novels

Murder, Mayhem and Men On Pause is out there for sale!

Sandy My Blog , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comment

It's out in the world!

A bankrupt husband. A marriage on the rocks. A cop more sexy than the legal limit.

Just when Ellie Cummins is free to shed her corporate wife image, she finds the body of a young woman in an apartment she’s been hired to re-design. Her fledging business depends on this contract, so she tries to ignore the long-buried grief the trauma exposes.

When Ellie learns that her daughter has a personal connection to the victim, and the police have no leads, she and friends Cass and Kandy decide to investigate the murder. But Brisbane’s alleyways are dark and their detective skills dubious, so how far will they go for justice?

Kandy once lived a hard life on the streets, but will uncovering her husband’s secret life destroy all she’s achieved since then? And solid, dependable Cass isn’t as content with her life as she seems.

And is the cop who responded to their call more interested in Ellie than the investigation?

For the three friends, it’s a time of change and self-discovery. And the realisation that life, like love, doesn’t play fair.

 

The Curtis Chaos Fairy has waved her wicked wand again. My women’s fiction, Murder, Mayhem and Men On Pause, was supposed to be launched in July, and my publisher sent the details to Amazon to go up as pre-order. But before she’d realised that a glitch had occurred, the book had gone straight to being available for sale. Readers in the US, Europe and Australia had started buying it.

So the decision was made to accept the fate that had been handed out to this (for me) long-awaited book and let everyone know that it’s now out in the world.

This book has been a long time in gestation. In 2004 I wrote the first pages and showed them to my then publisher, Pan Macmillan, who was keen for me to keep writing it. But somehow I couldn’t. I had envisaged the story of three friends whose lives suddenly implode and they are forced to confront the loss of everything they value. It was going to be full of angst and drama, and, frankly, it depressed me to think about it.

Fast forward ten years and the long-rejected characters raised their voices in protest. They told me that I had had enough time to realise that women have the kind of enduring strength that enables them to cope with what life can throw at them. Yes, they might go down for a while, but they grit their teeth and get back up and take control of their lives.

But what they really emphasised was that women support each other. Women look out for their friends. And women often see the humour in life, especially when it comes to men and relationships.

So I started writing the story again, but this time with a different flavour. Yes, there are losses, and sorrow, but there’s also happiness and laughter, and the kind of friendships that I’ve been incredibly lucky to have in my life.

I’m grateful for my amazing women friends who have given my life richness and joy. Without them this book could never have been written.

 

Available for purchase on Amazon US and Europe

Available for purchase on Amazon Australia

Can’t wipe the grin from my face

Sandy My Blog , , , , , , , , , 0 Comment

Someone out there must love Grievous Harm (well, at least several someones), because it has made the shortlist of the Australian Romance Readers Association Awards in the Romantic Suspense category. I am so thrilled and would like to thank all the readers who voted.

ARRA Awards finalist 2014

Now I’m hoping they would like to vote again in the finals. It would be beyond my wildest dreams to have Grievous Harm make it to the top but I would love to see John’s and Kate’s story get there. They are the fictional embodiment of all those people who work so hard to bring child abusers to justice and I tried my best to give them a voice.

Tell Me Why

Sandy My Blog , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

My guest today is author Sandi Wallace whose novel, Tell Me Why, makes its debut at the Book Expo Australia in Sydney on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st August courtesy of Clan Destine Press and Sisters in Crime Australia.

Sandi, congratulations on your first book being published. Is this the first one you have written and how did you get picked up by Clan Destine Press?

Thanks, Sandy! It is a real thrill. And yes, this is the first book I’ve written, although it doesn’t much resemble its early drafts. I worked on the same book for a number of years, developing my style, honing my skills, while practicing with shorter works and building confidence. I don’t undervalue or begrudge this time at all. It was my writer’s apprenticeship and particularly important as Tell Me Why is the first book in a series, so my style and characters needed to be well developed before the first book went to press. When it came time to send my manuscript out into the marketplace, I approached Clan Destine Press, a small genre publisher who I was aware of through my membership with Sisters in Crime Australia. It took me a couple of revised submissions but to my great delight, Clan Destine Press offered me a publishing deal last November and the first book in my Rural Crime Files series Tell Me Why has now been released!

