Category Archives: Interviews
Special Guest Author Interview: Dianne Blacklock
I’d like to welcome accomplished Australian author of women’s fiction novels, Dianne Blacklock to the blog!
1. Welcome Dianne, can you tell us a little about your book, THE SECRET INGREDIENT?
Thanks for having me! THE SECRET INGREDIENT centres on Andie, who gave up her dreams of being a chef when she married Ross. He left a wife and three kids for her, so Andie feels she must put their relationship first – but in reality that translates to putting Ross first. After ten years she’s feeling restless and dissatisfied, Ross seems distant, and not a little secretive … After her marriage implodes, Andie sets about to take back her life, and fulfil her original dream, whatever the obstacles – one very large one being Dominic Gerou, the head chef in the restaurant where she finds work.
2. What do you think attracts readers to stories with a food theme?
Perhaps it’s because it’s something we can all relate to – we all have to eat! Our lives revolve around food to a greater or lesser extent, we celebrate with food, families come together around food, people romance each other over food.
3. How long does it usually take you to write the first draft of a novel?
Probably about 5-6 months of ‘real’ writing – now that I don’t have young children. But there can be anything up to 3 months of faffing about.
4. Do you think there is a ‘secret ingredient’ to having a successful career as an author?
If there is, can you share it with me? Basically I think it’s a mixture of talent, discipline, and just plain luck!
5. What do you enjoy most about being an author?
I love most when I’m totally in the zone, writing as fast as I can to keep up with my characters. Oh, and being able to wear tracksuit pants to work!
6. Is food a big part of your family life? Do you have a signature meal or recipe that’s a favourite in your household?
With four boys, food was certainly a big part of family life, but it was generally about quantity not quality! Fortunately as they grew older they began to appreciate more variety, though on birthdays and special occasions they still always ask for a regular baked dinner. But I reckon I cook a mean baked dinner, exactly like my mum’s. My ‘signature dish’ would have to be the plum pudding icecream I have been making in vast quantities for extended family and friends every Christmas for more than twenty years.
7. If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, who would you choose?
Gosh, only one? I had to go through a whole list in my head first: George Clooney or Brad Pitt, so that I could ask them all about their humanitarian work (translation: so I could stare at them); Meryl Streep because I adore her; Barack Obama would make an interesting dinner companion, I would imagine, and Jon Stewart (U.S commentator & comedian) would be fascinating and hilarious … Too many interesting, intelligent, stunning people to choose from! But if I must narrow it down to one, I think it would have to be Aaron Sorkin, who is my favourite living writer. No, he doesn’t write novels, he writes for film and television (most notably The West Wing). I would love to hear all about his process, gather any tips, and just hope some of the magic rubbed off!
8. Do you find it difficult to keep coming up with new ideas for books?
It does get more difficult – there are plenty of ideas floating around my head, but executing them in an original way is the challenge. I am wary of writing the same characters, treading the same ground, repeating myself.
9. Do you have any words of wisdom for aspiring authors?
Read and write. Read as much as you can, then think about what worked in the book, and also what didn’t work. Try to establish a writing routine. Timetable it like anything else – paid work, exercise, housework, whatever you spend time doing on a regular basis. If you can’t find the time to write regularly, you’re not really serious about it.
10. Are you working on another book, what’s next for you?
Speaking of establishing a routine, I’m settling into one after an extended break spent selling up and moving house. I’ll be doing little else for the next few months. For several years now I have had a book out in the second half of the year, but the move made that schedule impossible. So I’m working towards a March 2013 release, all going well.
~ Dianne Blacklock has been a teacher, trainer, counsellor, check-out chick, and even one of those annoying market researchers you avoid in shopping centres. Nowadays she tries not to annoy anyone by staying home and writing. She is the author of Call Waiting, Wife for Hire, Almost Perfect, False Advertising, Crossing Paths, Three’s a Crowd, The Right Time, and most recently, The Secret Ingredient. Visit Dianne and check out her fantastic books on her website here.
Thanks for visiting the blog, Dianne!
…Remember, as part of the Mouthwatering May special event, you could win prizes simply by commenting below and on any of the posts during May. Be sure to subscribe to the blog too, to be eligible for prizes 
Sunday Lunch with… Margareta Osborn
Today I’d like to welcome Margareta Osborn to Sunday Lunch. Margareta writes Australian rural fiction, and her debut novel, BELLA’S RUN, was released this year.
1. Can you tell us about a happy memory from your life that revolved around food?
Throughout my childhood and teenage years, mum would serve a roast lunch every Sunday and you were expected to be there. As kids (there are three of us and I’m the middle ‘problem’ child) we’d go to Mass either the previous night or Sunday morning. Come 10.30am, Mum would crank up the oven, the vegies would be organised and then boiled to within an inch of their wilted lives. The roast was invariably beef, seeing my parents were dairy farmers and ran a few head of beef cattle as well. Lunch would be ready by 1pm, the boxing would be on the telly (have no idea why because none of us had the slightest interest in it), Dad would make us all a lime spider; he’d have a shandy. (It was the only time, as a child, I ever saw him drink alcohol.) We’d all sit around the table and eat, talk, argue, laugh, yell (that was me – ‘Mum, it’s MY turn to talk!’) and generally be rowdy. Now I look back, I realise just how special that was.
Another time, I was relief station cook for the weekend on a property in outback-western Queensland. I decided I’d give the stockmen a treat and make a pavlova. If you’ve read my book BELLA’S RUN, a snippet of this experience was included in the first chapter. Beating sixteen egg whites to froth in one mix master bowl can cause all sorts of problems. Let’s just say the clean up afterwards ensured a mate and I needed to drive the hour to town to find a drink (and to pickup two bottles of fresh cream and some punnets of strawberries to decorate the pav). The pavlova was sublime albeit a tad weird looking. My mate and I, well, we kind-of rolled home.
