Claiming the Rebel's Heart is on sale...

As we in the southern hemisphere shiver in the depths of mid winter and our friends in the northern hemisphere cavort in the sun, there is always time for reading a good historical romance.

Which is why I am offering CLAIMING THE REBEL'S HEART as a winter/summer holiday read at the sale price of .99c (on Kindle and Smashwords) for the next 10 days :-)

You can read an excerpt from CLAIMING THE REBEL'S HEART and the blurb on my website. Click HERE... but rather than repeat it all again, the following is one of the 5 star reviews from AMAZON:

"Claiming the Rebel’s Heart is a MUST READ for fans of this genre! Alison Stuart’s beguiling tale transported me back to the time of the English Civil War, when Parliamentary forces were pitied against the supporters of the King, a conflict that tore families and communities apart. This book is one of my top picks of the year so far and its hero and heroine,Protestant Deliverance Felton and soldier of Fortune Luke Collyer, one of my favourite couples! The author’s skilled prose and characterisations immersed me into the time period and I was hanging on every word, and hankering for their HEA.

Deliverance rails at being a woman in a man’s world and I absolutely adored her strength and the clash of wills when Captain Luke Collyer appears with his band of men, intent on relieving her of control of protecting her beloved home. Luke has never met a woman like Deliverance, who seems immune to his usual charm, and he cannot bend her to his will, however he is nevertheless fascinated by her. Deliverance is equally drawn to Luke and there is a great deal of sexual tension between the couple as they are torn between desire for each other and duty to protect the castle and its inhabitants, without succumbing to the distraction of their mutual passion. The scenes where Deliverance and Luke vie with each other over ultimate control of the castle’s defences are so entertaining and such a pleasure to read. Deliverance and Luke are a well matched couple, complementing each other well and bringing out the best in each other, although sparks do certainly fly!

Their tender romance is played out during an increasingly brutal siege and the author has clearly done her homework in terms of her knowledge of the weapons, tactics and behaviour that was commonplace at this time. Not everyone in the castle is what they seem and it is only a matter of time before their valuable food supplies run out, compelling their surrender. How can the couple sustain their burgeoning romance when there are threats from their enemies, possible traitors in their midst, secrets from Luke’s troubled past and the differences in their station, Luke being a common soldier and Deliverance a Lady?

All the characters within the novel are equally well drawn from the Royalist enemies, Deliverance’s sister Penitence and her erstwhile suitor, Jack, who is on the side of the Royalists and Luke’s comrade Ned Barrett. I enjoyed them all and I will be checking out the other books this author has written set in this time period, namely By The Sword and The King’s Man. I recommend this novel to all lovers of romance, but especially those who love historical romance." (TINA - UK)

For those not on Kindle, CLAIMING THE REBEL'S HEART is available in all formats on SMASHWORDS:  Click HERE. The sale price will eventually filter through to Barnes and Noble, Kobo and iTunes directly...

How I Became an Australian...or how I nearly became a Kiwi...

Ripper, bonzer, beauty...it's my turn to be part of the great AUSTRALIA DAY BLOGHOP. I'm as chuffed as a kookaburra with a beak full of sausage, straight off the barbie. Thank you to the wonderful Annie Seaton for her hard work in herding a bunch of wayward Aussies into some semblance of order!

"I am... you are... we are Australian..."

That song , “I am Australian” has a particular poignancy for me and never fails to bring tears to my eyes.

In October 2002 we were living in Singapore. My husband was already commuting to his job in Melbourne but I had remained in Singapore to allow my eldest son to finish his schooling at the Australian International School. The Year 12s were a week off finishing their exams when the Bali bombings occurred. Of the 202 people killed at Kuta Beach, 88 were Australians. Nothing, short of war, could have had such a devastating affect on Australia. A week later and it could have been half of the young people from the AIS who had been planning “schoolies” in Bali. As it was the Singapore Rugby 7s had been playing in a tournament on Kuta and several members were killed, many injured. We all knew someone who was directly affected.

