When I was 21. I had read so many wonderful romances, I felt sure I could write one just as well, if not better.
I was wrong! That book was truly terrible.
It was many years later, after moving to Australia, that my writing finally came together. My second book was a lot better than the first. It became my first published story.

I grew up in South Africa. I suspect that regardless of were I was raised, I would have fallen in love with the romance genre. But...perhaps being raised in the Apartheid era made me desire happy endings in fiction, as real life rarely offered that option to so many fellow South Africans.

Can I get back to you on that one?
Soon as I figure it out, I'll let you know.

The introduction of ebooks changed so much about the publishing industry. And once ebooks took off, the industry started to change on an almost daily basis.
Publishers opened, flourished, and closed with eerie regularity. My books have survived the life and death of three different publishers.
Becoming an indie author was a no-brainer. In order to keep up with the ever-changing cycles of publishing, I had to go solo.

It's given me access to platforms I would never have considered publishing with before.
It's also given me access to overseas platforms that Australians have difficulty signing up to.
Using Smashwords is an easy, one-stop option for indie authors.

Losing myself in my characters lives. Getting to know them little by little, as they slowly reveal themselves and their stories to me.

Everything.
Without my readers, there would be no audience for my books.
And so many of those readers have become good friends over the years.

Hmmm...it's more a choice of demand than inspiration.
I have two teenage sons who need to be prompted to go to school during the week. If I don't get up to wake them, they won't get up!

Reading. Seeing friends. Looking after those two teenage boys I mentioned before. And their dad. And our gorgeous dog. Oh, yeah, and there's that pesky day job that takes up a lot of time.

Recommendations by friends.
Finding an author I love and reading all of his/her stuff.
Searching book stores. (Online and off)

I do.
But we don't talk about it. It was THAT bad.

The Promise, by Danielle Steel.
Fell in love with romance there and then.
It took me years to realise how improbable the storyline was, but it made me a fan of romance forever.

I'm horribly fussy. Cover artists tend to hate me.

I have my iPad. It has the Kindle, Nook, iBooks and Kobo apps.
I don't need anything else.