2. Do you have any food-related rituals or routines in your household, such as a specific meal for certain days of the week?
We sit down to tea together as a family. It is a given and not negotiable. There is a spare chair at our table at all times for anyone who happens to call in. (It’s got the honorary name of ‘Graeme’s Chair’ after our uncle who is a regular.) Visitors are served up a plate of tea too, as I usually cook enough to feed multitudes. (And do you notice I say tea? Should I say ‘dinner’? Dinner when I was a child was lunch. It’s a bit confusing, isn’t it!)
We rarely have take-away. An easy meal tea (eg. on a weekend) is usually something like a spaghetti casserole (refer BELLA’S RUN again), homemade hamburgers, quiche or a sausage in bread (with salad or creamy potato bake).
I also have a food ritual with one of my best friends. When both of us are having a difficult few weeks we catch up for lunch at either’s home. Menu: Heinz tomato soup made with hot milk (not water), crusty fresh bread, a can of cola and chocolate.
Dreadful on the waist. Fabulous for the spirit.
3. What is your favourite…
Drink: Bailey’s Irish Cream and Butterscotch Snaps…ice-cold glass of sparkling Moscato … Lemon Squash made with lemon cordial and freezing lemonade… shall I go on?
Indulgence: Arnotts chocolate mint biscuits.
Meal: Roast with rich gravy, crispy potatoes & vegies, apple pie with cream or my grandmother’s steamed jam pudding.
4. What’s the most revolting thing you’ve ever eaten?
Peas. Even the thought makes me turn ‘green’. Mum used to make me eat them and if I didn’t I’d be locked in the bathroom until I did. I learnt very quickly peas fit down the bath plughole if you push, until the day I was caught. I was hauled out of the bathroom and Mum stood over me with the threat of a spanking to make me eat them. I vomited everywhere. From then on I was never made to eat another pea. Mission accomplished 🙂
5. If you have children, have you discovered any ingenious ways to hide vegetables in meals?
The bamix. A wonderful invention. ‘Vegies? You’ve got to be kidding me. Does it look like there are vegies in that beautiful pie/casserole?!’. Although, in saying this, my nine year old can pick the slightest hint of yellow (sweet corn), red (capsicum) or white/clear (onion) discrepancy in any food placed before him from three feet away, regardless of the food processor. *Sigh*
P.S. I NEVER serve peas to my kids.
6. Is eating out at cafes and restaurants a regular part of your life? Do you have any favourite places you’d like to mention?
Eat out? What’s that? So rare an occurrence around here it’s nearly extinct.
The closest thing to a café/restaurant we usually get is my husband cooking us a camp oven roast over a fire. And I’ll have to say it would rival any five star restaurant meal. He’s an extremely good camp cook. Which is why, if there is a camp oven roast on offer, you will usually find me tramping around the bush a w-ayyyyy over some hill looking for brumbies and my husband, a beer in one hand, a shovel in the other (for moving around the hot coals) cooking tea. I love that man 🙂
Building up the fire to get hot coals for the camp oven:
7. Do you eat while you write? Are there any particular foods or drinks you always have on hand while writing?
M & M’s. My downfall. I started with the chocolate ones and then moved onto the crispy ones. They help me out when the muse goes to lunch.
8. If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, who would you choose?
My mum.
We lost her fourteen years ago and damn it all I am crying as I write this.
When she died I was still in that young ‘it’s all about me’ phase of my life. I just wish I could have known her as a person – a friend – as well as a mother. I look around at girlfriends and women at the school where my children go, and how their mother’s are a huge part of their and their kid’s lives. How I wish we had that. But life goes on and you can’t change what God decrees.
9. Which one of the following types of cooks are you?
- Cooking? What’s that?
- I cook only when I absolutely have to
- I’m an average cook, and stick to my regular meals
- I like to experiment with new recipes regularly, or create my own
- Next season of MasterChef – lookout!
I LOVE to cook, but I am none of the above. I do what my grandmother fostered in me, that old fashioned thing called ‘baking’. My children think their throats are cut, if they haven’t got homemade biscuits, cakes or slices in the cupboard/fridge for smoko/lunch/or ‘afters’. And then there are the friends at school whom I have to send a piece of jelly slice or ANZAC bickie coated in milk chocolate for as well. My oldest son reckoned he could have made a fortune selling his play lunch everyday.
I do like to experiment with meal cooking but only so much. If you want a good, old fashioned, hearty country meal visit my place. If you want a newfangled ooh la la dish that people like me can’t pronounce, I suggest you visit someone else.
10. Do you have a favourite recipe you’d like to share?
Oh golly. Which one is the question?!
Raspberry Jelly Slice (a yummy one)
Base
1 pkt Arnotts Milk Arrowroot biscuits (they tend to crush finer than the traditional Marie Biscuits)
250 gms butter (melted)
Middle
1 can Condensed Milk
4 teaspoons of gelatine dissolved in ½ cup of boiling water
Juice of two lemons
Topping
Raspberry Jelly made with 1 cup boiling water and ½ cup cool water. Note: Add 1 dessertspoon of gelatine to the jelly crystals BEFORE adding water. This makes the jelly firmer and stops it from sliding off the slice when you serve.
Method:
Make up jelly as described above and place in fridge to cool but not set. (ie. Don’t forget the jelly like I do sometimes!)
Crush biscuits using a bamix, food processor or put into plastic bag and smash with rolling pin. (Or you could do what one of my best mates does and bag up biscuits really well and run over with your four-wheel-drive 🙂 ) Tip crushed biscuits into a bowl.
