Marilyn Todd’s latest Victorian thriller introduces England’s

first crime scene photographer, Julia McAllister, and offers readers the same

racy pacey action that was the trademark of her 13 book Ancient Rome mystery

series.

Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Marilyn explains why she loves resilient heroines and her life on a French hilltop surrounded by chateaux and vineyards.

Six

things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

Marilyn's wildly fertile childhood imaginationHow she got to work on her writingThe joys of living on a French hilltopThe nastiness of SpartaThe writers she admires mostWhat she'd do differently second time around

Where to find Marilyn Todd:

Website: http://www.marilyntodd.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Marilyn-Todd-Crime-Writer-283458208429732/

 Twitter: @marilyntodd12

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/40180.Marilyn_Todd

What

follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for

word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny: But now, here’s Marilyn. .  Hello there Marilyn and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us.

Marilyn: And I am absolutely chuffed to be here. Jenny, I really am. Thank you so much for inviting me. And what a fantastic find. Joys of Binge Reading is . I'm a kid in a candy shop here.

Marilyn Todd, historic thriller author

Jenny: It's

wonderful. Look, beginning at the beginning, was there a Once Upon A Time

moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction? And if so, was there some

sort of catalyst for it?

An active imagination

Marilyn: Not really. I was bedridden as a kid a lot of the time - as a small child - and not being a girly girl, there's only so many Teddies Tea Parties you can host. And it was just me and my imagination really. I'm an only child, so I'd look at the drawings on my Mother's dress making patterns. And I'd ask who are all these impossibly elegant creatures? Where are they going?  Who are they meeting, and who are they dressing up for? And in fact, every picture I looked at, a story would form until it got to the point where even the school projects came out as stories with characters and conversations.

Creating adventures

And in those days, you'd literally cut and paste.  I'd pore over - because I was stuck in bed as I say - so I'd pore over National Geographic magazines, whisking myself off on these fantastic adventures, discovering lost tombs in the desert and diving on shipwrecks in shark-infested waters, paddling up the Amazon, although the novelty of  wanting to slash my way through a jungle soon wore off.Even at that age, I was never a camping sort of girl. And spiders weren't my thing either. But what I could see myself doing was being the first woman to lead a wagon train, that sort of thing. So I mean, we're talking heroines even back then.

Even at that age, I was never a camping sort of girl. And  spiders weren't my thing either. But what I could see myself doing was being the first woman to lead a wagon train, that sort of thing. So I mean, we're talking heroines even back then.

I Claudia - the first book in the Claudia Seferius series by Marilyn Todd

Jenny: Yes. And all these years later, you've published 16 historical thrillers, including the thirteen-book, Claudia Seferius series set in First Century Rome. Is that where you started out,

Leslie Karst’s

Sally Solari foodie mystery series are spiced just right to tempt  readers back for second helpings, with razor

sharp plotting, a vibrant Santa Cruz setting, and the bonus of some great

recipes!

Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Leslie talks about Murder from Scratch, the fourth book in what she calls her “snarky cozies.”

Six

things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

Why Leslie is passionate about Santa CruzWhat the law taught her about mystery writingHer culinary obsessionsHer not-so-secret song-writing lifeDividing time between Hawaii and CaliforniaWhy she loves Chicks On A Case

Where to find Leslie Karst:

Website: http://lesliekarstauthor.com

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

 Twitter: @ljkarst

What

follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for

word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny: Hello

there, Leslie, and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us.

Leslie: Hi,

Jenny. It's so great to be talking from halfway around the world, from

California to New Zealand, it's really fabulous.

Jenny: That's

right. We're joined by the Pacific Ocean.

Leslie: Exactly.

Leslie Karst - Combing two passions - writing and food - in the Sally Solari mysteries

Jenny: Look, was

there a Once Upon A Time moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction as

distinct from other things you might have been writing? And if so, was there a

catalyst for it?

Leslie: You know,

I've always been fascinated by words and language, since I was a little kid,

but I never actively planned to be a writer. But somehow I ended up writing for

most of my life as a college student. I was a literature major, so I wrote a

lot of papers about literary criticism. And then after I graduated, I dabbled

in poetry.

