I’m so glad I didn’t have to make the impossible choice. Hats off to Kylie for captivating our imaginations before we’ve even had the opportunity to read the first book!

And here’s Kylie again to announce the winners!!

Hi, everyone, thanks for dropping around. You made it so difficult to choose a winner, I decided to let the fur balls help out!

I grabbed Splat, threw all the names on the ground and let her choose/sniff one.

She sniffed one then batted two. One ended up under her, the other she chased across the floor, and I followed hoping to save it before she ate it… So, with her recommending three, the results are as follows:

*the sniffed name was Sandy, she wins the ARC

* the one Splat sat on was Peta

*the one I saved from being eaten was Gabriella

Peta & Gabriella have some book cover magnets heading their way – I’ve a few spare prizes set aside and because there was some great answers offered I thought I’d offer a couple of smaller prizes

Send your details to me at kyliegriffin71@optusnet.com.au and your prizes will head your way!

Please welcome debut Carina Press author Rachael Johns who’s novel ONE PERFECT NIGHT is about to hit the shelves!

So Rachael, to blog or not to blog… What was the tipping point for you? When did you decide you were going to become a regular blogger?

I had to actually go back and look at my first blog post to work out the answer to this question because I really couldn’t remember what made me decide to start writing a blog and unfortunately I must have had a blog before the current one that I can’t even remember (see how organised I am), because the first post I ever wrote was about choosing a pseudonym and changing to my new blog. But I think there were a few reasons I started. One, I wanted to get an online presence, so that when I sold a novel, I’d already have a place where I was known. Two, I loved reading a number of blogs and commenting and I wanted in on the fun. Three, I wanted to document my writing journey. My blog is mostly about the highs and lows of writing and my experiences writing my books, going to conferences and reading.

I think you’ve achieved all three of those, Rach! (I should have asked a question about pseudonyms since so many writers use them – maybe another blog topic!) How did you go about setting up your blog?

I looked at both WordPress and Blogger and at the time, decided I liked Blogger better. Now I’m not so sure and am seriously thinking of switching my blog and website to WordPress hosting soon. It’s easy to set up a free blog and I think if you’re just beginning writing or don’t have a contract yet, it’s a nice in-between before organising a website. Having a blog gives you a web presence. All you do is go to www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com and follow the sign-up links to create a new blog.

I use WordPress and for the most part it’s easy. Unfortunately from time to time it defeats me and I have to call on the techs…)

You have some wonderful ideas. How do you decide what topic you’re going to blog about? Having decided the topic what sort of research do you do?

Thank you, I’m not sure I agree, but thanks. J I’m continually looking out for and thinking about things that would make good blog posts. I have a little notebook near my computer where I write down possible blog post ideas. Often while hanging the washing, I’ll think of something – it’s often a problem or opinion I have about writing or something to do with writing. I don’t do a lot of research for my blog posts, rather put forward my thoughts and opinion on something and try to get a discussion going by asking other people to comment and share their ideas.

One of my favourite blog posts was my post about Second Hand Bookshops – it turned into a bit of a debate on whether they were good or bad things for writers. The post is here if you’d like to read it: http://rachaeljohns.blogspot.com/2011/10/truth-about-second-hand-bookshops.html The best thing about this post is that I was enlightened by the commenters about other ways to look at Second Hand bookshops, which I’d previously been adamantly against. It’s always good to get comments from both readers and writers to get both sides of a debate as well.

I have a regular spot called “Theory on Thursday.” This started because I love craft books but don’t actually usually read much of them. I wanted to know what craft books other people couldn’t live without, so I started by inviting friends on the blog to talk about their favourite writing craft books. From there, the segment has grown – I’ve had guests I met on Twitter and Facebook as well and the topic isn’t limited to craft books, although it’s still about the theory side of writing.

The post on second-hand book stores is fascinating. I’ve always been a believer in the ‘any reader is a good reader’ adage but I can see other angles as well.

How do you measure your blogs effectiveness or appeal?

I LOVE it when readers comment – this always gives me such a thrill (similar to getting a letter in the post) – and this tells me people are reading the blog. However, I also use StatCounter (www.statcounter.com) which tracks visits to my site and lets me see how many people pop by. This number is always a LOT bigger than the people who actually leave comments, so that’s very reassuring.

I must admit to once wondering if blogs, Twitter, etc were affective avenues for increasing readership and promoting a book, but now I strongly believe they do. I had Shona Husk (www.shonahusk.com) as a guest for Theory on Thursday a while back and then a lady on Twitter told me she’d bought Shona’s book because of her guest post. This woman hadn’t even left a comment on the actual blog.

I’m always fascinated by what blogs generate comments. Sometimes the most innocuous rushed post gets swamped then something I labour over for hours has a large number of visitors but only my loyal stalwarts comment. Wonderful to hear your blogs work through the twitter connection as well!

How much time do you spend preparing a blog?

That depends on how long it is. I type and think quickly, so the blog posts I write myself often don’t take longer than five to ten minutes. The ones that take the longest are actually the guest posts, because then I have to take quite a bit of time formatting and placing the photos, etc in good spots.

Social media is almost an integral part of a writer’s life in the twenty-first century. I know you’re active on Face Book, twitter as well as maintaining your blog. How do you prioritise?

