Have you always wanted to write?
Not consciously. I don’t think I ever said ‘I want to be
a writer,’ at least not until lately (when I discovered I
could!). However, I have always had an intense and unusual
fascination with language-accents and dialects (I was a mimic of
the most annoying and precocious sort), spelling (drove my
mother mad wanting to know why this was spelled like that),
books, books, books-I was and continue to be a reading fiend.
And I did say, on more than one occasion, “if I ever have
time, I’ll write a book.” Not because I wanted to be a
writer, you understand, but because I thought I might be able to
tell a story.
What do you enjoy most about being a writer?
Being able to create.
How long were you writing before being published?
TTTB is my first effort at fiction. Before that, I did a fair
amount of academic writing with language as the subject. (My
university honours thesis was called: Teacher Awareness:
Pyscholinguistic Applications to Second Language Acquisition-The
French Example. You get the idea.)
Since your acceptance for publication, how has writing
changed for you?
It is much more pleasurable. While I am very aware of ‘being
true’ to my characters and to their story, I’m not out to
prove things (with sufficient evidence and statistical data to
support my claim) as I always was with language research.
What were the most important things you learned in your early
years of writing?
Even though it was academic, I learned:
get your idea on paper (or in the computer), then worry about
changing it, polishing it, later. Map out the direction you want
to go in, even if you only do it in your head. Write from both
sides of your brain-that is, create freely, but be ruthless if
your sterling prose isn’t so sterling the next time you look
at it.
Can you tell I’ve taught writing-academic writing?
How did your first sale come about? How did you feel hearing
those magic words?
Well…the first magic words were ‘you’ve made the first
cut for the Emma Darcy Award.’ Then I made the next cut…then
I was a finalist. Then I was the winner of the EDA…and by the
way, I was told, ‘Leslie Wainger would like to take your
manuscript to New York for further review.’ So it was a string
of magical moments, followed by a phone call at 6:30 a.m. on a
Friday: ‘we’d be interested in buying your book.’ I was
just…amazed, and a little afraid that I was dreaming, given
the hour of the morning.
Is writing your full-time job?
I live for the day when writing fiction will be my day job.
At the moment, I write basic skills tests for the government; I’m
writing a national spelling assessment for schools. So, writing
is my full-time job…but it isn’t the same thing at all.
Who are your favourite authors?
Diana Gabaldon; Kathy Reichs; Emma Darcy; Elizabeth Lowell;
Marian Keyes; Amy Tan; Toni Morrison. Depends on my mood.
Who have been your influences?
All of the above, plus numerous other authors I’ve read,
too.
Tell me about when you held your first book in your hands.
How did it feel to see that first cover?
This occurred on 3 October 2003, at approximately 2:00 p.m.
Does that suggest how I felt about it?
What are your other ‘hobbies’?
Is it fair to call my family a hobby? I’m referring to the
good stuff-that I’m involved by extension in anything the kids
or my husband are involved in. Lately, the Penrith Panthers have
been a huge hobby for us. And a happy one, too.
When not writing, how do you spend your time?
At my day job, with my kids, shopping, traveling…but I
write constantly.
Tell me about a typical day in your writing life?
For me, the key has been to write every day. Even if it’s
only a sentence or two, even if it really only means reading
what I wrote the last time I wrote. It keeps me in touch with my
story, with my characters, helps me identify ‘things they just
wouldn’t do’ and keeps the thoughts flowing. My muse
hides-quite well-if I don’t have a connection to my writing
every day.
I would also say, I need to read something of merit every
day, too, or I just don’t feel quite right. That’s not to
say that my own work is necessarily of merit; it needs to be
something else, something I haven’t written myself.
What are your ambitions in your future writing?
I’d love to be the next Nora Roberts…I’d love to write
for MIRA as a step in that direction…I’d love for my next
Intimate Moments to be accepted.
Did you read the book when your author copies arrived?
No. But I did smell it (it smells like a book).
Where do you get your ideas?
A very, very small percentage comes from my own experiences.
Another portion comes from people I know, things they’ve
experienced. Another bit comes from observing people…and
wondering, always wondering.
What are you working on now?
Diego’s story-Diego is a character from TTTB who will find
his match. I have another one that’s a bit intrigue-y that I’ve
started as well.
To what do you contribute your success?
All those years of training I did when I was reading! And
finding the self-discipline to finish the damn book…
Was there a time you thought you’d never get published?
I never expected to -- I just wanted to see if I could write a
book. The sound of the finished manuscript being plunked down on
the table was an exquisite moment for me-because I had written a
book, even if no one else ever looked at it.
Can you single out your biggest thrill as a writer?
The phone call.
What is your favourite thing about being a romance writer?
Least favourite?
Well, my least favourite has to be that it’s not my
full-time job yet. As for my favourite thing, it comes in three
sections, I think. One is the writing itself, one is the
learning the business part and one is the marvelous people I’m
meeting because we have writing in common. I love designing a
happy ending, but I love working out the path to get there, too.
What aspects of RWAustralia have helped your development as a
writer?
The most obvious is that RWAustralia gave me the place to
present my manuscript to the world and helped me get my book
noticed. But there have been other ways, too. I’ve read the
newsletters faithfully, and have been able to ‘cut to the
chase’ on various aspects of the writing business-things that
would have taken me a good long while to work out on my own.
And, again, RWAustralia offers the supportive network that I
have needed most intensely at times. It is quite staggering, I
think, to be associated with so many other people who know how I
feel about what I’m doing. I had heard stories about the
cruelties of the publishing world, and was very hesitant about
what the people involved would be like. Nothing in those horror
stories prepared me for the warmth and friendship I’ve felt in
RWAustralia. It’s extremely special.
Laura's website is at http://www.laura-gale.com
|
Laura Gale ~ Born and bred an Arizona girl, I
relocated to Sydney in 1998. My husband and I always
hoped to give our children the chance to live
abroad, so when his career gave us the chance, we
jumped at it!
The Tie That Binds