The Australian High Commissioner opened up the High Commission to the Australian expatriate community for a memorial service. The place was packed, a community united by shock and grief. The High Commissioner spoke of the importance of “tribe” and how the tribe comes together in times of trouble and sadness. The Australian school choir sang “I am Australian”. Men and women, larrikin Aussies all, wept. It was in that moment I really understood what it was to be Australian.

You see I was not born Australian, although through a quirk in my family tree, I should have been. My great great grandparents were Australian born and bred, tracing their lineage back to 1798 - to a country that had been settled by Europeans for less than 10 years. I can point to my convict roots and make claim to being Australian “royalty” but whatever their own reasons my great+ grandparents decided to “return” to England in the 1860s and that particular branch of the family settled into comfortable middle class life in London.

I was therefore born a “British” citizen at the end of the British Empire, in the dying days of colonial life, in Nairobi, Kenya. My mother had been born in Kenya where her father had gone as a colonial civil servant in the 1920s and my father, following a long and divergent route, had decided to end his British army career in a country he fell in love with and, I suspect, mourned to his dying day. Independence came in 1963 and my parents decided that modern Kenya held no future for their children but where to go? They could not bear the thought of returning “home” to a country neither of them had lived in for twenty years and to which they felt no allegiance. So they decided to have a look at New Zealand.

A good military man, my father was all booked for his reconnaissance trip to the land of the long white cloud. He even had an introduction to then Governor of NZ. It looked like I would live out my life pronouncing my name “Ulison”. Unfortunately I gave him mumps and the trip had to be cancelled. Months passed and he decided perhaps Australia might be worth a look so off he went, returning with a stuffed koala bear and favourable reports. There was a large expatriate community of ex Kenyan colonials in Perth and that would be where we would move. The one city he had nothing good to report on was a miserable, cold city on the bottom of the country, where all the pubs closed at 6.00pm. If we lived nowhere else we would not, he declared, ever live in Melbourne.

My travel diary for the move... showing indications of the writer I would become... Kilmanjaro -  "Its splendour showing radiant against the blue sky..."

Mauritius on route to Perth

We had to meet with a visiting member of the Australian parliament to prove, we suspected, that my mother (and indeed my brother and I!) was white. The late 1960s marked the dying days of the "White Australia Policy" and my mother's own birth in Kenya may have aroused suspicions! 

In July 1968, as approved migrants travelling under the General Assistance Package Scheme (not quite ten pound poms but pretty close!), the move was made and our little family transposed from Nairobi to Perth. I had studied Australia at school in Nairobi and I knew all about the Ord River scheme (yes, really!) but it was something of a disappointment to find that kangaroos did not live in the back yard of our rented house in Subiaco. In fact my parents might as well have moved me to the moon.  I am not sure I even spoke the same language as the girls at St. Marys Church of England Grammar School. 

A forlorn Perth school girl 1968

In my first few months in Perth I survived the Meckering earthquake and  the running of some sort of horse race in far off much derided Melbourne which necessitated the Grade 5 girls clustered around a radio at the end of the school grounds during lunch hour (for the record, the 1968 Melbourne Cup won by Rain Lover). I can't say those early days in my new country were very happy. I was definitely the odd one out.

Dad couldn’t find work in Perth. My parents carefully eked out savings were beginning to run out and despite strident advice from my mother’s father (always a plain speaker), they decided it had all been a terrible mistake and we would move to South Africa. We were booked on the next boat to South Africa when a job opportunity came up in ... Melbourne. The passage to South Africa was cancelled and we moved to the cold miserable city where the pubs closed at 6.00pm.

I loved Melbourne from the moment we stepped into a taxi at the airport. I blossomed at my new school. I made lifelong friends. There were a few adjustments to be mad... a nasty moment in my first week at my new school when it was discovered I didn’t know the National Anthem (God Save the Queen) and disparaging notes were sent home to my mother. (BTW I can still sing the Kenyan national anthem!)

An Australian with the paper to prove it!