I’m very erratic in all three places unfortunately. Bob Mayer said at the recent RWAus conference that for a blog to be affective you really need to update at LEAST once a week but three times was better. I aim to follow Bob’s three-times-a-week rule but often only succeed at twice. As for Facebook and Twitter – I’ve learnt to treat them a bit like a party. Don’t stress too much about keeping up but go in when I can (once or twice a day) and see what’s happening. While I there, I respond to what I can. I also make sure to check my mentions at least once a day and always respond when someone has Tweeted me. And I used Tweetdeck lists to make sure I don’t miss anything important from good friends or editors.

I find I can do things like write a blog post and check-in on Twitter and Facebook when my surroundings are NOT conducive to writing. So I squeeze these things in odd moments and try and use my longer chunks of free time (LOL) for actual book writing.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given about blogging or advice you’d like to share?

Aside from Bob’s three-times-a-week rule, I’d say the best thing I’ve ever been told is to try to get the readers to interact by asking them questions at the end of a blog post. And I’m also VERY careful to reply to blog comments. Nothing annoys me more than authors who blog and don’t respond to their reader comments. It’s a pet hate of mine J

Now, following her own question rule, Rachael has a question for Helene’s readers:

I visit a fair few blogs on a regular basis. I have my favourites but would love to hear what blogs YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT???

Thanks so much for having me Helene. I LOVE your blog and your books J

And thanks for being such a wonderful guest, Rachael! Congrats on your new release and can’t wait to read it!!

ONE PERFECT NIGHT:

Peppa Grant’s fellow employees may call their new CEO Mr. McSexy, but she’s also heard that he’s aloof and distant.Cameron McCormac certainly seems cold toward Christmas when she meets him at the company’s annual party…but he’s also the sexiest man Peppa has ever seen. And when he offers to forgive the damage she accidentally caused to his expensive car in exchange for accompanying him to his family’s holiday get-together, she agrees.

Cameron needs a date to the family party to get his matchmaking relatives off his back. Their chemistry is instant and undeniable, leading to an incredible one-night stand. But Peppa wants love and family, while Cameron’s only interested in temporary pleasure. When their relationship takes an unexpectedly serious turn, will he run the other way—or will he give love a second chance?

Author Bio

Rachael Johns is an English teacher by trade, a mum 24/7, a chronic arachnophobic, a supermarket owner by day and a writer by night. She rarely sleeps. Rachael received The Call from Angela James telling her Carina wanted to publish her book on April Fools Day and, when she told her friends, half of them wondered if it was a big joke. Luckily it wasn’t. As an active member of Romance Writers of Australia, Rachael has finaled and placed in a number of romance writing contests. Each success is uplifting and publication is her dream but even if none of this happened, she’d still write. It’s a much better option than ironing, which she refuses to partake in. Ever.

Find Rachael at

Facebook:   http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rachael-Johns/260103224001776

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/RachaelJohns @RachaelJohns

Blog:  http://www.rachaeljohns.blogspot.com/

Website: www.rachaeljohns.com

How wonderful to read a positive article about romance writers in this weekend’s Brisbane Sunday Mail. There are a couple of beautiful photos to go with the article – particularly the one of Mandy Magro and her daughter Chloe – but you’ll need a hard copy to see them so track one down if you can.

Otherwise click on the link and enjoy

Brisbane Sunday Mail

Today my guest on the blog is fellow Australian Suspense writer, Sandy Curtis. With six books out on the shelves she’s a seasoned writer who’s captured an audience of crime lovers who appreciate a love story as well. Here’s our conversation. Hope you enjoy it.

Sandy, it was lovely to catch up with you and Bronwyn Parry at the SheKilda Sisters In Crime convention in Melbourne. What a fabulous weekend which provoked spirited blog debates about gender bias in the literary world for weeks afterwards.  I followed the trail from Tara Moss to Elizabeth Lheude to Dianna Blacklock’s blogs, as I’m sure you did. Where do books like yours, with a strong suspense plot and a believable love story, fit in the genre world? Are your readers men or women? Do you write with one or other audience in mind?

Books like mine bounce around inside the genre mould according to the beliefs of the readers, and more often, reviewers. In the USA, romantic suspense has a huge following but Australian bookstores have trouble slotting them into the ‘fixed’ genre slots of romance or crime.

My books (Dance with the Devil in particular) started off as romantic suspense, but have been evolving into crime with a life-changing love story adding an extra and revealing depth to the characters.

Women are my main readers but I have been pleasantly surprised at the number of men who enjoy my books. I think it might be that the male readers can see themselves as the hero and can relate to the problems he has to overcome. Or perhaps they enjoy the action … and the hot sex

I don’t write with either audience in mind. The story presents itself in my mind and the characters take over and find their own destiny. Sometimes they surprise me. Sometimes the minor characters can become very demanding and I have to give them their own book J

Book stores do seem to struggle with where to put us… I’ve found Bron Parry’s books in the crime section yet in the same bookseller Judy Nunn’s books could be found in Australiana.

Sandy and Bron plotting at SheKilda

What led you to write Romantic Suspense/Thriller stories?

