Q.     Can you tell us a little about your personal life?

A.     I’m married, with two children and three grandchildren (with one on the way.)  I’m fortunate in that my family live close by so I see a lot of them.  We’re also fortunate enough to live close to the sea and bushland. Top things I like to do are surfing, snorkelling, bushwalking and I also belong to a bush regeneration group.

Q.     Tell us a little about the Janna Mysteries? What age group are they suited for?

A.     The Janna Mysteries is a medieval crime/romance series written for the Y/A market (but I’ve had heaps of positive feedback from adults as well.)  Briefly, the series follows Janna’s quest to find her unknown father and, with his help, avenge the murder of her mother and bring a killer to justice.  Along her journey she solves many crimes and mysteries, falls in and out of love, and learns heaps – both about the world and about herself.  The series is set in the 1140s, during the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda.  It was a time of great danger and misery, with changing fortunes and much treachery – a great setting for a series!  Four novels have been published to date:  Rosemary for Remembrance, Rue for Repentance, Lilies for Love and Willows for Weeping.

Q.     What are you working on at present?

A.     I’m currently writing Book 6, Thyme for Trust, which is the last volume in the Janna Mysteries.  I’m now trying to find a publisher for Book 5 (Sage for Sanctuary) and also for this last book.

Q.     Do you write full time?

A.     I don’t sit down at my desk every day to write, but I do try to do writing-related activities every day so if I’m not actually working on a manuscript I might be preparing a talk or workshop (or out actually doing them) or doing some research, chasing up books, attending my writing critique group – that sort of thing.

Q.     What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

A.     See above!  I also love reading, listening to music, going to movies and concerts, meeting friends, going out to dinner … eating chocolate …

Q.     Do you hear from your readers much? If so, what do they say?

A.     At the moment I have a devoted group of Janna fans who love the series and are begging me to get the next one out ASAP! They want to know what’s going to happen next:  eg does Janna find her father?  And – more important – who is she going to marry??  I also receive emails from beginner writers (school age and adults) asking for advice re writing fiction and/or publishing.  I also get emails about Ghost Boy, which is a timeslip novel set partly at the Quarantine Station in Sydney.  There’s a special Ghost Boy tour at the QS for schools studying my book, and I get questions about Froggy and Tad and about the QS.

Q.     How long does it take you to complete a novel?

A.     No simple answer to that one.  I often write novels with some sort of historical component so it depends on how much research I have to do, and whether it’s a short novel for younger readers (eg Turning the Page was 5000 words, written for the Making Tracks series published by the National Museum of Australia) or Y/A novels like the Janna Mysteries, which come in somewhere between 80-95,000 words – and which obviously entail a lot more research and a lot more writing.

Q.     Where do you find inspiration?

A.     Everywhere!  My own life, what I observe around me, dreams, those quirky ‘what if …’ questions, news reports, things I overhear in the street … 

Q.     What do you find are the best and worst aspects of writing?

A.     Worst is the loneliness;  friends say that I go into my cave when I’m writing a novel and I do retreat from the world to a certain extent when I’m working on something.  And of course there are setbacks – like rejection letters from publishers!  Best aspects are that I have a wonderfully supportive group of friends to give counsel and good cheer during the down times. And I love going into ‘my’ world and losing myself there. The most exciting thing is the thrill of holding each new book in my hand.  Fan mail is also special!

Q.     What do you think makes a good story?

A.     Fantastic characters in an unforgettable situation.  Harking back to my love affair with Enid Blyton many years ago, my aim is to write good page-turning stories, stories that make you care about the characters and the outcome, stories that keep you on the edge of your chair waiting to see what’s going to happen next – and I don’t mean necessarily lots of guns and shooting and that sort of thing.  I like to take my characters on a journey – both an external journey and an internal journey.  Something must happen, something must change so that, by the end of the story, the characters or the situation, or both, will be different.  And I want to involve my readers in that journey, and make them care what happens and I hope that, by the end, I’ve given them something new to think about.

Q.     What steps did you undertake to become a published author?

A.     I’ve been writing stories on and off for most of my life, but only began to take my writing seriously while doing a mature-age Communications degree at UTS.  It didn’t teach me a lot about the craft of writing, but it did convince me that this was what I really wanted to do for the rest of my life.  Thereafter I embarked on several novels for adults.  After numerous knockbacks I decided to try a teen romance – my daughter was reading Dolly fiction novels at the time and, as several were being published every month, I figured there must be a good chance of being published.  So I wrote one, and it was published, and I realised that I loved writing for the youth market. It was still a rocky road after that;  I entered numerous writing competitions and sent short stories off to magazines, and that led to prizes and publication, which helped, and then I wrote Ghost Boy – a historical timeslip, and that set me off on my continuing love affair with timeslip fantasy and history.  Plus I love reading crime, so that’s become a component of the Janna Mysteries.  I think the secret is to write what you love, tell the story you’re passionate to tell, and THEN look for a publisher.  There are an awful lots of setbacks and knockbacks on the road to publication, but persistence pays, it really does.

Q.     Regarding the marketing side of being a published author, what do you undertake to promote yourself and your books?

A.     I’ve joined numerous online promotional websites like this one, and I also subscribe to numerous online journals, to keep abreast of what’s happening in the publishing world and so I can take advantage of whatever might be coming up in the way of writing and publishing opportunities.  I visit schools, libraries, literary festivals etc and talk about my work, or give workshops – eg most recently I’ve given a talk about the Janna Mysteries to the Plantagenet Society; I’ve conducted a fantasy-writing workshop at the Writers Centre and another ‘magic and fantasy’ workshop for the Society of Women Writers at their mid-April weekend retreat. I also give out bookmarks and other promotional material when I do author visits or workshops.  I write articles for a variety of magazines about various aspects of my novels – eg describing the extensive research I’ve done for the Janna Mysteries, or my most recent article, published in Good Reading magazine (Feb) about my daily ‘walking meditation’ and what it means to me in terms of my writing.

Q.     Where do you see yourself as an author in five years time?

A.     On the best seller list for as long as Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series?  (I wish!)  But mostly: losing myself in my stories and enjoying the writing journey.

Q.     Is there any advice you’d like to give aspiring writers?

A.     If at first you don’t succeed …..   keep trying.  Be patient, professional and persistent.  Try your luck at writing comps.  Join a writers’ critique group.  Keep writing.  Keep polishing.  Keep learning.  Attend workshops.  Try your hand at different genres to see which one lights the fire inside.  Don’t give up!

Q.    What can we expect from you in the future?

A.     My immediate goal is to finish the sixth book of The Janna Mysteries and see the last two novels in the series published.  I do have some new ideas floating around; I may even move into adult fiction.  Watch this space!

Q.     How can readers keep in touch with you?  Do you have a website or a blog?

A.     My website is www.felicitypulman.com.au  It contains heaps of info about my books and about me plus there are writing tips for aspiring writers, a ‘medieval mumbo jumbo’ page, a diary of upcoming events and all sorts of other things including contact details if readers would like to email me.  I also have a blog on my website (which I don’t update as often as I should) but it’s always a pleasure to read people’s comments, either in an email or on my blog.  I always answer emails; the blog is more problematic – I’m a bit of a Luddite so haven’t worked out how to answer individual comments but I do address comments in my updates.