiring and beautiful place that I ended up setting a large part of the story there.

4. This post is part of a ‘blog hop’. Do you feel as a 21st century author that you are very involved in the process of promoting your book? Is this something you enjoy? 
Yes, promotion is essential if you want to sell books … luckily for me, I’ve been working in marketing communications for many years so that part comes quite easily to me – I just need more hours in the day to work, write and promote!

5. Can you see yourself in Jenny, or any of your other (main) characters? If so, is this intentional or something you don’t realise until you take a step back from your work? 
Definitely. Some people I know say they picture me when reading as the voice of my characters sounds like me, and the way I talk… I guess that’s natural in a way when writing in the first person. It’s not intentional, though – just something I realize later.

6. Independent Jenny is set in two locations. Do you do research for your books, or do you choose places you know already?
I choose places I know, I’d find it hard to write about a place I’d never been to. I love to travel and find a lot of inspiration from the places I visit; and I write a lot of notes to help me remember them accurately. I’m traveling to New York City, Niagara Falls, and Washington DC in the coming weeks so expect my next novel to have a setting in one of more of those locations!

7. Would you ever consider having any of your books converted to the big screen? If so, would you like to write the screenplay? Who would you like to play Jenny, Izzy (Izzy’s Cold Feet) or Amy (Amy & Zach)? 
Yes, I’d love to see my books on the big screen, although I’d probably get upset if they changed too much. I’ve never written a screenplay but that might be fun challenge.
Re actresses, I’d pick someone British (or who could do a very good British accent!) – so I guess someone like Keira Knightly, or Emily Blunt. They’re both fab actors.

8. Lastly, what can we expect from you in the future? Have you started book number four yet? 
Yes, I’m over half way through book four. Like I said, it was on my mind for a while before I had the chance to start it so it’s coming along quite quickly. It’s a similar genre and theme, about a girl who tells a small lie to a man she has a weekend fling with … but when the fling turns into something more serious, the lie doesn’t seem so small anymore.

Thank you very much to Sarah! For more about this author and her books, please check out the links below. 

Website - Sarah Louise Smith

Or you can follow her on twitter

Publisher - Crooked Cat Ltd.

Everyone Knows this is Nowhere by Alice Furse

About the Book

Title: Everyone Knows this is Nowhere 
Author: Alice Furse
Publication: Amazon (2013)
Summary: It’s an endless winter in suburbia, and a young graduate who dreams of fading into anonymity moves in with a traffic warden and accepts a mind-numbing job in an office. Slowly, she starts to believe that the apocalypse is imminent, but unable to find anyone who understands she hatches a plan to save herself – before it’s too late. 

Everybody Knows this is Nowhere is an honest, comic, heart-breaking novel about how we love each other and the road to discovering that life rarely happens as we expect. Disarmingly frank, the narrator pulls the novel to its inevitable, and painful, conclusion.

What I Think

I read Alice Furse's debut novel, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, twice, and that's saying something because I very rarely read a book twice. I thoroughly enjoyed it both times, and that's really saying something.

Sometimes I decided that there had to be another life out there, waiting for me to step into it like a new shoe. My life felt as if it didn't match me at all, as if I'd picked up the wrong one by accident. 

The main character (whose name we never find out) has just graduated and not knowing how to get the job of her dreams, accepts a mind-numbing job in an office. Personally this is something I can relate to as I found myself in exactly the same position after university. The book is filled with all the little experiences of working in an office and Furse finds a way to make the endless mundane days at the office interesting. 

You love what you love and you believe what you believe. 

Relationships are also explored in the novel, the most important being the one between the main character and her boyfriend, the Traffic Warden. They live in "the noisiest place in the universe" and embark on post-uni life together. Relationships between couples in the twenty-first century are changing; there are no longer any rules and it's not always easy to find your way. Which flaws can you accept as endearing, and which are unbearable? 

I loved the sharpness of the air in my mouth and the skeletal trees spread like veins on the clear sky. 

