10 questions with Sue Moorcroft (Dream A Little Dream)

1) Where do you write?

Mostly,in my study. It’s not a huge room so it’s very very very veryvery full, as it houses my bookcases as well as my desk and otheroffice paraphernalia including my hub of communication, ie computerand phone/fax. But it’s ‘my space’ and I know where everythingis (even if the floor is often my in tray). But I have aniPad/keyboard combination that allows me to work on trains or inhotel rooms, when my travelling dictates.

2)What is the first book you remember reading?

Ifyou’re being precise, it was the first in a series of schoolreading books known as ‘Dick and Dora, book nothing’. I had beenin a different school for a term and hadn’t been taught to read (Ithink my group was doing sand pits and water play that term) and whenmy family moved to Malta the teacher there didn’t bother enquiringwhat I’d been taught. She thought I was being stubborn and a fewpainful lessons ensued. (Miss Wishart, I have not forgotten.) Whenshe finally began teaching me what the words said and why, the reliefwas huge. I was soon reading well beyond my age.

Butthe first adult novel I read (about the age of nine) was NevilShute’s A Town LikeAlice . It’s stillone of my absolute favourites and I reread it every few years.

3)Do you have a favourite literary character?

I’mprobably not meant to answer like this, but I’m afraid it’sRatty, from . Hewas the first hero really successful hero I wrote and I’m still ateensy bit in love with him. Ratty has been sent fan mail and doneinterviews of his own, so he obviously struck a chord.

4)Is there a book by another author that you wish you had written?

Thousands.But, I’ll pick one – Suzanne Brockmann’s GoneToo Far , the sixthbook in her Troubleshooter series. She’s so brave with her choiceof subjects and the scope of her conflicts and yet the love affairsthat she writes are so hot that they sizzle. I love those books.

5)What's the best advice you have ever received?

Inwriting, I’d say it’s ‘Don’t make enemies.’ Publishing,like many other industries, can seem quite small and the editor youfell out with at one magazine or publishing house could always turnup at another.

6)What's the worst advice you have ever received?

‘Ifyou’ve got two agents interested, be open with them both.’ I didthis and both agents sent my work back and said they’d leave theway open for the other. Humph.

7)What are you currently reading?

TheDevil series of erotic romance by Victoria Vane.

8)Who is your hero or heroine?

Inreal life? Most of the Formula 1 drivers.

9)Where are you happiest?

Inthe sunshine, swapping stories with my friends, preferably with acold glass of white wine or two. But tea will do. And, of course, inmy study when the book is going well.

10)Who would be at your dream dinner party (can be living or dead)?
Bothof my sons, my dad, Damon Hill, Graham Hill, Ratty, Jenson Button,Stirling Moss, Martin Brundle and Stephen Fry. 

 

SueMoorcroft writes romantic novels of dauntless heroines and irresistible heroesfor  ChocLit .Her last book, ,won the Best Romantic Read Award 2011 at the Festival of Romance andher next, ,will be published on 1 November 2012.

Combiningwriting success with her experience as a creative writing tutor,she’s written a ‘how to’ book,  LoveWriting – How to Make Money From Writing Romantic and EroticFiction  ( AccentPress ).Sue also writes short stories, serials, articles and courses and isthe head judge for  Writers’Forum fiction competition .She's a Katie Fforde Bursary Award winner.

Checkout her website www.suemoorcroft.com and her blog at http://suemoorcroft.wordpress.com/  for newsand writing tips. You’re welcome to befriend   or  .

First Things First and Second Things Never

Shirley Conran, the patron saint of superwomen, says you should do First Things First and Second Things Never . I would love to be Shirley; it would be so restful to blitz the essentials, and cavalierly ignore the rest. 

The problem is that when I’m in mother-mode, I find it’s almost impossible to prioritise. When all four children are milling around the house, it’s hard to think straight; particularly at times of crisis when almost everything seems important.