I grew up reading Alistair MacLean and other adventure writers’ books but I always felt the female characters were not given a chance to shine. In some of the books they were actually killed off to give added impetus to the hero to get the bad guys.

For a girl who was all tomboy and resisted all attempts to dress her in frills and laces, this annoyed the hell out of me (when I look back at my childhood I think I had quite a lot of hell in me that was bubbling to get out). I also had four brothers who were allowed far more freedom than I was, so seeing women in books treated so dismally (okay, I knew it was fiction) fuelled my need to prove myself equal to my brothers. My teenage writing attempts were evidence of that.

In 1996 I began writing romance after reading an article which, in essence, said a new writer would find it easier to get published in that genre. My first attempt achieved a place in the top 20 of the Emma Darcy Award for full-length unpublished manuscripts run by Romance Writers of Australia, and the following year my next manuscript came second out of 80+ entries.

Trouble was, I kept putting way too much plot and action into my stories, which took them out of the category romance genre. But I had to follow what my inner storyteller needed to do, and so Dance with the Devil was born. How it found a publishing home is another story, and rather complex, but I knew that at last I had discovered what I wanted to write – a suspense thriller with a life-changing love story.

Sandy, I’m beginning to think we had very similar childhoods and then a similar journey through the Emma Darcy award. We  caught up at this year’s Romance Writers of Australia conference earlier – another wonderful affirming weekend filled with enthusiastic writers. How long have you been involved with that organization and how has it impacted on your writing?

At my first conference in 1996, RWA members swept me away with their generosity and warmth, and have continued to do so. It’s an organisation that goes from strength to strength and its secret, as far as I’m concerned, is that they live what they write – love, and all the wonderful emotions that go with it.

I’ve learned a lot about writing from going to their workshops and conferences, and even more from the wonderful friends I’ve made.

Having two of my books become finalists in the mainstream section of the Romantic book of the Year Awards that RWA runs has been so encouraging. Knowing readers love my stories makes all the hard work worthwhile.

You have a vibrant group of writers in Bundaberg and once a year you run WriteFest. How did that start, how does it work and where is it heading?

For four years I was president of the Bundaberg Writers’ Club and when we ran an Open Day to show non-members what we were all about we had such a good response that I suggested we should run a day of workshops for writers, and so WriteFest was born.

We usually have four workshops running concurrently in the morning, a brief industry Q&A panel with all the workshop presenters, then four workshops in the afternoon. The presenters are industry professionals from all areas – authors, forensic scientists, criminal psychologists, etc.

For the past five years we have also had agents or editors conduct interviews with aspiring writers based on their synopsis and manuscript submission, and four of those writers have had their manuscripts published as a result.

Getting funds to run the event has always been my biggest headache, and I’d love to have a permanent corporate sponsor come on board. So if you know one …

Where is it headed? Hopefully to becoming an even bigger part of the cultural landscape of our region, and contributing to more writers becoming published.

It sounds like a wonderful regional festival. Look forward to many more Writefests!

What’s your writing routine? (Ok, that is a loaded question…)

Routine? Writers have a routine? I’ve heard about that but thought it was an urban myth, like the severed hand on the car roof. Once I had something resembling a routine – running my home office services business in the day and writing at night, but nearly six years ago we moved to the coast and the chaos which had always hovered in my life descended with a wallop.

Our house was supposed to be finished being built a month before the second WriteFest but due to delays we moved in the day before. Two of the presenters, who were also our friends, were staying with us, and when I picked them up from the airport I told them they had a bed and a towel. You know those jokes that end “And that’s when the fight started …”? Well, that was “And that’s when the chaos started …” Six years later it appears to be escalating.

So now I let the Chaos Fairy have her wicked way in the day time and write in the peace and quiet of night.

May your Chaos Fairy leave you in peace so you can write!

Your latest book, Fatal Flaw, is published by Clan Destine Press, a new Australian boutique publisher run by the dynamic Lindy Cameron.  How did you find the publishing process with a smaller company than the larger publishers you’ve worked with previously?

With both Clan Destine Press and Pan Macmillan I’ve been lucky to have had warm and friendly publishers who are receptive to an author’s input, and great editors. The biggest difference is that a big publishing company has a lot of clout when it comes to distribution, something that is more challenging for a smaller one, but readers can order my print books either through their local bookstore or the Clan Destine Press website, and my previous books are now available as ebooks.

Smaller publishers don’t have to answer to so many other sections of the company and so are able to make quick decisions. Lindy Cameron at Clan Destine Press wrought a minor miracle and Fatal Flaw hit the book shelves 13 weeks after I’d submitted the synopsis and three chapters to her. That would have been almost impossible with a bigger publisher.

That’s impressive, Sandy. I know Aussie publishers are quicker than their USA and UK counterparts and they turn a manuscript around in eight to twelve months.  13 weeks is phenomenal.

What’s the next project you’re working on?

Grievous Harm, the follow-on book from Fatal Flaw. All my books are complete in themselves, but a minor character from one book becomes the major character in the next book, and I’m wondering how many readers of Fatal Flaw will guess whose story will feature in Grievous Harm.

I’m also writing the next manuscript after Murder, Mayhem and Menopause, a story that might be classified as women’s fiction with a criminal difference   And looking for a publishing home for MM&M.