Alice Furse has a way of looking for the extraordinary in the ordinary, writing about it and making it compelling in a way that I've rarely seen before. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere is like a fly on the wall documentary, but in book form, and it's excellently done. She has a beautiful way with language and the book is packed with similes and descriptions, as well as fabulous one-liners. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is about to finish university (although make sure you're in a 'happy place' when you sit down to read it), anyone who has been frustrated after leaving university and anyone who is looking for a new, unique talent in the world of writing. 

About the Author

Alice Furse lives in Brixton, London, and works as a press officer for a national sports radio station. She has an MA in Creative Writing and Everybody Knows this is Nowhere is her first publication. 

Alice Furse - Author Interview

I'm very excited to welcome debut author Alice Furse to my blog today. I read her book, Everybody Knows this is Nowhere, recently and will be publishing a full review on Wednesday 12th February. I hope you enjoy this interview with Alice.  

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself 

I’ve moved around quite a bit but live in London now and absolutely love it. It’s massive and dirty and it took me a good year before I properly got my head around it, partly because when I first moved here I was a dealer in a casino and worked nights. Now I work as the press officer for a national sports radio station, which is a lot more fun and also means I get to see the daylight. I live near Brixton and there’s a great indie cinema, a sprawling food market, and a pub full of funny characters as well as a decent secondhand bookshop. I like the fact you never really know what you’re going to see when you leave your front door – London is a great place for eccentrics and misfits.

2. Can you tell us a little about your debut publication, Everyone Knows this is Nowhere?
Everybody Knows This is Nowhere is about a girl who has just left university and feels that life should now be starting, only to realise that nothing is how she thought it would be (including the man she lives with). She gets a job as an office receptionist and is just itching for something else, but really doesn’t know what.
In common with most first novels it’s heavily autobiographical: when I left uni I moved straight in with a boyfriend and had no solid idea about what I wanted to do with my life (beyond being a writer, a profession that everyone told me was a pipedream), but I wasn’t at all prepared for how utterly lost and useless and bored and alone I would feel. This novel was really my exploration of those feelings.

3. I would describe your writing style as ‘fly on the wall’. Do you think this is accurate and is this a style you have purposefully used? 

I read somewhere that when you write a novel it should be like you’re taking the reader by the hand and showing them around a world, and I really love that idea because firstly you have a license to take a person on a journey and show them whatever you want, which is amazing, but there’s also an onus on you to make it interesting enough that they continue to want to be there with you.
Everybody Knows is not plot-driven by any stretch of the imagination, so I purposefully had to think of ways to draw readers in and keep them, and I tried to do this by creating an ominous atmosphere and pretty weird ensemble of characters, as well as holding it all together by a deadpan narrator.
I was definitely trying to capture something real, as I was pretty sure that other people must also feel as I did and if I could make them feel less alone then great, because I think that’s what a writer’s job really is.

4. Did you make a conscious decision to self-publish, or was this made for you? 
Bit of both, I guess. I wrote the novel a few years ago, and right after it was finished I got an agent interested, who sent it out to his contacts. It got reasonably far at a few publishing houses, but they all said that although they liked it they couldn’t figure out how to market it, so I left it and got on with other things.
About six months ago it occurred to me what an utter waste this was, and that I’d put so much work into something that I’m pretty proud of and no one would ever get to read it. Self-publishing has been made so much easier as technology has advanced and now I have three years experience in PR under my belt, so I just decided to go for it. 

5. And what have been the ups and downs of self-publishing?
The main best thing has been seeing the project come to fruition – it feels complete now in a way it didn’t before. It’s had more downloads than I imagined in my wildest dreams, and I get a real kick out of the thought that people are actually reading something that I wrote. 
Also, the complete independence and control over what you’re doing is brilliant. I know it doesn’t sound all that fantastic when you compare it to a £20,000 advance, but it’s really something to look at your project and know that you made it all happen. I’m extremely lucky to know a great graphic designer who helped me put the cover together, but I came up with the idea for it and took the photo myself, and seeing the finished cover for the first time was one of the best moments of my life. I don’t say that lightly. I suddenly knew it was what I’d always wanted and I couldn’t put a price tag on that.
I don’t want to go on too much of a downer about self-publishing as there’s enough people who’ll do that for you, but it absorbs a lot of hours and the whole time I had this thought in my head, ‘What if this is a complete waste of time?’ 
I said before that I loved using my own photo for the cover, but it took me two evenings and a full Saturday mucking about to get that picture and I’d have much rather been sitting on the sofa eating crisps. Learning the ins and outs of formatting a book for Kindle isn’t a lot of fun either, but it just has to be done. 

