Hello Vonnie and welcome to
Adventures in Authorland. Please get comfortable and tell us about your adventure.
When
did you first consider yourself to be a writer?
Actually,
it was a very long time ago. I cut my teeth on poetry for magazines and
periodicals and for the occasional newspaper. I believe it was when the NZ
Herald paid me handsomely (even by today’s standards) for a poem for their
Saturday magazine edition. I was about 22 and it was prior to our having kids.
But I got paid!
In
which genre do you prefer to write and why?
It’s
a tug-of-war. I’m known for my Regencies, but I prefer writing suspense, either
contemporary or historical, but preferably contemporary suspense. I seem to
discover things as I go that add to the story. Every day an alternate track
glows in the dark and I lose myself in a maze of “what ifs?” That’s fine. It’s
all about layers. My favourite authors all write some type of suspense or
mystery.
What
books influenced your life?
I’d have to say L.M. Montgomery’s Blue
Castle. Yes, the L.M. Montgomery of Anne of Green Gables. I was about 14.
It was one of the first romances I read, although I don’t believe they were
termed ‘romance’ then. It was a battered hardback and I can’t remember where I
got it; maybe from a secondhand book shop. The Canadian background and
plainness of the heroine drew me in. I’ve lost my copy and never found another.
The other book that influenced me most was Marilyn
French’s The Women’s Room. Woo-hoo! Roll out women’s lib! It brought to
the surface of my mind things and attitudes that had lain dormant and never
been expressed. I’m not saying it turned me into a rabid feminist (I was always
quietly one beneath the skin), but it did give me the
courage to (politely, and with facts to back it up) disagree with a few males
such as bosses who had never been disagreed with.
What
are your passions apart from writing?
Reading,
obviously. I like to read mysteries, non-derivative romances, true crime and
dark fictional suspense. If I read paranormal I prefer to have it expertly
linked to reality in readable ways i.e. I prefer a writer like Jayne Ann Krentz
(or Jayne Castle/Amanda Quick to give her her more correct name when she’s
writing a paranormal series). I also exercise a lot, even though I’m no
chicken. I began jogging when I was 39, but I’m now down to jog/walking but
it’s brisk stuff. Plus I go to the gym once or at the most twice a week. It’s
right here on our premises so why not? The arms and body need exercise, not
just the legs. Plus I do water aerobics twice a week. Great stuff. The workout
without the pulverising damage that running causes. (But I still love running
most of all). I also sing in a group that puts on shows, but I don’t do solos.
I know my limitations. Oh, and I play the piano/organ.
As
a child, did you want to write?
Yes.
In fact, I was writing then, from about the age of seven. Later, I
wanted to become a print journalist but for our generation ‘nice girls did not
become journalists.’ Apparently that was for middle aged men who smoked
incessantly and wore gaberdine raincoats.
Who are your favourite authors?
They have remained constant over the years, with just
the occasional new person I’ve picked up through the industry. Jayne Ann Krentz
in all her pen-names is my standout favourite because she always delivers. Nora
Roberts’s latest books (not her earlier ones) and also her J.D. Robb ones.
Clever. Although I’ve loved Georgette Heyer for many years, along with
thousands of others, I actually like her detective fiction every bit as much as
her Regencies and other historicals, whereas most people don’t seem to rate her
so highly as a mystery writer. I understand her little divisions of class
because of having read her Regencies first. I like some Sandra Brown books,
particularly the ones set in the south, and I enjoy all of Karen Rose’s
beautifully researched scary stuff. My most recent discovery is K.M. Rockwood
(Kathleen), an ex-parole officer, machine operator…you name it, whose trilogy
about Jesse who is on parole is brilliant.
BLURB
– SISTERS IN JEOPARDY
A kidnapper makes a
grave mistake and faces a revenge he never expected.
Annis's new husband
investigates crimes, and Caroline's new husband is a capable ex-Army officer.
When their ladies are kidnapped in an effort to suppress evidence of pilfering
and murder, Giles and Fort fight their way through all the lies and subterfuge to
not only rescue them, but also to avenge them.
EXCERPT
Fort
approached the person on the seat. “Mr. Young, we’ve been looking for you.”
If that was Mr. Young, why was he listing to one side like a ship at
sea?
“Is
he injured? Has John hurt him?” She hurried towards them.
“Stop!”
Fort’s
peremptory order stopped her in her tracks. She watched as Fort examined Mr.
Young’s head and neck. He lifted Mr. Young’s hand. It dropped laxly.
“He’s
dead,” Fort said, turning towards Caroline. “Sweetheart, do you know your way
out of the maze? I must stay here with the body. There’s been enough moving of
evidence already.”
“How—?”
Fort
gesticulated with a finger across his throat.
“Oh!
I’ll fetch Giles. Sir William Harding will have to be notified too.” Caroline cast her husband an anxious look.
“Please be careful, Giles, in case John comes back.”
“You
be careful too, my love. Walk slowly and listen for footsteps on the other side
of the hedge. And if you meet anyone—anyone at all, man or woman—scream. Scream
loudly.”
Caroline nodded and plunged back along the gravel paths
surrounded by greenery. To her great relief she met nobody, although she was so
rattled by events that she took a wrong turn and had to retrace her steps. “Hurry,”
she told herself. “Fort is alone there, and John is on the loose.”
ABOUT
VONNIE
Vonnie is a New Zealander living
in Australia. When she returned to the workforce after having children, she
first went into the legal field, then found what she really wanted to
do—-executive search. The research required appealed to her. Though now retired
from that field, recruitment is still one of Vonnie’s interests from which her
friends and relatives occasionally benefit.
Her hobbies include jogging
with her dog, water aerobics and singing. Writing is now her job and the
business research experience from her working years helps her considerably.
Vonnie primarily writes
Regencies and suspense novels, although she also writes many articles for blog
sites and magazines (both on-line and hard copy) and she is open to fresh
genres such as boomer lit and mainstream.