What made you decide to write this book?

I knew I wanted to write a crime series and Daylesford seemed the perfect setting. It’s one of my favourite places, perhaps second only to the Dandenong Ranges where I live with my hubby. Daylesford’s a pretty country town, popular with tourists, arty types and same-sex couples. I liked the way that romantic perception juxtaposed with a moody crime story. The inbuilt conflict of a town balancing permanent residents with regular influxes of tourists also appealed. Then I decided I wanted it to be contemporary, reflecting our times, our world, even though it’s fiction.

So I had setting worked out. Then Georgie Harvey, the independent Melbourne writer and her search for missing farmer, Susan Pentecoste, came to me as the main character and story line for Tell Me Why. In my second draft, John Franklin emerged. He is a slightly old-school cop stationed at Daylesford and also a single dad. It fascinated me to position city-girl Georgie in his territory (which is way outside her comfort zone), but with her in the driver’s seat in the search for Susan. Meanwhile, Franklin is working another case – poison-pen letters targeting single mothers – which is a step-up from Daylesford’s usual soft crime.

I angled the book as mainly a Why-Dunnit because many crime readers – including me – are enthralled by why crimes happen, the repercussions and outcomes. Through this book, I had fun exploring human relationships, how far we’d go, and what we’d risk, to find the truth.

Have you always wanted to write crime?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been addicted to crime fiction in film and print. And it seems that, for equally as long, I’ve wanted to be a crime writer. Since I was a little girl, I dreamed of a row of books with my name on the spine – a crime fiction series written by me, with some standalone books, too. I hope this is the start of that dream coming true!

Do you see your writing branching out into different genres or sub-genres?

Tell Me Why combines thriller, suspense, police procedural, adventure, mystery and a touch of romance, so I have already branched into different sub-genres. My vision for the series is a revolving cast of characters and locations, although Daylesford and the characters from there will continue to be integral. This rotating platform allows each book to be unique, giving me artistic licence with sub-genres. I wouldn’t rule out writing a standalone book in a different genre but think my roots will always be entrenched in crime.

Who is your favourite author, and why?

Tricky question! I can’t limit it to one because there are so many wonderful authors whose works or work ethics have resonated with me for different reasons and at different times. These are across a variety of genres, literary fiction, classics, contemporary and historical stories. But nowadays, I tend to devour contemporary crime – albeit across its many sub-genres. Some of the recent reads I’ve thoroughly enjoyed include books by Michael Robotham, Jaye Ford, Katherine Howell, Honey Brown, Ian Rankin, Camilla Läckberg, Alex Hammond, Karen M Davis, B Michael Radburn, Bronwyn Parry…the list goes on! And I can’t wait to read your new release, Grievous Harm, Sandy, when it comes out in October.

Any advice for aspiring authors that might help them on the road to publication?

One of my characters in Tell Me Why says: ‘If it means that much to you, do it.’ And that’s what it all boils down to. Write because you want to write; you can’t imagine your life without creating. Know that the process will sometimes be slow and torturous, there will be speed humps (which may seem like mountains) and you will doubt yourself – numerous times. Successes in short story contests, other writing wins or exposure may boost the chances for your novel, so give them a go. Practice, persevere, seek constructive feedback and work with other writers or a mentor. Enjoy every step of the journey, every small win and keep believing. Good luck!

Thanks, Sandi, and best wishes for Tell Me Why.

www.sandiwallace.com

http://www.clandestinepress.com.au/node/385

Tell Me Why will be available for sale and signing at the Clan Destine Press/Sisters in Crime stand at Book Expo Australia. Sandi will also be sitting on two crime panels over the weekend: the Thriller vs Crime Smackdown on Saturday at 11.30am and Crime Panel Did the Butler Really Do It? on Sunday at 3.45pm. 

Welcome to Maggie Christensen

Sandy My Blog , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Australian author Maggie Christensen joins me today.

Congratulations on the release of Band of Gold, Maggie. Was there something in particular that inspired you to write this story?

Thanks, Sandy. A number of years ago I heard a story of someone who placed his wedding ring on the table on Christmas morning. It stuck in my mind and when I started wondering what might happen afterwards. Anna and Marcus appeared and Anna’s story began to take shape.