Pour melted butter into biscuits. Mix until combined. Pour into slice tray and press down firmly. Place in fridge for five minutes or so to set.
Pour condensed milk into bowl. Add boiling water (with dissolved gelatine as described above) and stir. Add lemon juice. Stir some more until mixture thickens. Take biscuit base from fridge and pour milk mixture into tray. Spread until milk mixture is level. Place back in fridge to set.
Once milk mixture is set, pour jelly onto top of slice. I find it easier to leave slice tray in fridge as I pour the jelly on. This means a lot less mess if you happen to spill it 😉 Leave slice in fridge until jelly is set.
Enjoy!
Thanks for being on the blog, Margareta, it was an absolute pleasure! Oh, and happy Mother’s day to you and all the mothers out there!
Find out more about Margareta at her website.
Remember, you could win prizes by leaving a comment below! Just make sure you also subscribe to the blog to be eligible 🙂
Special Guest Author Interview: Trisha Ashley
I’m thrilled to welcome author Trisha Ashley to the blog today as part of my Mouthwatering May special event.
1) Welcome Trisha! Can you tell us a little about your new book, Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues?
It’s set in rural West Lancashire, like several of my recent books. I didn’t start out to write a series – they’re all stand-alone novels – but there’s some overlapping of places and characters. The village in Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues is Sticklepond, where A Winter’s Tale and Chocolate Wishes also took place.
My heroine, Tansy, inherits a run-down shoe shop from her great-aunt and, when her life goes all Cinderella without a happy ending, she throws herself into recreating it as a bridal shoe emporium.
It is a huge success, which is a bit unfortunate for reclusive Shakespearian actor Ivo Hawksley, who has moved next door in search of some peace and quiet. Like Tansy, he has a few demons from his past to deal with – it’s all about coming to terms with what has happened in the past and how it has shaped you, so you can move on.
I suppose I’d describe my books as romantic comedy, though the humour arises from the characters themselves – I don’t try and write in a funny way, I just write.
2) You also have a book called Chocolate Wishes. What do you love about writing stories with a food theme?
The research, of course! The idea for the Chocolate Wishes of the title came about when I remembered making chocolate Easter eggs for my son when he was small and putting in a message from the Easter Bunny: I thought suddenly that fortune cookies would be so much nicer if they were made of chocolate…
Food is often a strong theme in my books because it can be comforting, exciting, reassuring, celebratory or simply an expression of love. I have no cookery training, it’s all just recipes I picked up along the way, or learned from my mother.
Other strong themes in my novels are gardening, especially roses and knot gardens, family (even if sometimes a little dysfunctional) and friendship, from which can grow all kinds of love.
3) How long does it usually take you to write the first draft of a novel?
On average, I suppose about four months, though the ideas for the next book will have been fermenting gently on the backburner while I was finishing off the last one. I have twice written a first draft in a fortnight in an unstoppable outpouring, which was exhilarating even if a trifle exhausting.
4) You share recipes in your books. Do you have an all time favourite recipe?
The rich dark fruit cake recipe in Wedding Tiers: I use it for birthdays, book launches, Christmas… It’s easy and always works. The very worst that can happen is that the edges catch a little, or the fruit sinks to the bottom, but it will taste wonderful anyway.
5) If you could name three essential ingredients that make up a great novel, what would they be?
The obvious answer would be: a beginning, middle and an end. By that I mean that a book should immediately transport you to a different place and then take you on a journey through it, with stop-offs to see the sights and have a few adventures. If a reader writes and says that I have provided them with that escape hatch, that Alice-through-the-looking-glass experience, then there can be no finer compliment.
6) What do you love most about being an author?
I usually write in first person and I adore becoming someone else and slipping off into a different world. But when all the characters have taken on a life of their own and start having conversations in your head when you’re trying to go to sleep at night, that can be annoying. I know if I don’t put the light on and write it all down, I’ll have forgotten it by morning.
I also enjoy taking two very different people, building the chemistry between them and then finding a way to bring them together. There have often been traumas in their past lives that make this outcome difficult to achieve, but I find that challenge exciting.
But the bottom line is, to quote Stephen King (I do love his book called On Writing!), writing is the most fun you can have on your own!
7) Do you have any words of wisdom for aspiring authors?
This may sound very obvious, but it has to be said: writers write, it’s in the nature of the job description. You write every day and feel guilty and bereft if you have finished a novel and not started on the next. So, don’t just think about it, do it. Get in the writing habit, if only for ten or fifteen minutes a day and then build on that. However busy you are, if you really want to write, you will find the time.
1) If you can’t get started at all, read Natalie Goldberg’s book, ‘Writing Down the Bones’.
2) Once you’ve got into the daily writing habit, then do read Stephen King’s book, ‘On Writing ‘ – he really tells it like it is.
3) Read my novel Happy Endings – the heroine, Tina Devino, is a novelist who also runs a manuscript critique service and there are letters to and from aspiring novelists throughout the book. You will learn a lot about what – and what not – to do!
4) Read a lot of recently published novels in the genre you are aiming at. Consider what length they are and what the readers of that kind of book expect from a novel.
5) You will know your main characters are three dimensional when they start having conversations with each other in your head.
But if you never get beyond chapter three don’t despair and give up, but try short stories instead: some of us are built to be sprinters and others for the marathon, you just have to find the writing form that suits you best.
*
Thank you so much Trisha for taking the time to visit the blog, you’ve given some valuable advice for aspiring authors, and your book cover is beautiful!