My life in Kenya slipped into the furthest recesses of my mind and on 21 November 1977 at the age of 18 I became an Australian - I even have the piece of paper to prove it. Actually we all became Australians, even my father who grumbled at the inequity of being made to swear allegiance to the same monarch he had served as a British Army Officer for 15 years. However not for us, the public ceremonies where you are presented with a gum tree or a wattle with much singing of the National anthem (the newly minted Advance Australia Fair to which NO ONE knew the words). Dad arranged for private, oddly impersonal, meetings with a public servant in a gloomy office somewhere in the city. Mr. Albert Terence Stuckey “Migration Officer” signed me off as having sworn the the proper oath of allegiance and I was officially Australian, completing a circle begun by my convict ancestress in 1798.

One last tie bound me to my British citizenship. I still had a British passport. In 1984 I married an Australian and the unmitigated bureaucratic nightmare of travelling internationally with a spouse on a different passport forced my hand and I surrendered my passport. I was now 100% Australian and the mother of two little Australians.

It is only when I speak, that the well enunciated vowels of a colonial past slip out and betray my non-Australian background. I can’t change the way I speak. That will be with me forever, but for those who think I do have an English accent - stick me in England and you will see that what I have is a peculiar accent that is neither English nor Australian but the product of both.

My 3 year sojourn as an Expat in Singapore sealed the deal (despite the accent becoming more pronounced!). I loved being an Australian abroad. I may have been a member of the British Club but it was in the company of Aussies - at the opening of the Sydney Olympics, at Melbourne Cup functions, watching the AFL Grand Final with the airconditioning way down and wrapped in scarves, putting on an Australia Day morning tea for the ExxonMobil spouses… and standing with my tribe at the ANZAC Day dawn service or weeping while the children sang “I am Australian” at the Bali Memorial Service -  that I really understood what it was to be Australian. Dinky di, true blue Australian...

MY GIVEAWAY:  As you probably know I mostly write historicals set in the seventeenth century, long before Australia was "discovered" but I yearned to write a book with an Australian character, that reflected the experience of being an Australian. In GATHER THE BONES I have an Australian heroine, Helen Morrow, and I am giving away a copy of this multi-award nominated, Amazon best seller to a lucky commenter who can tell me their favourite fictional Australian (is it Crocodile Dundee? Edna Everidge? errr... how many fictional Australians do we have???).

AND DON'T FORGET MY LATEST BOOK:  CLAIMING THE REBEL'S HEART is now out now on AMAZON and where all good ebooks are sold. 

AND LASTLY, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, PLEASE ENTER THE BLOG HOP'S OWN RAFFLECOPTER CONTEST. A $100 Amazon voucher and other prizes are on offer. Entry below!!!

Happy Australia Day on the 26th January
Alison

A Thumbnail Dipped in Tar - Writing without technology

“And an answer came directed in a writing unexpected,

(And I think the same was written with a thumb-nail dipped in tar)

...'”

(From Clancy of the Overflow by Banjo Paterson)

I have appalling handwriting, the product, of three different education systems during my formative years. My handwriting is so bad that even my then boyfriend (now husband), to whom I had written several passionate love letters while he was away, commented he could only read every other line. I gave up after that. I don’t think he’s had a love letter since! Even my father (hardly one to point fingers in the handwriting stakes) commented my writing looked like a “thumbnail dipped in tar”.

Owing to a complete failure at mathematics, I was banished to the “commercial stream” at school where I was taught touch typing, such a useful skill for a gal, along with shorthand and bookkeeping (I didn't actually do shorthand although it would have been very useful!). A university education was not high on my school’s ambitions for its ladies in those days. Typing proved to be the one really useful skill I ever learned at school (thank you Mrs. Spence) - and sewing (thank you, Mrs. Plummer).

University came and I bashed out my essays on a portable typewriter, fearing for my marks if any poor benighted lecturer had to read my handwriting. Exams were problematical. Poor handwriting and time pressure… I wonder how much that accounted for some fairly ordinary marks. Was my brilliance overcome by frustration as a tired examiner, burning the midnight oil opened my book?