What did you find were the advantages and disadvantages of writing in first person and present tense?

It wasn’t really a choice. Anna’s voice came to me as soon as I began to write. I think the advantage was that it was easy to see the story though her eyes, and I didn’t have to worry about changing POV. As I was writing, I really stepped into Anna’s shoes, and the present tense made it more immediate. I guess the disadvantage was that everything was from Anna’s perspective, so there was no opportunity to see events form anyone else’s point of view. I have to say that, although I don’t normally write first person present tense, I really enjoyed it.

What did you like most about writing Band of Gold?

I enjoyed my characters. The story flowed well for me, and I think I fell a little bit in love with Marcus. I particularly enjoyed using familiar settings. Manly Beach was the first beach I visited in Australia when I lived for several years in Sydney, and I now live close to beautiful Peregian Beach.

Do you find your readers come from all age groups, or, because your books deal with mature-aged heroines, your readers tend to be in that age group?

When I began writing about women in their prime (I love this phrase), I thought I was targeting older readers – baby boomers. However I’m finding that my readers do come from all age groups. I guess women experience marriage and career crises at all ages, so the situations my protagonists find themselves in are easy to relate to.

Do you think there is an advantage to having background knowledge of two locations, i.e., Australia and Oregon in the US, and how helpful has this been in writing The Sand Dollar?

Definitely! I would never have contemplated Oregon as a setting if I hadn’t spent time there, and I don’t expect I’d be writing about Australia if I didn’t live here. I find that when I write, it’s as if I’m actually in the setting. For example, my current work, The Dreamcatcher, is set in Oregon, and I spend my days there when I’m writing.

What do you envisage writing in the future?

I’m presently writing what will most likely be book 3 in my Oregon Coast series. It picks up Ellen from The Sand Dollar and tells her story. Book 2 stalled part way through so I plan to go back to that one, which tells the story of Rosa, also from The Sand Dollar, and set in the Sunshine Coast in Australia.

Also, although I wrote Band of Gold as a stand-alone book, Anna’s sister Jan has started telling me her story too, so that book is also in the cards. Plus a few more ideas which are still in their infancy.

I intend to keep writing books with mature protagonists, as these are the ones I can relate best to.

That’s great, Maggie. I know what it’s like to have characters start to tell you their story. I’m sure a lot of people think writers are a bit cracked when we say we hear voices in our head, but our characters become like real people to us, don’t they.

Here’s the blurb for Maggie’s book, and an excerpt:

Band of Gold deals with the tricky topic of new romance after a failed marriage.

Anna Hollis is a forty-seven year old schoolteacher living in Sydney. She juggles her busy life with a daughter in the throes of first love, and increasingly demanding aging parents.

Anna’s world collapses when her husband of twenty-five years leaves her on Christmas morning. She makes it through the family festivities, explaining his absence with a flimsy excuse, but later breaks down on a Sydney beach where a stranger comes to her aid.

Marcus King has returned to Australia from the USA, leaving behind a broken marriage and a young son; through their mutual hurt and loneliness, a fragile friendship is formed when he takes up the position of Headmaster at Anna’s school.

Written in first person, present tense the author slips the reader into Anna’s shoes as she struggles to leave the past behind and learns to trust again. Can Marcus be a part of her future?

Excerpt

‘I don’t want to be married anymore.’

The band of gold, symbol of our twenty-five years of marriage lies on the table between us. I am stupefied, unable to speak. Tears prick my eyes as my first coffee of the day grows cold beside me. The sun is shining brightly through the kitchen window. The turkey is sitting on the kitchen bench waiting to be cooked. My parents, daughter, brother and sister, along with her husband and children are due to arrive in five hours’ time. The house is redolent with the scent of pine needles and Christmas pudding. It’s Christmas morning and my world has collapsed.

‘What do you mean?’ I finally utter, thinking this must be Sean’s idea of a bad joke. My mouth goes dry. My head begins to spin. The bottom has dropped out of my world. I look over at the man I have loved for over twenty-five years, his bushy greying blonde hair, his ruddy cleanshaven cheeks. He looks no different from any other morning. He’s wearing the bright yellow tee shirt we bought on our holiday in Bali last year. His steely blue eyes meet mine. This isn’t happening.

