Yes, it is the most fun you can have with your clothes on.
And yes, I LOVE my job.
Ankara Press
recently asked me to reflect on how This
Crazy Paradise came about. I think they’re a bit suspicious because a) Onele is a psychologist turned romance
writer, just like me and b) because I live in paradise (a writer’s paradise,
you see.) Hence the title of my latest book. They think I might have written an
autobiography in disguise.
Wait, there’s more: I met my partner, and the father of my
child, at an Erotica party. And yes, he was dressed as a flasher (to Onele’s
disgust). And yes, I wanted to write love stories rather than do therapy. And
yes, he had insomnia. You’ll have to read the book to see how it all pans out.
Let me explain. There’s a whole bunch of truth in every book
I write. It’s all true. I’ve twisted it and turned it on its head and used it
in new ways and the characters (who are and are not us) have run away with it
and made it their own. But there’s stuff in there that he said to me (yay) and
that I did (eek) and it’s all wonderful. I write in celebration of this crazy
paradise we live in.
None of it is perfect, but boy, what a ride.
I’m unable to write about a place I haven’t been to. The
West Coast of South Africa is one of my favourite spots – windswept, pristine
beaches - very romantic. Even so, my research involves looking up all those
finer details on the internet! Club Ithaca doesn’t exist, but if you ask Google
you may come up with its real name… And
there is a windmill, I just turned it into a tavern!
The thing I like most about the writing process is the
beginning. Not the plotting so much (of which I do some, but could probably do
more – my editor will agree!!) The best part is when you’ve opened the story,
so to speak, and it gets its own life. The way it surprises you. The way my
heart beats faster when they fight, or finally get it together. The way it all
unfolds.
Oh, and I love seeing the cover. The cover rocks!
Ankara asked me how I plan my writing day, which made me
smile. There is no plan. Right now I am typing this while my son is paddling up
a river in front of me with a buddy (I told you, paradise.) I wrote large parts
of This Crazy Paradise in a tent,
which I love doing. Sometimes with a torch. I write whenever I can and however
I can, because I miss it if I don’t. My
heart is in it.
At the end of last year my son had minor surgery. One of
those moments where you sit anxiously outside the theatre for an hour. I
decided to plot my next book for Ankara in that time. Because I think life is
about choosing love above fear. That’s how I became a romance writer.
(By the way, I was an actress once – and knew a rather hunky
actor like Andile too … check out The
Seeing Place to get the full story on that one!)
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