~ Trisha Ashley was born in St. Helens, Lancashire, and now lives in the beautiful surroundings of North Wales. She has written twelve romantic comedies and her last novel, The Magic of Christmas, was a Sunday Times bestseller. A Winter’s Tale and Wedding Tiers have been previously shortlisted for the Melissa Nathan award for romantic comedy. Every Woman for Herself was voted one of the top three romantic novels of the last fifty years.Visit Trisha’s website here, and twitter here.
…Remember, as part of the Mouthwatering May special event, you could win prizes simply by commenting below and on any of the posts during May. Be sure to subscribe to the blog too, to be eligible for prizes 🙂
Sunday Lunch with… Rebecca Raisin
Today I’d like to welcome writer Rebecca Raisin to the new blog segment, Sunday Lunch!
1. Hi Rebecca, can you tell us about a happy memory from your life that revolved around food?
We’re serious foodies. A couple of years ago we decided to hold our own family Master chef. We picked a cuisine from a country of the host’s choice each month. Each couple had to prepare two dishes which were scored on taste, complexity and presentation. The competition was fierce as everyone vied for the coveted ‘Plat de jour’ perpetual trophy (see photo below). We decorated the tables, and even dressed in theme. There was a sea of colours at the Mexican Master chef, with everyone wearing sombreros, ponchos and fake moustaches. These long languid lunches began to seep slowly into the night, as we watched the kids play, only stopping occasionally to try the next dish. Word filtered down to friends about these all day feasts, and they’d call asking to be included in the next cook-off. It was an enjoyable summer of great food and trying something new, whether you were the one cooking it or tasting it for the first time. We really should start the culinary competition again…
2. Do you have any food-related rituals or routines in your household, such as a specific meal for certain days of the week?
I don’t plan any meals. We usually have an idea for a special dish on the weekend, something complicated or time consuming that we’ll try, but during the week anything goes. I’m a big fan of slow cooking. I like to prepare the meal early, put it in the oven and forget about it! I love winter for this very reason, and enjoy making Coq a vin and Beef bourguignon. Possibly I was French in a past life!
3. What is your favourite…
Drink: White wine, preferably from the Marlborough wine region
Indulgence: Dark chocolate
Meal: Peking duck
4. What’s the most revolting thing you’ve ever eaten?
We cooked a whole pink snapper, stuffed with herbs and butter on Christmas day, and somehow the conversation turned to the eye being a delicacy. I’m usually not adventurous with bizarre food, but I thought I’d try the eye, just in case I was missing out on something truly wonderful. It wasn’t wonderful, and in the end, I couldn’t do it, I had to spit it out in disgust! That was the first and last time I’ll try something ‘exotic’ no matter how many people rave about it!
5. Have you discovered any ingenious ways to hide vegetables in meals for children?
My twins are notoriously bad with vegetables. When they were younger I made frozen yoghurt ice creams and swirled pureed sweet potato and carrot through. Now we bake together and I try and make it a game; when we bake cupcakes I’ll grate carrot into the mix so we can have ‘orange’ cupcakes. Still….they seem to be on to me, and I have to think of other ways to hide them.
6. Is eating out at cafes and restaurants a regular part of your life? Do you have any favourite places you’d like to mention?
We don’t go out as much as we did pre-children, so when we do now we really look forward to it, and appreciate it more. We live in the Swan Valley in Western Australia and are spoilt for choice with all the wineries and restaurants here. My favourite is Sandalford wines. Their menu changes with the season and the food is magnificent, and the wine is great.
7. Do you eat while you write? Are there any particular foods or drinks you always have on hand while writing?
It depends what stage I’m up to in the story I’m writing. I was fumbling around with an outline last week, and found it tedious; I figured maybe a visit to patisserie would help. I hope this doesn’t become a habit!
8. If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, who would you choose?
Joanne Harris, author of Chocolate. I love her magical style of writing. I’ve read all of her books and think she is wonderful. The way she entwines food and cooking into her stories, each so different, but beautifully written, inspires me. I like writing about cooking and everything it entails. You can explore so many paths with evocative scents, and memories that food brings into all of our lives, even if you don’t realise it. The comfort of it, the taste of it, what it reminds you of, the list is endless.
9. Which one of the following types of cooks are you?
- Cooking? What’s that?
- I cook only when I absolutely have to
- I’m an average cook, and stick to my regular meals
- I like to experiment with new recipes regularly, or create my own
- Next season of MasterChef – lookout!
I like to experiment with new recipes regularly, or create my own.
10. Do you have a favourite recipe you’d like to share?
Baked Chicken and chorizo. A Donna Hay recipe. I’ve used her exact ingredients, but I cook it a little differently.
I love this as an easy tasty meal if you’re having friends over and want to mingle instead of being stuck in the kitchen. Again, it’s my idea of a perfect meal, throw it all together and put it in the oven.
1.6 kg chicken pieces
2 chorizo cut into thick chunks
¾ cup of green olives
250 gram cherry tomatoes
8 sprigs oregano
1 lemon cut into wedges
12 garlic cloves whole, skin on
Paprika
Salt and Pepper
Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees. (The Donna Hay recipe is 220 degrees for 30-35 minutes, but I cook it on a lower temperature for longer)
Place the chicken, chorizo, olives, tomatoes, lemon wedges, garlic cloves, into a tray. Drizzle with oil, salt and pepper, add oregano, and shake paprika over the chicken. Place into the oven. Turn the chicken after 30 minutes. Leave for thirty minutes, then turn so the skin side is up, turn the oven up to 220 and wait for another 15 minutes to crisp up.
I find by cooking it on a lower temperature for longer the chicken falls of the bone, and is just so tasty for something so simple. Serve with salad.