What advice do you have for emerging writers?

Be determined. Believe in yourself and your writing and don’t give up. A lot of very good writers have never been published because they gave up when the going got tough. It’s a tough industry, so writers have to be tougher still.

Go to writing workshops and learn your craft and learn about the industry. Join writing organisations. Make sure your manuscript is the best it can be before submitting it – correct formatting, no spelling or grammar errors, and appropriate genre for the publisher.

And stay determined.

Sandy, thanks for chatting today. I’m very excited about your latest book  and am looking forward to reading it. It’s great to be on a  webpage with you and Bronwyn Parry and I hope we can continue to educate readers and booksellers on Romantic Suspense Australian style!! Look out for our Christmas give away on the Australian Romance Readers Association website during December. A three book pack – one each from Sandy, Bronwyn Parry and myself  - will be up for grabs.

Sandy Curtis is the author of five novels which have been nominated in the Ned Kelly Crime Awards, and two have been finalists in the mainstream section of the Romantic Book of the Year Award run by the Romance Writers of Australia. Her sixth book, Fatal Flaw, is published by Clan Destine Press.

Sandy has won awards for her short stories, writes a weekly newspaper column, and organises WriteFest, the annual Bundaberg Writers festival.

Her email is novels@sandycurtis.com and her website is www.sandycurtis.com

Find Sandy, Bron Parry and me at www.australianromanticsuspense.com

Sandy’s books are available at http://clandestinepress.com.au

And it did.

Bob Mayer is ex-special forces with the American military. I’m airing my ignorance here, but I’m not sure whether that means he was with the airforce or the army… Either way he’s spent a lot of time throwing himself out of aircraft, off boats and into hostile territory. When he started writing fiction he came with immediate street cred and his books and sales reflect that.  (Having said that one of my writerly friends at the conference was not convinced that a mild mannered man of average height could really be ex-special forces…)

His writing course uses many of the techniques he learnt in the military. At first it seemed a little strange to be to be talking SOPs, tactics, strategies and weapons, but he’s right. The mental toughness that makes a good soldier can translate to any high performance job and writing sits at the top end of that performance scale.

Ok, relax, he’s not going to expect you to do 200 hundred push-ups in the mud or take up free-fall parachuting, but he will ask you to identify your strengths, weaknesses and skill sets. He’ll ask you to have a catastrophe plan – a very useful thing to have – and he’ll even make you identify your personality type. Just remember the answer to that may not necessarily be what you want to hear…

His premise is you need to understand yourself, your goals and your battle plan to succeed. One phrase that struck a chord was  ’if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.’

Huh? So I have to cheat to be a writer?

Not quite.

Bob related a story about wearing contact lens to cheat the eye test when he was attempting to join the Special Forces. I fly with far too many pilots who memorise the eye chart before their yearly medical so I can understand that mindset. If you want something so badly you’re prepared to do almost anything to achieve it then you are likely to succeed. Now I’m  sure Bob’s not suggesting you need to go and lie or cheat your way into a book contract, but if you’re serious about writing then you will do whatever it takes to make it happen.

Is talent or determination going to get you published? I’d have to say determination is king. At this point in my writing career with two books in print and a third under consideration the workshop was timely and valuable. Just as soon as I get this blog post up I’ll be revisiting my own strategy and assessing whether it needs to change.

Xena didn’t sit on her laurels after a success so neither will I. Expect to see some changes on the blog but rest assured no-one will be killed or maimed in the remaking of the content

Check out Bob Mayer’s website : http://www.bobmayer.org/

Follow Bob on twitter

Photo Courtesy of Ashley Miller

Today I welcome Monica McInerney to my corner of the web. I’ve been a devoted reader since I discovered one of her early stories, ‘Spin the Bottle,’ and now have a collection of her wonderful warm stories. She’s taken time out from her busy schedule to chat today.

Monica, congratulations on your 2011 Romantic Book of the Year (R*BY) nomination for ‘At Home with the Templetons’.  Also congratulations for being shortlisted for the ABIA again.

Thanks very much, Helene – and big congratulations to you on your R*BY nomination too!

Thanks, Monica – I’m a tad over-awed being on the same list as you and Dianne…

Tell us about ‘At Home with the Templetons.’ What was the inspiration for the story? It’s a sweeping saga that feels a little different to your other stories.

‘At Home with the Templetons’ is the story of two very different families – the seven Templetons from the UK and Australian artist Nina Donovan and her young son Tom – who come into each other’s orbit when the Templetons arrive seemingly out of nowhere to take up residence in a large mansion in the Victorian goldfields in the 1990s.

The inspiration was a real-life 19^th century Georgian mansion called Martindale Hall, near my home town in the Clare Valley of South Australia. As a child, I loved visiting it, roaming around the big rooms and imagining what my life would be like if my family was to move in. Several years ago, I visited it again. All those childhood memories rushed back, planting the seed for the arrival of the Templetons in my imagination and eventually onto the page.

As with all my books, it’s a story about the dilemmas, dynamics and fun of family life, but it also explores sibling rivalry, motherhood, the power and the danger of jealousy, lies and secrets. I especially wanted to put a big, romantic story at the heart of it, following over twenty years the twists and turns of the relationship between Tom Donovan and Gracie, the youngest of the Templeton daughters.

