How did you discover you wanted to be a writer?
I have always wanted to write but I am not a strong speller and struggled with this until spell check came along. Now I can use the tools available to create my worlds and characters.
What did you do to actively pursue writing? (Joining RWAus, Mentorship etc)
I am a member of Rockingham Writers Group in Western Australia and also a member of RWAus.
I attend courses in my local area and enter competitions that I feel are suitable for my voice.
What do you find are the advantages of being part of RWAus?
Membership brings; information, events to attend and courses to pursue.
What is your favourite genre and why?
I enjoy a diverse range of genres; I am particularly attracted to gentle romantic fantasy and am reading T J Klune at the moment.
Share a little about your writing process.
I have an office space set up and spend time each day writing or researching.
I enjoy researching and checking facts and historical events but also find this can be harrowing as history can be very dark.
Tell us about your current work in progress…
Manuscript Title: A Holiday Promise
Genre: Woman’s Fiction — Contemporary Romance
Word Count of completed Manuscript: 54000 words.
From the dark hallways of a Magdalene Laundry in Dublin to the shores of Cottesloe Beach, Australia, Cara hides the story of her mother. When she meets David on a holiday in Austria, she knows she has met the man she can tell her secrets.
David has always known the direction his life will take until he meets Cara, then he realises he wants a life he chooses, not one he is expected to live. Trapped into an unhappy and violent marriage in San Francisco, David struggles to bring up his son.
Meanwhile, Cara is fighting to bring up her friend’s daughter in Perth.
Will their love be strong enough to endure?
I have had a development review done on this story and these are some of the reflections. A Holiday Promise is an engrossing read that successfully combines a gripping storyline with well-defined characters and vivid settings. Its appeal to an adult audience is evident through its complex characters and mature themes.
The dialogue feels authentic, and the descriptions are lush immersing readers in the novel’s world.
Each setting plays a crucial role in building the story’s atmosphere.
And your current books…
Tomorrow’s Roses and Tomorrow’s Promise
Buy on:
Amazon and all good bookstores or direct from Bernadette at bp521@outlook.com or 0417963079 for $30 per set including postage.
Author bio:
I grew up in country Western Australia before moving to Perth and attending a Catholic Girls’ High School. I worked in many different environments before eventually saving enough money to backpack around Europe.
Returning to Australia I raised my family; I have three children and three wonderful grandchildren and live in Secret Harbour, and now have time to pursue my writing.
I write with an Australian perspective and have published, Tomorrow’s Roses set in Fremantle, in 1945 and Tomorrow’s Promise, set in Cottesloe, Fremantle, and locations around the world, during the turbulent times of the Vietnam War, 1968 and 1975.
My next novel, A Holiday Promise, features members of the same family and is set between 1989 to 1993.
Connect on the web:
I am working on getting a website established.
Tomorrow’s Roses
Love and Duty Collide in a World on Fire
1944 Fremantle, Western Australia.
Widow Kate Kelly, raising her young daughter and niece, meets Lieutenant Michael Brannigan and feels an immediate connection. Both have suffered tragic loss and resist the urges of the heart to avoid being hurt again but realise they are each other’s cure for heartbreak.
Sadly, tragedy strikes again, and again, in a war that tears families, friends, and loved ones apart, some never to return the same, if at all.
How much will they risk, what might they lose to be together?
Tomorrow’s Promise
Two young lovers. Heartbreaking decisions.
Emmaline Cannon had plans – graduate Teachers’ College and take a posting in a small country town – but a chance encounter at a Vietnam War protest in Perth changes everything.
When Micky Brannigan meets Emmaline, he realises he will break his promise to his mother not to fall in love and leave a girl waiting for him while he heads off to war. Instead, he makes a new promise—a promise to find his way back to Emmy.
Pregnant and alone, Emmy is heartbroken when her letters to the man she loves are returned unopened. Meanwhile, Micky’s experiences in Vietnam are nothing like what he’d expected. Both are forced to make the most difficult decisions of their lives, but how much will they need to sacrifice before they find their way back to each other?
Tomorrow’s Promise shows us that although we can find strength alone, it is together that we find happiness and healing.