‘I can’t do this anymore, Anna.’ His waving arms take in the kitchen including me, ‘All this; family, house, job. I need to get away.’ He pushes his chair back from the table and strides out of the kitchen. I sit there in a daze, my mind going round in circles. Is it too late to call off Christmas lunch? How can I even think of such a thing? Does Sean mean he’s going to leave right now? How will I explain his absence? God, this is really going to be the Christmas from Hell.


Look for Band of Gold at:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1owK2w6

Barnes &Noble: http://bit.ly/1sZmp2

The Book Depository: http://bit.ly/1nbUiHf

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

Website:  http://maggiechristensenauthor.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8120020.Maggie_Christensen

 

Thank you, Maggie, for being such a lovely guest. I look forward to seeing The Sand Dollar and The Dreamcatcher available in the near future.

Who’s tagging whom?

Sandy My Blog , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comment

The lovely Kaz Delaney was a victim, and when she cried out for other victims, of course we all put our hands up like sheep happy to be led to the shearing shed on a Outback summer’s day. Or maybe a Melbourne heat wave. Authors are like that – happy to blog about their writing and other author’s books and when we get ‘tagged’ there’s rarely a word of protest.

Amanda Ashby tagged me. Amanda is the delightfully zany author of YA books like Demonosity and Fairy Bad Day. Amanda was born in Australia and after spending the last sixteen years dividing her time between England and New Zealand, she’s finally moved back and now lives on the Sunshine Coast.

She has a degree in English and Journalism from the University of Queensland and is married with two children. Her debut book, You Hand Me at Halo, was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice award, and her first young adult book, Zombie Queen of Newbury High, was listed by the New York Public Library’s Stuff for the Teen Age 2010. Her latest release, Fairy Bad Day, has been selected by Voya as one of their Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers 2012 and was a SCBWI Crystal Kite Award finalist for the Australia/NZ region.

So thanks, Amanda, for the tag. Well, that was my initial reaction when asked, but then I had to think about my answers to the four questions in the tag and I nearly rescinded my effusive gratitude (just kidding, Amanda, and yes, I am winking)

Q1 What am I working on?

I think my head must be in several different places lately, because I can’t decide if I should keep writing the next women’s fiction or the rural romance I started last month. The women’s fiction is the next book on from Murder, Mayhem and Menopause (which hasn’t found a publishing home as yet), and continues the lives of Ellie, Cass and Kandy, women in the prime of their lives (sounds better than mature-age protagonists, doesn’t it J) and their families and friends. I always like to give my work-in-progress a title, but Conceptions and Misconceptions, which is the working title of book two, doesn’t float my boat, even though it accurately describes some of the story.

The rural romance is still in the Chapter Two phase and is on hold while life intervenes.

Speaking of intervening, the edits on my seventh romantic thriller, Grievous Harm, have just landed in my in-box. Not too much to do, but I have to find/make the time. Not easy when I’m organising the Bundaberg writers festival, WriteFest, and helping some family members at the same time. Ah, well, you know what they say about asking a busy person…

My eighth romantic thriller is still in the embryonic stage, with my subconscious mind trying to cement the many scenarios I’ve thrown into the cauldron into something that resembles a cohesive plot.

“Cauldron” you ask? I’ve always thought a writer’s mind is a bit like Macbeth’s witches cauldron where all the ideas and snippets of information go and get stirred around and around and finally spill out and become a full story with living, breathing characters (well, they are that way to the writer, and hopefully to the reader).

Q2 How does my work differ from others in the genre?

I think all writers put their own stamp on the stories they write, and I think my stamp would be the pacing and tension. As one reviewer said, “It’s like reading Matthew Reilly with romance”. I prefer not to read books that take ages to get to the next plot or character turning point or wax lyrical about fashions or floor coverings or describe the scenery in minute detail as I’m a firm believer in what Graeme Green said – “character is plot”. So I like to read books that get right into the guts of characters and keep me interested in them, as well as having a great plot that hooks me.

Q3 Why do I write what I write?

