OUR
WRITERS MEAN BUSINESS OUR
WRITERS MEAN BUSINESS 
How did you get started in your writing?
I started out wanting to write a non-fiction book. I gathered the
information then realised I didn't know how to collate it so I went to a
writing class. As part of the course I interviewed an Australian soap star
and straight away sold the feature to a TV magazine for £200 which
was a fortune to me as I was broke at the time. That got me hooked and I
carried on to write hundreds of features for all kinds of magazines. It
was another 10 years before I had the idea for a fiction book that turned
out to be my first published novel, 'Everything Is Not Enough'.
Last book you bought?
CONVICTION a novel by Richard North Patterson. It's about a man
on Death Row in the US and the whole appeals process that precedes the execution
date. I love his books because they give such an insight into the US Governing
and Legal System. I think I've read all of his. At the same time I bought
THE HUNGRY YEARS by William Leith about dieting. After dieting all my life
and never being slim I'm constantly looking for the perfect diet where you
can eat whatever you like and lose weight.
Desert Island Books?
COLLINS SAS Survival Guide for obvious reasons.
TANAMERA by Noel Barber. A novel about life in colonial Singapore where
I was brought up and I love reading it over and over. It reminds me of my
childhood.
GUINESS BOOK OF HIT SINGLES. Always good for reminiscing and when I'm rescued
I can go on Mastermind and have that as my specialist subject.
Heroes?
In writing I'm a big fan of Harold Robbins and Jackie Collins.
Oh to be as prolific, successful and enduring as either of them.
Tell us about your latest book?
OLD SCORES is about how what can seem like a fairly innocuous lie
at the time can lead on to such enormous guilt that it ripples out over
the years wrecking lives and even causing deaths.'One woman's struggle to
escape a life of abuse, rejection and ultimate betrayal'.
And what's in the pipeline?
PAST CHANCES which is about a group of young people in the seventies,
the different routes their lives have taken and how an episode from then,
that seemed so funny at the time, comes back to haunt them.
Where do you get your ideas from?
Mostly from a seed of something that then grows in my head. The
seed can come from anywhere, newspapers, tv, magazines. I do like my books
to be about current social and family problems and issues. This probably
has a lot to do with my years as a Social Worker which certainly gave a
lot of food for thought! How do you go about doing research for your book?
By asking people who know and also using the internet which is really a
magic resource. The storylines may be fiction but I try my best to make
the facts correct.
Why did you approach the Darley Anderson Agency?
I had met Darley Anderson many years before when I was writing
features although he didn't remember me! Word had it that he was the best!
What advice do you have for people hoping to find their first publisher?
Research the publishers to make sure you're targeting the correct
one for your book. It's no o good sending a cookery book to a publisher
of erotica! Check out the Writer and Artists Yearbook or the Writers Handbook.
January 2006