A.   Since my beautiful wife passed away I now have a new partner.   He’s a beautiful Golden Labrador named Bailey and he won’t let me  go anywhere without him.  All he wants to do is lick me. He knows who feeds him.

A.      I have seven in print and a new contract with Whiskey Creek press.  All are now in print form and three are on sale here in my home town. The latest is Meeting at Princes Bridge, the story of friendship between three girls just before World War two begins.  Friends forever until one makes a terrible mistake that threatens to tear them apart. Got a great review for it from Red Roses.  Four and a half stars. 

A.      I’ve reached retirement age and I spend lots of time in front of the computer.  Whenever I get depressed I sit down and write.  It sure helps.

A.     Play golf. (Try is an appropriate word)  Take my dog for walks and turn ideas over in my head.  I broke my neck three years ago which left me with a stiff neck and arthritis so I do as much exercise as I can. Walking allows me to think of ideas

A.     I get quite a lot of feedback but there’s a problem.  Some buy my books, rave about them to their friends, then lend the book to them. Ten people might read one copy of the book. Good for the ego but not the pocket. 

A.      I can write a novel in about two or three months but the editing takes longer.  My style is to get the story down as quickly as possible, then go back and fix things.

A.     Some of my stories are based on childhood experience but not all.  I have a passion for Colonial Australian stories and love doing the research for them.  I find out lots of things I didn’t know before.  Australian movies have inspired me like All The Rivers Run and around that era.  I think it’s a crime Australian history is not taught in schools as much as it should be.  Most kids know George Washington chopped down a cherry tree but have no idea who Charles Sturt was.

A.     The excitement of the story, particularly emotional stories like my latest book Meeting at Princes Bridge.  The worst is trying to find the right words to properly describe the scene I’ve plotted.

A.      No doubt, interesting characters.  You can have a great story but weak characters, but a story with strong characters will beat it every time.  I always try to give my heroes or heroines a flaw so people can think, that’s what I would have done too. Put as many twists as you can in the story as this keeps readers interested and asking themselves questions. 

A.      I tried dozens of publishers in Australia but they don’t want to know you unless you have an agent and an agent doesn’t want to know you unless you’re published.  I gave up on them but tried my luck with American publishers and have had success with eight book contracts.  They have been great and offered as much assistance as they could. 

A.      Since I’ve had some of my books up for sale in Shepparton, I contacted the local newspaper and they did a great story on me.  I also had some posters made up and the booksellers put them in their windows.  Word of mouth is also good but it’s limited to only my home town.  The American publishers only sell over the internet so I bought a considerable number and the local book sellers handled them.  I’ve probably sold 75% of the books I ordered.

A.     Still trying to get stories down on paper.  It’s fun and I enjoy it.  I’ve written around twenty three books but haven’t presented them all for submission. Maybe I have another ten or twenty stories in me.

A.      Never expect too much but never give up. Don’t feel embarrassed in presenting your work.  There will always be someone who likes it and someone who doesn’t.  Go with the positives.

A.      Some more Colonial Australian stories and more of my books out for submission. I have to go through them all again and do another edit, then I’ll send them off to whoever might be interested.

A.     My website is www.freewebs.com/brucecooke and a lot of my books are listed there. I don’t have a blog mainly because I don’t really understand the internet and what you can do with it.  It’s all a learning experience.

Thank you for interviewing me, Suzanne. Very enjoyable.

It’s been a pleasure, Bruce.