See the answer to Q2. Okay, it’s not quite as simple as that. I grew up reading every book I could get my hands on, but the ones that really grabbed me were the action-adventure kind. I read every Alistair McLean, Jack Higgins, Robert Ludlum etc book, but I found it frustrating that the female characters had only minor roles, or if they were a main character they would inevitably come to a dire end and the hero would carry on without them. Ken Follett’s The Eye of the Needle was an exception, with a resourceful heroine, and I loved the Modesty Blaise novels. So I guess it was inevitable that when I gave in to my overwhelming compulsion to write, thrillers with great heroes and heroines who could match their courage and daring would be my choice of genre. And falling in love while facing all that danger was definitely the way to go.

Q4 How does my writing process work?

There’s a process? I’ve heard about it, and I’m sure it’s not a rumour because I have friends who have one, but no amount of trying has enabled me to master the “sit my backside on the office seat at a certain time and write to a certain time and then have lunch etc, etc.” scenario.

But wait, that’s a writing routine, isn’t it. A process … Well, I guess it’s that I’m always gathering ideas for plots and characters and locations every minute I’m awake. I try to write them down as soon as I can (yes, there’s a pad and pen beside my bed), and sometimes I write a basic outline of the plot. I fill in character sheets for my main characters and some minor ones. It’s a great way of getting to know them, particularly the part that addresses their family and childhood as we are a product of our environment as much as our genes. The character sheet also acts as a continuity check, especially if it’s for a minor character whose eyes were green in chapter two but by chapter ten I can’t remember if I’d changed them to blue or blue-green.

I’m one of those terrible writers who can’t seem to turn off their internal editor and when I start writing each day (or on those days when I can find the time) I re-read what I last wrote and tweak anything that needs it. I also can’t seem to keep writing if something needs fixing – I have to fix it. Anal, I know, but it also means that I do few re-writes before I give it to my beta readers.

Grammar, spelling, punctuation – can’t help myself, I was an English A+ and treasured my writing bible, the ABC of English Usage. One day I think I will go ballistic if I see another incorrect apostrophe – don’t people know the difference between possessive and plural? Ooops, there I go, being anal again …

And now to introduce the next three victims willing and enthusiastic authors who have been tagged and will be blogging next Monday:

Best-selling author Bronwen Evans grew up loving books. She has always indulged her love of storytelling and is constantly gobbling up movies, books, and theater. Is it any wonder she’s a proud romance writer? Evans is a two-time winner of the RomCon Readers’ Crown and has been nominated for an RT Reviewers’ Choice Award. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

 

Scott Baker is a film-maker who has recently returned from middle earth, working with Peter Jackson on his epic trilogy – ‘The Hobbit.’

From a young age, Scott was a storyteller, making up elaborate reasons why he wasn’t able to tidy his room when confronted by a sceptical mother. Scott moved from Yorkshire England to the blue mountains of NSW when he was three years old. He grew up learning martial arts, reading fantasy novels and watching movies at every opportunity. He spent his youth playing sports designing elaborate stories to shift the blame for anything that was done wrong onto his older brother.

He studied TV and film production at university, and worked as a consultant in the film industry before lecturing at the Australian National University in digital video. He moved to Canberra to train in the sport of Taekwondo with sights set on the 2004 Olympics, but injury would keep him out of the selections.

‘The Rule of Knowledge’ is Scott’s first novel. He is currently working on the development of two feature films and his second novel. He lives somewhere on the highway between Sydney and Canberra in a little red Hyundi Excel….

 

 

http://www.ruleofknowledge.com

 

 

 

 

 

Heather Garside grew up on a cattle property in Central Queensland and now lives with her husband on a beef and grain farm in the same area. She has two adult children.

She has previously published three historical romances and has helped to write and produce several compilations of short stories and local histories. The Cornstalk was a finalist in the 2008 Booksellers’ Best Award, Long Historical category, for romance books published in the USA. Her rural romance, Breakaway Creek, was a finalist in the QWC/Hachette Manuscript Development Program and is now published by Clan Destine Press.

