Thanks, Suz, for dropping by to tell us about this wonderful new rural romance series. With all the hunks and heroines discovering one another in this rural community, I foresee a population explosion in Bindarra Creek!
What inspired you to write this story?
The goal plan of my heroine came to me after I read an article about remote country towns offering houses for sale or for rent at crazy cheap prices in order to encourage tradesmen with families to come and live in their towns. The desperation and the entrepreneurial spirit of that particular town impressed me. I wondered what life must be like for the people already living there and when I coupled that with an idea of government funding to revitalise communities I discovered I had the core premise of a series.
The character of Tessa came to me almost two years ago, when I wrote Dance in the Outback. I had this vague idea at the time of writing other stories based on various young people who had sought and found help in a children's refuge in the Blue Mountains. Tessa was originally blonde, blue-eyed and bubbly and I was certain her story would be a light-hearted and fun-type of romance. Of course, she ended up being nothing like my original idea! Since I was involved in writing my Darkon Warriors science fiction romance series at that time, Tessa was shelved but I always knew one day the details of her story would come to me. When I combined the two ideas, ie a struggling rural community with a girl with an agenda of her own, Bindarra Creek Makeover was born.
What drew you to the New England Tablelands as the setting for this series?
When I googled this region, I found an amazing diversity of landscapes that could be incorporated into various stories. National parks, grazing lands, the rolling hills of the western slopes, rivers, creeks, old gold mines and even the lure of being in the general vicinity of bushrangers notably, Captain Thunderbolt in the 1860’s. I also loved the isolation – it’s a village in its own corner of the world reasonably cut off from other major or larger towns so the community has had to rely on themselves and each other in order to get by.
What does your heroine see in your hero that sets him apart from other men?
In Dodge, Tessa sees steadiness and reliability of character, a protector and more importantly, someone who understands and does not judge her. And of course, there are those sexy dimples.
What comes next after Bindarra Creek Makeover?
In the Bindarra Creek Romance series, our next story is by Lee Christine in August followed by Susanne Bellamy’s story in September. For full details of these books please visit our website.
For myself, I’m continuing on with my science fiction romance / space exploration series, The Mars Academy with the next novella, Cosmic Flare coming out in late August 2015.
Blurb for Bindarra Creek Makeover:
Tessa Gibson reluctantly embarks on an elaborate plan to fund her escape from a dangerous collision with her past.
With the help of an isolated country town and the government grant meant to rebuild it, she’ll secure new identities for her sickly daughter and herself. Desperate to escape the nightmare stalking them, it never enters her head she’ll fall in love – not only with a cop but an entire community that makes her feel like one of their own.
With his career on shaky ground after his ex-partner is charged with fraud, Constable Dylan Myers (aka Dodge) returns to his hometown of Bindarra Creek. What he finds is a community struggling to survive. When an attractive young woman presents a proposal to the town council, his internal cop radar is activated. Something isn’t adding up about Tessa Gibson. No matter how much she makes his pulse race, Dodge doesn’t need or want any complications – especially in his love-life, which is just fine as it is.
But neither Tessa nor Dodge are a match for his grandmother and her CWA cronies. They’ve got their own ideas on how to draw new life to Bindarra Creek…and not even the monster from Tessa’s past will stop them.
Bindarra Creek Makeover will be available from most etailors from 15th July 2015 and paperback from Createspace. Please visit my website or the Bindarra Creek Romance series website for further details.
It is available for pre-order here: Amazon | Smashwords