I met Loretta back in 2009, I think it was, at a RWA conference we had in Perth. Out of all the people I met, I recall talking to her and about the story she was writing. It sounded fab, even back then. I couldn’t remember her name, but I remembered the story. (I lost my ability to remember after having my kids!)

I’m so excited that Loretta now has this wonderful book out, The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots. The title had me at Steel-Capped.

I’ve asked Loretta a few questions, so we can get to know her a little better. Thanks Loretta!!

Okay, so lets start with the nitty gritty. Where were you born, raised and schooled.

 I was born, raised and schooled inPerth. I’ve lived for short stints in other parts of Australiabut have always returned toPerth. I love my home town.

 What made you become an engineer? What are some of the highlights of your career?

 I kind of fell into it. I’ve always wanted to be a writer but I needed a plan B and engineering just sort of  happened. I know that’s hard to believe…. My father is an engineer so he was a big influence and I was actually pretty good at maths and science at school. I got the grades to do engineering, so I thought what the heck, what else am I going to do while I’m waiting to be published?  (Which in hindsight was a rather naive of me considering engineering then proceeded to consume most of my life for the next eight years.)

 It did allow me to see a lot ofAustralia. Particularly places I wouldn’t not normally travel to on a whim… like the Pilbara. I’ve also worked on big construction sites inQueensland  and in little one street towns, like Wiluna situated right in the centre of WA.

 Although, I’m on maternity leave at the moment, I do intend to go back to engineering again part time. There are many aspects of it that I enjoy. And it would actually cost me a pang now to give it up completely.

 With mining being a big thing in WA, I’m really looking forward to reading The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots. Please tell us a bit about it and when its release date is?

 This story centres around a young female engineer who gets sent to the outback to live and work on a construction site with three hundred and fifty guys. She struggles! She’s a very girlie girl, very city orientated and it’s a bit of a shock dealing not only with the job but the wildlife, the male chauvinists, the lack of privacy and the one man she’s supposed to impress but who thinks she’s a joke.

 There’s a lot of big issues in this book, sexual harassment, isolation, broken families and definitely falling in love but I’ve tried to focus on the lighter side of being locked into a situation that’s just out of your comfort zone. I love writing comedy, so there’s plenty of dry Aussie humour in there.

 “The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots” is out January 2^nd , 2012.

Yes, and people are already reading it….I am yet to get my copy and I’m feeling rather sad that I have to wait! The teaser had me sucked in.

 This is your first mainstream book Loretta, so how did it all happen?

 The engineering project in my novel was real. It was a project I actually worked on as a graduate. I was very homesick when I was on the Pilbara and to get through the day I used to write an email home to my family every morning. My mum printed them all, put them in a file and gave them back to me when I got home. She was adamant I had to somehow turn it into a novel. I couldn’t at first because I was too close to the subject matter and couldn’t make the characters fictional. Nearly ten years on, I found the file of emails again and made a second attempt. That’s how “The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots” was born.

 When did you start writing and how did you go about getting published?

 I started writing stories almost as soon as I could write. I wrote most of my way through high school and university, just for my own enjoyment. When I got my first job after graduation, I started writing at night after work with a serious intention to finding a publisher. My first novel was published with Avalon Books New York in 2009. This is a short contemporary romantic comedy set inSydneycalled, “Kiss and Tell.”

  How did you find out your ms had been accepted?

 I received both offers for publication, (“Kiss and Tell” and “The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots.”) via email. I’ve never received, “the call” so to speak. But I think it was probably better that way given there was a lot of screaming and dancing going on.

 Have you used many of your own experiences for this book?

 Yes, I had a lot of anecdotes to draw from, some are my own, some are of people I knew. I just put my fictional characters into the same situation and imagined how they would react to it. I still have heaps of material left over. “The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots” may be getting a sequel J

 How do you find time to write when you have 3 kids under the age of 4? Do you have a routine or do you go with the flow?