She works part time at the local library, at home on the farm and helps produce a local monthly newsletter, amongst other voluntary activities.

http://www.heathergarside.com

http://heathergarside.wordpress.com/

Australia Day

Sandy My Blog , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 Comment

Australia Day 2013 should have been full of barbecues, picnics, thong-throwing competitions, and happy families celebrating their pride in their country while newer residents proudly took their citizenship oath. But Cyclone Oswald lashed Queensland’s coast, creating six tornadoes and the biggest flood in Bundaberg’s recorded history. Thousands of homes were inundated, thirteen washed away, never to be found, others teetering on holes created by the torrent. Businesses suffered devastating losses, caught by Nature’s intensity and the Burnett River breaking its banks. Boats were washed away, some completely disappearing, some found days later as broken hulks on the rocky shore, debris scattered like broken dreams.

The town was in shock. But as the water receded and help flowed in, Bundabergians created their own Mud Army and went to work helping those whose lives had been traumatised.

One year later, the town has mostly recovered. Some businesses never re-opened, some houses never re-built, some folks still fighting insurance companies and unable to return to their homes, but the ghost-town atmosphere that pervaded North Bundaberg in the months following the flood has been replaced by a thriving community spirit.

So this Australia Day I reflected on that wonderful Aussie spirit, that pride in a country of extremes, from tropical rainforests, snow-covered mountain ranges, vast Outback plains that seem to be either in drought or flood. We started as a penal colony of convicts and guards and evolved into explorers and farmers and graziers and nation-builders. But it wasn’t easy. This is a harsh and often unforgiving land, and it took guts to try to conquer it.

It’s those aspects of the Australian landscape and psyche that I’ve tried to capture in my books. I love this unique land of ours and want to share it with my readers. In Dance with the Devil the rugged Great Dividing Range became as huge an obstacle for Emma and Drew to conquer as the killer who held an innocent life in his hands. In Black Ice a hit-and-run on the Sunshine Coast and a mud slide in the Blue Mountains nearly meant the end for Kirri and Daniel. Deadly Tide was a favourite to write, set as it was on a trawler off Bundaberg’s coast. Putting Sam and Chayse in such a confined space gave lots of opportunities for sparks to fly, and some unusual dangerous situations, and researching beautiful Lady Musgrave Island was no hardship for this dedicated writer J

Until Death was more citified, encompassing Brisbane, Sydney and the Hunter Valley region where Libby and Connor had to cope with a natural disaster as deadly as the killers hunting them.

Dangerous Deception allowed me to indulge in more exotic locations such as Central Queensland’s Carnarvon Gorge before bringing Breeanna and Rogan back to Melbourne. But I couldn’t resist having them go via the Gold Coast hinterland in a daring escape that has them jumping off a mountain.

Ladder to Amphitheatre tunnel entrance at Carnarvon Gorge

The plot of Fatal Flaw only allowed me to take a slight deviation from Brisbane’s suburbs, Chinatown, and nearby Mount Glorious, but it’s Mark’s trip to the sapphire diggings outside Emerald that gives him a clue to who wants to kill Julie’s father.

Grievous Harm (to be released later this year), traverses a lot of New South Wales and Queensland, and depicts the harshness and grandeur of the Outback. This is the darkest of all my novels, and I hope readers can forgive me for what I put Kate and John through. They really deserve their HEA.

What I also strived to do was give my heroes and heroines the kind of courage our early settlers had to have in order to survive. They have to battle not only the highs and lows of falling in love, but danger in various guises and a land that can be as deadly as any determined killer.

We didn’t have prawns (shrimp) on the barbie this Australia Day, but lamb chops (after all, Australia was supposed to ride on the sheep’s back at one stage in our history), and I counted my blessings that I live in this wonderful country that gives me such fabulous settings in which to tell my stories, and planned my next research trips to those states and territories I haven’t yet written about.

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

Sandy My Blog , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Week 21:   THE NEXT BIG THING BLOG HOP

The past few years have been full of high profile reads — 50 Shades of Gray, Twilight, and more. Love them or hate them, you have to admit you have at least heard of them.

As independent authors, authors with small press publishers, or mid-list authors we all dare to dream we will be next, and well let’s face it, you never know …

With that thought I jumped on this Hop. What is a blog hop? Basically, it’s an authors’ game of tag.

One author posts, and then tags up to five other authors, who each link back to them. It has the potential to reach different audiences, and you, dear reader, have hopefully just increased your “to read” list, finding new and exciting authors you may never have found otherwise. Some of us are published, some still writing, others are just being released.

