Starring: Maggie Christensen

1.     Are you inspired most by places, people or experiences and how do these work their way into your writing? 

I believe I’m mostly inspired by people and their stories, for example, on a recent trip to the US I picked up stories from three different people which I now intend to weave into one person for a future novel.

2.     Please share one of your favourite moments of inspiration with us.

When my husband and I were visiting my mother-in-law in Oregon one year we had coffee with an old school friend of his in a lovely old house at Seal Rock. When we were driving away I knew I had to use it in a book. The idea for The Sand Dollar – to be published later this year – had been floating around for some time and I just knew this house would be in it. I drew a quick diagram while still in the car and, by the time we arrived back in Australia it had become Jenny’s godmother’s house and the whole story had fallen into place.

3.     How did you come up with the idea of Band of Gold?

Several years ago I heard of a woman whose husband placed his wedding ring on the kitchen table on Christmas morning. It stuck in my mind and I started to think what if? And what would happen next? Then Anna and Marcus appeared and Anna’s story began to take shape.

4.     How do you come up with your characters’ names?

As my characters appear to me their names come with them.

5.     Who would you cast for a movie/TV series as your main characters if given the chance?

Meg Ryan or Annette Benning would make a great Anna.

6.     Do you read reviews of your books? What do you do when you read a not-so-nice one?

Fortunately I haven’t had one of these yet J

7.     How many times were you turned down before you finally got published?

I’m not sure – I don’t keep rejection letters. I prefer to focus on the positive.

8.  What reason(s) did the publishers give for their rejection of your manuscript?

My book didn’t fit their list, this shouldn’t be seen as negative, and they wished me well. I presume it was the standard rejection letter. I received one positive response from an agent who told me she liked the idea of The Sand Dollar a lot and requested a partial, but didn’t want anything which had been sent to others, then I never heard from her again! I assume my more mature heroine may have been the reason for my rejections, so then I decided to self-publish J

9.  Who is your literary hero?

Liz Byrski. I love her books and am full of admiration for the way she writes about the issues and challenges of the older woman. 

10.  What do you need to set the mood for you to write?

I check my emails and Facebook, read what I’ve written the day before and set my goals for the day.

11.  How many blurbs did you have to write before the final one?

My final blurb for Band of Gold is number 6.

14.  If you could bring one of your characters to life, who would it be? And why?

I’d bring my heroes to life – either Marcus (Band of Gold) or Mike (The Sand Dollar). I think I fall a little in love with each of my heroes as I write them. They all have a little of my husband in them. 
I can relate to that! :) 

15.  What are you working on now?

I’m   finishing a book called The Dreamcatcher set on the Oregon Coast. It’s the second book in my Oregon Cost series.

The first, The Sand Dollar will be released in October/November. It tells the story of Jenny who, stunned by news of an impending redundancy, and impelled by the magic of a long forgotten sand dollar, visits her godmother in Oregon to consider her future. What she doesn’t bargain for is to uncover the secret surrounding her birth. The revelation sees her embark on a journey of self-discovery such as she’d never envisaged. The Sand Dollar is a story of new beginnings, of a woman whose life is suddenly turned upside down and the reclusive man who helps her solve the puzzle of her past.

The Dreamcatcher follows Ellen, a minor character in The Sand Dollar. Ellen is a Native American bookshop owner who has the gift of being able to foretell the future, but is at a loss to explain her recent nightmares and the uncanny premonition she experiences one morning outside her shop when a dark cloud obscured the sun and she shivers with a sense of foreboding. When this is followed by the arrival in her life of an old friend of her brother, she links the two. However, there are other surprises in store and Ellen has a difficult journey ahead of her before all is resolved.
 

16.  Would you like to share an excerpt from your writing?

This comes from the end of Chap 1 of Band of Gold:

I need fresh air. It’s five o’clock on a glorious summer’s afternoon. All over Australia everyone and his dog is celebrating Christmas, and I’m standing here relieved that my family has gone. I don my running gear and take out the car.

       When I reach Manly beach I can see that most of the celebrating groups are winding up for the day. Parents are gathering up children, chairs and blankets. Fathers in shorts, their naked chests bronzed by the sun, are dumping the remains of Christmas lunch into the overflowing bins. Some are desultorily playing a game of beach cricket while others have succumbed to post prandial lethargy and are lying prone while squawking seagulls demolish the remains of their food.

I walk slowly to the edge of the water, my shoes making deep imprints in the packed wet sand. I look out at the vastness of the Pacific Ocean and stretch my arms up high. I wish I could sail away, away from having to explain to everyone and be the subject of their pity. I stand, oblivious to the waves lapping against my favourite running shoes, and gaze up at the buildings etched against the skyline on top of the cliff. Northern Beaches Girls Grammar School is where I spend every day during term time, teaching English to a combination of eager and reluctant young girls. It’s going to become my lifeline now.

 Turning, I begin to run. If I can run fast enough maybe I can forget, forget that my husband has abandoned me, that, at the ripe old age of forty-seven, I’ve become a statistic, an abandoned wife, a single mother.

By the time I stop, the beach has become deserted. It’s too early for the evening parties and too late for the family gatherings. I gaze along the sand, deploring the debris my fellow humans have left behind and begin the run back. Halfway there, the memory of Sean’s face at the breakfast table rears up again and I slow to a halt and drop to my knees in despair, tears once again streaming down my cheeks.

‘Are you all right?’ The voice comes from somewhere above my head. I look up into a pair of concerned brown eyes framed by black-rimmed spectacles. Floppy brown hair is falling over the lenses and, as I look, a hand pushes back an errant lock.