 I have no routine or schedule that can’t be broken at a moment’s notice. Basically I write around my kids whenever there’s a spare half an hour here and there. It is difficult and slow going but I guess till they are a little older this is just something I will have to deal with.

 Do you have another book in the pipeline?

 I definitely do.  I’m writing it at the moment. It’s set in my other favourite place inWestern Australia– The Margaret River Wine Region.

 Oh, I can’t wait for that one. Margaret River ares is just gorgeous.

Being a busy mum and a writer, do you get time to read and what’s on your TBR pile?

 I get very little time to read. My TBR pile is enormous!!! And it grows faster than it shortens if you know what I mean.

 Just recently added was Lola’s Secret by Monica McInerney and The Bark Cutters by Nicole Alexander. I just finished reading Cathryn Hein’s debut, Promises. It was lovely.

 And lastly, in one word describe your strongest trait? Determined.

Thank you so much for sharing with us Loretta. Check out Loretta’s website for details on book signings.  I know I’ll be getting one to add to my collection. 

Kylie: “I write in the midst of a bookcase designed for me by my husband, surrounded, cocooned by books. At a guess, 95% of them are fiction- there’s a few memoirs in there, and the odd biography or essay collection, but fiction is my main love, my real love, and it’s this that I want nearby as I work. The presence of all those novels inspires me to keep going when I’m stuck, is a constant source of inspiration as I come into the room each day. I’ve (a bit obsessively) arranged the shelves so that my favourites are closest to me, always within arm’s reach… it’s like being surrounded by friends, really. “Go on,” they say, “You can do it. Come join us.” So I write.”

Matthew Reilly is the bestselling author of nine novels and his latest one  Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves  is due out on the 12th of October.  Its amazing reading about him and I love this quote :

Matthew Reilly, ‘Ice Station was a direct response to Hollywood action movies. I figured that when you make a movie, you are limited by your budget. Put simply, it costs big dollars to make big action scenes. But when you write a book, you can create the wildest and biggest action scenes you like and it doesn’t cost you a cent. The only limit is the limit of your imagination!

And he’s so right. (I automatically thought of Karly Lane’s book Operation Summer Storm with her action scenes )

Thanks Matthew x

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Next I have Katherine Scholes who, like Tony Park, writes about some amazing places. I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting Katherine at the RWA awards night two years ago as her book was a finalist in the Ruby. Her latest book is Lioness, set in Katherines birth place of Tanzania.

Katherine: “My novels nearly always begin with a location, very often in Africa. At the end of each day I find a quiet spot and write up my notes…”

Thanks Katherine, and what a gorgeous view from your window.

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And now to another Western Australia writer, Sara Foster. Her second book Beneath the Shadows was published earlier this year and is on my ‘to be read’ pile.

Sara: “At present I am a nomadic writer, and I love it, because I can get away from the many distractions in the house and focus purely on writing. I carry my workstation with me – laptop and folders is usually all I need, although I have been known to carry big bags of reference books too. I try to work at my local libraries as much as possible, but it means I use up to half an hour of precious writing time driving there. I also have to vacate when the mum and baby group strikes up, otherwise I find myself absent-mindedly singing along to Row Row Row the Boat, which makes me 1) lose concentration, and 2) miss my toddler! Therefore, the local cafes also know me well – and they understand that on a good week it’ll be mineral water only, and on a bad week I need infusions of hot chocolate and the occasional scone or muffin to keep me going. The picture is taken at one of my favourite local cafes – imagine the table with drink, laptop and scruffy bits of paper and you get the idea. I love staring across the sea while I’m dreaming up ideas, and as a bonus their raspberry muffins are delicious!

PS After looking at Tony Park’s pictures, I think it might be time to start writing about Africa!”

Thanks Sara. Looking out over the ocean would be so calming. I think i’m going to have to visit the coast more often.

A huge thank you to all the wonderful authors who took the time to participate. I know how hard it is to find time between writing, family, other commitments and life in general.

