Life is short. I didn't want hundreds of rejection letters from major publishing houses just because they'd already filled their quota for my genre. Poor old Jane Austen suffered 16 years of rejection before she finally broke through. I have tenacity, but not that much. Becoming an indie author puts me in control of my own deadlines and schedules. It does not mean that I skimp on the important things like having my books reviewed and edited. In the beginning of my writing process I use my reading friends as a sounding board for overall assessment purposes. If they love something, hate something or think I can change something I listen. These people represent the reading public. I take on board their comments very carefully. As an indie author I do not rely on one person's idea of what the market wants out of my work.

It's a toss up between the research and writing the first draft. I love discovering the true events that surround the story I have developed. The context is supremely important. If I can learn history this way (and I do just by being an avid reader) then I know my readers will also learn something.

Writing the first draft is fun; massive fun. The story flows out of my head, down my arm and out to my pencil as if I am living the story. It is fast paced and furious. I don't wordsmith at this stage. I just get down the story.

These are my two favourite parts to writing. The harder parts are everything else.

Absolutely everything. Imagine hiding myself away for hours, weeks, months on end to produce what I think is a great story and in the end no one is going to read it. Could never work. I can walk down the street in my town and someone who has read my books will come up to me and say ,'Hey, I love your books. When is there another?'. Nothing can beat that for an author.

I am working on a follow up of Mary's life post Scarlet Runner. It is taking me on an adventure that I dreamed of perhaps twenty years ago. I had this idea in my head way back then but was never sure if it would eventuate. Thanks to the book Scarlet Runner I have created a character in Mary that is so true to life to me that she is the heroine in the book I'm working on.

Philip Gregory for Shantaram. Simon Winchester and Jon Krauker.

I can't wait to see how Mary will deal with her present dilemma. Life is such an adventure for an author.

I am a second degree black belt in karate and I love Scottish Country Dancing. I play a little music too. My home life is purr-fect with five furry moggies and a sulphur crested cockatoo.

I use the Smashwords promo where other books are listed under a book. You know the sort - people who bought this book also bought...

My research accounts for about a year. It's mostly about context. Once I am happy that I can put my head inside the space I've created then the characters take form.

The writing of the first draft will take three to four months, writing every day if possible. I am lucky that I have many hours alone to write. I also have a studio. In addition to that I have a special bush retreat only twenty minutes drive from home where I am guaranteed solitude.

The second draft will take a month.

Then the process of getting someone else to read it and me getting it back to alter will go on until people can't find anything that needs my attention. The word smithing is painstakingly slow during this time, with just about every sentence being changed.

Then it's off to an editor.

I am careful to convey the depth of the story on the cover. I do not want to mislead my readers. My novels have tended to be from a feminine point of view in a masculine world. I hope my covers have conveyed that.