Interview Joanie MacNeil

by

Tricia McGill.

1) Joanie, please tell us about A Time For Love and where the idea came from.

When my children were much younger, we’d occasionally spend the weekend at a caravan park on the south coast. At the time I was writing my very first novel, and the idea for A Time for Love started to form. There was something about the setting, and I had in mind two characters who’d dated as teenagers, drifted apart, and then were reunited after fourteen years. I wondered about the paths their lives had taken. A couple of years passed before I finally got around to writing Claire and Nick’s story about their unexpected reunion and their second chance at love.

2) Do you, like me, get your character’s names in a flash of inspiration, or do you agonize over them for weeks?

Usually, I don’t have much trouble choosing names and generally don’t change them once I begin the story. For me the character and the name need to be the right fit. One should compliment the other. However, with my current book, the only names I haven’t changed several times are the hero’s first name and the heroine’s surname. I am happy with the names they have now.

3) Tell us a bit about Claire and Nick, your characters in A Time For Love.

Both Nick and Claire have been hurt by their respective partners. Claire has twin sons and is striving to rebuild her life after being left with nothing following the death of her husband. Nick’s heart is slowly recovering after his divorce and he is thrilled to meet with Claire again. But because of his wife’s betrayal, he is wary of becoming involved with Claire and is making plans to move on with his own life. Claire finds it difficult to let herself trust Nick, who is more honorable than she gives him credit for.

4) Where do you find inspiration for your characters? Do you base them on people you know or have known or are they completely fictitious?

My characters are fictitious, and develop more from situations I’ve experienced, read or heard about. I don’t usually base them on people I know. Though, in the first book I wrote, I based a minor character’s bubbly personality on someone I knew. He fit the part so well.

5) Do you outline your characters? And if so, do you do it before or after they come on the scene in your story?

I’m not a dyed-in-the-wool outliner, and find juggling both methods works best for me. And each story and set of characters comes to me in different ways. I have spent a lot of time trying to find that ‘perfect’ method to write my stories, when I probably would have been better writing, re-writing and re-writing. However, that’s the thing about writing--you’re always learning. And there’s no right or wrong way to write a story. And no easy way to write one, either. With my current story, I’ve done some outlining for the main characters, but most of that was done after I began the story. While I have an idea in my mind what the characters are like, some of their background, etc, I find I have to write the story to get to know them.

6) A Time For Love is a contemporary romance. Is this your favorite genre? Or will we be seeing books by Joanie MacNeil in any other genre?

Yes, this is my favorite genre to write. For a long time, I’ve had a vague idea for a time travel/fantasy romance and to build on my writing skills, I enrolled in a Fantasy/Science Fiction course, which seemed like a good idea at the time. Now I’m not so sure as the assignments are more science fiction than fantasy, and I’m not really into sci fi. At some stage when I feel the time is right, I intend to write that time travel/fantasy romance though, and of course, persevere with the course. In the meantime I have plenty of ideas for more contemporary romance stories.

7) What do you enjoy the most about the writing process--research, character development, plot development, revision?

Hmm, I think this varies depending on the story. Each one is a step in the process and some are more challenging than others. There have been times when I’ve enjoyed writing that first draft, and other times when it’s been more challenging than enjoyable. It’s a great feeling to have that first draft written, then move on to the next level.

8) I happen to know that you love traveling. Tell us a little about your latest adventure, and whether you found any inspiration for another book on this trip.

I’ve been very fortunate this year, visiting Italy and Sicily with a stopover in Dubai on the way over and back home to Australia. Recently I spent eight days in the South Island of New Zealand. Both trips were a wonderful experience, all that amazing scenery, rugged rocky and snow covered mountains, picturesque coastlines and glassy lakes. There are times I think I’d like to become a permanent traveler. Apart from four-wheel driving in the desert, tramping over ancient Roman roads, and walking on the slopes of Mt Etna, the highlights were making it to the top of Mt Vesuvius in Italy and a helicopter ride onto Fox Glacier in New Zealand. The ancient ruins of Italy and Sicily certainly did provide some inspiration, as did the New Zealand trip. I have a few ideas floating around for new stories.

9) If you found a magic lamp that produced a genie who gave you three wishes what would they be?

Hmm, that’s a hard one to answer. Let me start with wishing for health and happiness and inner strength for my children who are now adults; the financial freedom to be able to travel to all those places I’d love to visit; and to write a best-seller or two would be nice. I guess those are closest to my heart at the moment.

10) Tell us a little about your working schedule. Do you write regularly or have spasmodic spurts?

My schedule is pretty much non-existent at the moment and has been for some time, due to various reasons. However, I am endeavoring to mend my ways and resume a reasonably regular writing habit.

11) I love hearing about other cities so am sure your readers would like to know what it’s like to live in Canberra, the Australian Capital Territory.

It’s spring here, in the ACT, the blossoms are out, the little birds are chirping morning and evening and the days are getting longer. We’ve had some unusually warm weather for September. However, I’m sure it’s just a teaser and we’ll have more cold weather before summer eventually arrives. A couple of websites of interest:

http://www.canberraspot.com.au/ or http://www.visitcanberra.com.au/

12) What can we expect from you next? Are you working on another book?

I’ve got two contemporary romances on the go at the moment, though am concentrating on just one, which is set in the Australian outback. I have been working on it, on and off, for longer than I care to think about. I’ll celebrate for a week when it’s finally finished. After that, I will probably move on to the second story, then there are the new story ideas from my travels…

Thanks so much, Joanie. I look forward to all those future stories set in far flung romantic settings.

Tricia.