I believe this is where writers start with the words,
"I was born with a pen in my hand and was scribbling stories in my high chair, knowing I would one day be a great author."
Hmm?it wasn't quite like that for me.
Reading has always been a compulsion, as has my keen interest in Tudor and Stuart history, so combining the two seemed a natural progression.
I used to haunt the National Portrait Gallery, where I first saw and became fascinated by a portrait believed to be after Wissing, of James Scott, Duke of Monmouth.
Monmouth's life fascinated me in its needless tragedy, so using it as a backdrop, I began to write a story about an Exeter girl, whose family gets caught up in the Rebellion of 1685.
The story changed over the years, as did the characters, but essentially, it stayed with me and one day in 2006, I joined a Critique Group, who taught me how to turn a rough manuscript into a novel. I am still learning, so much from critiquing the work of the others in the group, whose stories range from ancient civilisations to Regency England.
I am convinced some of those novels will be published soon - and I got to read them first! Then a new Canadian publishing house, Enspiren Press, accepted my novel.
The result is that from being hidden in a file on my computer, Duking Days Rebellion was released in July 2007, and the sequel, Duking Days Revolution will be released in early 2008.