- Becoming a published author was not something which I would have anticipated, as an over prescriptive Grammar School course had killed my earlier great love for literature. I remember being told what a passage in Shakespeare meant! What had happened to Will being 'all things to all men'? Previously I'd read his plays for pleasure!
- According to my mother I could read at three. I do remember lining my stuffed toys up on the settee and reading them stories which I had written. I believe that I am in good company. The obituary of Mary Stewart, my favourite modern novelist, mentions that she did the same. By about ten Shakespeare was bedtime reading. Then Grammar School!
- Qualifying as a Geography teacher I created my own modules. I wanted every place to come alive. When one girl took a job in the Canadian Prairies because, she told me later, she had to see them for herself - her words made it all worthwhile.
- My husband and I retired, moving to France where, for some reason the urge to write returned. Five lines cemented my ambition when I won a Limerick competition, the first of four. Then I wrote poems and short stories about our dogs and cats. Memoirs of our early years followed, plus another 186 limericks, most being suitably risqué! All I seek now is a cartoonist!
- Throughout this time an ambition was emerging, to write a novel. I enrolled on a Creative Writing Course with the Writers Bureau. I began 'Diet of Doubt' in 2012. This year it has been published by Matador whose team I thank for their continuing support.
- I write every morning in a small room now crammed with 'how to' books. Results of research are filling my filing cabinet. Research is needed even when writing contemporary romances as I describe locations I may not have visited and journeys I haven't made. There will always be someone out there who knows the place intimately.
- I am an impulsive writer who, instead of working to a carefully planned summary, tends to have a sudden idea and then can't wait to see the words on the page. The inevitable result - rewrites galore!
- I have learnt to put my 'finished' novel aside for as long as possible before re- reading it. It's the only way to view it objectively. Publish immediately, repent at leisure! I also ask a trusted friend for a truthful, objective opinion.
- Although my friends regard me as self confident, inside I am a worrier and will often find myself tossing and turning, unable to sleep while my overactive brain tries to solve what often turn out to be quite trivial plot problems.
10. When my latest novel is finally completed and is out of my hands, alongside relief is a certain sadness as I bid farewell to characters who often have shared my waking hours for months if not years.
Margaret Christopher