‘Are you all right?’ the voice repeats. ‘Is there anything I can do?’

I rise slowly, gulping back the tears, embarrassed to have been caught in such a state. ‘I’ll be right, thanks.’ I brush the sand from my knees and I wish I could brush away his presence as easily. ‘Really,’ I assure my prospective rescuer, and run on, feeling his eyes boring into my back as the distance between us lengthens.

 

17.  Please share your favourite cocktail, recipe or celebration photo.

The photo was taken at the launch of Band of Gold and shows me with Annie from Annie’s Books at Peregian, my local bookshop. Annie has been amazingly supportive of me throughout my journey to publication.

There are two types of people in the world who inspire me. Those who write the ultimate cheque to community and society never knowing if it will be cashed in the line of duty and those who follow their dreams against all odds.

First Motorcycling Women to Conduct a Transcontinental Crossing of the USA - Augusta and Adeline Van Buren

   In 1916 Augusta and Adeline Van Buren threw down the gauntlet against inequality and crossed the USA on motorcycles. Departing New York on 4 July 1916 each riding a 1000cc (60CI) F Model Indian. Their journey took them west thru Buffalo, Chicago, and on to Omaha. From Nebraska they made their way to Denver. The lure of Pikes Peak was as powerful then as it is now. Gussie and Addie took their Indians to the summit at 14,109 ft.

  Once on Colorado the roads became impassable, bogging the bikes in greasy clay. With little else to do, they left the bikes behind and made their way to Gillaman where the local miners were only too happy to help. Misfortune again befell the sisters after the roads they were travelling on petered out to dust in west of Salt Lake. Out of water and in dire straits a prospector shared not only enough water but also the advice the girls needed to get back on track.

Gussie and Addie rolled into Los Angeles September 8th after traveling 5,500 miles across some of the most rugged and inhospitable terrain known to man. They chose to continue down through San Diego, Tijuana and into Mexico.

  In October 2002 the sisters were inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame and then in 2003 into the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame.

2006 was the 90th anniversary of their incredible journey. Bob & Rhonda Van Buren, set out to recreate the ride of their gallant forebears and at the same time raise money to support the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. Their intention is to back up again in 2016 for the 100th Anniversary.

For more on the Van Buren sisters, click here.

QUEEN OF SPEED  -  RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 2014

Last thing girl racer Penny McIntyre needs is bad boy Bryce Huntington bringing trouble to her door. But she needs him – and he needs her.

Blurb

It’s not easy being a girl in an all-male world. Penny McIntyre has to fight every day to hold her place on the race track. Her lifelong dream of sponsorship is realised when she is offered the chance to ride as part of a Justin Byrne’s 600cc motorcycle team. At long last her dreams are in reach.

Her world is turned into upside down when her mechanic is injured and she discovers Bryce Huntington, her childhood sweetheart, is back in town. Even though he shattered her heart ten years ago she has no other choice but to enlist Bryce’s help in the pit. What she hasn’t counted on is the animosity between Justin and Bryce which threatens to throw her world into chaos. Everything she has worked for is in danger of disappearing.

She has to choose who to trust, who to protect and who to let go.

Excerpt

Penny sat on the on the side of the road, her knees pulled up to her chest and her head resting in her hands. Her tears subsided, though her chest ached from sobbing. She looked up at the BSA, its chain hanging limp, useless and broken. Fighting back the urge to cry again she pulled her phone from her pocket, a hopeless gesture. The signal strength still read zero. She had no idea how long she sat and cried. She didn’t cry over her bike or even the helplessness of being stranded. The embarrassment of being taken in by Justin ripped at her chest. She cried over her own stupidity at being fooled so completely by the smooth talking Justin. Surely there had been signs? She must have been too caught up in the moment, in the attention he’d lavished on her, not to see them. His big easy infectious smile made her feel special. She had really believed there was something between them, something in the making.

Had he been serious when he asked her to join his team? She nearly accepted his offer, glad of having waited. Now she sat stuck on the side of the road with no idea of how to get out of this new mess. She had no option other than to sit, wait and hope somebody would come past. There was no way of telling how long she might be here before somebody came by.

A distant sound jolted Penny out of her self-pity. A car? She scrambled to her feet ready to wave down the driver. The sound increased as a motor cycle raced around the bend toward her. She stepped to the side of the road and waved her arms. The bike roared past, the exhaust noise obscene as it shattered the silence and almost deafened her. The rider turned his head, a pair of mirrored sunglasses momentarily reflected her image back at her. The brake light came on and flames shot from the exhaust pipes as the rider slowed. Something else caught her attention, a patch on the back of the rider’s vest – Dogs of Dereliction.

Bio:

After wandering over various parts of mother earth for more than twenty years as a soldier, I decided it was time to settle down and get on with what everybody else calls life.

My beautiful partner and author, Eva Scott and I nestled into a small coastal town north of Brisbane Australia after meeting in the wilds of Papua New Guinea some years ago. I spend a considerable amount of time editing Eva's books for her before they make their way off the publisher. One day she suggested I try writing myself - so here we are. Until now all of my writing has been in the business space; expanding out from there is a challenge I am enjoying very much.

When I'm not spending time with our family enjoying living close to the beach, or working you will find me rattling my old Harley around the hills and highways just for the sheer pleasure of riding - warm balmy nights are the best; wrapped in a blanket of darkness with only the dash lights, vibration and exhaust for company, it is literally the closest thing to flying you will ever experience.

Ride safely, Write with passion

Follow G.W. Gibson at: https://www.facebook.com/guy.gibson.1466 

Buy link: Secret Cravings Publishing - http://secretcravingspublishing.com/