6. Moving on from Everyone Knows this is Nowhere, what are you working on at the moment?
To be honest I’m working on a kabillion things, as usual. I’ve started another novel about London and a girl who has an affair with an older man and I’m about 10,000 words in, but I’ve yet to get my teeth into it properly as I’ve been up until the wee hours most nights getting Everybody Knows up and running and being read.
I’m also working on a couple of short stories to send out to magazines – the one I’m focused on at the moment is a story from my time working in a casino, which is something I’ve never been able to write about much. I’m also trying my hand at writing articles for blogs and newspapers, and just for a laugh I sometimes try to write stuff for a comedy radio station that my friend is building.

7. Do you believe “No one can teach you to write” or have you found that completing an MA in Creative Writing has helped propel your writing forward?
Unbelievably the latter. I guess I would say this because I invested a huge amount of time and money in my writing education, but you can get tons out of a good writing teacher – from initial inspiration and encouragement, to ways of approaching the deeper thematic strands of your work, to the nuts and bolts of avoiding clichés and formatting dialogue. 
I had a close relationship to my writing teacher at uni, who was the first (and only) person to tell me that I should try to write a novel, which seemed a laughable notion to me at the time. Post-uni, I’ve found that there’s no substitute for having someone who knows what they’re talking about actually reading what you’ve written and criticising it, not to mention an all important deadline to get you producing something.
A decent teacher should also help you to figure out what makes the writer in you tick – and doing a course gives you the time and space to think about yourself as a writer and establish how you produce your best work. That might mean you write religiously for an hour every morning, or sporadically at night, like me.

8. Not being a full-time writer, how and where do you find the time to write? 
I do a lot of work in the evenings, and recently I decided to treat every Saturday like a work day – it’s been good for me to set that time aside for writing. Last year I massively cut down on drinking because I was wasting way too much time mucking about and getting pissed, and that’s helped. 
My problem is that I’ve always got a million things I want to do – I’m obsessed with sewing as much as writing, and I’m also training for a half-marathon. I’ve literally had to force myself to focus on one thing at a time so I don’t constantly feel guilty that I’m not getting enough done.

9. What or who influences your writing or inspires you to write?
I’ve been influenced by loads of writers over the years – I want to say Cormac McCarthy because I loved The Road so much, but I actually didn’t write anything for a long while after I read it because I felt I would never be able to write anything even approaching meaningful… The spell broke when I read No Country for Old Men, which I think works much better as a film.
I love Magnus Mills, who had written lots of good stuff but the two novels that stick out to me are The Restraint of Beasts and All Quiet on the Orient Express. He writes in this tight, terse prose that seems simple on the surface but builds into a great climax, and his characters are all so rough and deadpan. I’ve always loved the fact that he works as a bus driver and used to be an itinerant fencer, because you can tell that the characters he’s met doing those sorts of jobs have informed his work.
I was pretty young when I read The Bell Jar and that book will have a place in my heart forever. It has this reputation that it’s only for teenage girls but that’s just bollocks. 
For short stories, Raymond Carver and Ali Smith have influenced me quite a lot – Ali Smith has this great device of using second person narration in her stories that I quite like to adopt sometimes. 
Lately I’ve been trying to read more biographies and non-fiction, as I think it helps to expand your worldview and improve your writing if you know more about the world and the worlds that people have come from.

10. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
There’s so much good advice out there I don’t know if I can add much to it! For me the main job of a writer is to be able to see things that other people miss and connect them in an original and hopefully entertaining way. It’s a writer’s job to put into words what people know and have experienced, but cannot say themselves. That takes guts, and practice. Fine tune your bullshit detector. Read a lot. You can make stuff up, but never lie. Be awake and observant. Read your work aloud to yourself in the bath to hear your mistakes clang. Never give up. It’s tough – but that’s why most people aren’t writers.

When I Fall in Love by Clint Morey PLUS author interview

About the Book

Amy has many things on her plate: keeping out of trouble, getting her boyfriend to tell her he loves her and being accepted at Harvard. Then her grandfather has a stroke and her life is turned upside down. 

This is a very sweet and touching story about the ties of family and friendship. 

About the Author

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself 

I was born and raised in L.A. but fortunately my wife and I were able to relocate to Montana, which has been a wonderful place to raise a family and be a writer. I was a classroom teacher for a couple of decades and for the last eight years I’ve been a full-time writer. I’ve optioned three screenplays, had a short film produced on the internet, have several works available on Amazon.com, had a play published, and even published some articles in national magazines.  



2. Tell us a little bit about WHEN I FALL IN LOVE 
Writers who’ve been in a war often want to tell war stories. Having served in Vietnam as a medic and having a brief experience in the Division Psychiatrists Office, there were some "glimpses" of the behind-the-front-lines Army life I wanted to share. But stories about "old wars" aren't all that popular, and I wanted to tell a war story without any killing.  I also wanted to tell the story of three generations of a family that have difficulty relating to one another. The grandfather feels like he's failed to teach his own children the values he holds dear and has one last chance to pass those along to his granddaughter.

3. What are you working on at the moment?
I’m working on two projects right now. I’m finishing the first draft of a Sci-Fi novel and I’m working with a co-writer (who still lives in L.A.) to revise a thriller script.

Can you believe my wife and I were willing to give up the concrete, smog and traffic of L.A. to live in a place like this? What hardships the true artist must endure to pursue his craft. 

4. Have you always considered yourself a creative person? 
When I was young, my dad gave my brother and I an 8mm camera (you have to be old to even know what one of those things are). I used to organize my friends in the neighbourhood to make short movies. By short I mean two minutes because that’s how long you could record on one reel of film and sound was not an option. It required in-camera editing because we didn’t have editing equipment, but that forced me to plan and create each scene in my head before pulling the trigger on the camera.  

In high school, I considered pursuing acting as a profession but there was one major problem with that life goal – I was a terrible actor.  I sincerely apologize to those judges at the Shakespeare Festival who had to watch me perform a scene from King Lear.  Please don't give up on the author of that play.  I understand he was really quite good. 

After I became a history teacher I realized my strengths were those of a storyteller and it was a logical step when I finished my teaching career to focus on a storytelling career.

5. Do you have a ‘day job’ as well as writing?  
I am a full time writer.  I have great respect for anyone who can do a full time job in another field and make the time to write.  

6. How do you write? 
I write about 6-8 hours a day and then spend a couple of hours working on marketing – querying, promotions, etc. I have an office at home where I do most of my work but there are several spots around town that I use when I need to change locations. The local Barnes & Noble coffee shop is a sure fire solution whenever I am struggling with a scene.  

My wife and I at one of my writing spots in Missoula, Montana.

7. What, if anything, influences your writing?
Knowing that God loves people, I try to have the possibility of redemption built into a story even for the really, really bad guys who populate some of my creations.

8. Who, if anyone, has influenced your writing?
I grew up reading Steinbeck and Hemingway, but Harper Lee (TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD) was a major influence in setting an example for telling a beautiful story. Boy, I wish I could write like that! As for telling captivating stories, writers like Michael Crichton, Vince Flynn, and John Grisham have been good examples of creating interesting plots and characters.

9. Can you name three things you’d like to achieve in life?
I want to please God in how I live. I want to be an example and help to my children (all six of them and their families). I want to make a difference for good in the lives of people who cross my path.

10. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
It may seem trite but the best advice is to write.  Write.  Write.  WRITE!!!  