You’ve captured the romance between Tom and Gracie perfectly!

You’ve had a wonderful varied career, but much of it was within the book industry. What drew you to books and storytelling?

I’m sure it was a childhood filled with books and storytelling. I grew up as the middle of seven children in a big rambling house in Clare, SA. Dad was the railway stationmaster and we lived on the edge of town, by the station and across from the Clare hills, where we spent days roaming wild. Mum worked in the library and we had the run of that as well. It was an action-packed and noise-filled upbringing. We had visitors coming and going at all hours, plus the seven of us putting on concerts, writing our own family magazines, spending each mealtime crammed around the kitchen table trying to outdo each other with tales and jokes.

So from as early as I can remember, I was surrounded by people, stories, laughter, books, making our own entertainment. When it came time to leaving home, I gravitated toward work that could take in as many of those elements as possible. I worked in children’s television, local radio, behind the scenes in live music venues, in public relations and publishing. Eventually, once I had enough life experience to draw on, I started and then found I couldn’t stop writing my own stories. All my books have family settings, with plenty of comedy and drama, and I know that springs from my own background.

It sounds like you had a noisy and entertaining childhood! Your love of big families, and their dynamics, shines through in all your stories.

Are you a plotter or someone who’s taken on a journey by their characters? What do you enjoy most about storytelling and writing?

I write thousands of words and dozens of scenes as I get to know each of my characters and then I let the story twist and turn of its own accord. That’s my favourite part of the writing process, the close-to-magical feeling that takes over when the story begins to almost write itself.

I loved the ‘Alphabet Sisters’, so I’m very excited ‘Lola’s Secret’ is being released in Australia in October 2011. What can you share about her story?

I’m delighted to hear that, thank you very much. ‘The Alphabet Sisters’ is a special book to me, so I’m always happy to hear it has struck chords with other people too. ‘Lola’s Secret’ takes place four years after the end of the story of ‘The Alphabet Sisters’, with the Quinlan family still finding their way through their grief and learning their way around the new shape of their family. (Please excuse the lack of more detail here, I don’t want to spoil the story for anyone who hasn’t read ‘The Alphabet Sisters’.)

At the heart of ‘Lola’s Secret’, and of the family itself, is the matriarch, Irish-born Lola Quinlan, now 84. She takes centre-stage throughout, keeping a close eye on her family and friends as she plots to give them all a Christmas to remember. But it’s also a story of secrets, not just Lola’s, but a group of mystery guests she has invited to come to stay at the family motel for the festive season. I loved writing it, not only because it’s set in my home town of Clare in South Australia, but also because Lola is one of my favourite characters to write – she’s quick-witted, mischievous, warm-hearted, wise, and so loyal. It’s actually quite a different book for me, set over just three weeks rather than years, in one town rather than several countries, but I filled it with as much comedy, drama and emotion as I could.

I can’t wait to read it! Lola is such a wonderful character who stayed with me long after I finished reading.

You divide your time between Ireland and Australia, which gives you the best of both worlds! How do you think that affects your writing?

I feel spoilt to have two of the world’s best countries to call home, I must admit. My experience of moving back and forth between two countries for the past 20 years completely feeds into my books, I know. My characters are always being uprooted, having to make new lives on the other side of the world, try out new experiences, be challenged or changed. Switching cities and countries and hemispheres opens up so much possibility in real life and also fiction.

What advice do you have for new writers?

Read, read, read. Write, write, write. Edit, edit, edit.

Lol, that’s succinct and oh so true!

Your favourite author?

I can’t choose one, sorry! I have dozens of favourite authors: John le Carre, Rosamunde Pilcher, Garrison Keillor, David Sedaris, Tim Winton, Helen Garner, Clare Chambers, Elinor Lipman, Laurie Graham, Patricia Highsmith, JK Rowling, Enid Blyton, John Wyndham, Kristan Higgins, Janet Evanovich, Paul Murray, Craig Silvey, Charlotte Bronte, Molly Keane…

Lovely, thank you, a couple of new authors to add to my list.

Your favourite movie?

The Sound of Music. I love everything in it: the big family, the big romantic plot, the big songs, the big scenery… I feel like I’ve seen it a thousand times. I probably have – as a child, it seemed to be on TV just about every week. The nine of us used to crowd into our lounge room, Mum and Dad in the two armchairs, the rest of us squeezed onto the couch, or lying on the floor, draped across the coffee table, wherever we could bag a spot. We kids knew it all off by heart. We’d shout out the lines, sing along, stand up and act out the farewell scene at the gala ball, pretend to hide behind the gravestones in the scary convent bit, cringe and groan at the smoochy bits. I love watching it now too, for the childhood memories it brings back, and for the sheer drama, fun and romance of the story. Also, I never realized as a child just how handsome Christopher Plummer was. I now know why Mum never minded watching it again and again.

Do you listen to music when you write? If so what works best?

When I’m writing a male character’s scenes, I often find myself listening to lots of male singer songwriters – lately Irish musicians like Damien Rice and the Villagers. Their songs remind me that men feel emotions as strongly as women, that their hearts break too, that they feel all the hurts and joys that women do.