And in my angst ridden 20's, I moved over to writing songs for a couple of bands. I had a new wave band in the 80's and then later in the 1990's, I had a country rock band called Electric Range that I formed with my sister.

A change of pace

And then after that, I went on to law school and I became a lawyer. And I spent 20 years writing research, memory memos and appellate briefs. So there it was. At the time I was ready to retire as a lawyer, I realized writing must be in my blood. So I said, I'm going to have to continue writing. But at that point, I decided I wanted to do something new. And that's why I decided to go to fiction. Completely different from legal briefs, certainly.

Jenny: So you've

now written four books, a Sally Solaris mystery series that's a culinary

series, set in a restaurant and features a lot of food. I just wondered two

questions, really. Why did you choose mysteries as your genre and how did you

come upon the culinary theme for them?

Obsessed with taste and texture

Leslie: Well, as

I said, when I decided to switch to fiction, I settled on mysteries, partly

because I'd read them a lot is that when I was younger. But I also  realized that crafting the twists and turns

of a murder mystery, is not that different from the detail-oriented work that

one employs when you're drafting a legal brief. And it turns out I was right

about that.

 So that's why I went

to the mysteries. Plus, come on, they're fun. Everybody likes the  food aspect. You know, I've been obsessed

with taste and the texture and the presentation of food ever since I was a kid.

And as a result, I ended up going to culinary arts school while I worked as a lawyer

and I got a degree in that. And guess which I liked better?

Italian style in Santa Cruz

And so when I decided to try my hand at writing a mystery

novel, it seemed like a no-brainer that it had to involve food and cooking. I

just had to. I was into food. Mysteries are popular. So I thought, OK, I can

combine these two and have a really a good time.

Jenny: Yeah,

that's right. Now,

Leslie Karst’s

Sally Solari foodie mystery series are spiced just right to tempt  readers back for second helpings, with razor

sharp plotting, a vibrant Santa Cruz setting, and the bonus of some great

recipes!

Hi there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Leslie talks about Murder from Scratch, the fourth book in what she calls her “snarky cozies.”

Six

things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

Why Leslie is passionate about Santa CruzWhat the law taught her about mystery writingHer culinary obsessionsHer not-so-secret song-writing lifeDividing time between Hawaii and CaliforniaWhy she loves Chicks On A Case

Where to find Leslie Karst:

Website: http://lesliekarstauthor.com

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

 Twitter: @ljkarst

What

follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for

word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny: Hello

there, Leslie, and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us.

Leslie: Hi,

Jenny. It's so great to be talking from halfway around the world, from

California to New Zealand, it's really fabulous.

Jenny: That's

right. We're joined by the Pacific Ocean.

Leslie: Exactly.

Leslie Karst - Combing two passions - writing and food - in the Sally Solari mysteries

Jenny: Look, was

there a Once Upon A Time moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction as

distinct from other things you might have been writing? And if so, was there a

catalyst for it?

Leslie: You know,

I've always been fascinated by words and language, since I was a little kid,

but I never actively planned to be a writer. But somehow I ended up writing for

most of my life as a college student. I was a literature major, so I wrote a

lot of papers about literary criticism. And then after I graduated, I dabbled

in poetry.

And in my angst ridden 20's, I moved over to writing songs for a couple of bands. I had a new wave band in the 80's and then later in the 1990's, I had a country rock band called Electric Range that I formed with my sister.

A change of pace

And then after that, I went on to law school and I became a lawyer. And I spent 20 years writing research, memory memos and appellate briefs. So there it was. At the time I was ready to retire as a lawyer, I realized writing must be in my blood. So I said, I'm going to have to continue writing. But at that point, I decided I wanted to do something new. And that's why I decided to go to fiction. Completely different from legal briefs, certainly.

Jenny: So you've

now written four books, a Sally Solaris mystery series that's a culinary

series, set in a restaurant and features a lot of food. I just wondered two

questions, really. Why did you choose mysteries as your genre and how did you

come upon the culinary theme for them?