Then read.  I’m amazed at the number of writers I’ve met who don’t read.  

And finally, learn to take criticism. When I was a storyteller in the classroom, I could tell right away if my story was working. When I saw the eye lids drooping, the conversations increasing, and students working on assignments for other classes, I knew that I WAS FAILING AS A STORYTELLER, but I could make adjustments in the classroom setting to try to capture their interest. Believe me, it was exciting to see a room full of high school students “captivated” by a story I was telling. It’s much more difficult writing novels and screenplays because you don’t get the immediate feedback from an audience. So, if you have people willing to evaluate your work, listen to what they say.  It will help you improve your story.

Available at Amazon.com  $2.99 ebook   $7.99 paperback

http://tinyurl.com/When-I-Fall-in-Love

Web: http://www.clintmorey.com

Blog:  http://montanawriter.wordpress.com/blog/ 

Twitter:   http://twitter.com/clint_morey

Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8767722-clint-morey

1.  

The Super Spud Trilogy by Michael Diack

About the Book


This is a quirky and fun adventure book about the life-after-expiry-date of packets of crisps!

About the Author

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself

Hi, my name is Michael Diack and I’m 26. I studied geology at the University of Manchester and, after graduating, I was lucky to find a job in Oman working for a geophysical company. I enjoy table tennis, music, films, football, sailing and writing about magical potatoes with a taste for adventure and humour. I’m also a proud geek and I enjoy computer games and playing a four hour game of Risk with my friends. I always wanted to be a volcanologist, like Pierce Brosnan in Dante’s Peak, but I enjoy my current job and lifestyle. I released my debut novel back in April 2012 as a paperback and e-book available on Amazon UK and Amazon US. 


2. Tell us a little bit about The Super Spud Trilogy 
I wrote the book at university when I was 19. I guess the target audience at the time of writing were fellow students with the same kind of humour as me. Initially, there were more sexual innuendos and some mild swearing, in time I took these out and tried to make the book much more approachable for all age groups. Now there are no swear words, the Super Spud equivalent version of sex is holding hands, and the graphic violence is comic in its depiction. My gut tells me the core target audience it will appeal to is still the student generation (18-22), and the best reviews have been from reviewers of this age range, but I honestly hope adults will find it enjoyable and younger readers, too. It came about after I remembered a short story I had written at primary school: Colin and Lucy are crisp packets who come to life after their use-by date and try to find the rubbish tip. At university, bored during a lecture on rocks, I remembered the story and the whole novel I finished in about a month. The book is 3 stories in one and is about magical potatoes, called Super Spuds, who once placed in crisp packets come alive if they are not eaten when their use-by date expires. The personality of the Super Spud is determined by their flavour: tuna flavours are smart, steak and spinach flavours strong, salt and vinegar flavours are arrogant. The book references many films and it is ultimately a tale of friendship, good versus evil and heroic acts of bravery.


3. What are you working on at the moment?
I’m currently writing another set of Super Spud adventures. The first book was a trilogy in the sense it revolved around three adventures: Colin, Cougar and King Martin, but I never intended for the story to end as it did. I was told by my editor to shorten the story, so I took out the last three chapters - the ending was still the same, though, with G-Boa on the run - and the story set up to be concluded. Truthfully, when it came to publishing the book, I didn’t know what to call it: The Super Spuds, The Super Spud Adventures, The Chronicles of the Super Spuds…The Super Spud Trilogy was a neat title and flowed off the tongue better – I didn’t mean to deceive anybody. So yes, there will be another adventure (book four) that I’m writing now, bringing back characters who didn’t die (and some you thought did) and introducing some new flavour personalities. I’m learning from the feedback from the first novel, what people liked and what they didn’t. The book will still have the same wacky humour, but will revolve around the same core four characters and their adventures (i.e. there will be fewer characters plot-lines this time, so the reader should feel more connected with the story and main characters). This story is more conventional and is one big adventure where everything leads up to a final confrontation between good and evil. It sees the Super Spuds travel to China, America, sailing the Atlantic and fighting pirates. After that, I have some short stories and a few more ideas for novels. I probably won't write any more Super Spud stories unless there is demand for it.