When a sibling argument is brewing up, keeping a clear head is particularly difficult. Perhaps the first priority should be to intervene immediately, but it’s a dicey decision. You might just extinguish the aggro. But there’s also the hideous chance of making an unimportant disagreement ten times worse by getting involved. Sometimes I find it’s better to close my ears to the bickering, and concentrate on feeding them as fast as possible. So many disagreements seem to fizzle out under the soothing influence of a full stomach. 

I’d also love to know how Shirley can purge the huge, formless, bottomless mass of secondary items on her To Do list. Surely it is a mother’s job to worry about absolutely everything? Number 1 on a new mother’s list is obvious; keeping your baby alive – including obsessively inspecting your infant all through the night to check that she’s still breathing.

But when they get bigger it gets more complicated. There are so many unimportant/important things to think about. When my children were toddlers, number 55 on my list was low-level, cold-weather fussing about gloves and hats (“Aww, gerroff Muum”). When they were at primary school, number 95 was the seasonal post-Christmas panic, when I couldn’t remember if I’d sent their teacher a card, even though the school was shut, and she wouldn’t notice, and simply wouldn’t care, if I hadn’t.

This week I’ve been doing a job which has been hovering for many years at about number 396.  This meant sorting out a cupboard of children’s things that I could never quite bear to throw away. Here is the resting place of crusty finger paintings and valentine cards blobbed with glitter glue. There are also a stack of ancient nativity play videos. If only we still had a video player, which sadly we don’t, (and I know that you can’t buy them any more), I would now be able to rekindle the memories of my sons dressed as shepherds in teatowel headdresses, and my daughter as an angelic snowflake in her white nightie and tinsel halo. 

What can I do? Perhaps Shirley would see these tapes as Second Things Never and chuck them into the bin. But I just can’t be that callous. I’m optimistic that one day I’ll prioritise, and find a way to transfer everything onto my computer. Who cares if by then it’s job 672 and the children have children on their own. First Things First is all very well, but I suspect that some things are meant to stay on a mother’s emotional To Do list forever. 

Sibling Rivalry (Bantam Press) is available in and formats.

10 questions with Della Galton (Passing Shadows)

1) Where do you write?
In our spare bedroom which has a sloping ceiling and beams and overlooks farmland. It's beautiful.

2) What is the first book you remember reading?
I don't know who wrote it but it was a hardback book with a yellow cover called Miss Perfection and it was about an Airedale Terrier who went to dog shows. I love dogs.

3) Do you have a favourite literary character?
I'm actually rather fond of a few. Among them are Jeeves and Wooster created of course by P G Wodehouse and Dodie Smith's Cassandra Mortmain.

4) Is there a book by an another author that you wish you had written?
I wish I had written I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith. I think it is fabulous.

5) What's the best advice you have ever received?
Writers are in the entertainment industry.

6) What's the worst advice you have ever received?
Give up - you'd be better off washing up. Although possibly that might be true!

7) What are you currently reading?
Madeleine Wickham's The Wedding Girl.

8) Who is your hero or heroine?
I would very much like to meet Sophie Kinsella. She is one of the few writers who can make me laugh out loud.

9) Where are you happiest?
Walking in the countryside with my three dogs.

10) Who would be at your dream dinner party (can be living or dead)?
Peter Jones (the one who wrote How To Do Everything and Be Happy - not the other one), Sophie Kinsella, Stephen Hawking and my Gran (who passed away three years ago). This would be an interesting mix.

Passing Shadows
Della's website

10 questions with Linda Mitchelmore (To Turn Full Circle)

1) Where do you write?
I write in what was my daughter's bedroom before she left home. It is very small - I'm sure Victoria Beckham has a bigger shoe cupboard! I have two rows of shelves for books above my TV screen and a run of floor to ceiling cupboards with bifold doors behind me. I work surrounded by bits of paper and a pile of books to-be-read, and I have a pinboard with photos of my family on the wall.

2) What is the first book you remember reading?
Brownie by Amy Le Feuvre. It was a Sunday School Prize when I was aged seven. Quite a religious book although I didn't really realise that at the time. Brownie had a younger brother as I had (and still have) whom she had to look after (as I had to way back then). Brownie was always trying to be good and not quite managing  it...a bit like me!