Obsessed with taste and texture

Leslie: Well, as

I said, when I decided to switch to fiction, I settled on mysteries, partly

because I'd read them a lot is that when I was younger. But I also  realized that crafting the twists and turns

of a murder mystery, is not that different from the detail-oriented work that

one employs when you're drafting a legal brief. And it turns out I was right

about that.

 So that's why I went

Tammy Robinson’s emotional stories are heart-warming and heart-breaking in equal measure and will appeal to readers of Jojo Moyes and Nicholas Sparks. Initially indie published, she’s now signed with an international publishing house and is set for world-wide distribution.

Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today Tammy talks about the personal tragedy she had to overcome to keep writing and tells how living through her characters helped her overcome tough times.

Six

things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

The tough road to emotional balanceOn just keeping on keeping onOn being indie publishedWhy cliches are sometimes rightThe writers she admires mostHow she got an international publishing deal

Where to find Tammy Robinson:

Facebook: @TammyRobinsonAuthor

Instagram: @TammyRobinsonAuthor

 Twitter: @TammyRobinson76

What

follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for

word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny: But now, here’s Tammy  Hello there Tammy and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us.

Tammy: Thank you

for having me. I'm looking forward to it.

Tammy Robinson, heart break fiction author

Jenny: Yes, it's fun to chat to another Kiwi. In an interview that you did on National Radio last year you spoke of a series of personal tragedies tyou had to overcome. Enough to  fell a team of oxen, in my opinion. I'm amazed that you've risen so magnificently over the challenges you had and you've published all these books. Can you tell us if there was a catalyst that took you from that position of being emotionally low to the point where you could reach out and start writing

A tide of tragedy

Tammy: Yes, for sure. I actually I wrote my first book before it all started to happen. My husband and I got married in 2007 and then about three years later or so we thought 'well it's time to start a family. We'll have a baby.' So we got pregnant and then we lost that baby. And then it just kept happening. We had no problems getting pregnant but staying pregnant was a bit of an issue. My body never let me go naturally. I always had to have hospital intervention to assist with getting my body back to normal.

That was quite hard. So I think it was the third one, we actually saw the baby's heartbeat at about eight and a half or nine weeks we had a scan and we saw the heartbeat and we thought 'yes, we've got at this time.' And then we went along for the twelve week scan and took my parents. I'll never forget. She put the sensor on my tummy and then she said 'I need to get someone else' and she left the room and straight away we knew something's wrong.

Resilience sorely tested

She came back with the other person and they had a look and they said 'We're really sorry but the baby passed away at about nine and a half weeks. So you'll need to go again to hospital to have a medication to bring on labor.'

It hadn't worked for me in the past but this time a few hours later it started working. I started losing the baby but this time I hemorrhaged and wouldn't stop bleeding. It was the middle of the night and the nurse couldn't get hold of a doctor and I was bleeding everywhere and she was getting quite worried and so in the end she went over everyone's head and gave me the injection to stop the bleeding - which worked. I still had to go and have surgery as well and clear out the uterus and so I handled that.

And then I hit a bit of a low point. It was really a time  of soul searching. I was looking for spiritual strength. I'm not a religious person, but that's when I started to look into a few things and seek something, because I just couldn't understand why this keep happening to us.

A time of soul searching

We went to stay at my husband's parents up in the Coromandel for a couple of days to get away from it, and came back and our house had been completely burgled and trashed.

Tammy Robinson’s emotional stories are heart-warming and heart-breaking in equal measure and will appeal to readers of Jojo Moyes and Nicholas Sparks. Initially indie published, she’s now signed with an international publishing house and is set for world-wide distribution.

Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today Tammy talks about the personal tragedy she had to overcome to keep writing and tells how living through her characters helped her overcome tough times.

Six

things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

The tough road to emotional balanceOn just keeping on keeping onOn being indie publishedWhy cliches are sometimes rightThe writers she admires mostHow she got an international publishing deal

Where to find Tammy Robinson:

Facebook: @TammyRobinsonAuthor

Instagram: @TammyRobinsonAuthor

 Twitter: @TammyRobinson76

What

follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for

word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny: But now, here’s Tammy  Hello there Tammy and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us.

