Q) When did you start writing? What keeps you
going?
A) I started writing about
twenty-five years ago. Slave
Trader of course was my first novel and then I wrote a series of stories after
it, all of which follow on from each other. My stories are based around the
same main characters, where I’ve incorporated them into different and dangerous
adventures. For many years, my stories lived in the
bottom drawer. I wrote purely for pleasure and had no intention of publishing. It
wasn’t until I bought my first computer that I dug some of them out and expanded
them from note form into manuscripts. When I look back on
them now, I laugh. I am not kidding when I say notes. I seemed to have put down
a mere portion of my thoughts on paper. They are very basic with no details and
only cover the bare skeleton of my stories. To this day my love for writing hasn’t
dwindled. I think having a
number of manuscripts on the go at once has its advantages. I’ll edit one and then
go on to the next. By the time I get back to the first one, it’s like reading a
new story. By using this method, my stories don’t become stale or bog me down. And now, having Slave Trader published has spurred my
confidence on in leaps and bounds.
Q) What was your most encouraging moment as an author?
A) Having my daughter love Slave
Trader. She was my first ever reader and I couldn’t believe how enthralled she
was by it. She’d read a few chapters and then race in to discuss what my
characters had done and the twists the story had taken. I remember picking her
up from a three day music camp and the first thing she said to me was, ‘I
couldn’t stop thinking about your book.’ If it wasn’t for her, I probably
wouldn’t have published it.
Q) What was your most discouraging moment as an author?
A) Probably the most obvious –
rejections from publishers. I feel this is the hardest and highest hurdle –
actually finding a publisher to take you on. In a way, every rejection made me
more determined. I knew there had to be someone out there who would like my
story and be prepared
to publish it. Thankfully my
perseverance paid off and Wild Child Publishing gave me the chance.
Q) What’s
your antidote to writer’s block?
A) I can’t say I’ve actually
had a writer’s block. When I wrote my stories all those years ago, they just seemed
to flow. Writing became my
passion, and when I wasn’t writing, I was always thinking - plotting ideas and
developing schemes and strategies to either strengthen my existing work or to
create new ones. I couldn’t get my characters out of my head which I guess is
why I had no trouble creating storylines. I never actually
followed a plan so I never knew what was going to happen or how or where the
story would turn, or end for that matter. If I did get to a point where I wasn’t
sure which way to take the story, or if I found I’d led my characters into a tight
situation, leaving it for a day or two always cleared my head and refreshed my
ideas to find a solution.
Q) Describe the typical writing day:
A) I try and write every spare minute I can. Unfortunately with my
day job, it can be hard to find the time, or at least the time I would like. I
find writing early in the mornings is my best time, when my mind is clear. Most
days I write a little before I head off to work. I might write for an hour or
so after work and then again after dinner. The beauty of having a laptop is, I
can still be with my family while I’m working. If I’m not too busy on weekends, I try and squeeze in an hour or
two, or more, and maybe a little bit more. The social side of publicizing my
book now takes up a lot of my writing time so it’s a balancing game, but I feel
it is necessary to promote, promote, promote. I guess I’m lucky I did all the
leg work for my books back when I seemed to have more time. Now it’s a matter
of polishing them ready for publication.
Q) From where do you draw your inspiration?
A) When I
started writing, I was inspired by the idea to create a heroine. Back then,
there weren’t too many around, either in books or movies. Though there were plenty of tough front men heroes, not that I didn’t enjoy reading about them or watching
them on the big screen, I thought it would
be good to have a heroine take the lead for a change. I wanted someone
who wouldn’t crumble at the first sign of trouble, someone strong in character
and genuine in personality, and someone able to look after herself …hence Detective Billie McCoy stepped into my world. Still my love for fast moving plots and plenty of
action feeds my inspiration. The aspect
of unique friendships also adds its appeal. I have friendships which grow with
each book. It is this unity that I feel shape my stories, encouraging my ideas
and plots to work around a special camaraderie. I’ve also
based my stories around issues in society we don’t tend to hear about, although
now they seemed to becoming more accurate than I ever envisaged, an example
being the real life slavery stories spreading across the globe. When I wrote
slave trader, I was writing pure fiction…or so I thought. Now there are more people in slavery
than at any other time in history, and the industry makes $32 billion a year. It’s frightening.
