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When did you start writing?
Ten years ago and I joined RWA at the first conference
at Macquarie University (Sydney). I couldn’t believe how fabulous it was
to find other romance writers and like-minded souls. I adore attending the
conferences and haven’t missed one yet.
What aspects of RWAustralia have helped your
development as a writer?
Aside from conference... my two years as Competitions
Co-ordinator helped me immeasurably, not least in putting names to faces
that wouldn’t stick in the previous years. I made so many new friends
and learnt heaps. I was a member of the Isolated Writer’s Scheme with
Waveney Lockeyear as my mentor. I owe Waveney and Meredith Webber a lot. I
was also a member of the Romance On The Rise group which Lisa Annis
coordinated. She was terrific and we communicated a lot by e-mail. I’m
also on the RWA e-mail list.
Have you always written with a view to selling to
M&B medical, or have you dabbled in other areas?
My first three attempts (three chapters and synopsis)
were aimed at Mills & Boon Sweet Romance but I didn’t find my true
enthusiasm until I started to write about midwifery. I think that was the
secret of my success. Plus I actually finished a book! That's “Delivering
Love”, the one they bought. Before that I had five form rejections.
Had you finished “Delivering Love” before you
queried?
Yes. I discovered that by writing the whole book I’d
come to know the characters so much better. I was able to go back and add
depth to the first three chapters before I sent them in. That’s what
made the difference.
How long did you have to wait after submitting?
The acceptance process took about a year, all up, which
included a revision after three chapters and another smaller one after the
full manuscript was submitted. It took another fourteen months for it to
go on sale in Australia, but for my subsequent books that’s down to
about eleven months (contract to publication.)
How did it feel to receive The Call?
Unfortunately I never received the ‘call’ from an
editor but then my big moment was unique in its own way.
I was at work and my husband phoned to say there was a
letter from HM&B at the post office. I could hear Carole from the post
office in the background asking him to open it.
You have to realise I was in the birthing unit, caring
for a woman in the final stages of labour, and they wanted to read a
letter to me over the phone. I wasn’t keen but gave in with the
mother-to-be’s permission J She wanted to know what was in the letter
too! It was pretty exciting from then on. I’ll never forget that baby’s
birthday. 17th December 1999.
And your subsequent sales - have
you felt any differently about them?
The second sale, “Midwife Under Fire”,
was great - and I got a 'call' from my editor. I’d been expecting her to say what was wrong with it and
she said ‘It’s fab!’ which I considered very English. That was a
wonderful feeling.
I was scared it was a fluke to sell one
and to have the second go through without revisions was huge relief. But I
had most of it written before I’d sold the first.
The third, “Father In Secret”,
was wonderful. Could I sell one from start to finish in a four-month time
frame? Again they took it without revision, although I did have to do
without my hero’s ponytail.
How does it
feel to hold your book, your creation, in your hand?
Awesome. Gorgeous. I was lucky
enough to have “Delivering Love” come out in Hardcover in the
UK, so the first book I held was bright pink and hard bound. I couldn’t
stop grinning. We took photos and drank champagne and it’s still in
pride of place on the bookshelf.
I’m curious - did you read the book
when it arrived?
My word I did. I read it in case it was
different to what I remembered. I was rapt. I thought it was pretty good -
which is a huge relief, let me tell you. And they sold 140 copies in
Kempsey!
Tell us a little about your latest
book, “Father In Secret”.
This book is special in many ways. It
made me realise I was able to write under difficult circumstances and that
gave me a lot of confidence to take into the future.
It took four months to write and I had
no preconceived plot. Then my Dad died unexpectedly, and I discovered I'd
never be a horsewoman when I fell off and broke my right arm (badly).
Writing this book helped pull me through all that. The book has lots of
animals, accidents, and a hero with baggage but the broadest shoulders.
Shoulders he loans my ex-city heroine, when she falls off her horse.The medical content is set in a country emergency ward although I do have
a birth as well.
I gather that’s
a continuing theme in Fiona McArthur books...
I doubt you'll ever find a book of mine
where someone doesn't have a baby. Midwifery would definitely be a
recurring theme in my books even if they weren't set in a hospital. I also
hope that when people read my books they're rewarded by an insight into
the heart of country people as I see them from an ex-city dweller’s
viewpoint. And I gain a lot of pleasure from portraying the simple beauty
of natural birth to those who may not have realised it can be like that.
That's the midwife in me.
Since your acceptance for publication,
how has writing changed for you?
I have more confidence to allow myself
to write even when I don’t think it’s much good. It’s fine by the
time I edit it a few hundred times.
Tell us a little about the
author/editor relationship - how, as a newly published author, do you deal
with your editor?
Nervously is the word that springs to
mind.
Elizabeth Johnson accepted my first book but she retired soon after. I
then worked with Ceri Tomlins for the next two books. We e-mailed each
other and I found her very approachable. Great for that insecurity you
have as a new author. Ceri has moved on and now my editor is Sheila
Hodgson. I submit a synopsis and get feedback - usually I’ve broken a
few rules (that ponytail, for example) and the editor makes suggestions or
asks me to expand on something. The editor is usually right and is trying
to make my job easier and my book better, so I listen and learn. I’m
learning not to stop writing while I’m waiting to hear back. It seemed
such a neat excuse - writers will find any they can.
What do you in
your leisure time?
My WHAT time? Seriously? E-mail, tennis
and watching the boys play sport. The rest of the time I sleep.
Tell us about your writing routine,
if you have one. How/when do you write? How long does it take you to write
a book?
A routine? I don’t have one of those
but I am working on it. I write more as the deadline approaches and seem
to work well in the early hours before everyone gets up. How long to write
a book? My best is four months and that’s what I plan for and hope to
achieve, if the characters behave!
Where do your ideas come from?
Usually a scene comes to mind. Then I
have to figure out who these people in the picture are. After that I play
‘what if’ and ‘why’.
To what do you contribute your success?
Luck. And a bit of genetic ability (but
I can’t sing, sew or cook). And then there is bum on seat and just doing
it.
Any advice to newbies wanting to
break into the medical romance field?
40% medical - 60% romance. That’s what
I was told. But I write mostly romance first ‘cause that’s the most
important part. Then if I need more medical I know how my characters would
handle it.
Your ambition, as a writer?
I want to write good books and then
great books. There’ll always be a romance and a happy ending but the sky’s
the limit.
Fiona’s fourth title “The
Midwife’s Secret” will be a July 2002 M&B
Medical release. She is currently working on her fifth and sixth books.
Find
out more about Fiona on her website at www.fionamcarthur.com
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With
her third release “Father in Secret” now in your local
bookstore, Hearts Talk felt it was the perfect time to visit M&B
Medical Romance writer Fiona McArthur in her northern New South Wales
home... that’s on an acreage co-habited by kangaroos and wallabies, and
with, in Fiona’s words, grass that grows faster than the speed of light.