Tammy: Thank you

for having me. I'm looking forward to it.

Tammy Robinson, heart break fiction author

Jenny: Yes, it's fun to chat to another Kiwi. In an interview that you did on National Radio last year you spoke of a series of personal tragedies tyou had to overcome. Enough to  fell a team of oxen, in my opinion. I'm amazed that you've risen so magnificently over the challenges you had and you've published all these books. Can you tell us if there was a catalyst that took you from that position of being emotionally low to the point where you could reach out and start writing

A tide of tragedy

Tammy: Yes, for sure. I actually I wrote my first book before it all started to happen. My husband and I got married in 2007 and then about three years later or so we thought 'well it's time to start a family. We'll have a baby.' So we got pregnant and then we lost that baby. And then it just kept happening. We had no problems getting pregnant but staying pregnant was a bit of an issue. My body never let me go naturally. I always had to have hospital intervention to assist with getting my body back to normal.

That was quite hard. So I think it was the third one, we actually saw the baby's heartbeat at about eight and a half or nine weeks we had a scan and we saw the heartbeat and we thought 'yes, we've got at this time.' And then we went along for the twelve week scan and took my parents. I'll never forget. She put the sensor on my tummy and then she said 'I need to get someone else' and she left the room and straight away we knew something's wrong.

Resilience sorely tested

She came back with the other person and they had a look and they said 'We're really sorry but the baby passed away at about nine and a half weeks. So you'll need to go again to hospital to have a medication to bring on labor.'

It hadn't worked for me in the past but this time a few hours later it started working. I started losing the baby but this time I hemorrhaged and wouldn't stop bleeding. It was the middle of the night and the nurse couldn't get hold of a doctor and I was bleeding everywhere and she was getting quite worried and so in the end she went over everyone's head and gave me the injection to stop the bleeding - which worked. I still had to go and have surgery as well and clear out the uterus and so I handled that.

Alissa Callen’s wide-open-space romances – whether set in the Australian outback or Montana mountains – give a bright lift to the darkest day. That’s what her readers tell her, and she couldn’t hope for a more rewarding response.

Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today USA Today Best Selling author Alissa talks about what she loves most about writing rural and small-town fiction, and why she’s thrilled her books are in school libraries.

Six

things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

Why readers love small town romanceHow you can have too much shopping and cocktailsThe one thing she'd do differently next time roundYarn bombing in Dubbo - it is a thingThe healing power of natureThe nicest thing a reader ever said

Where to find Alissa Callen:

Website: www.alissacallen.com

Facebook: @AlissaCallenAuthor

What

follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for

word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny:  And now

here's Alissa. Hello there, Alissa, and welcome to the show. It's great to have

you with us.

Alissa:  It's such a

pleasure to be here.

Alissa Callen - Author of rural and small town romance

Jenny: Beginning at the beginning, was there a Once Upon a Time moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction, as distinct from other things you might have written. And if so what was the catalyst for it.

Alissa: I think I'm that stereotypical writer who was that childhood reader. And if I look back I probably read too many books and probably needed to get another life. But I was a very avid reader as a child/bookworm. And then I did English at university because that was my thing. And I've always wanted to write and I dabbled at writing but it wasn't a definitive decision that I needed to do this.

Words always been her "thing"

I have four children and somehow I had time amongst raising

my children. I thought 'Oh I might actually put pen to paper.' And I did! I

grew up in the country. I live on a small farm now. So it was only natural that

my stories played themselves out against a rural backdrop.

 I have also lived in

America and I love the mountains over there. So I'm just really lucky that what

I love to write, is actually what the market will read because I can't imagine

myself writing anything else.  Words have

always been my thing.

From a family of scientists

And it's really interesting because I come from a family of

scientists. We have a lot of very analytical brains in the family, and I'm the

odd one out.  It is interesting because

through the wonders of DNA we've actually found a missing branch of my family

tree and that's where I fit. There's a professor of medieval literature there.

There is another person who writes, so I think writing has always just been in

me and it's who I am.

Jenny: You

describe your books as small town and rural fiction but they are really sweet

romance stories when you look at the heart of them, aren't they?

