Q. What genre are your books?
A. Mostly YA and NA paranormal romances but I've released a straight novella called Home which is about a family trying to get back together and I have created some monologues for actors. Family is probably a theme across all my fiction.


Q. Do you have a specific writing style?
A. I would say a lot of my voice comes out in the characters depending what they're going through and my sense humour comes out in all my books somewhere. I couldn't write something without at least a little bit of humour!


Q. Where did your idea for 'The East Lake Series' come from or how did you develop the idea for it?
A. It was a lightbulb moment sitting at my desk but the final book differs from the original idea. I thought I wanted to create a whole celestial school system but as I created the characters that would become students and I realised they needed to practice their skills on earth, the story went in a whole other direction. But the name stuck; Heaven High.


Q. What writing advice do you have for other aspiring authors?
A. Write. It's annoying to read that because it's probably the same advice most writers give and get but that's because it's a fundamental truth. I am a better writer now than when I started doing it seriously but how else do you learn your craft? Heaven High came after a lifetime of writing short stories, articles and poems, mostly for myself.
You'll write some complete turkeys but nothing is wasted because the idea may be useful in the future or a bit of it will be great or you'll get better as the draft goes along. Also, keep writing. Don't stop and edit every chapter or paragraph because you will NEVER finish. You'll lose momentum, confidence and probably a good story. Write to the end and then go back. If you have a beginning, middle and an end you have something to craft into a finished product.


Q. What was the hardest part of writing your book?
A. Not feeling overwhelmed by the task. I sometimes think the first paragraph is the hardest because you have a blank screen, a few ideas and a mountain to climb. You think, 'I don't know that many words, it's going to take years!' but you do and it won't.


Q. What are your current projects?
A. Sneak preview: I am releasing a new book call The Hunters in time for Christmas. The artwork is done, just final editing to complete. I also want to finish a Little Book of Duologues to complement the monologue book.


Q. Do you ever get writer’s Block? Any tips on how to get through the dreaded writer’s block?
A. Oh yes and I have a few ways of getting through it.
1. I jump to the part of the story I know about or the scene I can picture, even though there's no path to it yet. Once I've done that, it is easier for me to see how to get there from where I got stuck.
2. Write dialogue. If I've turned down a dry and descriptive route then putting down some dialogue gives it life and emotion and gets me back into my characters heads. Sometimes it takes me in a new direction or I discover something new about the character's psyche.
3. Write though it. Even if you think it is complete drivel. Eventually you hit on something and can move forward. When you read it back, you might replace it completely or realise some of it wasn't bad at all.


Q. Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors.
A. I always have a book on the go. Lately I've become addicted to the Jack Reacher series even though I don't normally read books like it. I love a Brad Meltzer/Grisham legal thriller and I am currently reading Gone Girl before the movie spoils the plot (I like to read the book before seeing the film in case the film is bad). Of course I read around my genre and my all time favourite books are children's books: His Dark Materials Trilogy and The Bartimaeus Trilogy. They are fantastic!


Q. What is one of your favorite part from one of your books?
A. I think all the interactions between Beau and Edgar from The East Lake Series. I love a bromance and these two really love each other. The best moment/s are from book 2, Hell's on Earth, where their friendship is really pushed to the limit.