I have a final Author Harvest and we are heading across the ditch to the land of the long white cloud to meet New Zealander and Choclit author, Zana Bell. Please give her a great big Aussie welcome.
I fell in love with Zana’s beautiful storytelling after reading Forbidden Frontier, a fabulous story about a convict girl searching for Freedom. That was a log time ago, when I was still dreaming about publication, so it is pretty special to have Zana on Author Harvest.
Speaking of special, Zana, I am assuming you have some special treat for me.
Lamingtons, Jenn, because my latest novel is all about the celebrating the wild early days in the Antipodes. Here is the blurb…
We are not going any further until you tell me why yet another fiancé seems intent on wringing your neck.
Masquerades, deceptions and subterfuge – and that’s just on the heroine’s part.
****
Georgiana da Silva is catapulted out of the Victorian drawing rooms and into a world of danger when she escapes her fiendish fiancé to engage in a mad dash across the world to save her brother before an unknown assassin can find him.
Meanwhile, Captain Harry Trent is setting sail for New Zealand. With a mission to complete and the law on his heels, he’s got enough trouble of his own without further complications.
Thrown together, unable to trust anyone, -Georgiana and Harry are intent on fulfilling their missions despite the distractions of the other. But liberty comes at a price and the closer they get, the more they must question the true cost of being free.
Okay, so, at home…
Zana, my mum says garden gnomes make a house a home! Are you loud and proud in your love of garden gnomes at home, a closet gnomer or with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?
We don’t have gnomes but for many years we always had one pretty little convertible or another parked up beside the driveway. I used to refer them as my garden gnomes. They never went – we couldn’t afford a sports car that was roadworthy! – but my husband could never resist the broken down 1930s MG, the rusted out 60s Porsche etc. Finally, we have one that we can actually drive but now it lives inside the garage while my trusty station-wagon (340 000km on the clock and still going) has been consigned to the drive.
(I’m sorry, but the only picture this conjures up is Noddy and Big ears!)
What vegetable (or fruit) have you always wanted to grow at home?
Pawpaw. New Zealand can grow a lot of things but not pawpaw, alas. Whenever I go to the Pacific Islands, my first stop is the local market to pick some up.
Whose home would you like to housesit and why?
It depends. Out of sheer curiosity I’d love to stay in Bill Gates’ house because it would be my only opportunity to see what all the money in the world can actually buy.
If I were going with the heart, I’d take any Bavarian castle provided it was fully-furnished with lots of central heating and a first rate chef. They are a wonderful blend of romance and Disney fantasy with all those turrets and towers. A friendly ghost would top things off nicely.
(Bil Gates my HAVE a Bavarian Castle and that would kill two birds, wouldn’t it?)
About you…
Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realized that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?
I don’t view writing as a career per se. I just write what I love and then hope to find a publisher and an audience. For example, when I wrote Forbidden Frontier, it took me years to find a publisher who was interested in Australian history. Now that I’ve changed tack, they are begging for Australian sagas!
I loved writing my Superromance but historicals continued to pull at the heartstrings. Close to the Wind was written when even Kiwis were rolling their eyes when I said I wanted to write a NZ historical. But I’d fallen in love with the 1860s gold-rush days and nothing was going to stop me. I had in mind Georgette Heyer meets Romancing the Stone against glorious South Island scenery. Again, it took a while but as soon as I’d signed up with ChocLit in London, one of the big publishers in NZ began to show an interest.
It’s impossible to second guess the market so I write the book that burns to be written. It’s a risky approach but so far I’ve sold all the books I’ve written which has been very lucky.
(Good advice.)
What is the hardest part of writing for you?
I find the balance between family, job, friends and writing extremely tricky. If I’m not careful, a book can become an obsession. On the flipside, I’m also a genius at procrastination!
If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?
That’s a no-brainer. I’d change places with Georgiana, heroine of my latest book, like a shot. I’ve given her all the skills I wish I had. She’s feisty and, having grown up in a circus, she can climb masts and walk tightropes. She’s an excellent horsewoman and a great actress. I’d love to have the performing gene!
On top of that, she gets to hang out with Harry, the rakish sea captain, and have lots of adventures with him.
Of course I think they are the coolest couple – I wouldn’t have spent all those many months closeted up in my study with them if I didn’t.
(Bill Gates may ALSO have a circus!)
For a more…ahem…serious look at Zana and her novels, I can recommend you check out this post. My ‘old’ critique partner (also a New Zealander) did a great Q&A.
About Zana Bell
Zana Bell writes in a variety of genre, her novels covering YA, historical, and contemporary and historical romance. Her second novel, Forbidden Frontier (Mira) based on Charlotte Badger, Australian convict and pirate and New Zealand’s first known English woman migrant won the Cataromance Single Title’s 10 Best Books of 2008. She won the Cataromance Reviewers’ Award 2010 for Tempting the Negotiator (Harlequin Superromance). In 2012 she was shortlisted for the New Zealand Society of Authors Mid-Careers Grant.
Her New Zealand historical, romantic adventure Close to the Wind (ChocLit) came out in October, 2013.
Visit her website http://www.zanabell.com/ or FB https://www.facebook.com/zanabellauthor
Funny thing, Zana, I chose Bill Gates’ home too. I love the idea of your NZ historical and the characters sound wonderful. I’m adding it to my wish list for the coming holidays.
Best wishes, Susanne
Nice job Zana. I’ve missed author harvest (tho I do like the bar yarns). Choc Lit sound like a publisher going places, so good luck with the new release.
[…] Jenn J McLeod […]
How funny we both chose Bill Gates’ home, Suzanne. It does sound remarkable, doesn’t it. I read that music you like plays as you enter a room. I wonder if that would be wonderful or drive me crazy. Do hope you enjoy the book.
Hi Lily, thanks for dropping by – and I love your tag-line!
Great interview, Zana – and such freedom from not seeing writing as a ‘career’ despite five novels, a PhD on the way, and that you tutor in creative writing at a polytech – lovely way to look at things. I adored Close to the Wind!
Forgot to say . . . on my blog you said a fave novel was Tiger Moon by Penelope Lively – cost me $4 in a secondhand shop -and I am loving it. Thank you!
So glad you are enjoying it, Rae.
Zana, I just finished Close to the Wind, and it was delightful. I got Rex to buy it for me for Christmas, and made sure he got it from a bookshop and asked for it, so that they would know it was an Important Book!