For today’s blog, I have the pleasure of chatting with fellow Avalon Author, Elisabeth Rose.Welcome to the WINK blog site Elisabeth and congratulations on your fourth release with Avalon Books “Outback Hero!” Thanks for the opportunity to talk about my books. I much prefer to talk about them than me. I'm still amazed I have five books out--four with Avalon and one with TWRP.
The cover is lovely. Did you have any input into how it would look? Avalon always asks for cover suggestions and it's always difficult. I only came up with one idea for Outback Hero and it was from an ad for an outback farm holiday. They used the profile of a typical Aussie farmer against a vast blue sky. I thought that might work--the silhouette against a sky with a few gum trees as well. My editor sent me a draft version and asked about the trees. The artist was worried they weren't Australian looking. They weren't--they had no leaves for starters and were the wrong shape. I wandered outside with my camera and photographed some typical gumtrees and sent them off. She ended up using a stock photo of a tree and it's perfect. I love the cover, too. Apparently the man is a relative of my editor and he is thrilled to be a cover model! LOL
What attracted you to this story in particular? How did it come about? The idea came to me in two parts. The little girl Nikki Webster who featured in the Sydney Olympics opening ceremony made me wonder what happens to children who rocket to stardom so young. I invented Stella who as a fifteen year old had become an overnight sensation and now in her mid twenties has begun to realise she knows nothing about who she really is. She knows the public persona but not the real girl and she's sick of doing things for everyone else--her manager, her fans, her newly divorced husband,the media. My working title was Please Yourself because that's what she decided to do in a rather dramatic and initially disastrous way. She missed out on her socially formative teen years so is rather naive when it comes to love.
The second part was developing my hero Jonathan. Quite by chance I saw a documentary on TV about a cotton growing family in Goondiwindi NSW who literally saved their town by involving everyone in not just the growing of the crop but also designing, and manufacturing clothing. They cut out the middle man and the business became very successful. Perfect hero material. I made up the town and the nameKoologong but used the business idea for Jonathan's company 'Koolwear.'
Outback Hero features a heroine who is a singer? Music is another great interest of yours, would you say you get a lot of your inspiration there?Only one of my books so far has no musicians and that one is 'Stuck.' Music has been a major part of my life so naturally I know a lot about it from a classical musician's point of view. Musicians can be very single minded and emotional -- it comes with the focus and drive needed to perfect the art.
My daughter gave me a quote from Friedrich Nietzsche which sums it up:
'You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.'
What are you working on now? At the moment I'm writing another book based around the City Symphony Orchestra which I invented in my first book The Right Chord. It's not a series but it gives me a large pool of characters--my orchestra has about eighty members--and minor characters plus other heroes and heroines can pop up again and again. I like that, seeing how previous couples are faring.
And what’s in the near future for Elisabeth Rose? My next release is The Tangled Web, also based on the orchestra. In this one both main characters are in the orchestra so the story is set around rehearsals and concerts more than the other books where only one person is a musician.
Sounds great! So when do you write? Do you have a set routine? I have two part time jobs which means I have the bulk of the day free -- some whole days and afternoons on other days. I write any time I can. I seem to be best in the afternoon or mid morning on. I spend a lot of time in the car so I have ABC Classic FM on all the time and find the music inspires ideas. It's also good thinking time.
Are you a plotter or a pantser? Definitely a pantser.
Me too! Why is this your preference?I love starting out with an idea and seeing where it leads. All sorts of things happen along the way. I think ahead a scene but not much further although sometimes I know how I want the ending to go or know another scene or incident has to occur later.
How long does it take you to write a book?Probably about a year. It's hard to say. I write very clean because I'm constantly revising as I go and I can't stand having spelling and grammar mistakes--old school here :) Plus there's the fact that I can't type properly so I have to tidy up the most horrendous typos or later on I wouldn't have a clue what I'd written. When I reach the end I reread and tweak then put it away for a few months and either start something else or go back to my two non romance stories --one thriller, one mystery. Then I pull it out it again, reread tweak some more and away it goes to my editor.
What is the best thing you have done for your writing? Without a doubt joining RWAustralia is the very best thing. That, plus having the internet LOL. I've been to about six conferences and learned something at every one. And the romance writing community is the most supportive friendly bunch of people you could ever hope to meet. This is my second year as a committee member (as Contest Co-ordinator)and I really enjoy contributing something to this wonderful organisation. I also run the Little Gems contest and produce the Anthology.
Thanks so much for chatting with me Elisabeth.
If you’d like a chance to receive a free copy of “Outback Hero,” leave a comment about this interview. The winner will be drawn on Friday and announced on this blog.
So stay online!!
If you enjoyed this interview, you may also wish to check out my new solo blog where I discuss the trials and tribulations of a newly published author, ways to improve your writing and my journey building a career in this industry.
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Once upon a time there was a writer who was offered three contracts in eight weeks and tumbled into published author land. A place where the road are paved with contracts, cover art grows from trees and heroes walk past offering champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries...