Wordstar

Hooray for computers. I was an early adopter of the “word processor”. My useful skill of touch typing came to the fore and starting with Wordstar, I moved to Wordperfect 5.1 (still IMO the best word processing program EVER)and have progressed through all the stage of Microsoft Word. I write my books using a combination of Scrivener and Word.

Then of course along came the internet…and google… and email… and Facebook… and Twitter… and Wikipedia. My life is now fully contained in the Cloud which moves from my phone to my iPad to my PC or Mac notebook. I am a 100% early adoptive cyber chick.

You can imagine my horror when I arrived at the airport for our recent holiday and realised I had left my hand luggage containing (apart from the weekly Bombay Gin supply), my iPad and bluetooth keyboard which I had packed knowing I had 24 hours by myself and intending to do some writing. With a new book percolating in my mind, all I had in the way of technological assistance was my phone. Quelle disaster!

A writing pad, a pen and a cute hotel room...

This meant drastic action… Here I was alone in a nice hotel room with 24 hours of uninterrupted writing time. Even the wretched Television didn’t work and the cricket finished early. I purchased a clean new pad of paper and a pen and sat in my hotel looking at it. I didn’t even know where to start! I uncapped the pen and did, as “Alice” suggested, I started at the beginning and went on till I came to the end. Well not quite… but in that short time in the hotel room, I developed a plotting process for pantsers (more on that in future posts) and using this prototype, I actually plotted this new book. With no technological distractions the ideas flowed out into a mind map and there was the very bare bones of Book 2 of the Harcourt Chronicles. All I had to do was write it… I turned to a fresh page of the writing pad and began…

“…Above the drone of Pastor Newington’s voice, a low rumble, like thunder, disturbed the drowsing congregation. Every face turned to the window above the altar which had once boasted a fine representation of the Resurrection, but now where the it had not been boarded over, the cold wind whistled through in the wintertime….”

And thus I wrote 2500 largely illegible words which I now have to transcribe into Scrivener (using the new template I worked out). A thoroughly good day’s work.

So the moral of this story… sometimes, just sometimes, walk away from technology, get a pen and paper out and let the story flow. There is something to be said for that magical connection between the hand, the pen and the paper. Whether I have the fortitude to do it again… remains to be seen.

How Alison saw herself...

...What she really looked like....

I know many writers do still write their first draft longhand. As I also now suffer from arthiritis in my right thumb, the thought of 50,000 words of longhand fills me with terror. What do you think?

And in other news, my latest release CLAIMING THE REBEL'S HEART (Book 1 in the Harcourt Chronicles), is officially released on January 22 but is available for pre-purchase on KINDLE and SMASHWORDS. 

Ringing in the New Year

It is New Year's Day in Australia and a sort of muggy morning with the threat of rain. If I face plant on my key board it is because our neighbours rang in the New Year with a party that didn't end until 4.00am after which they HAD to clear up all the bottles by throwing them into the bin. I don't mean to be a "wowser" but some consideration for your neighbours even it is New Year's eve, would be appreciated!

The grumble is over and time to reflect on 2013. Was it just me or did it whiz by at ultra sonic speed? It was certainly a year of firsts for me:

• I rode a float in the New Orleans Mardi Gras. 
• I visited the West Indies (Martinique)  and saw the place where my great+ grandfather had his head blown off by the English (he was French).
• I visited Russia.
• We celebrated 2 family engagements and a wedding.
• I had 2 books hit Amazon best selling lists.

Farewell 2013 and welcome 2014.  I don't set resolutions. I try to set achievable goals so this time last year I sat down and publicly set out my goals for 2013 and as I publicly stated them I should probably publicly evaluate my success or otherwise…

So casting back to Jan 1, 2013..

I ... think we need to distinguish between personal and professional goals for the year. 