4. Have you always considered yourself a creative person? 
Artistically I am rubbish and my attempts at drawing Super Spuds were destroyed a long time ago. I’d love for the story to be illustrated, though, as the concept could suit animation quite well – each chapter being a short animation. I take pride in the fact I have created something original but aside from writing, that’s where my creative side stops.  

Michael at work!

5. Do you have a ‘day job’ as well as writing? How do you find/make the time? 
My day job is working in Oman on a 6 week on and 3 week off basis. When I'm working I work 12 hours a day 7 days a week, so that gives me plenty of time to write. It’s camp-based work in a remote desert and totally isolated, except for invading camels, snakes and scorpions. It’s hard to be away from friends and family, but the flip side is when I’m on leave I have 3 weeks just to do nothing and relax, so there is always time to write (and have fun catching up with my friends and family). I’d always want a day job, even if I made it as a writer, as it would keep me motivated and I enjoy being part of a team, managing people and finding solutions to problems.


6. How do you write?
The first novel I wrote in huge chunks but my second novel I started out by scribbling initial ideas and writing paragraphs. I usually write a chapter at a time, but I love writing and if I’m in the writing mood I’ll keep going. Usually I write with my laptop on my lap and listening to music. Television is too distracting but music is perfect. I had a large gap between writing the first book and beginning the second, I realise now that was a mistake, and I’m aiming to always write every day just to keep my creative side open and active.


7. What, if anything, influences your writing?
The Super Spud Trilogy is basically a tribute to my childhood and growing up with the films and their heroic characters I idolized – Indiana Jones, Hansolo, Jack Bauer, Robin Hood, James Bond. Most of the character names I changed for comic effect and to prevent lawsuits; while the place names are from field prospect locations I have been working in at my workplace in Oman – Hiba, Birba, Harweel.  I don’t base the Super Spuds on anyone I know in real-life, I don’t think that’s professional to do and it’s far more fun making up names and drawing parallels between our world and the Super Spud world. 


8. Who, if anyone, has influenced your writing?
I read a lot and I’ll read any genre, although fantasy is probably the genre which features the most on my bookshelf. I can’t say I’m influenced by anybody, though, and I don’t want that to sound arrogant. I respect Tolkien because he can describe things so well without having to write a huge novel or waffle on – The Hobbit is the perfect adventure story for me. I like Bret Easton Ellis, Niccolo Ammaniti and their style of writing as well.   

9. Can you name three things you’d like to achieve in life?
I’d like to see my book in Waterstones or another chain of bookstores. Presently, despite positive reviews, I’m still working hard to convince the book stores to stock it as they are reluctant to stock such a quirky and alternative themed book. Hopefully, if the good reviews keep coming in and a cult following develps, the book will receive more attention. I’m pretty basic in my aspirations, all I want someday is a house with a garden so I can grow my own vegetables and maybe keep some chickens. I used to play guitar quite well, so another dream would be to get on stage in one of my local pubs and play/sing a song by my favourite band Coheed and Cambria (I’d have to be quite drunk to pluck up the courage, though).


10. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
If you truly believe in your story, don’t give up on it and follow your dream.  I think it’s very important to get an editor, as well, not just for the proofreading but for the development of the story and having a fresh pair of eyes to spot possible plot holes or conflicts in the story.  My editor was invaluable and I’m very grateful for her hard work.  Also, be prepared to change your story or delete parts that don’t work (instead of trying to write your way around it) – it takes courage to realise something doesn’t fit in and must be changed for the good of the book.  

Thank you to Laura for reviewing my book and posting about it on your blog! 

1

ONLINE BOOK TOUR: Bridge of Deaths by M.C.V. Egan

About the Book


This book is based on true events which happened in the 1930's with a cleverly woven in fictional element to propel the narrative forward. 