Alissa: They are.

I think it's very interesting because I do write for the two markets and I find

that small town stories and rural fiction in Australia are interchangeable terms

really.

Sweet clean romance

Rural fiction has such a wide spectrum. You can have small

town books. You can have medical romance, you can have medical suspense, as

well as rural fiction. So in Australia there's such a wide umbrella.

But then for the American market they don't have the term ‘rural

romance’ so it's just basically small town. 

But their core ingredients are very similar. And I think that they are

essentially romance. In another life I was a counsellor and I do know that life

doesn't deliver the 'happily ever after' for everyone.  So I was drawn to a genre where it doesn't

matter what my characters go through. At the end there's an uplifting and feel

good ending, because I know in real life that things don't always turn out that

way.

Alissa Callen’s wide-open-space romances – whether set in the Australian outback or Montana mountains – give a bright lift to the darkest day. That’s what her readers tell her, and she couldn’t hope for a more rewarding response.

Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today USA Today Best Selling author Alissa talks about what she loves most about writing rural and small-town fiction, and why she’s thrilled her books are in school libraries.

Six

things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

Why readers love small town romanceHow you can have too much shopping and cocktailsThe one thing she'd do differently next time roundYarn bombing in Dubbo - it is a thingThe healing power of natureThe nicest thing a reader ever said

Where to find Alissa Callen:

Website: www.alissacallen.com

Facebook: @AlissaCallenAuthor

What

follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for

word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny:  And now

here's Alissa. Hello there, Alissa, and welcome to the show. It's great to have

you with us.

Alissa:  It's such a

pleasure to be here.

Alissa Callen - Author of rural and small town romance

Jenny: Beginning at the beginning, was there a Once Upon a Time moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction, as distinct from other things you might have written. And if so what was the catalyst for it.

Alissa: I think I'm that stereotypical writer who was that childhood reader. And if I look back I probably read too many books and probably needed to get another life. But I was a very avid reader as a child/bookworm. And then I did English at university because that was my thing. And I've always wanted to write and I dabbled at writing but it wasn't a definitive decision that I needed to do this.

Words always been her "thing"

I have four children and somehow I had time amongst raising

my children. I thought 'Oh I might actually put pen to paper.' And I did! I

grew up in the country. I live on a small farm now. So it was only natural that

my stories played themselves out against a rural backdrop.

 I have also lived in

America and I love the mountains over there. So I'm just really lucky that what

I love to write, is actually what the market will read because I can't imagine

myself writing anything else.  Words have

always been my thing.

From a family of scientists

And it's really interesting because I come from a family of

scientists. We have a lot of very analytical brains in the family, and I'm the

odd one out.  It is interesting because

through the wonders of DNA we've actually found a missing branch of my family

tree and that's where I fit. There's a professor of medieval literature there.

There is another person who writes, so I think writing has always just been in

me and it's who I am.

Jenny: You

describe your books as small town and rural fiction but they are really sweet

romance stories when you look at the heart of them, aren't they?

Alissa: They are.

I think it's very interesting because I do write for the two markets and I find

that small town stories and rural fiction in Australia are interchangeable terms

really.

Sweet clean romance

Rural fiction has such a wide spectrum. You can have small

town books. You can have medical romance,

Danielle

Hawkins is a qualified veterinarian and busy farmer’s wife who writes popular

rural  rom coms set in New Zealand.  She got started, she says, because she needed

a new project and she’d “already painted the house.”

Hi there

I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today Danielle talks about  how popular vet James Heriott inspired her

and  writing “unromantic” romance.

And for fans – or people who’d like to be fans – we’ve got a great Giveaway: two paperback copies of Danielle’s latest book, when it all went to custard to give away in a draw. One each week, for the next two weeks, so enter the draw here or on Facebook.  Entries close July 20, so get in now your own copy of Danielle’s latest funny romcom.

Six

things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

How Danielle got started in rural romanceThe 'nicest rejection letter' everLiving in her favourite place on earthWhy she's tired of sanitized vet showsTreating Kiwis (the birds) with runny nosesA best-seller who doubts her own success

Where you can find Danielle Hawkins:

Facebook: @DanielleHawkinsAuthor

What

follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for

word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny: But now, here’s Danielle. .  Hello there Danielle and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us.

