I'm happy to welcome author and short story writer Teresa Ashby to the Romance Reader Blog today. Teresa is the author of over 2,000 published pieces, so she's well experienced in the art of writing. Her novel THE DOCTOR'S DECISION was published recently on Amazon, having started life earlier as a MY WEEKLY pocket novel - a novel in small magazine form with a shelf life of 2/4 weeks, published by MY WEEKLY magazine in the UK. Her stories feature regularly in the top magazines and newspapers in the UK. She's come today to talk to us about her new novel and she is giving away one free copy to one lucky commenter - so be sure to leave a comment before you go.
Teresa, how did you get the inspiration to write THE DOCTOR'S DECISION?
I’ve always been fascinated by life on board a ship and every time I see a cruise ship leaving port, I wonder about the people on board. I wanted to write Cara’s story, but I wanted to set it in England rather than her native Australia, so I gave her a job as ship’s doctor which I knew was the kind of challenge she’d enjoy.
Did it take you long to write it?
On and off and including rewrites, about six months I think, but it’s hard to say as I write short stories at the same time.
Who is your favourite character in the book?
Cara. I liked her when she appeared briefly in an earlier novel, THE CALL OF HOME and I wanted to get to know her better. I don’t think it has ever happened to me before where I’ve had that happen! She was quite insistent I should tell her story and I really wanted her to fall in love.
Was it fun writing the book, or plain hard work?
I had great fun writing the first draft and spending time standing on the quay in the sunshine gazing at cruise ships and dreaming – for research purposes of course. Doing the edits was hard work, but I got there in the end.
Can you sum up the book in 140 characters (size of a tweet)?
Oh dear, I’m not very good at tweeting, but here goes “Rough seas, helicopter rescue, hearts set free”
Teresa, for someone who's not good at tweeting, I thought you did very well. Thanks for the interview and giveaway.
TERESA ON THE WEB:
Blog/Website Twitter Amazon
THE DOCTOR'S DECISION
The Princess Helena runs into trouble at sea and Cara finds herself inundated with casualties. Greg has to overcome his fear of helicopters to go to the rescue and when he is winched aboard he finds Cara amongst the wounded. He takes care of her as she recuperates, but just when Cara starts to let her guard down, a near tragedy brings her to her senses and thinking there is no future for them, Cara returns to Australia – alone.
You can purchase this book on: Amazon Amazon UK