~ About Rebecca:
I’m a mum of twin boys, who are nearly four. I’ve been writing for two years now, and am working on editing and rewriting my first novel, Mexican Kimono. I love writing short stories and have been published in various anthologies around Australia. Like any mum, I’m juggling finding time to write amidst everything else in my life, but the beauty is you can still think of your writing when you’re busy with other things. I have post it notes all over the place, with ideas, and hope one day to be a little more organised!
Find out more about Rebecca online here.
Thanks for being on the blog, Rebecca. It was a pleasure! 🙂
…Remember, leave a comment below & subscribe to go in the draw to win one of the Mouthwatering May prizes!
Anita Heiss Answers Juliet’s Awkward Questions! Plus a giveaway!
In this segment, authors will be subjected to a list of awkward questions that may reveal more about themselves than they really wish to share, and they will receive a score on the ‘Braveometer’. If they choose to answer only five questions, they are a ‘Brave Author’, if they answer 6 to 9 questions they are a ‘Mega-Brave Author’, and if they answer all 10 questions they are an ‘Ultra-Brave Author’!
Photography: Amanda James
Today I’d like to welcome the lovely Anita Heiss to the blog!
1. If only one of your books could have been / could be published, which one would you choose? (C’mon, I don’t want to hear ‘Oh, I love them all, there’s no way I could choose.’ Time to be ruthless, these are the Ten Awkward Questions after all!)
Who Am I? the diary of Mary Talence, Sydney 1937. An historical novel about the stolen generations it is probably the most significant work I will ever do in my lifetime.
2. Okay, now which one of your children/family members would you… nah, just kidding! Which of the following words most accurately describes your best personality trait (you must pick only one!):
Punctual. Good listener. Neat. Graceful. Generous. Cheerful.
I’m cheerful!
3. Which of the following words most accurately describes your worst most challenging personality trait (even if you’re perfect, you must pick one):
Always late. Blabbermouth. Slob. Complete klutz. Scrooge. Grumpy pants.
My lawyer says I am not challenged by any of these.
4. Have you ever had a romantic crush on one of your characters? Who and why?
Yes, I fell in love with Cash Branigan from Manhattan Dreaming. I remember sitting at my desk one day and bursting into tears because I realised he was my perfect match – strong, hot, capable, romantic, thoughtful, runs a restaurant in New York. What more could a girl like me possibly want?
5. When writing an important scene, do you act it out to allow you to better describe what’s happening?
Yes, especially the sex scenes, they require a lot of acting out.
6. Do you talk to yourself when writing or coming up with plot ideas?
I talk to myself all the time. In terms of my writing though, as I type I say the words out loud and then I read them back to listen for clunkiness.
7. Who would be ideal to play YOU in a movie of your life?
Halle Berry or a younger Angela Bassett.
8. If you could be any book character for one day, who would you be and why?
I’d be my own character Lauren Lucas from Manhattan Dreaming, because even with her flaws she was a great gal AND got to live in NYC for 12 months, eat a lot of cake, shop with the girls, go on dates and work at the fabulous National Museum of the American Indian.
9. You’re about to be left on a deserted island for a year, and while your basic food and water needs will be met, you can only bring one extra thing from the following. Which would you choose?
a) A pen and notepad that never runs out
b) An unlimited supply of books
c) An unlimited supply of chocolate, coffee, or alcohol (your choice)
d) A gorgeous man/woman depending on your preference
For the last twenty years all I’ve had is books, paper, chocolate and booze. I’ll take a bloke to pass the time for the next 12 months!
Thanks for participating, Anita. Your answers gave me a laugh! You have been awarded Mega-Brave Author status on the braveometer!
Visit Anita’s website here.
*To WIN a copy of Anita’s book, MANHATTAN DREAMING, comment below and answer Anita’s question:
Q: ‘I’ve set books in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, New York and Paris. Where else should I set a book and why?’
*Competition open to Australian residents only, and will be drawn on Monday 30th April. Winner will be notified via email and must respond within one week or another winner will be chosen.
Emmie Dark Answers Juliet’s Ten Awkward Author Questions! + Giveaway!
In this segment, authors will be subjected to a list of awkward questions that may reveal more about themselves than they really wish to share, and they will receive a score on the ‘Braveometer’. If they choose to answer only five questions, they are a ‘Brave Author’, if they answer 6 to 9 questions they are a ‘Mega-Brave Author’, and if they answer all 10 questions they are an ‘Ultra-Brave Author’!
Today I’d like to welcome Emmie Dark to the blog!
1. If only one of your books could have been / could be published, which one would you choose? (C’mon, I don’t want to hear ‘Oh, I love them all, there’s no way I could choose.’ Time to be ruthless, these are the Ten Awkward Questions after all!)
You do go straight for the heart! 🙂 Okay, my truthful answer is the one I’m writing now – title-less, only five chapters written, and I’m totally smitten by it. The hero is the hero of my heart – if I could find a way to make him walk off the page and into my life, I’d do it!
2. Okay, now which one of your children/family members would you… nah, just kidding! Which of the following words most accurately describes your best personality trait (you must pick only one!):
Punctual. Good listener. Neat. Graceful. Generous. Cheerful.
Hmm. I’d like to think more than one of these apply to me. But I’ll go with neat. I travel a lot for work, and my friends and family are always amazed that by ten minutes after getting in the door, my suitcase is unpacked, put away and the first load of washing is in the machine.
3. Which of the following words most accurately describes your worst most challenging personality trait (even if you’re perfect, you must pick one):
Always late. Blabbermouth. Slob. Complete klutz. Scrooge. Grumpy pants.
