Sue
Moorcroft writes romantic novels of dauntless
heroines and irresistible heroes. Is this Love? was nominated for the
Readers’ Best Romantic Read Award. Love & Freedom won the Best
Romantic Read Award 2011 and Dream a Little Dream was nominated for
a RoNA in 2013. Sue received three nominations at the Festival of Romance 2012,
and is a Katie Fforde Bursary Award winner. She’s a past vice chair of the RNA
and editor of its two anthologies.
Sue also writes short stories, serials,
articles, writing ‘how to’ and is a competition judge and creative writing
tutor.
Twitter @suemoorcroft
Can a runaway bride stop running?
Elle Jamieson is an unusually private person, in relationships as well as at work – and for good reason. But when she’s made redundant, with no ties to hold her, Elle heads off to a new life in sunny Malta.
Lucas Rose hates secrets – he prides himself on his ability to lay his cards on the table and he expects nothing less from others. He’s furious when his summer working as a divemaster is interrupted by the arrival of Elle, his ex, all thanks to his Uncle Simon’s misguided attempts at matchmaking.
Forced to live in close proximity, it’s hard to ignore what they had shared before Lucas’s wedding proposal ended everything they had. But then an unexpected phone call from England allows Lucas a rare glimpse of the true Elle. Can he deal with Elle’s hidden past when it finally comes to light?
Welcome to Allthingsbookie, Sue
Can you tell us what prompted you to first start writing?
What was the first thing you wrote?
I was a little late learning to read
and write owing to interrupted education but once I got the hang of it, I was
hooked on the fictional world. Story writing was my favourite lesson and I was
staggered that I could get good marks for making things up.
I never really stopped writing, once
I’d learned how. I didn’t send anything out until the early 90s, though – a
short story about a child called Nicholas (don’t remember any more of it) and
then two novels. It was then that I took stock and decided that I was probably
doing something wrong.
After four years of being apart, Elle
and Lucas find themselves sharing a boat in Malta for the summer, thanks to the
meddling of Lucas’s Uncle Simon.
What was the inspiration for this book?
I love Malta, having lived there as a
child, and have set short stories, serials and a novel there. Writing about
Malta, at least I’m there in my mind, if not in person. When I was a little
girl, I could see a yacht marina from our balconies so once I’d decided to put
Elle and Lucas on the boat, that was the obvious mooring for the Shady Lady.
I like reading reunion books and
decided that I’d like to write one. I found it incredibly difficult to plot, to
create reasons for Elle and Lucas to have parted that wouldn’t keep them apart in the end.
Did you do any research for the book?
I love research. When I visited the
island on holiday I took loads of photographs for reference – digital
photography is a great research tool. Although I’m a qualified scuba diver I
needed quite a bit more information and a lovely scuba staff instructor helped
me. I wanted to visit a boat exactly like the Shady Lady and was fortunate to be invited to the Southampton boat
show by the boatbuilders. I also had to research working with children and a
newly retired teacher gave up her time. And, as seems to happen a lot in my
books, I needed advice from a policeman – it seems to happen in all my books
now, yet I don’t write crime or thrillers.
What does a typical writing day involve for you?
I begin early, at 7.30am, and finish
fairly late at 6.00pm. I do take about two hours off in the middle of most
days, though, when I go to the gym or take a piano lesson. In the mornings I
often work with creative students, then the afternoons are for writing. It’s
not quite as cut-and-dried as I’ve made it sound because I have to find time to
promote, to research and to do my social media.
How do you decide on the names for your characters?
Sometimes I hear a name and just like
it and I keep it in the back of my mind. I also have a dictionary of first
names and browse through that. I keep a cast list so that I don’t end up with
eight character names all beginning with the same letter. Or, as happened once,
end up with two characters named Peter.
Which writers have influenced your own writing?
I don’t know, really. I’m a big reader
and enjoy books that have a sturdy story and are written in an accessible
style, so I just try to write in the same way. I set out to entertain.
What are you working on next? Do you have a WIP?
I’m working on a serial and a novel, as
well as my usual monthly columns. The novel is called The Twelve Dates of
Christmas and is about Ava and Sam. Ava’s a couture milliner, is having trouble
with her ex, has no money and hates Christmas, and Sam is in a happy place
until his mother develops cancer. He decides that he will host Christmas for
his mother and aunt, this year. How hard can it be?
What has been the best part of the writing process…and the
worst?
I suppose if I’m honest, success is a
really good part of writing. The emails that say, ‘This is just what we’re
looking for’ or ‘I love your book’.
But of the writing itself, I love
editing, playing with the words and the story and making both better. I find
first drafts hard.
Tell us about your travels.
I love to travel but only in a safe
way. You won’t catch me backpacking around a war torn country. I’m comfortable
travelling alone but I need to feel secure. This year I have led a writing
retreat in France, been to New Orleans for a convention, run a course in Italy
and been on holiday to Malta. I enjoyed every minute.
Tell us about your childhood.
I was part of an army family so was
born in Germany and also lived in Cyprus and Malta. By the time we came back to
the UK when I was eight-and-a-half, I’d lived in Malta more than half of my
life, so a great part of my heart will always be there. It gave me a love of
hot weather, I think.
Being a ‘barracks brat’ means you
change schools every 2 to 3 years and you tend to be quite self-sufficient and
open minded to new experiences. In my case, it made me appreciate the family
unit because my parents and brothers were the consistent factors.
It was a big shock to move to
Northamptonshire and into a civilian school where I was most definitely the odd
one out.
Most writers have some quirks – what are yours?
I like to work on my own and in
silence.
Do you plot your novels or allow them to develop as you
write?
I’ve done it both ways. It seems to me
that the more books I write, the more I plan. I think I used to waste a lot of
time going up blind alleys when I just wrote into the mists.
Have you taken any creative writing courses and would you
recommend them?
Yes, and yes. After my first two
novels, when I realised I needed to know more, I enrolled on what was then
called a correspondence course. Now we refer to them as distance learning
courses and I’ve written two (plus supplement) and I teach on three, all for
the London School of Journalism. I’m not sure why some people believe that
writers are born, not made. We don’t think that about the other creative
industries – actors, dancers and artists seem to train for years. Why should
writers somehow be born possessing technique and skill?
By the time I’d finished the course I
enrolled upon, I had sold several short stories to national newsstand
magazines. Since then, I have continued to educate myself via books and
magazines on writing, conferences and workshops. I believe that it’s important
to learn about publishing as well as writing.
I sort of fell into being a tutor. I
don’t have a qualification but I have a body of work and I’m a communicator.
What book(s) are you reading at the moment?
Accidentally Married on Purpose by
Rachel Harris. It’s the second book I’ve read recently set around country music
and I’m enjoying it.
If you were stranded on a desert island and
could only take three books with you, what would they be and why?
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute. It was one of the first ‘grown up’ books I
read after watching the film with my dad. It began a lifelong love affair with
NS’s books and I still read them.
Gone Too Far
by Suzanne Brockmann. I really admire her for the way that she sets her books
on a global stage with life-or-death conflicts. In the middle of all that she
somehow includes a sizzling love affair.
Cry No More
by Linda Howard. She writes such great romantic suspense. It’s really gripping
yet really hot. This is the first of hers I read and I was hooked.
Do you have any advice for new writers?
Educate yourself and persist. It worked
for me.