At the end of a novel, when it is nearing celebration time after months of being locked away writing and rewriting, I love blasting out songs from my iTunes playlist at random – everything from Simple Minds, Kate Bush, Elvis Costello, Gomez, the wonderful world music compilation 1 Giant Leap, whatever comes up, all played as loud as possible as I gleefully shred the dozens of drafts that have accumulated around my desk in the previous 12 months.

Oh that’s such a wonderful image of you manically shredding the drafts as the whole house rocks with music!

What’s your favourite comfort food?

In Ireland, it’s toast and Vegemite (which is miraculously readily available here in supermarkets.) When I’m home in Australia, pasties with sauce. I wish I could have one now.

You can buy Vegemite in Ireland? I knew they were wise folk!

Where’s your favourite part of Australia?

Wherever my family is.

How wonderful! I’m sure they all miss you whenever you’re on the other side of the world!

Monica, thanks for taking time out to answer my questions.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed chatting with Monica as much as I have. Do you have a favourite character from her stories? To celebrate the imminent release of ‘Lola’s Secret,’ (the story of one of my favourite characters) I’m giving away an e-book copy of ‘The Alphabet Sisters.’

Leave a comment or send me an email via the contact form telling me who that character is and why they stayed with you long after you finished reading and you’ll go into the running to win the e-book! I’ll announce the winner on Monday 8th August.

Australian-born Monica McInerney is the author of the best-selling novels At Home with the Templetons, Those Faraday Girls (The Faraday Girls in the USA), Family Baggage, The Alphabet Sisters, Spin the Bottle(Greetings from Somewhere Elsein the USA), Upside Down Inside Out and A Taste for It, and a short story collection All Together Now, published internationally and in translation. Her articles and short stories have appeared in newspapers, magazines and anthologies in Australia, the UK and Ireland. At Home with the Templetons was a number 1 best-seller in Australia and was shortlisted for the Eason Popular Fiction Award in the 2010 Irish Book Awards. Those Faraday Girls won the General Fiction Book of the Year at the 2008 Australian Book Industry Awards. All Together Now was shortlisted in the same category in the 2009 Australian Book Industry Awards.

In 2006, Monica was the main ambassador for the Australian Government’s Books Alive national reading campaign, for which she wrote a limited edition novella calledOdd One Out.

Monica, 46, grew up in a family of seven children in the Clare Valley wine region of South Australia, where her father was the railway stationmaster and her mother worked in the local library. Since then Monica has lived all around Australia (in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart) in Ireland (in County Meath and Dublin) and in London and also travelled widely.

She was a book publicist for ten years, working in Ireland and Australia and promoting authors such as Roald Dahl, Tim Winton, Edna O’Brien and Max Fatchen and events such as the Dublin International Writers’ Festival.

She has also worked as an event manager and organiser of tourism festivals in the Clare Valley; as a freelance writer/editor and in arts marketing in South Australia; a public relations consultant in Tasmania; a record company press officer in Sydney; a barmaid in an Irish music pub in London and as a temp, grapepicker, hotel cleaner, kindergym instructor and waitress. Her first job out of school as a 17-year-old was as wardrobe girl (and later scriptwriter) for the children’s TV show Here’s Humphrey at Channel 9 in Adelaide. She is now a full-time writer.

For the past twenty years she and her Irish husband have been moving back and forth between Australia and Ireland. They currently live in Dublin.

Find her at :

www.monicamcinerney.com

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I’m the living proof that pitching can work. In 2008 I pitched to Bernadette Foley. In 2010 the book I pitched hit the shelves as Wings of Fear (Border Watch). I know what it feels like, I know how nerve wracking it can be, but I also know how much fun it can be.

Me with Bernadette and Bronwyn Parry RWA 2009

Remember to breathe. Sounds obvious doesn’t it, but Bernadette told me she had some people who looked so terrified she wanted to come round the table and give them a big hug. Remember the people you are pitching to are human after all – although of course we know them as the gods of publishing!

Yes, you need to know your story and you will by now or you wouldn’t be pitching it. The best way to present that story is to reduce it to a two sentence tag. Much like the back of a book. Bernadette described it as the lines the book reps would use to sell it to a book shop.  Elevator pitches are another name for them – you need to be able to convince someone to buy your book in the time it takes for a lift to travel between floors. These lines need to contain the essence is the hero and heroine with no more than two descriptive words per person along with their motivation and conflict.  Remember you only have ten minutes. A two line pitch wastes no time at all. The editor/agent can then ask questions about it.

Remember what it is you’re selling – you! Your book is a product of you and you as a marketable writer is important.  That means it’s appropriate to treat the person you are pitching to as a new acquaintance you hope to be friends with. Familiar but still a little formal. Those pitching to Bernadette are welcome to call her Bernadette after the first intro.

What’s your point of difference? Are you writing medicals and you’re a health professional? Are you writing rural romance and you and your hubby run a property? Are you in law enforcement writing a crime story? Were you born and raised a Trekky Fan and now write Fantasy Fiction?

Another way is to ask yourself if you were interviewed about your soon to be published book what’s the most interesting thing you’d want to share with your soon to be readers?