My perennial personal goal is "to lose weight" and "get fitter".  To make that achievable:

• My goal is to lose 500g per month. Nearly achieved. I lost 5kg over the year.
• My goal is to exercise a minimum of 5 days per week and to add incentive I will enter  Run Melbourne in July (5kms). Nearly achieved. I exercise at least 4 days per week…and I entered Run Melbourne but alas on the day another commitment prevented me from running it. I don’t think Fun Runs should figure in my goal setting!

My professional goals:

• Write a minimum of 10,000 words per week, acknowledging that writing every day is not achievable (sorry, but it's just not!). Ha ha!
• Cut down on my social media addiction. Balance and moderation in everything! Errrr…
• My  specific writing goals will be shared regularly with my writing group, who keep me honest. Ok… I did manage this one. I love my writing group and now can't imagine my writing life without them.

BRING IT ON… here are my 2014 goals

PERSONAL

• Continue the weight loss journey (family wedding in November and I don’t want to be the short tubby one on the end of the row in the photographs!)
• Keep up the exercise. 4 days minimum.
• Make more time for my needlework.
• Make space in the schedule for quality time with my husband (who after working hard all his life is taking a "gap year") and family. There is more to life than writing!

PROFESSIONAL

• Drawing on my corporate background, I have written a "business plan" for 2014 so my goal is to stick to it!
• Better balance of the need to write with the "busyness" side of being a writer which can mean way too much time on social media.

So what can you expect from Alison Stuart in 2014?
TWO Alison Stuart books:

• CLAIMING THE REBEL'S HEART (historical romance) will be out on or before 22 January. This will be Book 1 in the "Harcourt Chronicles".
• LORD SOMERTON'S HEIR (regency, romantic suspense) will be coming out on 1 May.

According to the "business plan" I will be working on a sequel to Claiming the Rebel's Heart with an aim to have it out in early 2015 (sorry...but I am a slow writer). I am also working on the third book in the "King's Man" series - more on that later. There is also another historical romantic suspense on the back burner. 

And I do also have a day job...sigh!

Finally... Over the next three weeks a group of us Aussie romance writers are running an Australia Day blog hop (Australia Day is Jan 26), organised by my friend (and fabulous editor), Annie Seaton. There is a $100 Amazon gift card on offer plus some fabulous giveaways. My blog will go up on Jan 23 but do pop in to visit the other blogs which kick off today over at Monique McDonnell's blog. Visit her and the entry for the draw for the major prize is at the bottom of this blog.  

Some Christmas Humour - Changes at the North Pole

I was going through some old files the other day and came across this bit of Christmas nonsense - with a sting in the tail.  Unfortunately I have no record of where it came from so cannot properly attribute, however it is very clever  - enjoy!

CHANGES AT THE NORTH POLE

Notice to all employees

The recent announcement that Donner and Blitzen have elected to take the early reindeer retirement package has triggered a good deal of concern about whether they will be replaced, and about other restructuring decisions at the North Pole.  Streamlining was necessary due to the North Pole's loss of dominance of the season's gift distribution business.  Home shopping channels and mail order catalogues have diminished Santa's market share. He could not sit idly by and permit further erosion of the profit picture. The reindeer downsizing was made possible through the purchase of a late model Japanese sled for the CEO's annual trip. Improved productivity from Dasher and Dancer, who summered at the Harvard Business School, is anticipated. Reduction in reindeer will also lessen airborne environmental emissions for which the North Pole has received unfavourable press.

I am pleased to inform you that Rudolph's role will not be disturbed.  Tradition still counts for something at the North Pole.  Management denies, in the strongest possible language, the earlier leak that Rudolph's nose got that way, not from the cold, but from substance abuse. Calling Rudolph “who was into the sauce and never did pull his share of the load” was an unfortunate comment, made by one of Santa's helpers and taken out of context at a time of year when he is known to be under executive stress. 