Lisa: “This is where I work when I have to…in other words when I have a deadline and have to put my head down. No distractions! I light a candle, drink tea and type as quickly as I can…so I can go back outside and into the sunshine.”

Lisa: “This is where I pretend to work when I’m brain storming – which generally means I’m procrastinating because I’m stuck on a scene or have hideous edits to work through. In other words, I am avoiding doing any real writing. It’s happening a lot at the moment as I chase the spring sun around the garden…laptops have a lot to answer for!”

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And another author who is busy with her next book is Bronwyn Parry, who brought us great Aussie romantic suspense with Dark Country and As Darkness Falls. I’m so glad you’re back writing again Bron!

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I love how most of us have our little window’s or outside places to help inspire us.  Most of my idea’s come when I’m out doing something ‘in the bush’, like the mail run or just driving from one town to the next.

Now if you’d like to join in with our writers spaces, please feel free to drop me an email. I’d love to hear from you. No two ‘writing spaces’ are ever the same. We all have our little ‘bits’ that make our desk’s our own.

Tony: “I write all my novels ‘on location’ in southern Africa. My wife, Nicola and I spend six months of each year in Africa and while most of our time is spent camping in our tent, occasionally we lash out and spend a night or two in a self-catering bungalow in the Kruger National Park, like this one. You can see the reality of life on the road intruding in the form of the washing up hanging behind me.”

Tony: “OK, so this is a staged PR shot of me at work, in Zimbabwe, which I had taken for an article the Sydney Morning Herald did on me. I don’t really work out under the blazing sun in the middle of a swamp. The Herald wanted a pic of me in a savannah and as there weren’t any savannahs in downtown Harare, where we were at the time, this tiny local wildlife park had to suffice! I usually work under an awning or in my tent, with the doors open and a view out over the bush. I often see game walking past – impalas, elephant, sometimes the odd warthog usually. Once, in Zimbabwe, I was tapping away at the laptop and looked out towards a waterhole about 200 metres from where we were based and watched a pride of seven lions bring down a buffalo. It’s hard not to be inspired working in the great outdoors in Africa, and there’s no excuse for writer’s block.”

Tony:  “Nicola and I go out for a game drive, looking at animals, just after dawn most mornings. Generally we come back to camp before it gets too hot, and that’s when I work, but sometimes we spend the whole day out in the bush.In some of the places we go you can get out of your car (though generally this a no-no). This dam in the Kruger National Park is one of my favourite places. It’s on a 4×4 trail and you are allowed out of your vehicle for a break. I was working here just the other day, on the laptop, watching hippos and crocs while I wrote. I draw a lot on the natural environment and the locations I’m in for my books. I worked off the laptop’s two-hour battery, which is a good way to ensure I get my daily quota of 2000 words done quick-smart!”

Hmm two hours for 2000 words. I guess you’re a fast typer Tony. I bet its easy to get distracted watching the wildlife and have the battery gone before you know it.

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And to finish off this blog, to return us to the Aussie shores, is Jaye Ford. I got to read Jaye’s first novel Beyond Fear through my local bookclub and it was well worth the scary nights. 

Jaye:  “I wrote for years from a tiny desk in our family room so when Beyond Fear sold, I knocked out a wall under the house and created this fabulous office. As you can see, I’ve learnt how to spread myself out! It’s tucked into the back of an old rumpus room like a cave and gets called the Bat Cave or the Slave Cave, depending on how the writing is going. I love the wrap around desk and wall behind that keeps everything in arms’ reach. And for inspiration, there’s also a huge wall of books on one side and a window across the room that looks onto our front garden.”

Thanks Jaye, I love the look of your ‘slave cave’. I don’t think we’d care where we had a room, just as long as we had a ‘quiet’ place to write.