3) Do you have a favourite literary character?
Not really. All literary characters - like real people - are different and have their strengths and their weaknesses and it would be impossible for me to single out just the one favourite. That said, there have been characters I haven't much liked....but that's another story!

4) Is there a book by an another author that you wish you had written?
Yes. I adored Star Gazing by Linda Gillard. The storyline, the characters, the quality of the prose, and the differentness of it.

5) What's the best advice you have ever received?
In the word of writing the best advice ever given me was to view rejection cautiously. An agent's/publisher's rejection is only a rejection from that, ONE,  person...others might love your work. Be proud of it, have faith in it, and keep on sending it out.

Advice for life generally - if you can't say something nice best just to smile and say nothing.

6) What's the worst advice you have ever received?
That dyeing my silver hair blonde would be a good idea and make me look younger - it didn't and I looked like a female Worzel Gummidge for months while it grew out.

7) What are you currently reading?
This Holey Life by Sophie Duffy.

8) Who is your hero or heroine?
Not sure what you mean by this question? Fiction or real life? I will go with real life and say that I hugely admire Barack Obama....any man (or woman) who can speak as he does for an hour or more without notes and without saying 'um' and 'er' a million times has to be looked up to. He's also rather easy on the eye!

9) Where are you happiest?
Cycling beside a canal in Brittany en route to a restaurant for lunch - but only if I've had texts from my children that day to say they are all well... :)

10) Who would be at your dream dinner party (can be living or dead)?
I've been waiting half my life for someone to ask me this question! And the answer has changed over the years. Currently, it is as follows:)

1.Francesco da Mosto...I just adore his accent when he speaks English...and he has a nice line in jackets and sports cars, to say nothing of his Venetian palace.
2. Neil Oliver...I could drown quite happily in his Scottish accent. As a deaf person, I find his diction perfect.....and I have a thing about men with long hair.
3. Dolly Parton...I love an American accent, but Dolly is a also a hoot and very sassy and wise with it. But she can only come if she wears one of her outrageous wigs.

And that's about it...a small, intimate gathering. I can't cope - cloth ears problem - with large numbers around a table with glasses clinking and laughter. These three lead interesting lives and are eloquent so I could just sit back and listen to them and maybe throw in a question here and there.

And I would give each of them a copy of my novel...signed.

To Turn Full Circle .

Read more about Linda .

10 questions with Jan Jones (The Kydd Inheritance)

1) Where do you write?
Anywhere I can get a spare, quiet moment! At my kitchen table in the evenings - or directly onto the computer in my upstairs workroom during the day.

2) What is the first book you remember reading?
Goodness, I don't know. I was very young at the time (or precocious, as my mother's friends styled it). I have a vague feeling it was one of Enid Blyton's Toytown books.

3) Do you have a favourite literary character?
Oh, Lizzy Bennett, without a doubt. So witty and clever and pretty and brave. I wanted to be her for SO long.

 


4) Is there a book by an another author that you wish you had written?
I wish I had written almost everything by Diana Wynne Jones, but especially "Hexwood".

5) What's the best advice you have ever received?
Writing advice? "Never give up."Life advice - "Just be yourself"

6) What's the worst advice you have ever received?
I don't know. I vary rarely take advice if it doesn't seem to me to be good.

7) What are you currently reading?
I'm currently reading Judy Astley's "I Should Be So Lucky" and enjoying it enormously.

8) Who is your hero or heroine?
I don't think I have one.

9) Where are you happiest?
I happiest when I'm writing and it is going well. Other than that, when I'm with friends, either in real life, or on the Internet.

10) Who would be at your dream dinner party (can be living or dead)?
All my writing mates, because they'd all muck in to help with the food, and no one would be bothered if it was inedible because we'd all be having such a good time talking and laughing.

has been shortlisted for the RoNA Rose award 2012.

Jan's website .