Author Interview – Sue Moorcroft

 

 

Today I am joined by award winning romance novelist Sue Moorcroft as we chat about Malta, frizzy hair and irresistible heroes.

The Fun Five

1.  What part of the world do you come from?

That’s a surprisingly hard question to answer!  I was born near Monchengladbach in a British Army Hospital so I’m British, not German.  I left Germany when I was six weeks old and went to Cyprus until I was one and a half years old.  Then followed two tours in Malta and two in the UK.  When we left the army I was nearly ten and we settled in Northamptonshire, where I still live.  So I’m a citizen of the world.

2.  What did you want to be when you grew up?

For a brief time it was a vet but I’m rubbish at science so I don’t think that would have worked.  By the time I was eight I knew I wanted to be a writer.  I thought it would be in journalism but that didn’t happen.  I’m pleased it didn’t because fiction is where my heart lies and I’m one of those incredibly fortunate people who has a job she loves.

3.  List three words to describe yourself.

Small.  Curly.  Smiley

4.  Who would play you in a film about your life?

Wow.  Erm…I’ll say Julianne Moore with suitably frizzy hair, just because she usually plays determined and resourceful women.

5.  Do you have any unique talents or hobbies?

Not really.  I love and adore Formula 1, which is more common in men than women, I suppose.  I seem to be able to collect bruises without knowing how.  Does that count as a talent?

The Sensible Six:

1.  What inspired you to write romantic fiction?

I just love it.  It’s what I love to read.  The first grown up book I remember reading (I was 9) is A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute.  I just adored being ‘in’ the love affair between Jean and Joe.  Writing romantic fiction just develops and exaggerates that wonderful feeling.

2.  Give us the title of your latest book and a brief tagline.

The Wedding Proposal came out in September and is set in my beloved Malta.  It’s about Elle, who has a lot of secrets, and Lucas, who hates secrets, and what happens when they meet again after four years and find themselves sharing a small boat for the summer.

3.  You have many writing commitments – novels, serials, articles, creative writing courses and competition judge in Writers’ Forum Magazine – how do you organise your time effectively?

I work hard and I work long hours.  I have to prioritise deadlines, of course, and know when to stay off Facebook and Twitter so that I can concentrate on whatever else I’m doing.  The plus side to having more than one project on the go is that when one turned to treacle I can probably make headway on another.  Also, inspiration is an empty bank account (to quote Mickey Spillane).

4.  We love your irresistible heroes and dauntless heroines, are they based on people you have met?

Thank you!  Few things give me greater pleasure than people enjoying my books.  No, my heroes evolve in my head but appearance-wise may be a pastiche of people.  For example, Justin from All That Mullarkey is a young Bryan Brown with heavy influences from motor cycle racer Carl Fogarty and tennis player Patrice Santoro.  Ratty from Starting Over was born when I was watching Kevin Kline as the pirate king in Pirates of Penzance.  He was so much the leader of the gang, but fallible and idiosyncratic, that he got right into my imagination.  I gave him blue eyes, though, because I knew a guy with dark hair and blue eyes in my youth and he was hot.

5.  What can we expect from you in the future?

I’m currently working on revisions to a new novel, The Twelve Dates of Christmas, for my agent.  I’m also working on an outline of a serial for My Weekly and keep the short stories etc coming, and I’m adapting my ‘how to’ book, Love Writing – How to Make Money Writing Romantic or Erotic Fiction as an online course.

6.  How can we contact you or find out more about your books?

My website’s at suemoorcroft.com and my blog at suemoorcroft.wordpress.com (where you can also find a list of my events in the right hand sidebar).  I have an author page at facebook.com/SueMoorcroftAuthor, profile at facebook.com/sue.moorcroft.3, I’m on Twitter at @suemoorcroft.  On my website you can sign up for my newsletter which is sporadic but usually carries news of events and promos.

Thanks for inviting me onto your blog!