An Anglo/American who has been living in France for nearly 40 years, she began writing as soon as she retired. It is a passion discovered late in life, but lived to its fullest. She has a panoply of stories ranging from Regency romance through to contemporary romance with sci-fi/fantasy on a tangent. The majority of her stories have happy endings. She tries to compensate for the unhappiness in the world.
Before retiring, she worked at a variety of jobs both in Britain and France. Some of the more interesting have been: Art and Crafts teacher, Bartender, Marketing Assistant for N° 1 World Yacht Charterers (Moorings), Paris Beaux Arts Model, Secretary to the French Haflinger Association...
Three daughters and five grandchildren add to her active life.
A vegetarian and a supporter of animal rights, she uses words when not protesting in the street. She is an admirer of the British abolitionist, William Wilberforce, who was also a founding member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (S.P.C.A.).
Before retiring, she worked at a variety of jobs both in Britain and France. Some of the more interesting have been: Art and Crafts teacher, Bartender, Marketing Assistant for N° 1 World Yacht Charterers (Moorings), Paris Beaux Arts Model, Secretary to the French Haflinger Association...
Three daughters and five grandchildren add to her active life.
A vegetarian and a supporter of animal rights, she uses words when not protesting in the street. She is an admirer of the British abolitionist, William Wilberforce, who was also a founding member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (S.P.C.A.).
An Interview of the Author...
If you were interviewing an author, what would be your first question?
Well, it certainly wouldn't be the standard 'Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?' I'd go for something outlandish like 'Do you often look up the meanings of words?' or 'Did you ever cheat in English class?'
I might ask how organised or chaotic they are when setting out an outline for their stories...
So, are you a responsible writer who plans a story outline?
A writer is only half responsible for what he writes. I promise you.
Once I have given my characters their names, they begin to take over. Their personalities emerge and have very little to do with what I had originally planned for them. The hardened hero often takes on a schoolboy vulnerability and my heroines have the colour of their hair changing several times before the end of the tale. Not one of your modern hair colour products either, because the majority of my people are ensconced in the Regency period with only the occasional time shift, if you're lucky.
How did you begin?
It was a very bad Regency paperback that convinced me that I could do better.
Why so late in life?
I admit that any urge I had to write earlier was stifled by the mystery of dialogue. How did an author create credible dialogue? Fool that I was, I never attempted it until that modern 'penny dreadful' pushed me to try. I know now. The answer is quite simple for me - I take dictation. My characters say what they like and often do as they like. I sometimes find them kissing or moving on to more serious acts, and there is little I can do without stepping away, without taking my fingers off the keyboard. I wonder if they knew we were reading about them, they might be a little more discreet but somehow I doubt that, in a moment of passion, they would give a damn!
Has a dull life fuelled your fiction?
My writings are not the fantasies of a drudge. I am an American who spent her younger years travelling back and forth between the US and Britain because of divorced parents. The irony is that I have ended up living most of my life in France.
How that happened is another story.
I am a vegetarian and an active supporter of animal rights. It is difficult to know if I have influenced my three daughters or if it is they who have influenced me. My life still has many unexpected twists to it, for which I am grateful most of the time.
To sum up, I must just say that as an author I have had the amazing good fortune of crossing paths/ words/ lines/ stories with some pretty impressive writers. Contact with them has been an eye-opening experience that I would not have missed for anything because, not only have they encouraged me, but they have shown me that writers the world around are just ordinary folk like me. They all have characters and plots in their heads waiting to get out.
What do you tell people who ask what you do for a living?
I answer without hesitation that I am a secretary who takes dictation!
Just joking.
I AM A WRITER!
How has Smashwords contributed to your success?
I have actually made an acknowledgement in two of my paperbacks that I wouldn't be where I am today without Smashwords. Every writer needs readers and Smashwords gave them to me at the very beginning, and I shall always be grateful. Thank you Smashwords!
What do your fans mean to you?
Any artist needs fans to exist. They are the people who approve of what you do and who encourage you to continue.
What are you working on next?
I have several works in progress. I sometimes step back from one and pick up the thread on the others. I find it gives me a fresh running start each time. At the moment I'm working on a series called 'The Sandar Saga' that takes place in a future time setting on a planet called Sandar. Each of the five countries on Sandar was started as a theme park centuries before. None of the countries know about each other due to imposed restrictions. And then, things begin to go wrong, and they discover each other...
A second work in progress (WIP) is about a Dutch Regency doctor, and a third takes place in a department store in Regency times.
Who are your favorite authors?
Through different periods of my life the genre that I have favoured has changed. Just a few and not in order of preference: Anne McCaffrey, Frederic Forsyth, Anne Perry, Isaac Asimov, Michael Crichton, Mary Balogh, Len Deighton, Nichola Cornick, Paul Gallico, Isaac Bashevis Singer and many others.
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
Believe it or not, I don't need inspiration. Daylight is enough for me to want to get up and take advantage of the time that is left to me...