I think probably more than one of these apply to me too! I’ll go with Always Late. Not by very much, but I’m regularly a ‘just past the hour’ than ‘before the hour’ kind of person.
4. Have you ever had a romantic crush on one of your characters? Who and why?
Every single hero I’ve written! I always fall in love with my heroes. In my book “In His Eyes” that comes out in August, I have a secondary character called Morris who’s a grumpy old guy with a heart of gold. I think I’m a little in love with him, but it’s more of a girl-crush than a romantic one.
5. When writing an important scene, do you act it out to allow you to better describe what’s happening?
Yes, I have done that! I also read some of my dialogue aloud – I sometimes wonder what my neighbours are thinking!
6. Do you talk to yourself when writing or coming up with plot ideas?
Well, there’s an easy awkward question given I’ve already answered it! 😉 Yes, I will definitely read dialogue aloud. I also find when I’m coming up with plot and character arcs, I need to talk them through with someone. I have a few friends and a couple of crit partners who are handy sounding boards.
7. Who would be ideal to play YOU in a movie of your life?
I’m loving the show “Once Upon a Time” at the moment and I’d love to say Jennifer Morrison. But she’s not really like me – probably I’d more accurately go with someone more quirky, like Tina Fey.
8. If you could be any book character for one day, who would you be and why?
I’d like to be Bastian in The Neverending Story. He gets to have a fabulous adventure and once he’s overcome the Nothing, he gets to create a whole new Fantasia for himself. I’ve always loved that book and I’d very much like to have my own luckdragon.
9. You’re about to be left on a deserted island for a year, and while your basic food and water needs will be met, you can only bring one extra thing from the following. Which would you choose?
a) A pen and notepad that never runs out
b) An unlimited supply of books
c) An unlimited supply of chocolate, coffee, or alcohol (your choice)
d) A gorgeous man/woman depending on your preference
This is a very tough one! I’m hopeless writing long-hand, so the pen and paper would be no use to me. I think I’d probably like an unlimited supply of book, but I’d be lost without an occasional glass of chardonnay. And a gorgeous companion… sigh. I’ll go with books. At least then I can imagine wine and heroes!
10. If you had the attention of the whole world for two minutes what would you say?
Be kind to each other. That’s all.
Thanks for participating, Emmie. You have been awarded Ultra-Brave Author status on the Braveometer!
Check out Emmie’s new book, CASSIE’S GRAND PLAN. PLUS, to WIN a copy, leave a comment for Emmie below!
CASSIE’S GRAND PLAN
BACK BLURB
Four steps to a brand-new life
Cassie Hartman knows what she needs to do to get her life under control. First, she’ll get herself promoted. Then she’ll update her appearance. Steps three and four—marriage and family—well, those will have to wait.
Then Ronan McGuire shows up. The too-sexy, too-polished business consultant has the power to derail Cassie’s plans before she’s even really started. If he doesn’t approve her promotion, she’ll be back to square one—and that’s not an option. Cassie needs to keep her focus on that first step, no matter how much Ronan tempts her to skip ahead to the third and fourth ones….
Buy Links:
Harlequin Amazon Amazon UK
B&N Book Depository
Emmie Dark’s Bio:
After years of writing press releases, employee newsletters and speeches for CEOs and politicians – none of which included any kind of kissing – Emmie Dark finally took to her laptop to write what she wanted to write. She was both amazed and delighted to discover that what came out was sexy, noble heroes who found themselves crossing paths with strong, determined heroines. And plenty of kissing.
Emmie’s overnight success has taken about five years to achieve. She began fiddling around with story ideas when the urge to write fiction became overwhelming. In July 2011 she sold her first book to Harlequin SuperRomance and she’s not looking back, with her second sale in September. Both books will be out in 2012.
Emmie lives in Melbourne, Australia, and she likes red lipstick, chardonnay, sunshine, driving fast, rose-scented soap and a really good cup of tea. Like, a really good cup of tea. She’s particularly fussy about it, and has been known to pack her own teabags when she travels. Most members of her family are too scared to make her a cuppa, in case they get it wrong.
…What about you, do you have a Grand Plan for your life?
Fiona Palmer answers Juliet’s Ten Awkward Author Questions!
In this segment, authors will be subjected to a list of awkward questions that may reveal more about themselves than they really wish to share, and they will receive a score on the ‘Braveometer’. If they choose to answer only five questions, they are a ‘Brave Author’, if they answer 6 to 9 questions they are a ‘Mega-Brave Author’, and if they answer all 10 questions they are an ‘Ultra-Brave Author’!
Please welcome Fiona Palmer to the blog! Not only is Fiona brave for answering these questions, she is also generous, as she is giving away a copy of her new book, THE ROAD HOME!
1. If only one of your books could have been / could be published, which one would you choose? (C’mon, I don’t want to hear ‘Oh, I love them all, there’s no way I could choose.’ Time to be ruthless, these are the Ten Awkward Questions after all!)
Hmm, I’d have to say the fourth book I’m writing as I’ve grown so much as a writer and I’ve learnt so much now, whereas my first book I was a complete novice. I look back at my first book and cringe with what I know now. LOL
2. Okay, now which one of your children/family members would you… nah, just kidding! Which of the following words most accurately describes your best personality trait (you must pick only one!):
Punctual. Good listener. Neat. Graceful. Generous. Cheerful.
I’d like to say cheerful, but there are days where that just doesn’t happen (I have kids!!) so I’d have to stick with punctual. I just hate being late. If someone says, meet me at 7, then I have to be there by that time, even a little early so I’m not leaving them waiting. My watch is my best friend. 🙂
3. Which of the following words most accurately describes your worst most challenging personality trait (even if you’re perfect, you must pick one):
Always late. Blabbermouth. Slob. Complete klutz. Scrooge. Grumpy pants.
