Today, I'd like to welcome Margaret Tanner, author of "THE TROUBLE WITH PLAYBOYS" to our website.
1. Welcome, I’m so glad to have this opportunity to chat with you. Can you share with my readers the essence of the story you’ve penned?
The essence of the story is about love lost and found against a background of the 2nd World War, and how one man’s lust had the power to ruin the lives of the following generation.
2. You’ve chosen a very interesting title. What inspired the title? What inspired the book?
My Editor suggested the title actually. This is an updated version of a novel titled “Forbidden Love” which was with a publisher who unfortuantely had to close their doors. Although the original book received a 5 star review from The Romance Studio, I feel that with the help of my wonderful editor, Nan Swanson at The Wild Rose Press, it is an even better read now.
My late father served in the 2nd World War in Singapore and Malaya and as he was engaged to my mother at the time, he wrote many poignant letters to her, which I had access to. (Perhaps I inherited my writing talents from him??). I wanted the memory of their love and fortitude, and that of their generation, against such tremendous odds, to be remembered, but not in some dusty history book shoved in an out of the way library.
3. What makes this book special to you?
The location. It is partially set in Wangaratta, my birth place, and a country town that is still dear to my heart. Also parts of it are set in Malaya and Singapore during the 2nd World War, and as my late father served there. I was able to get first hand information on the terrible happenings and chaotic situation in the few weeks before Singapore capitulated to the Japanese.
4. What makes this a book that people MUST read and WHY?
I think I have answered that above, but I do believe we need to find out as much as we can about the terrors, triumphs and heartbreak of war, so we can get a better insight into what our parents and grandparents went through.
5. What sparks your creativity? Any tips to help others spark their own creativity?
Anything can spark my creatitivy, although I do find certin scents – lavender and rosemary for example, really affect me.
6. What has been the biggest stumbling block in your writing? Can you share some tips to help others get past similar problems?
My biggest stumbling block is finding time to write. I find it helpful to look on it as you would a paid job. Make a roster/schedule and try to stick to it, although you do need to be flexible. Always carry a note book for jotting down ideas.
7. Tell me about the most unusual things you have done to promote your book?
I went to a “trash and treasure” market once and walked up and down wearing a huge bill-board promoting my books. The weight of it just about broke my back, and I didn’t get many sales either. I work at an X-ray clinic and I got my boss to let me put a sign on the reception desk promoting my books, but the patient’s though they were for free. Although, I did sell one book to a relieving Chinese Radiologist.
8. Each author is different in the way they create a work of fiction. Please describe for us how you plan or plot a story.
I never plot or plan. The story just jumps into my head and I write it down in long hand, not worrying about punctuation, sentences or paragraphs, and I transcribe it on to the computer at a later date.
9. Authors are very unique in the way they write, the tools they use, when they write, etc. Please describe a typical writing day for you? How do you organize your day?
I try to be well organized. Mostly I write in the evening when I get home from work. I seem to get inspiration at night time, although as I said before I always carry my trusty note book around with me. My husband says it is like my third arm.
10. What is your current work in progress?
I am working on a story set in the 1880’s in Australia. The heroine, who has amnesia, is mistaken for a courtesan. By the time the hero realises that she is a virgin it is too late. He sets about trying to turn her into the kind of woman every man dreams of, but complications that he never envisaged arise and change the course of both their lives.
11. Can you tell us where to find more information about you and your books and how readers can reach you?
My website is http://www.margarettanner.com/
My publisher for “The Trouble with Playboys” is the Wild Rose Press
www.thewildrosepress.com
Whiskey Creek Press is my other publisher www.whiskeycreekpress.com
12. What would you like our readers to know about you and your writing?
I am an emotional person and I write from the heart. I also love history, so my research is thorough, so my books are historically accurate.
Many thanks Mirella for your insightful questions and for this opportunity to present myself. Margaret
When a wealthy Englishman, Paul Ashfield travels to Australia in search of the birth mother he thinks deserted him, he never expects to meet and fall in love with Daphne Clarke. Upon meeting her parents, Paul is horrified by the possibility that they have the same mother. He beats a hasty retreat, believing he has slept with his sister.
Amidst the turmoil of WW2 they meet again in singapore, where he discovers the truth, Daphne is not his sister. They marry as the Japanese pour into Malaya and Singapore teeters on the birnk of invasion. In the chaotic aftermath, each believe the other has died during the bombing. When they finally see each other again, it is in a church, where Paul is about to enter into an arranged marriage.