As a further restructuring, today's global challenges require the North Pole to continue to look for better, more competitive steps. Effective immediately, the following economy measures are to take place in the Twelve Days of Christmas subsidiary:

1.     The partridge will be retained, but the pear tree never turned out to be the cash crop forecasted. It will be replaced by a plastic hanging plant, providing considerable savings in maintenance;

2.     The two turtle doves represent a redundancy that is simply not cost effective. In addition, their romance during working hours could not be condoned. The positions are therefore eliminated;

3.     The three French hens will remain intact. After all, everyone loves the French;

4.     The four calling birds were replaced by an automated voicemail system, with a call waiting option. An analysis is under way to determine who the birds have been calling, how often and how long they talked;

5.     The five golden rings have been put on hold by the Board of Directors. Maintaining a portfolio based on one commodity could have negative implications for institutional investors.  Diversification into other precious metals as well as a mix of T-bills and high technology stocks appear to be in order;

6.     The six geese-a-laying constitutes a luxury which can no longer be afforded. It has long been felt that the production rate of one egg per goose per day is an example of the decline in productivity. Three geese will be let go, and an upgrading in the selection procedure by personnel will assure management that from now on every goose it gets will be a good one;

7.     The seven swans-a-swimming is obviously a number chosen in better times. The function is primarily decorative.  Mechanical swans are on order. The current swans will be retrained to learn some new strokes and therefore enhance their out placement;

8.     As you know, the eight maids-a-milking concept has been under heavy scrutiny by the EEOC. A male/female balance in the workforce is being sought. The more militant maids consider this a dead-end job with no upward mobility. Automation of the process may permit the maids to try a-mending, a-mentoring or a-mulching;

9.     Nine ladies dancing has always been an odd number. This function will be phased out as these individuals grow older and can no longer do the steps;

10.   Ten Lords-a-leaping is overkill. The high cost of Lords plus the expense of international air travel prompted the Compensation Committee to suggest replacing this group with ten out-of-work congressmen. While leaping ability may be some what sacrificed, the savings are significant because we expect an oversupply of unemployed congressmen this year;

11.   Eleven pipers piping and twelve drummers drumming is a simple case of the band getting too big. A substitution with a string quartet, a cutback on new music and no uniforms will produce savings which will drop right down to the bottom line; We can expect a substantial reduction in assorted people, fowl, animals, and other expenses. Though incomplete, studies indicate that stretching deliveries over twelve days is inefficient. If we can drop ship in one day, service levels will be improved.

12.   Regarding the lawsuit filed by the attorney's association seeking expansion to include the legal profession  (thirteen lawyers-a-suing) action is pending.

Lastly, it is not beyond consideration that deeper cuts may be necessary in the future to stay competitive. Should that happen, the Board will request management to scrutinise  the Snow White Division to see if seven dwarfs is the right number.

Fr  S. Claus

CHIEF FINANCIAL CONTROLLOR

23/12/98

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND HOLIDAY SEASON AND THANK YOU TO ALL MY GUEST POSTERS AND FOLLOWERS FOR THEIR SUPPORT DURING THE YEAR.

Alison xxx

(and don't forget to watch out for my new historical romance release in January - CLAIMING THE REBEL'S HEART)

For more information and to read an excerpt:  Click HERE

or visit GOODREADS 

Ms. S. is going to take a little break from the blogosphere over Christmas and New Year (to do some writing and a bit of travelling)... she will be back on 15 January!

The Writing Process

Writers supporting writers… I am always happy to help my writing colleagues and one particular friend, Anita Davison, my partner in crime (quite literally as we are both tinkering around with Cosy Mysteries at the moment) and fellow 17th century passionista, has invited me to join a blog tour with a difference. A fabulous way to get to understand the way writers work (or don’t…) and to meet some "new to you" authors. Welcome to the WRITING PROCESS BLOG TOUR.

Anita Davison… whose blog is http://thedisorganisedauthor.blogspot.com.au/, also writes as Anita Seymour and I am currently reading her wonderful fictionalisation of the life of Elizabeth Murray - ROYALIST REBEL. Loving it!

Here goes:

1)     What am I working on?

Start with the hard one! Right at this very moment I am in the middle of edits for  an English Civil War set historical romance, CLAIMING THE REBEL’S HEART, for which I am very happy to do the "Cover Reveal" today. 
For more information and to read an excerpt, visit my WEBSITE:  click HERE.
Release date:  January 22, 2014.