Well we can rule out the first one. I do like a bit of goss…(I work at the local post office, it’s practically the grapevine lol) But I’d have to go with klutz. But more a klutz in my mind. I can be totally gullible and sometimes just be on a whole other wave length. (I could blame having kids, but I was like this at high school. I have stories, one was ironing my face…I know I hear you all going WHAT, but it happened…and don’t get me started on the other things!)
4. Have you ever had a romantic crush on one of your characters? Who and why?
It was Will from my first book. Who wouldn’t want the hunky wealthy next-door farmer? I always wanted to marry a farmer, until I realised the farm would come first LOL.
5. When writing an important scene, do you act it out to allow you to better describe what’s happening?
No. Well in a way, it’s acted out in my head like a movie. I’ll be staring at a wall as I become lost in my head as the characters come alive and I watch them go about their business. Then I come to and realise my kids have been yelling at me for the last ten minutes! Kids+writing=hard work.
6. Do you talk to yourself when writing or coming up with plot ideas?
Again I do, but internally. I’m not a verbal person, I’d much prefer typing emails than phone calls. Just as well I don’t do it out loud because I think I’d scare a lot of people. And it’s a lot faster just letting my mind whizz through the words and ideas. Talking them would slow me down. (Oh and I also have this problem where my brain and mouth aren’t connected very well. I can think of something to say but it comes out my mouth different! It’s a curse.)
7. Who would be ideal to play YOU in a movie of your life?
I’d have to say Sandra Bullock – Her character in Miss Congeniality is close (I’m a tomboy) and she played that so well, she’s not afraid to be a dork.
8. If you could be any book character for one day, who would you be and why?
Elizabeth Bennet. Because I love her spirit and hey, she’s married to Mr Darcy and gets to live in a gorgeous old house.
9. You’re about to be left on a deserted island for a year, and while your basic food and water needs will be met, you can only bring one extra thing from the following. Which would you choose?
a) A pen and notepad that never runs out
b) An unlimited supply of books
c) An unlimited supply of chocolate, coffee, or alcohol (your choice)
d) A gorgeous man/woman depending on your preference
Wow all of them together would be perfect. Okay just one. Hmm I’d have to say the books because then I could escape to all different places and not have to worry about running out of ideas!
10. If you had the attention of the whole world for two minutes what would you say?
Really I think I couldn’t do it, the pressure would be too much. Trying to figure out what would be the perfect most useful thing to say would fry my brain. Even now I’m thinking OMG what would I say!!
Thanks Fiona, you have been awarded Ultra-Brave Author status on the braveometer!
You can visit Fiona at her website, Facebook, and Twitter (@fiona_palmer)
*To be in the draw to WIN a copy of Fiona’s brand new book (released this week!). THE ROAD HOME, please comment below and answer the following question:
“What would YOU say to the world if you had everyone’s attention for two minutes?”
(Winner drawn Monday 26th March)
Fiona Lowe answers Juliet’s Ten Awkward Author Questions!
In this segment, authors will be subjected to a list of awkward questions that may reveal more about themselves than they really wish to share, and they will receive a score on the ‘Braveometer’. If they choose to answer only five questions, they are a ‘Brave Author’, if they answer 6 to 9 questions they are a ‘Mega-Brave Author’, and if they answer all 10 questions they are an ‘Ultra-Brave Author’!
Please welcome Fiona Lowe to the blog! *applause*
1. If only one of your books could have been / could be published, which one would you choose? (C’mon, I don’t want to hear ‘Oh, I love them all, there’s no way I could choose.’ Time to be ruthless, these are the Ten Awkward Questions after all!)
Logically, if my very first book hadn’t been published then perhaps none of the others would have been. An author learns with each book she writes and I doubt I could have written Boomerang Bride without the foundation of the previous eleven medical romances. I love this book for a heap of reasons….it is my first single title, it is a completely different style of book from my category romances, it struggled to get published and now it is a RT Book Reviewers’ Choice Award nominee and Harlequin are going to print publish it for their NA Reader Service.
2. Okay, now which one of your children/family members would you… nah, just kidding! Which of the following words most accurately describes your best personality trait (you must pick only one!): Punctual. Good listener. Neat. Graceful. Generous. Cheerful.
Ohhh, hard choice between generous and cheerful. Better go with cheerful.
3. Which of the following words most accurately describes your worst most challenging personality trait (even if you’re perfect, you must pick one):
Always late. Blabbermouth. Slob. Complete klutz. Scrooge. Grumpy pants.
This one is much easier to answer. Blabbermouth in that I like to talk, but NOT in disclosing secrets because I can be a vault of information if required.
4. Have you ever had a romantic crush on one of your characters? Who and why?
LOL, EVERY single hero I write. I think you have to love him to write him so you can show him warts and all and make your reader fall in love with him.
5. When writing an important scene, do you act it out to allow you to better describe what’s happening?
If it features a lot of movement then I act it out. I have even hung upside down from a window to replicate a scene. Once when I wrote a dinner scene with eight people, I drew a seating chart so I knew who was sitting where.
6. Do you talk to yourself when writing or coming up with plot ideas?
I often find myself having the conversation between my characters. It was only embarrassing when I did it in the supermarket. Got a few odd looks!
7. Who would be ideal to play YOU in a movie of your life?
Alyson Hannigan who plays Lily in How I Met Your Mother.
8. If you could be any book character for one day, who would you be and why?
Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice because she gets Darcy AND Pemberley. I love me an English country manor house.
