Noodler of the Month – Trish Morey

Q. Tell us a little about your writing journey so far.

A. Back in 1992, just after the birth of my second daughter, I spotted an article reporting that Harlequin Mills & Boon were actively seeking new authors. It was one of those "Eureka" moments, where everything in my life suddenly fell into place and made sense. It was fate. It was destiny. My whole life had been leading up to this moment -- I was going to be a Mills & Boon author!

Eleven years on and many, many rejections later, I finally received the call, so I’m hardly what you'd call an overnight success by any means. Of course, those early years also saw us complete our family of four girls and move countries from our native Australia for an 18-month stint in England, so there were a few distractions along the way. But I never gave up the dream of getting published, and the more rejections I received, really the more determined I became to crack it. Once I was game enough to start entering some competitions, I was really encouraged. In 1998, I came third in my first competition and I was hooked on contests! It was actually my 2003 Golden Heart finalist, Date with Destiny, that sold to HM&B in June 2003 to
become my first published novel, The Greek Boss’s Demand.

Q. What's the best piece of advice you ever received from another author?

A. That’s a hard one because there are so many great authors and so much good advice, but if I had to pick one -- maybe it was Fiona Brand (Silhouette Intimate Moments and MIRA author) who advised me not to depend on my editor to find everything in my manuscript that needed changing, but that it was my responsibility and that I owed it to myself and to my readers to make each book the very very best it could be. After all, it was my name on the cover, not my editor’s, and it was my reputation at stake.

That's great advice for me now, when the pressure is on to deliver more books. I remember what Fiona said, and it makes me determined to take that little bit extra time to ensure the story really does hang together. It doesn’t always work of course, and that extra time can be hard to find when deadlines are pressing, but I know it’s ultimately up to me to get the book right and make it the best it can be.

Q. If you could spend an hour picking the brain of anyone, who would it be?

A. Nelson Mandela

Q. What do you feel is your best strength as a writer?

A. My editor told me the reason they love my books because they contain so many hooks, so maybe that’s my strength. I certainly try to keep the stakes and the emotions high and come up with a twist or something unexpected in the end to keep the reader turning the pages. In romance, where you know the hero and the heroine are going to end up together, I think it helps to spring a few surprises and keep the reader guessing along the way.

Q. Is there a type of book you’d love to write but haven’t?

A. I have a single title romantic comedy suspense I’d love to finish at some stage when I have time. Goodness only knows when that’s going to happen<g>.

Q. What, in your opinion, are the three writing books that no writer should be without?

A. Every writer is different and every writer is going to find treasures in different books. Three writing books that I have and have found useful to me both as interesting reading and for fabulous resources are:

Stephen King -- On Writing
Donald Maass -- Writing the Breakout Novel
Kate Walker’s 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance

Q. What is your writing process like?

A. Messy! I have paper and notes everywhere, and the awful thing is that I’m so used to typing now that my handwriting has gone to the pack. If I can find the note I scrawled about something, there’s little chance of deciphering what it says. Overall, I’m a half planner, half flimmer. I can plan for only as long as it takes for the voices in my head to say enough and tell me just to get on with it and start writing. The first three chapters seem to take an age, but it’s worth it, because once I have a
Firm foundation down, I can really build the rest of the novel with (some) confidence. And I love what I learn about my characters along the way. They always seem to have a much better idea of where the story should be going or come up with much better twists along the way than I can.

Q. Other than writing and reading, what other activities do you enjoy?

A. Not enough. With the four girls to look after when I’m not writing, I don’t seem to have much time to think about doing other things. One thing I do every morning though is take my manuscript for a walk. Chino, our fluffy spoodle, comes along for the ride and after we’ve kissed goodbye the younger girls at school, we continue on around the block, chatting about the next chapter or testing dialogue out loud. Chino rarely has anything much constructive to add although she’s a very good listener.

Q. What is your dream vacation?

A. Ooh, hard one again. One place I loved when my hubby and I honeymooned there sixteen years ago and must return to is Lord Howe Island, the World Heritage listed southernmost coral reef situated just a couple of hours off Australia’s east coast and just picture postcard perfect. Palm trees, mountains, white sand and banana cream pie. Who could ask for more? Check out http://www.lordhoweisland.info/index.html and see for yourself!

Upcoming releases:

The Italian’s Virgin Bride -- HM&B Sexy Bonus Novella Christmas Special, December 2004 Australia (UK in November)
The Greek Boss’s Demand -- Harlequin Presents, Jan 2005 United States
The Italian Boss’s Secret Child -- March 2005 UK/April 2005 Australia
Stolen by the Sheikh -- August 2005 UK/September 2005 Australia -- First book in The Arranged Brides duo
The Italian’s Secret Bride (working title) -- late 2005 -- Book 2 in The Arranged Brides duo

Homepage: Trish Morey - Romance Author

Click here to see Trish's page on Wet Noodle Posse.com

To read last month's Noodler of the Month article, click here

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