When did you start writing and what inspired you to start?
I always liked to write. Even as a child, I would compose little stories and poetry. I always loved it when we had to write essays at school, especially if they could be fictional.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
After I had written the Blue Door Trilogy (which started life as a short story), I was bitten by the writing bug hook, line and sinker. I realized the urge to write was never going to leave me and it was all I wanted to do. In my opinion, if writing is the first thing you think about on waking and the last thing you think about before bed…and you spend all day doing it, or wanting to do it – you are a writer.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I know it sounds a bit corny, but I had a dream. This particular dream was so vivid, I felt compelled to write it down. I thought it would make a good short story, but as time went on and the ideas kept flowing, it turned into a novel – and then a trilogy.
Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?
Things/people are never quite as they appear on the surface, so one should not judge a book by its cover (so to speak).
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
I always try to write about what I know, or have experienced (first or second hand) as a basis. The rest is research and imagination.
Who are some of the authors you particularly admire or who’ve had some influence on your own writing?
Velda Brotherton has taught me so much, from workshops to introducing me to other writers and writers’ groups. Everyone in the writers’ group I attend with her has been extremely helpful and encouraging to me, giving concrete ideas and suggestions for improvements to my work. Being fairly new in the world of serious writers, I need all the input I can get . I always admired Catherine Cookson’s ability to be grounded in truth with her writing, and I strive for that in my own works. Ever since H.G. Wells introduced me to time travel, through The Time Machine, I have been hooked on that subject matter.
I also admire J.R.R. Tolkien and the way he brought Middle Earth alive for me in the Hobbit and the Lord of The Rings. I would aspire to create such description and detail for my readers.
What is the best advice you could give an aspiring author?
Never give up! Join a writers’ critique group, have faith in your work, research everything, read and most of all, keep writing!
List your favorite quotation or words you live by.
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Thank you to everyone that has read my books and/or written a review. I appreciate you all more than you know!