Either way, for you fiction lovers a treasure trove awaits and I’d like to thank fellow author Carol Marvell for tagging me to participate.

Click the links to find out about Carol Marvell’s books.

Website:  http://carolmarvell.webs.com/

Blog:  http://billiemccoy.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/week-20-next-big-thing-blog-hop.html#comment-form

Buy Slave Trader:  http://www.wildchildpublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info?cPath=70&products_id=381

In this particular hop, I, and my fellow authors in their respective blogs, have answered 10 questions where you get to learn about our current WIP (Works in Progress) as well as some insights into our process, from characters and inspirations to plotting and cover decisions. I hope you enjoy it.

If this or any other item piques your interest, please feel free to comment and share your thoughts and questions.

HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS

1: What is the working title of your book?

Grievous Harm, book seven, will be published in 2013, but book eight, the one I’m working on now, is still trying to let me know its title.

2: Where did the idea come from for the book?

Some years ago I received an email in my in-box that horrified me. It was a graphic photo of child sexual abuse that had gone viral and ended up in the in-boxes of thousands of innocent people. I called Taskforce Argos at Police Headquarters in Brisbane and forwarded it to them so they could track down the perpetrator/s.

John Corey is the main character in Grievous Harm, and I wanted a story that would show the depth of his character that readers didn’t get to see in Fatal Flaw. As an undercover operative he is used to seeing the seamy side of life, but when he stumbles on a paedophilia ring it brings back long-buried guilt and memories he is forced to deal with.

3: What genre does your book come under?

Thriller with a love story. Or crime with romance. Or romantic suspense. Depending on how the reader interprets it.

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Sorry, I can’t make up my mind. So many … so many ….

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

An undercover operative defies orders and helps a woman searching for her niece, only to uncover a paedophilia ring and a criminal whose actions threaten the safety of a nation.

6: Will your book be self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

Fatal Flaw is out now with independent publisher Clan Destine Press and Grievous Harm will be released in 2013.

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Nine months, but I’m one of those writers who edits as she goes, so the final draft wasn’t far from the first draft.

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Linda Howard writes the kind of romantic suspense thrillers that my books have been compared with.

9: Who or What inspired you to write this book?

The characters. You know that song that says I can’t get you out of my head? Well, that’s what my characters do to me – dictate what they expect me to write for them.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Now, there’s a good question. Perhaps it’s best answered by Kelly McLean in her review on Aussie Book Reviews: “All I can say is I loved this! Sandy has taken the Genre of Aussie Romantic Suspense and made it her own. Very well written, fast paced with some very interesting sex scenes . I thoroughly enjoyed it!”

 

Below you will find authors who will be joining me by blog, next Wednesday (21st). Do be sure to bookmark and add them to your calendars for updates on WIPs and new releases! Happy writing and reading!

Ian Walkley

Website:  http://www.ianwalkley.com

Blog:  http://www.ianwalkley.com/

Buy No Remorse: http://www.amazon.com/No-Remorse-Ian-Walkley/dp/0980806607/

Kathy Stewart

Web site:  www.authorsally.com

Blog: http://authorsally.wordpress.com

My book can be bought by emailing kathy@authorsally.com or via Amazon

 

Author Chat

Sandy My Blog , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

The Bundaberg Regional Library started a new initiative on Monday – morning tea with an author – and I was the guinea pig 🙂

At first I thought I was going to be chatting with an audience of two, but people soon trickled in, and when I started talking about the journey of a book, from manuscript to bookshelf, library patrons who’d come in just to borrow a book wandered over and sat down and joined in. It was a great morning, and lovely to meet such interesting readers and writers. One lady bought Fatal Flaw for her daughter and when she said to write “To Gaynor” on it, I had to tell her that there is a character in the book called Gaynor and she’s not the kind of woman you’d want your son to bring home for dinner. She laughed and said it will create some discussion on Christmas morning.

Which makes me curious – have you ever read a character that had the same name as you and you didn’t like him/her? How did you feel about it?

Sandy with Jacqui Read, Linda Collins, Val Lewis and Alina Bonaventura at Library Author Chat
Sandy and Lyn Dwyer