9. You’re about to be left on a deserted island for a year, and while your basic food and water needs will be met, you can only bring one extra thing from the following. Which would you choose?
a) A pen and notepad that never runs out
b) An unlimited supply of books.
c) An unlimited supply of chocolate, coffee, or alcohol (your choice)
d) A gorgeous man/woman depending on your preference
An unlimited supply of books.
10. If you had the attention of the whole world for two minutes what would you say?
Treat all people from all nations like you treat your child… care for them, expect the best of them, champion them, encourage them, care for them, give them skills, share your wisdom and love them.
Thanks Fiona, you have been awarded ‘Ultra-Brave Author’ status on the braveometer!
Visit Fiona at her website.
Boomerang Bride Out Now! Top Pick by RT Book Reviews! Published by Carina Press
Nominated for an RT Book Reviewers Choice award!
Sydney Harbour Hospital: Tom’s Redemption April 2012
Helen Lacey answers Juliet’s Ten Awkward Author Questions!
In this segment, authors will be subjected to a list of awkward questions that may reveal more about themselves than they really wish to share, and they will receive a score on the ‘Braveometer’. If they choose to answer only five questions, they are a ‘Brave Author’, if they answer 6 to 9 questions they are a ‘Mega-Brave Author’, and if they answer all 10 questions they are an ‘Ultra-Brave Author’!
Today I’d like to welcome Helen Lacey to the blog!
1. If only one of your books could have been / could be published, which one would you choose? (C’mon, I don’t want to hear ‘Oh, I love them all, there’s no way I could choose.’ Time to be ruthless, these are the Ten Awkward Questions after all!)
I have to say my first book, Made For Marriage – because if these two people hadn’t met and fallen in love, then the next six books in my series might never have been written.
2. Okay, now which one of your children/family members would you… nah, just kidding! Which of the following words most accurately describes your best personality trait (you must pick only one!):
Punctual. Good listener. Neat. Graceful. Generous. Cheerful.
Cheerful. (Or at least I like to think so)
3. Which of the following words most accurately describes your worst most challenging personality trait (even if you’re perfect, you must pick one):
Always late. Blabbermouth. Slob. Complete klutz. Scrooge. Grumpy pants.
I am an absolute klutz. If there’s a ditch, I’ll fall in it, if there’s mud, I’ll slip over.
4. Have you ever had a romantic crush on one of your characters? Who and why?
I just finished writing book five in my series and absolutely fell in love with the hero. He was a doctor with a painful past and I just loved him. Although, I thinks it’s important to fall a little in love with my hero every time a start a new book. If I want readers to love him, I need to love him first.
5. When writing an important scene, do you act it out to allow you to better describe what’s happening?
Sometimes I do, especially to get the rhythm of the dialogue right.
6. Do you talk to yourself when writing or coming up with plot ideas?
Constantly! Coming up with ideas is one of my favourite things, so talking about it, even to myself, makes it all the more fun.
7. Who would be ideal to play YOU in a movie of your life?
Hmmm. Tough question. I’d like to have Charisma Carpenter, because I think she’d make a great cheerful klutz 🙂
8. If you could be any book character for one day, who would you be and why?
I’d like to be Jo March from Little Women. She was spunky and spirited and had an amazing imagination. She longed to be a writer and it would be great to experience being that driven by a dream in those long ago days.
9. You’re about to be left on a deserted island for a year, and while your basic food and water needs will be met, you can only bring one extra thing from the following. Which would you choose?
a) A pen and notepad that never runs out
b) An unlimited supply of books
c) An unlimited supply of chocolate, coffee, or alcohol (your choice)
d) A gorgeous man/woman depending on your preference
A pen and notepad that never runs out.
10. If you had the attention of the whole world for two minutes what would you say?
To be tolerant and not judge others. And to read more books, of course.
Thanks for taking part in my Ten Awkward Author Questions, Helen. You have achieved Ultra-Brave Author status on the Braveometer!
Check out Helen’s book, MADE FOR MARRIAGE:
Equestrian Callie Jones was used to difficult parents at her riding school. But Noah Preston took the cake.
How dare he question her teaching abilities, after his headstrong daughter paid no heed to rules—her teacher’s or her father’s?
Single dad Noah was ready to apologize for overreacting. But he wasn’t sorry for the way the stunning American riding instructor made him feel. And he soon learned that there was more to Callie than her smarts, sass and fire: a shattered heart that threatened to splinter even further. Could he make her see that he—and his family—were for keeps?
Buy Links:
Harlequin Amazon Amazon UK Book Depository
Helen Lacey on the web:
Website Facebook Twitter Blog Helen’s Page at RomanceWiki
For full itinerary on Helen’s Celebration tour check out Helen Lacey- Author Page.
Writing Tips from Hollywood
I recently had the privilege of interviewing Michael Hauge – story consultant, author and lecturer who works with screenwriters, novelists, filmmakers and executives. He has coached writers, producers, stars and directors on projects for Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Reese Witherspoon and Morgan Freeman, and is currently on retainer with Will Smith’s company, Overbrook Productions, where he was involved in the development of I AM LEGEND, HANCOCK and THE KARATE KID.
I asked him some meaty questions and got some fantastic and thorough answers, with practical tips for all writers to apply to their own writing, such as how to give your book ‘movie-potential’, which Hollywood films are good for writers to watch and analyse, and how his six stage plot structure creates a successful story.
Some gems I got from the interview:
– Give your protagonist a ‘visible’ goal to work towards and then put seemingly insurmountable obstacles in his/her way.
– Read screenplays to learn ways of ‘showing versus telling’.
– A great tool to add credibility to a story is to use a reflection character (see the interview for explanation).
Check out the complete interview here, it is a wealth of great information!
🙂
JULIET MADISON 