I have maybe one more blog to do, so keep an eye out for some more author’s spaces!!

xx

This time we’ll start with Cathryn Hein. You would have seen her new book Promises doing the rounds in the papers and displayed in the shops. I was lucky to meet this wonderful lady in person at the RWA conference. (Yes, I met lots of amazing authors there…and i’ll be going again next year lol)

Cathryn: “One of my best writing investments has been this work station and chair. I used to work on an overcrowded old square desk with a cheap office chair but found it too uncomfortable. This set-up allows me to have all my notes spread out and within swivel distance, and being under the window means there’s plenty of light. The chair might look weird but it’s super comfortable. No more aching back! I have more whiteboards – 3 in total – but they’re out of camera shot, as are my overloaded and very messy bookshelves. I was too embarrassed by the state of them to show you!”

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Mandy Magro is another rural author with her first book Rosalee Station already out. I know she’s already working on book 3, (yep, book 2 already written and will be out next year sometime i’m guessing) so her office must be a happy place to be.

 Mandy: “This is where the magic happens, or so to speak Seeing our home is a small 2 bedroom cottage, for now, my office is in the corner of my bedroom…hmph! I love to have photos around me of the people in my life that mean the world to me. My desk is almost taken over by them! The shawl wrapped Grandmother teddy that sits beside my computer was given to me from a very dear friend of mine when my nanna passed away last year. Every time I look at it I have warm memories of all the times I spent with my Nan, kind of like she is watching over me when I write. I have a little Rose Quartz ball which sits in front of the computer, a touch of my spiritual side. Apparently it stops all the nasty computer rays! And seeing I spend so much time in front of the computer I am willing to try anything to stop me from feeling zonked at the end of the day. It may be a small  space but it is my little hideaway where I can lose myself in my fictional world, sometimes while still in my Pj’s…okay…maybe a fair bit of the time while still in my Pj’s. :)”

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Now I’m very excited to have Monica McInerney on my blog! She has her new book Lola’s Secret due out in October, for release in Australia and Ireland.  This bestselling author dosn’t disappoint with her office view’s either. Just gorgeous!   I’m happy to say Monica has survived the wild and windy of Hurricane Katia in Dublin. (and hopefully she’s back to writing the next book)

Monica: “I write in the attic of our house in innercity Dublin, at a desk tucked in under the roof, with light streaming in through two skylight windows. I have to be careful when I stand up, as the ceiling slopes. I bump my head most days. I started writing my new book Lola’s Secret up here during the December snowstorms, when the view from my window was a winter wonderland. The only sounds I could hear were the fall of snowflakes on the glass and the ticking of the central heating radiators. I wrote draft after draft during spring, and finished the final edits in summer, with the windows wide open. My favourite sound then was the click-click of birds’ feet running across the roof just inches above me. Now I’m starting my new book in autumn, and the clouds are scudding past the window and many of the birds are leaving for warmer climates. The desk is crammed with cups, pens and notebooks, the wall is covered in postcards, photos and a painting of a blue sky, and the floor is piled with paperwork and manuscripts.”

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Now it seemed a bit harsh to have another author go after Monica’s dreamy snow view of Dublin, so I’ve decided to put my ‘work space’ photo here. (Hey, its only me, I can’t offend myself lol) 

This is my ‘area’ in our office room. The kids have an old school desk in the corner that was once used by me at their age, and at the other end is hubby’s desk area etc. The wall behind me is lined with white cupboards that hold all sorts of sh….crap. (The big silver box under my desk is the golf club secretary box, and the white holder on the side has Progress stuff…but the rest is writing stuff.) And my only craft book Immediate Fiction lol.  I have two special postcards on the side, one from Melissa Doyle and the other from Rach Treasure. They are my ‘OMG I have a postcard from them!’ section.

Hope you all enjoyed today’s photo’s. Will have more next week

First up I have Rachael Treasure, who is, in my mind, the Queen of the rural genre. Her first book Jillaroo being one of my favourites and her new book The Girl and the Ghost Grey Mare is due out 1st October.

Love that the Penguin’s feature Below is her view from the window…I’m jealous!

