I was born in a small bush town in Africa (Rhodesia, which is now called Zimbabwe) It was a long time ago, so – no telly, ipods, www or computer games – we didn’t even have a telephone! But we could go to the ‘bioscope’ (movies) once a week. Books were my windows into the world and, when I ran out of books to read, I wrote my own. I have always loved stories, because they tell us about the world, but they also tell us about ourselves – and that’s what I aim to do when I write my own novels. First up, it should be a good, page-turning-edge of the seat type read, but I hope readers will also dig a little deeper and go beyond the story to think about the people and the societies I write about.

My most recent novel (published by Random House and launched at the Writers Centre in Sydney in September) is Book 3 of The Janna Mysteries, titled Lilies for Love. This is a medieval crime series for teenagers, which chart Janna’s search for her unknown father in order to seek justice for her mother’s murder. Janna needs all her courage and ingenuity to keep her out of danger, and to solve the many crimes and mysteries that come her way along her journey. The series is set in the 1140s, during the civil war between King Stephen and his cousin and rightful heir to the throne, the Empress Matilda. It’s a time of great hardship and peril in England, with treachery and betrayal at every turn – which forms a great backdrop for the novels!

Ideas are all around you – see Writing Tips on my webpage! I think it’s a matter of treating everything you see, do and hear as a potential plot idea, and always ask the ‘What if …’ questions. What if it’s possible to go back in time and rewrite history, or a legend? ( Shalott trilogy.) What if a ghost comes into the present with knowledge of the past? (Ghost Boy) The Janna Mysteries is a medieval crime series, so Janna is always asking herself ‘what if …’ in order to solve the crimes and mysteries she encounters along the way.

Definitely! Most of my characters have some aspect of me in them – it helps me understand them better. And I certainly bring the issues I care about into my novels, as well as a LOT of my childhood angst – it’s a great way to work through a backlog of stuff!

Apart from my research trips overseas, and my ever-expanding research into life in medieval time, I do go to workshops sometimes, if there’s some aspect of my writing I want to improve. I go to courses – eg this year I’ve done a course at Sydney University on medieval women, and I’ve also learned the basics of putting together a powerpoint presentation – invaluable for when I go to schools or librarians conferences, etc. Once I realised how frightened I was of speaking in public, I also joined Toastmasters – which was a very good move indeed! Plus I belong to several writers groups, which is great for getting feedback on what I’m writing, plus meeting other writers, hearing about their craft, getting the hot goss on the publishing industry, etc etc.

Yes, I do – most publishers expect you to get out there and strut your stuff. I belong to a speakers agency (Show and Tell Promotions) who organise school visits for me, plus I’m fairly proactive in marketing myself. I have a great new website which tells everybody everything about me. I’ve designed (on powerpoint) and printed my own bookmarks with info about my books to give away wherever I go; sometimes I also design flyers for a special occasion. My publishers (Random House) also arrange for me to speak at festivals, conferences, etc.

No, I’m not a born salesperson and yes, I think it certainly helps to be outgoing and a good talker. I’m learning! It helps if you care passionately about your books and about what you’re trying to say – as I do. I find that, once I start talking, I forget about being nervous and just get carried away sharing my characters and stories with my audience.

My publisher takes care of that side of things. On the other hand, there are sometimes niche markets that you can tap into, and which you should look out for. For example, my novel Ghost Boy has a timeslip back to 1881 and a grisly outbreak of smallpox at the Quarantine Station in Sydney. There is now a special ‘Ghost Boy’ tour of the station for schools studying the novel, plus Ghost Boy is advertised there. It helps that the guides all love the book and are happy to promote it!

It’s important to remember that every communication with a publisher should be treated as a selling document – therefore: no waffle, no telling them stuff they don’t want to know at this stage, and so on. Get into the publisher’s website, find out their requirements and stick to them exactly. If they say they won’t look at unsolicited mss, try finding an agent instead. Or have your mss critiqued by a professional mss assessor before you send it in – that can sometimes work.

I started out writing crime novels for adults, with a singular lack of success. So I looked around to see what was popular, or being published on a regular basis. My daughter was reading Dolly fiction (teen romance) at the time. I thought, ‘I can do that’ and I did, and it was published (Three’s a Crowd, written under the pseudonym Anne Holmes) I wrote several others for the series, although it folded before I had any more published, but by then I was hooked on writing for children & teenagers, so I enrolled in an MA in Children’s Lit, and wrote Ghost Boy.

Bite your nails, go on holidays, have a nervous breakdown – take your pick! Actually, you wait. You wait for reviews, you wait for recognition, you wait for people to mob you in the street … but mostly you get on with writing your next book.

Be bold, be original, be innovative. Write with passion, rather than trying to guess what the next hot seller will be – because by the time you’ve written your fairy book, or your pony book, or whatever, readers will have moved on. Care about what you write and do it to the best of your ability 24/7. Near enough is never good enough. Check and double check your facts. Love your characters, but don’t be afraid to make them SUFFER! Try writing different genres. Try entering competitions – great to have a goal and a deadline, and success can be very inspiring and motivating too.