Q) Tell us about your latest book:
A) Slave Trader – In the Name of Freedom was released in May this year with
Wild Child Publishing. It is a fast paced action adventure based on a
modern day slavery racket run by a crooked cop, Captain Bates, the chief of
Missing Persons. For the past three years, he has secretly abducted young attractive
prostitutes and destitute women, choosing only those who hold a prison record and
won’t be missed from society. With the help of his sidekick, Mrs Bland, a cruel
burly woman whose job it is to keep the prisoners in line, he transports his
victims from Sydney to the far north of Queensland along the edge of the desert
to sell as sex slaves to overseas buyers. The main
character Detective Billie McCoy, a member of an elite undercover squad, is on
assignment when she stumbles across one of Bates’ abductions. Taking the risk
of jeopardising her own mission, she goes to the aid of the misfortunate girl,
Jane Walker. Well trained in self-defence and experienced in many different
styles of combat, Billie has no trouble overpowering Jane’s two assailants.
Before she can get her out safely, Bates and reinforcements arrive. Here are
two cops - both well respected throughout the force - now in opposite
circumstances, now forced to turn on the other. Plunged into a web of corruption and evil, not only
does Billie have to contend with the slave traders, but her fellow prisoners –
all who hate cops. Entrapped in the back of a truck with six women already on
edge due to the distressing situation, they make it clear they want nothing to
do with Billie after learning her status. The detective is forced to defend
herself both verbally and physically against them, as well as Mrs Bland on
their trek north.
Q) What author have you been most influenced by?
A) Two authors stand out in my mind, and both during my
teenage years. I loved Peter O’Donnell with the Modesty Blaise series, and J.
T. Edson with his many westerns and the Bunduki series. I still have every
book. J More recently would be Matthew Reilly. I love the way
he thinks big when it comes to plots and action, pitting his main characters
against not one enemy but usually a whole army. His stories are well out of the
square, leading the reader far beyond imagination.
Author
Bio: Carol lives on a small
property in Queensland, Australia. She works in a local primary school as a
School Officer / Librarian / Community Development Officer. Born in Childers,
she grew up on a cane farm. Carol has been married for twenty-six years and has
three children, two girls and a boy. She has travelled extensively throughout
the world, visiting the US, UK, Europe, China, Japan, Thailand, New Zealand and
of course, Australia. Her other passion is music. She plays bass guitar in a
country rock band with her husband and two other guys, and is also a member of
a symphony orchestra. With over fifty members, the orchestra is voluntary and
visits retirement villages and small towns.
Social links:
BOOK SALE LINKS:
Thank you very much for having me, Kimberly.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carol, for an amazing interview! Cheers to you and your success...
ReplyDeleteGreat interview Carol. How neat that your daughter kept you writing with her encouragement. Same with my mother and I. I kept nagging her about what would happen next with her story. Then she returned the favor. Great to have a Mother/Daughter bond with writing =)
ReplyDeleteThanks Kimberly, I appreciate it very much. You are an inspiration and I wish you all the best.
ReplyDeleteHi Terri, thanks for dropping in. Yes, it is great having a mother/daughter bond. She really wants to write only she hasn't come up with an idea yet, lol. Mind you, she is busy at Uni. I'm sure one day it will happen. My other two children have also read it and give me just as much encouragement. I love it when we all get together and have a Slave Trader chat, particularly when they hear back from their friends who have read it =:)
I loved hearing about your life. It sounds fascinating. No wonder your book is so intriguing. The best of luck with it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Molly. And thanks for dropping by.
ReplyDelete