Margareta: “It’s a mess! Haven’t had time to clean it up as I’m in the middle of Book 2. This messy space is home for writing books, keeping books (farm), keeping books (CFA)  and for lot’s of other things in between.
Some of the pictures are the ‘book covers’ my son makes up for me, so I keep the dream right there in front of my eye’s. And my RWA first sale ribbon in the dangly thing on the right – it’s just the best!”

Hmm well if thats messy then i’m a monkey’s uncle! Margareta I don’t know what you’re worried about

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Now for historical romance writer, and favourite Australian Romance Author for 2010, Anna Campbell. I’ve just looked at Anna’s award page on her website…OMG! I’d be happy with one of them   Her latest book is Midnight’s Wild Passion.

 

I must say I love the bookcase in the next picture, nice and full.

Anna: “Hi Fiona! Thank you for asking me to join in. I love learning about other writer’s work spaces. For many years, I had a desk squeezed into the corner of a tiny little flat in Sydney with a wonderful view of the neighbours’ toilet windows. So you can imagine how much I love that now I have a whole office to myself with storage space and a lovely view of the garden. It’s a place where I keep a lot of stuff that makes me smile like special presents from friends and inspirational postcards and my awards.”

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And the lucky last today is Fleur Mcdonald of Red Dust and Blue Skies fame. Now Fleur’s work space is a bit different than most. Being a farmer, she dosn’t have the luxury of spending her days by the computer. What do you think…could you write a book this way?

Fleur: “At the moment, it’s ‘harvest time’ for us. Our lambs are ready to go to market, it’s shearing time and, being spring, we have to keep a close eye on the sheep, for flies. We usually try the ‘prevention rather than cure’ method and jet everything. So in saying all of that, it’s very busy and I don’t think I’ve had more than one day out of the yards, over the past month.

 So, insaying all of that, my edits are waiting on the seat of my ute, my computer is my constant passenger (along with our new pup Weazel) and when I’m shifting mobs of sheep down the laneway, I’m able to spend a few quiet moments reading the MS, editing and drinkign cups of tea from my thermos!”

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So there you have it, a few more different work spaces.  Now I still have more authors to come…Cathryn Hein, Mandy Magro, Jaye Ford, Monica McInerney…so keep an eye out.

Also if there are any authors out there who would like to participate, please feel free to email me your work space and I’d be happy to post it. Cheers

My first author is Nicole Alexander, writer of The Bark Cutters and A Changing Land. She is not just a writer but a fourth generation grazier working on her family property which is located 110 km north west of Moree and 100 km west of Goondiwindi near the NSW QLD border.

Nicole: “As I’m easily distracted I make sure I can’t look directly out a window, hence my corner position. Having said that when the floods were on in January I did keep my eyes glued to the Boomi River which is just through the window over my right shoulder. About seven years ago I was looking for a new  desk, eventually  I purchased this one, an actual door and then screwed in legs care of Ikea! Presto the perfect length and width.  I have to admit that I tidied my desk for the shot as I’m a great hoarder of resource material.”

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Next I have the lovely Karly Lane author of North Star.  We both have a similar ‘glitch’ in our writing…a small thing called children. We love them lots but kids don’t understand it when you’re in the ‘zone’ and need to just finish this chapter. Their bellies are more imporant and as mine always say ‘they are going to die if they don’t get something to eat now’.

Karly: “This is ‘control central’! It’s in the corner of my lounge room where I can see what the kids are up too and if I’m writing at night, I can still be  part of the family…I’ve just had to learn to block out noise and write in short snatches of time, but a set of headphones can solve the noise problem when it gets too bad!

I love my cork boards and if you look closely you might see my little bits of inspiration- scrap cotton picked up from the side of the road out around the Namoi area where I got the inspiration for Morgan’s Law, which you might also see, sitting on my desk going through edits!”

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Now I bet you’re eager to see more, I know I am.