About the Author

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself 

My name is Maria Catalina Vergara Egan. I am originally from Mexico City, Mexico. I have lived in various countries and I am fluent in four languages and can communicate to varying degrees in others. For the past 20+ years I have called South Florida home and I guess I am best described as a Floridian. 
I am a writer, a mother and a wife. When needed  I have worked in various fields to pay the bills. I have enjoyed every job I have had, but there is nothing like writing.
I come from a large conservative Catholic family and although not precisely the “black Sheep” I am far from conservative, no longer Catholic and live life by my own terms. I am very blessed to have parents who honour and respect that.
I just celebrated my 53rd birthday in London, UK with my two favourite people, my son Austin and my husband Tom.


2. Tell us a little bit about The Bridge of Deaths

The Bridge of Deaths is based on true events, primarily an airline crash in 1939 two weeks before Hitler invaded Poland and the world plunged into the Second World War. The book was researched in various archives in the UK, Denmark and the USA as well as Newspaper Microfilm, History books and interviews. It is also researched in unusual ways by the use of Psychometry; a psychic holding an object and relating what they see/feel, past life regressions, not my own but those of an individual who asked to remain anonymous.
The narrative is woven with an entertaining fictional twist but all of the documented data is carefully footnoted and credited for any would be curious reader to follow up or dispute.
The true story itself is full of mystery and intrigue and I have really enjoyed the readers reactions. The reader follows Bill, Maggie and Catalina as they delve into the past and try to make sense of sketchy information and how political history is.


3. What are you working on at the moment?
I am working with a co-author Jolie DeMarco on a fun short novel called 4covert2overt. It is not linked to my previous work and we hope to have it ready before year’s end.


4. Have you always considered yourself a creative person? 
Yes I have. My father is a retired architect 92 years young and my mother infused creative outlets to everything. She is 85 years young and perhaps did so because without creativity how on earth does one raise eight children?
I have numerous hobbies and all revolve around one form of creativity or other. I taught for years and there too if I came up with a creative class it was welcome. For a few terms I ran a class for kids in elementary school in ORIGAMI, we played beautiful classical music and only Showed what we did, we did not talk. I created that class to try to help kids and parents understand that to focus one needs peace and quiet.
Creativity is in EVERYTHING, unfortunately for the world today the economists got very creative with numbers and here we stand all in debt!


5. Do you have a ‘day job’ as well as writing? How do you find/make the time? 
My last job was in Insurance and I am hoping to be able to balance things so that is my last non-writing job…but if I have to work again, I will find the balance to write as well.


6. How do you write? 
I vary in that some days I write in big chinks and others just a fantastic well-crafted short bit. Write IN FRONT OF THE TV? Impossible! The only creative thing I can do with the TV on is cook, and that usually means getting updated on the news. If I expect a reader to enjoy my work, how can I give them work I barely took the time to craft?


7. What, if anything, influences your writing?
I feel strongly that all authors are influenced by reading and I spent years devouring massive amounts of books. I do not have an absolute photographic memory per se but I do seem to have a far better memory than most. Sometimes I remember the nuance of what I read and where, even if it is years later, and with today’s technology it makes it easy to look up!
I love many British writers and I find that spell check often reminds me I spelled a word in British English vs. American! That is proof of strong influence.


8. Who, if anyone, has influenced your writing?
I think the above answer pretty much covers this.


9. Can you name three things you’d like to achieve in life?
ONLY THREE? 
1) I would like to learn German very well, my knowledge to date is limited but tapping into Swedish I seem to understand a lot.
2)  I would like to find a healthy balance in my life with food and physical motion. I guess I am like many other writers: I tend to be far more sedentary than is good for me, so I try to remember to walk often and I have a voracious appetite. BALANCE, BALANCE…Achieve Balance in all things possible.
3) I would like to visit all the places on my bucket list and there are so many I need many healthy happy years to accomplish that!
But above all, I would like to write numerous SUCCESFUL books and short stories, that achievement is above all others and cannot share with any three things!


10. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Read, Write, Breathe. Do not give up. Remember your voice is unique and the right audience will find you..eventually!