1/ Please tell
us a little about your journey to first getting published?
When I started
writing romance novels, there was very little information available about
markets and editorial needs. I think if I’d known that for every 10,000 books
submitted, Harlequin’s London office was accepting about ten in a good year, I
may have been daunted. But probably not. My motto has always been “bite off
more than you can chew, and chew like crazy.” I believe in writing what you
love, never tongue in cheek or to meet a market. This believe no doubt led to
my first acceptance, Love’s Greatest
Gamble, which broke a few moulds at the time.
2/ How many
books have you had published so far in your career?
Over 50 novels,
25 nonfiction titles, novellas, dozens of short stories for major magazines, an
award-winning travel documentary and most recently, a movie script currently in
pre-production.
I believe a
good, page-turning story is always key, no matter whether it’s in an ebook, a
movie script, a print book or a holonovel (still waiting for that though). I’m
always interested in what’s happening in the world. For many years I belonged
to the World Future Society. I’ve also been a Star Trek fan since forever,
helping to organise conventions in Sydney and once entertaining actor, George
Takei, in my then-unrenovated terrace house in inner Sydney. Low light, lots of
candles and champagne made that work, not to mention a life-sized Dalek. I love Twitter @ValerieParv and Facebook, and
blogging, just wish there were more hours in the day to keep up with it all *and*
still write.
4/ What has been
the highlight of your publishing career so far?
I still get a
kick out of holding each new book, or in the case of Birthright, linking to its
shiny new Amazon page. The print edition will be along soon. And I love seeing
new translations of my work including my favourites, the Japanese manga
editions. A career highlight was
speaking at RT Book Reviews Convention in Los Angeles last year, where I was
presented with a Pioneer of Romance Award, the first Australian author to be so
honoured. Being invited to become an Australia Day Ambassador is also a special
thrill. 2013 will be my sixth year.
5/ Which of your
books is your favourite, and why?
That’s like
asking a mother to choose a favourite child. My favourite is usually either the
one I’ve just finished, because it feels so good having it in existence, or the
one I’m about to embark on, because everything is still possible and the hard
grind of producing words has still to set in.
I started out
the most fanatical plotter in existence. I would outline, then outline my
outlines until they grew into books. With experience I learned to let my
characters guide me through their story. I start out with an idea of the
overall story arc but am open to unexpected twists and turns as they reveal
themselves to me. I’ve also learned that if a character throws something at me
out of left field, such as a hobby or sibling I didn’t know they had, it’s best
to let it stand. Invariably, it will turn out to be exactly what the story
needs, nudged along by my subconscious.
What I love
about being an author in general is the freedom to create your own worlds; to
right the wrongs we can’t do a lot about in real life; and to make things come
right in the end, as they rarely do in life. I love the meme going around the
net which says, “I’m a writer. What’s your superpower?”
Thank you Valerie for answering our questions.
To celebrate the release of Valerie's latest release Birthright, the lovely team at Corvallis Press is giving away a fabulous $50.00 Amazon voucher to one lucky commenter!