Describe your desk
My desk is a mess. I have 3 computers of different sizes on it ready to use for the different progammes they have. I have half a dozen dictionaries (English and French) and a couple of thesauruses. There are bottles of nail varnish, glasses & their cases, cups of tea, pens and pencils and papers of every sort, including grocery receipts. You wouldn't want my desk but I feel secure in my chaos.
Well, it certainly wouldn't be the standard 'Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?' I'd go for something outlandish like 'Do you often look up the meanings of words?' or 'Did you ever cheat in English class?'
I might ask how organised or chaotic they are when setting out an outline for their stories...
So, are you a responsible writer who plans a story outline?
A writer is only half responsible for what he writes. I promise you.
Once I have given my characters their names, they begin to take over. Their personalities emerge and have very little to do with what I had originally planned for them. The hardened hero often takes on a schoolboy vulnerability and my heroines have the colour of their hair changing several times before the end of the tale. Not one of your modern hair colour products either, because the majority of my people are ensconced in the Regency period with only the occasional time shift, if you're lucky.
How did you begin?
It was a very bad Regency paperback that convinced me that I could do better.
Why so late in life?
I admit that any urge I had to write earlier was stifled by the mystery of dialogue. How did an author create credible dialogue? Fool that I was, I never attempted it until that modern 'penny dreadful' pushed me to try. I know now. The answer is quite simple for me - I take dictation. My characters say what they like and often do as they like. I sometimes find them kissing or moving on to more serious acts, and there is little I can do without stepping away, without taking my fingers off the keyboard. I wonder if they knew we were reading about them, they might be a little more discreet but somehow I doubt that, in a moment of passion, they would give a damn!
Has a dull life fuelled your fiction?
My writings are not the fantasies of a drudge. I am an American who spent her younger years travelling back and forth between the US and Britain because of divorced parents. The irony is that I have ended up living most of my life in France.
How that happened is another story.
I am a vegetarian and an active supporter of animal rights. It is difficult to know if I have influenced my three daughters or if it is they who have influenced me. My life still has many unexpected twists to it, for which I am grateful most of the time.
To sum up, I must just say that as an author I have had the amazing good fortune of crossing paths/ words/ lines/ stories with some pretty impressive writers. Contact with them has been an eye-opening experience that I would not have missed for anything because, not only have they encouraged me, but they have shown me that writers the world around are just ordinary folk like me. They all have characters and plots in their heads waiting to get out.
What do you tell people who ask what you do for a living?
I answer without hesitation that I am a secretary who takes dictation!
Just joking.
I AM A WRITER!
How has Smashwords contributed to your success?
I have actually made an acknowledgement in two of my paperbacks that I wouldn't be where I am today without Smashwords. Every writer needs readers and Smashwords gave them to me at the very beginning, and I shall always be grateful. Thank you Smashwords!
What do your fans mean to you?
Any artist needs fans to exist. They are the people who approve of what you do and who encourage you to continue.
What are you working on next?
I have several works in progress. I sometimes step back from one and pick up the thread on the others. I find it gives me a fresh running start each time. At the moment I'm working on a series called 'The Sandar Saga' that takes place in a future time setting on a planet called Sandar. Each of the five countries on Sandar was started as a theme park centuries before. None of the countries know about each other due to imposed restrictions. And then, things begin to go wrong, and they discover each other...
A second work in progress (WIP) is about a Dutch Regency doctor, and a third takes place in a department store in Regency times.
Who are your favorite authors?
Through different periods of my life the genre that I have favoured has changed. Just a few and not in order of preference: Anne McCaffrey, Frederic Forsyth, Anne Perry, Isaac Asimov, Michael Crichton, Mary Balogh, Len Deighton, Nichola Cornick, Paul Gallico, Isaac Bashevis Singer and many others.
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
Believe it or not, I don't need inspiration. Daylight is enough for me to want to get up and take advantage of the time that is left to me...
Describe your desk
My desk is a mess. I have 3 computers of different sizes on it ready to use for the different progammes they have. I have half a dozen dictionaries (English and French) and a couple of thesauruses. There are bottles of nail varnish, glasses & their cases, cups of tea, pens and pencils and papers of every sort, including grocery receipts. You wouldn't want my desk but I feel secure in my chaos.
Memoir
This is a memoir of my first twenty-four years.
Although born in the United States, my two brothers and I were tossed back and forward from there to England , due to divorced parents - an American father and English mother.
A wilful mother dominated all our lives until we reached an age where we were legally free of her. If I am who I am today, it is in an attempt to not be like my mother.
She was not a friend.
Also, if you are interested in conditions in Britain during the fifties and the contrast with life in the United States at that time, I suggest this memoir will keep your attention.
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B75HM5NF
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B75HM5NF
& other reputable sites
Although born in the United States, my two brothers and I were tossed back and forward from there to England , due to divorced parents - an American father and English mother.
A wilful mother dominated all our lives until we reached an age where we were legally free of her. If I am who I am today, it is in an attempt to not be like my mother.
She was not a friend.
Also, if you are interested in conditions in Britain during the fifties and the contrast with life in the United States at that time, I suggest this memoir will keep your attention.
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B75HM5NF
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B75HM5NF
& other reputable sites