This next author has a rather different ‘spot’ where she writes.  Helene Young, author of Wings of Fear and Shattered Sky, is a busy pilot. And winner of the Romantic book of the Year award!! (I really like the pilot cap in the picture, Helene. It’s always great that an author knows what she’s writing about.)

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A huge thank you to these lovely ladies for sharing their writing spaces with us, also the other authors which are yet to come.  (Fleur Mcdonald, Rachael Treasure, Margareta Osborn Kerby and Cathryn Hein.)

Keep an eye out…I have more coming soon. 

Thank you Karly for taking the time out to answer a few of my questions today.  Firstly I’m interested in how you came by the idea for North Star. Its different from your two other books Operation Summer Storm and Fallout. (I really enjoyed OSS and looking forward to read Fallout.) 

When I began writing, I’d been reading a lot of romantic suspense and so that’s what I decided to try my hand at. The first draft of Operation Summer Storm, ( the first book I ever wrote) was written back in 1999. I had no idea what I was doing and I pretty much wrote it, submitted it somewhere and then when it was rejected—put it away for a year or two and continued over the next 11 years, to pull it out to re-write and have another go at submitting it. When this began to get depressing, I decided maybe I wasn’t supposed to be a romantic suspense author and I decided to try writing something completely different, which ended up becoming North Star.

It’s about as different to my romantic suspense as you can get, and yet, there are elements of suspense mixed in with a bit of romance all set in a rural back drop. 

It’s more like your other book The Cattleman’s Runaway Bride. (Karly has four books published)

 What inspires your suspense side and how do you plan a suspense book…(I love reading suspense but wouldn’t know were to start to create one.)

 I love the fast pace of a romantic suspense and the challenge of bringing your characters together under extreme stress. As a reader and  writer, I love watching the chemistry between people and the challenges this creates as the relationship develops. In other genres the  romance between characters can’t happen too fast or it messes with the pace of the story—but in a suspense everything happens fast, including the romance and because it happens in stressful situations—there’s usually lots sparks flying!

When I write a rom/sus, I like to start with a question and fit the story around it. What I wanted when I began OSS  was someone who was very ordinary to be thrown into circumstances that placed her way beyond her comfort zone. So what could I do with Summer Sheldon, a homebody, who  liked her life safe, predictable and without surprises? … put her in the middle of a jungle with a band of mercenaries of course! The trick is to make this situation believable—no matter how bizarre it sounds and I think that’s what makes a good romantic suspense.

 Well it’s working as I really loved Summer’s journey.

 North Star was full of your humour, I love books with LOL parts, and how you wrote about the kids was so spot on. There are a lot of people going ‘I can so relate to that’ with their own kids. Did those bits come easy for you?

 I like to add humour to a story because it helps to show another side  of your characters. Whether you’re dealing with a tough Marine or a single mother under a great deal of stress, I think adding a touch of humour can give the reader a peek inside the character that you can’t really show any other way.  Also, in North Star, there are elements of the story that are quite dark, so I needed to add some humour to balance that aspect.

The kids in North Star came fairly easy for me, probably because I have children around the same age and I’ve got a bit of real life experience to draw on. I also think that writing about the whole Teenage Daughter Syndrome (TDS) was possibly  done for therapeutic purposes!

 It’s great when a writer draws from their own experiences as the stories become more real.

Okay now, please tell us what are your plans for your next WIP? Details, details???

I’ve sent away my next book titled Finding Rose and hopefully it contains most of the things people liked about North Star, although there are no teenagers in this one! It’s about a woman who undertakes a journey to discover her grandmothers past in a small rural community.

 Oh, Karly I love the title and the sound of it already. I can’t wait to see it on the shelves.  Thank you

So if you are after a romantic suspense set in rural australia then North Star is the book for you. xx

Thanks for having me visit today, Fiona! Loved reading Heart of Gold and it was fascinating seeing inside a shearing shed. You made it all very real.

Awe thanks Helene. I could say the same for you, making the inside of a plane come alive for those of us who have never been in a cockpit.  I’m guessing you’ve been working on your third book now that Shattered Sky is out on the shelves. Is this one also a follow on with a character we are familiar with from Shattered Sky?  If possible, can you tell us a bit about it?