When it comes to submission Bernadette suggests you attach a small photo to your covering letter so she can refresh her memory. That doesn’t need to be a posed photo with glamour make-up – just one that looks like you on the day she chatted with you. If you are asked to submit then please do! The number of people who don’t follow up is mind boggling especially after all the angst that goes into pitching in the first place!!

So here are my 5 steps to perfect pitching – starting with BREATHE!!! That’s it you can do it. Air in, lungs filled, let it out gently, do it all again.

1: The person you are pitching to is just another human being who may be sat there feeling a little overwhelmed as well. Warm to them, get them on-side, be yourself. You have 5-10 minutes to help them get to know you. Treat them as someone you’d like to be friends with. Cosy up, talk, laugh and charm. They understand you may be feeling nervous and won’t hold that against you!

2: Know your story’s statistics.  Where does it fit – what line, what category, what genre? What’s your target market? How long is it? Is it a stand-alone or part of a series or sequel? It is good to know other published books that are similar to yours, or have the same feel, but you don’t need to mention them by name unless they ask.

3: Reduce your book to a one or two sentence ‘tag-line’ or ‘elevator pitch.’  You want to introduce your character/s with a descriptive word, their goals, their conflict and the setting.  This may sound difficult to do, but once you set your mind to it you will be able to distill the essence of your story into a few words. ‘Save The Cat,’ by Blake Snyder, has some great points about how to do this. You still need to know your goal, motivation and conflict, but your tag line should help keep you concise and help you stay on message! And read your tag line if you’re more comfortable doing that – no scores are being given for your performance

Here’s one of my examples for Shattered Sky : “For a tenacious Border Watch captain, uncovering an operation trafficking in women for the sex slave trade is the easy part, surviving long enough to free them will prove more challenging. As she heads deep into the Australian wilderness she’ll need the reluctant help of a Navy Patrol Boat captain who’s already demonstrated his contempt for her, to outwit, outrun and ultimately outfly the traffickers.”

4: Know your hook. What is it that makes your story different? What is it that makes you more marketable? For me it was being a pilot and writing about flying. Are you a lawyer, nurse, horse rider, farmer, music expert? Is it set in your home town or a unique area you know well? Sell yourself as well as your story.

5: Have a couple of questions to ask them.  Ask about the market, about what she enjoys in a story. Be more specific and ask about the type of submission  they prefer – email or snail mail, synopsis, partial.

And lastly - ENJOY!!

Today my guest is Sophie, the lead character in Christine Stinson’s wonderful new novel, IT TAKES A VILLAGE, released by Pan Macmillan. I read Sophie’s story on flights to and from Sydney recently and could only be grateful I had empty seats next to me both times. I cried and  laughed and cheered with Sophie. I was transported into her slice of Australia in the 1950′s (and no I’m not old enough to remember that era!) and didn’t want the story to end.

I hope you enjoy the interview with her.

Sophie, welcome to the blog and thanks for taking time out of your busy life to talk to me.

Thanks for having me, Helene; I’m so happy to be invited! You’re letting me relive some lovely memories.

Good memories keep us warm at night, don’t they. Let’s start with  what your childhood was like. A girl growing up in Australia in the 1950’s lived a very different life to one who lives in 2011. Now children tend to be glued to computers and homework. Tell us a bit about what you did after school and on weekends.

I had homework to do, too, as well as chores every day. But there was still plenty of time to play, particularly in the early years when Mick and I were friends. We were always outside – there was no television when we were growing up, we made our own fun. Riding bikes, racing the go-cart Mick built with his father, climbing trees, the whole neighbourhood was our playground and we could go just about anywhere, as long as we started making our way home again when the street lights came on. Things changed when I was in high school, after Jenny moved in across the street and we became best friends. People like Miss Margaret, the biggest crank in the street, thought we were too old to go careening all over the neighbourhood. We were supposed to start acting like “young ladies”. I suppose we did have to grow up some time, but that didn’t mean we stopped having fun. I can’t tell you how excited we were when Jenny’s mum and Grandpa agreed we were old enough to go to the pictures in the city on our own! We both had Saturday jobs by then to pay for our own tickets, too. (I was working at Mr Nicholl’s corner store, Jenny worked at the Paragon Milk Bar up the road.)

That demarcation between childhood and being ‘young ladies’ is still there I guess but I can’t help thinking it’s happening at a younger age…

Postwar Australia wasn’t affluent. How did that impact on you? What lessons did you learn then that still hold true today?

I had no idea we weren’t affluent. As far as I knew, everyone had their collars and cuffs turned once they’d frayed, every girl’s dresses and skirts were made with good side seams and hems to be let out and down as they grew. Nearly every house in the street had a vegie garden as well as fruit trees out the back. Quite a few of our neighbours kept chickens, too: there were always plenty of eggs, just picked or bottled fruit and fresh vegetables to go around. Nothing was ever wasted, that’s for sure. I still have trouble throwing anything out unless I’m absolutely sure it’s past its use-by date or beyond salvage.

My parents always had a great deal of trouble throwing anything out and it was guaranteed the minute something was turfed out it was suddenly needed.

You lived with the very real impact of WW2 on your grandfather and the men of his generation, too.