Danielle: Hi

Jenny, thanks.

Jenny: Look, you're a qualified veterinarian, and a farmer's wife living on a sheep and beef farm, raising two children. And you decide one day that you want to be a romance author. Is that how it happened? And was there a Once Upon A Time moment when you decided; I've just got to write a book?

Danielle Hawkins - rurtal romcom author and country vet, at home on the farm with her children.

Danielle: Oh well, not exactly. I never decided to be a romance writer and I was rather surprised when this was how I was labeled, because you just think that you've written a book. You don't put it in any particular box. But I started writing. I was at home with a baby and I wasn't working full time. Actually I wasn't working at all, apart from being at home with a baby ,and I was bored. I just I wanted a project.

Looking for a project . . .

Jenny: It's that simple? You wanted a project? There's a million people who would like a project, but they don't choose to write a book.

Danielle: Oh, I painted the house first. And then I wrote a book.

Jenny: I painted the house first! That sounds so Kiwi. Your books have been described as a cross between Doc Martin, the TV series and the stories of James Herriott. I've gathered that when you were a teenager you wanted to be James Herriott. So it must be quite cool for you, is it?

Danielle: Absolutely. That's a wonderful compliment. No one has ever done, I don't think, what James Herriott has done. His books  appeal to people who know nothing about veterinary medicine and yet they're not patronising and boring to people who do know all about it. That's such a skill. I'm so impressed.

Finding her right niche

Jenny: It's lovely. You've now written four very well-received novels that can be best described as distinctly rural New Zealand romantic comedies. Was it a matter of 'write what you know?' You say you didn't start out writing romance. So how did you come to be put in that slot in the end?

Danielle: Oh well I started writing, and the first thing I wrote was rubbish. Even I could tell it was rubbish. And then I wrote something else, and then something else. The one that I submitted to a publisher was Number Four or Number Five, I think. It was a dystopian story, set in New Zealand, where we'd been overtaken by this group of religious fundamentalists and we'd all been plunged back into the age of  horses and carts and long skirts and that sort of thing.

The 'nicest rejection letter' ever

And I submitted it and I got back quite possibly the nicest rejection letter ever.

Danielle

Hawkins is a qualified veterinarian and busy farmer’s wife who writes popular

rural  rom coms set in New Zealand.  She got started, she says, because she needed

a new project and she’d “already painted the house.”

Hi there

I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today Danielle talks about  how popular vet James Heriott inspired her

and  writing “unromantic” romance.

And for fans – or people who’d like to be fans – we’ve got a great Giveaway: two paperback copies of Danielle’s latest book, when it all went to custard to give away in a draw. One each week, for the next two weeks, so enter the draw here or on Facebook.  Entries close July 20, so get in now your own copy of Danielle’s latest funny romcom.

Six

things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

How Danielle got started in rural romanceThe 'nicest rejection letter' everLiving in her favourite place on earthWhy she's tired of sanitized vet showsTreating Kiwis (the birds) with runny nosesA best-seller who doubts her own success

Where you can find Danielle Hawkins:

Facebook: @DanielleHawkinsAuthor

What

follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for

word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny: But now, here’s Danielle. .  Hello there Danielle and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us.

Danielle: Hi

Jenny, thanks.

Jenny: Look, you're a qualified veterinarian, and a farmer's wife living on a sheep and beef farm, raising two children. And you decide one day that you want to be a romance author. Is that how it happened? And was there a Once Upon A Time moment when you decided; I've just got to write a book?

Danielle Hawkins - rurtal romcom author and country vet, at home on the farm with her children.

Danielle: Oh well, not exactly. I never decided to be a romance writer and I was rather surprised when this was how I was labeled, because you just think that you've written a book. You don't put it in any particular box. But I started writing. I was at home with a baby and I wasn't working full time. Actually I wasn't working at all, apart from being at home with a baby ,and I was bored. I just I wanted a project.

Looking for a project . . .