With Christmas looming I am allowing myself the luxury of a short break while I mull over my next project - which is an English Civil War set historical romantic suspense - THE BRIDE IN THE BOX.

Sitting on the backburner is the long awaited sequel to my “King’s Men” series (BY THE SWORD and THE KING’S MAN) and I am also planning two other stories to link to CLAIMING THE REBEL’S HEART. One day the English Civil War will be the “new Regency” and I will be there!

Also on the back burner is the aforementioned “cosy mystery”, Harriet Gordon and the Burmese Ruby - set in Singapore in 1910.

So many ideas…so little time!

2)     How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I write across genres. Back in the dark past when I actually had an agent he sat me down in a cafe in New York (yes… really!) fed me coffee and doughnuts and told me I had to make up my mind as to whether I was writing romance or historicals because I couldn’t do both. I have mulled over that piece of advice for many years and have gone on completely disregarding it.

In today’s publishing world, that distinction is less important than it was back in New York in 1999. In those days it mattered that a publishing house could put a label on a book that could distinguish it clearly…Romance, Historical, Crime. What the epublishing world has done is blur those boundaries and made it acceptable to write across genres.

3)     Why do I write what I do?

I like to write the books I like to read - historicals with a romantic theme and if I also want to add a ghost or two or a mystery to be solved or even a bit of time travel…I do. I need action and adventure in my tales. Straight romances are just not my thing and while I love a good historical, I still need two characters I can engage with and who have at least got the promise of a HEA. Sad endings are just not too sad…

4)     How does my writing process work?

Let me start by saying I am an “organic” writer (or “pantser” if you prefer). My stories begin with characters and an inciting incident, a good strong setting and a piece of history and, of course (because I do write romance!) a Happy Ever After…all of these ingredients form the basic skeleton of the story and it is up to my characters to make the story happen. This is a method fraught with difficulty… you go up dead ends, you suffer sagging middles… but that magic moment when your characters start talking back to you and you are walking their journey with them makes it all worthwhile.

Writing mysteries presents more of a challenge than a straight historical romance because you do need to have a compelling mystery to solve and that requires a little thinking about….! I am discovering ways to manage the need to plot with the pantsing method of writing and getting a little more efficient about the process. My husband is aghast as I arrive at the dinner table with the announcement “I know who did it!”. Being an engineer he just rolls his eyes. It is absolutely beyond his comprehension that I could write books without plotting every nuance. Tried that once… got bored…

Next week (15th December) watch out for two special writing friends. If you love historical romances these are the writers for you.

JOANNA LLOYD Born in Papua New Guinea, like many other ex-pats, Joanna was sent to boarding school in Australia. Having always had a voyeuristic fascination with human behaviour, she studied psychology and spent twenty years conducting workplace and family law mediations. This exposed her to the very best and worst of human behaviours. After the degenerative process of muscular dystrophy caused her to be wheelchair bound, she transferred her fascination to the written word. She is the author of two historical romance novels – Beyond Innocence, and Shadow Beneath the Sea. She lives and writes in tropical Far North Queensland – her version of paradise.

You will find her blog at:http://joannalloydauthor.wordpress.com/
(Joanna will be taking tea with Ms. Stuart on December 20).

MAGGI ANDERSEN Maggi Andersen lives in the countryside outside Sydney, Australia, with her lawyer husband. After gaining a BA in English and an MA in Creative Writing, and raising three children, Maggi now indulges her passion for writing. She writes in several genres, contemporary and historical romances and young adult novels. You’ll find adventure and elements of danger in everyone.

You will find her blog at:http://www.maggiandersen.blogspot.com

FINALLY... As my little Christmas present to my readers, my time travel romance (with an English Civil War setting), SECRETS IN TIME, is on sale on Amazon only from 9-14 December for $0.99c! Good, quick holiday reading!  To go directly to AMAZON click HERE