I did, although it was years before I fully understood what that impact was. Some of the neighbours – Mrs Hogan, Mr O’Hara, the McAllister sisters – had lived through both World Wars. Just about everybody I knew had lost someone close to them: a brother, a husband, a father, friends. Yet despite the terrible sense of loss, there was so much pride, too, in those who’d gone off to fight. I can remember Mrs Hogan telling me, more than once, that no sacrifice was too great when you were fighting for principles, for freedom, for your country. But I have to confess there were times when I wished Grandpa hadn’t gone away to war, that I could have known the man my friend Jean Pennybaker remembered. The one who used to laugh a lot and take Grandma out dancing on a Saturday night… I’m glad, in the end, he found peace.

You were a very independent young girl. Was that something inherited from your mother? Was it something that came from the stigma of being called a bastard? Or was it because you had to be independent because your grandfather was away so much?

Looking back, it was probably a mixture of all three. I was very young when my mother died, the only ‘memories’ I have of here are the ones Grandpa and Mrs Hogan gave me. Miss Margaret was always talking about her, too: the old battleaxe never missed a chance to tell me Sarah Barton was ‘no better than she should be’. She also never let me forget I was a bastard. I can only say that I’m really glad my mother went her own way and did the things she did. I wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t!

Indeed and you obviously inherited bucket loads of her independence and spirit. What are some of the things you loved most about living in a close neighbourhood?

It was more of a love/hate relationship when I was younger. Everybody knew who I was and it seemed as though there were eyes everywhere, watching me, ready to report any bad behaviour on my behalf to Grandpa or Mrs Hogan. By the time I’d reached my late teens, I’d realised that most people were only looking out for me. Except for Margaret McAllister, of course, she never did mellow at all. Without giving too much of my story away for those who haven’t heard it yet, I’ll never forget how my friends and neighbours rallied around me when I needed them most. More than anything, they taught me that you don’t have to be related by blood to be a family.

Thanks for visiting Sophie, it’s been lovely chatting to you.

Christine Stinson grew up loving books, reading other people’s as well as writing herown in exercise books as a hobby. She also finished school, went to university, married, raised two children and taught languages in high schools for many years. Since the publication of GETTING EVEN WITH FRAN (Pan Macmillan, 2010) and IT TAKES A VILLAGE (Pan Macmillan, 2011), she now writes full time and reads in her spare time.

Find her at www.christinestinson.com

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

Growing up in conservative, postwar Australia isn’t easy. For eight-year-old Sophie, who has just been told she’s a ‘bastard’, it seems that she lives in a world of secrets, unanswered questions and whispers.

Who is her father and why did her mother never tell anyone who he was?

With only her reclusive grandfather to raise her, and more than one neighbour expecting her to go off the rails like her mother – after all, apples rarely fall far from the tree – Sophie struggles to find her place in the world.

In a time when experiences are shared around the kitchen table, over the back fence or up at the corner shop, Sophie learns that life is rarely simple, love is always complicated and sometimes it takes more than blood ties to make a family.

Conflict shouldn’t demean them.

The conflict can and should challenge them, change them, because we want our characters to grow with the story, but it shouldn’t paint them as a lesser person. If it does you will have your work cut out getting your readers to empathise with them again.

Now don’t get me wrong, as with all rules of writing there is only one rule – ‘Rules are for fools and the guidance of wisemen.’ That means there are no absolutes in writing. If your story demands your hero chose between two women then you just need to make sure his motivation is believable and he has good reason for dumping Girl A to take up with Girl B. A change of mind over a pretty face is not a strong enough conflict – it’s just plain fickle…

If you ask your heroine to break the law and act dishonourably (Zeus and stealing tennis balls…) then again make sure the motivation is so compelling she has no choice but to break her own moral code and commit a crime. Always retain the integrity of your lead characters.

If you want to mess around inside the head of a psychopathic killer go right ahead, but write that character into your story as the villain or in a secondary role. Then you can walk on the dark side anytime you like and the conflicts can be really angsty…

Something else conflict should not do in romance is demand the highest price. In romance we expect the hero and heroine to survive the conflict and find an optimistic ending. There’s nothing wrong with making them chose between life and death if it’s going to save the heroine, the world or their mum, but actually killing them off might not hit the mark with readers. They can be seriously injured, and that can provide a blackest moment for your story, but don’t let their wounded heart stop completely.

If you’re writing fantasy fiction or even paranormal, you can play with life after death. This means you’re going to have to resurrect your protagonist. That’s fine in your genre. Make sure if you do go down that line that it’s not a gratuitous death, but one that will bring new depth to the character by facing that conflict and paying the ultimate price. Jake Sully, in the movie AVATAR, is a wonderfully conflicted hero who is asked to pay that price. It works in AVATAR because his world, Pandora,  has the ability to resurrect life and that is an integral part of the conflict to start with.

If you are feeling like a psychopathic writer then asking secondary characters to pay the ultimate price is a time-honoured method of creating motivation for our heroes and heroines. Be warned though, readers may send you emails and text messages if they don’t approve of your choice of victim…

Zeus was not injured in the taking of this photo

Later this week I’ll have a look at what conflict should be.  I have to say after Anne Gracie‘s workshops last weekend I’ve taken another look at it myself!

Love to hear your thoughts on conflict and what it should not do in the genre you’re writing.

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