Jenny: It's that simple? You wanted a project? There's a million people who would like a project, but they don't choose to write a book.

Danielle: Oh, I painted the house first. And then I wrote a book.

Jenny: I painted the house first! That sounds so Kiwi. Your books have been described as a cross between Doc Martin, the TV series and the stories of James Herriott. I've gathered that when you were a teenager you wanted to be James Herriott. So it must be quite cool for you, is it?

Danielle: Absolutely. That's a wonderful compliment. No one has ever done, I don't think, what James Herriott has done. His books  appeal to people who know nothing about veterinary medicine and yet they're not patronising and boring to people who do know all about it. That's such a skill. I'm so impressed.

Finding her right niche

Jenny: It's lovely. You've now written four very well-received novels that can be best described as distinctly rural New Zealand romantic comedies. Was it a matter of 'write what you know?' You say you didn't start out writing romance. So how did you come to be put in that slot in the end?

Danielle: Oh well I started writing, and the first thing I wrote was rubbish.

Sharon Maas celebrates the diversity of publishing today because she’s been one the writers who has challenged the old formula.  Her early 20th century Quint family series set in her homeland of Guyana and based on her own family story of a white woman marrying a black man was not seen as “commercial.’

Hi, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today Sharon talks about how the decade of rejection she faced before she won through made her a better writer, and tells us about a magical day she spent with Muhammad Ali in Peru.

Six

things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

How Sharon got started in fictionHer extraordinary meeting Mudhammad AliWhy historical fiction gives her a thrillThe part meditation plays in her workOn re-writing a famous Indian mythHer advice for young writers: Follow your heart

Where to find Sharon Maas:

Website: https://www.sharonmaas.com/

Facebook: @sharonmaasauthor

 Twitter: @sharon_maas

What

follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for

word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny: But now, here’s Sharon.  Hello there Sharon and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us.

Sharon: Good morning Jenny. Good to be with you.

Jenny: And I think you're speaking from Germany are you?

Sharon: No, no. I moved to Ireland a year ago. I'm in Ireland now.

Jenny: Oh sorry I am not up to date. Perhaps there maybe a bit out of date information on the web. I'm not sure.

Sharon: Oh yes, Ireland's been a wonderful place to live.

Jenny: Okay. that's lovely. How did you get started writing in fiction? Was there a 'Once Upon a Time' moment for you when you felt you needed to write fiction or you wouldn't have achieved your purpose in life, so to speak.

What got her started writing

Sharon Maas Historic fiction author

Sharon: [00:00:51] Well I've always been a voracious reader and I always had this idea that maybe I could write something one day, but I just thought it just too much. I just can't do it. You know  it's too hard to figure out a plan and I can't do it.  I didn't feel up to it. 

I was writing when I was about eight or nine. I used to write children's stories about children with horses and dogs and having adventures. Enid Blyton was my favorite writer as a child. So I had this idea at the back of my mind but I just didn't feel have the confidence to get into it and to actually start. And so I was late in my late forties when I began thinking 'Oh maybe I could do it. Maybe I can write something myself.' I've read a book called Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brand.

And she says the stories you want to tell are in us already. Deep down. They're made by the subconscious mind and we can access them if we make the effort. And that was like a 'light bulb' moment for me, because you know I meditate and I knew that there is something inside me which I can access. So that really kind of lifted me up and got me fired up. So I started when I was about 48.

Plotter or Pantser?

Jenny: And how did you choose what you were going to write. And I gather that you are more of a 'fly by the seat of your pants' writer?

Sharon: Oh absolutely.

Jenny: Did you approach it in that way with your first book, or how did you start off?

Sharon: I knew I wanted to write a book set in Guyana, which is the country I grew up in. It used to be British Guyana and I really knew I had to write a story set there because when I was growing up there was nothing published about our own culture.

All of the books I read as a child about England and English people. English children and strawberries and cream and all those very English things. Daisies and tulips and things we don't have in Guyana. So I wanted to have a really authentic Guyanese setting with Guyanese people who are Indian and African, you know, very very diverse.

The Sugar Planter's Daughter - Quint Chronicles by Sharon Maas