  I am indeed working on my third book and yes, there are two characters from Shattered Sky who you’ll meet again. One of them is Kaitlyn, the mission commander, but I won’t reveal my hero just yet   

Oh a bit of mystery…I can’t wait to see who it is!!

 This story looks at arsonists and what drives someone to light fires as well as the people who put their lives at risk fighting them. On a deeper level I’m also delving into what makes someone’s identity their own and how do we keep a grip on that when life throws curved balls at us. I’ve got about another thirty thousand words to do, but I’ve really enjoyed writing the story so far!

 That sounds brilliant, Helene. Don’t worry i’m sure those 30k will pour out quickly.

You write great suspense books. Have you always been a suspense reader and who are your favourite authors.

 I have always been a suspense reader starting with Enid Blyton and The Five Find-outers and Dog! From there I progressed to Trixie Belden Mysteries, Agatha Christie, Mary Stewart, then John Le Carre and Wilbur Smith! In between I raided my sisters cupboard for Mills and Boons, particularly an author called Violet Winspear, and Pride and Prejudice! 

 What’s it like writing about the OMG (outlaw motorcycle gang) and did you worry if you were overstepping boundaries about what you were writing. Did it need a lot of research?

 I did worry a little about the OMG angle. My husband worried even more! Consequently, I invented the names of the various gangs in Shattered Sky so I didn’t inadvertently end up with a drive-by shooting of my house! The research was fascinating and included sitting on a bus to Melbourne Airport early one morning chatting to a man who’d just come from an all night party with the Hell’s Angels. It was riveting.  It also made me reassess the stereotypical bikie as he was intelligent and articulate. The story then did evolved with the research as the more I dug the more I realised international criminals were now playing a much more active role in the gangs. I had no idea how many shootings and murders could be attributed back to turf wars over drugs and prostitution!

 I love the way meeting someone can help a story along, or even create different directions in our books.  I think my husband could sympathise with yours. LOL

You paint such a vivid picture of QLD for one who’s never been. Have you always lived there? What was life like for you growing up? 

I’m a Queenslander, almost by birth (apart from the first six months I spent in Canada before my parents come home to Brisbane.) Growing up was chaotic. I was the youngest of three and therefore bore the brunt of my brother and sister’s warped sense of humour. 

 We had a shack of a weekender at Currumbin Beach on the southern end of the Gold Coast and most weekends were spent down there mowing the grass (it as a one acre block…) and getting into adventures. Some of my early memories include commando crawling around in the scrub, swinging between trees, and building hide-outs… Seeing any parallels with my characters here?? 

(hmm that sounds like stuff I got up to as well Helene. Maybe thats why I love your characters so much!)

 I loved surfing, but in that era girls were literally hounded off the waves so I did more body surfing than board-riding and I do miss the waves. If Cairns had surf it would indeed be complete paradise!

 What did you want to be?…always a pilot?

I went through a variety of career choices. Vet, PE teacher, Marine scientist. Alas, I never quite applied myself enough at school – usually had my head stuck in a book.  Some subjects like English and History came easily so I did well in those. Maths and Science I did less well. Flying was a quiet obsession, more a dream, and when the school guidance counsellor told me to be a nurse I figured one day I’d fly for fun. Having never displayed any real compassion as a typical hormonal teenager I chose to ignore her advice and tried my hand a quite a few different careers.

 Seven years after that gem of wisdom I took my first flying lesson and am very grateful that I did! I love flying and every day appreciate that I have the best view in the world. It’s been a lot of hard work with some major sacrifices along the way (my husband always said we should have written the cook book ‘A hundred meals with mince meat and rice’…) but it’s worth it. 

 Now I think about it, it’s a lot like writing

 Thanks for lending us your time Helene, much appreciated. Best of luck finishing those 30,000 words and I’m looking forward to reading them.