This is the first of my special guest blogs! I’ve asked some of my author friends to blog about the first book they ever wrote/had published. Today our blogger is Cecily Paterson. Cecily is the author of seven books, including her memoir Love Tears & Autism, which won third place in the 2012 Australian Christian Book of the Year Awards. Her YA novel, Invisible, recently reached semi-final status in the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel of the Year Award. Her latest novel is Love and Muddy Puddles, available online. When I was in my twenties I worked for a very smart, very […]

Anne’s work is probably the least appreciated of all the Bronte sisters’ work, but I think there was a lot more to quiet Anne than most people think. It must be remembered that she created closely with Emily, the passionate, strong-minded creator of Wuthering Heights, while Charlotte’s creative energies were usually coupled with her brother, Branwell. So what was it that Emily saw in Anne? Perhaps it was just that they were the youngest siblings, or was it a case of opposites attract? Anne was certainly the quiet, submissive soul in comparison with her fiery sister. But there’s no doubt […]

I love Charlotte’s work, just as I love all the Brontes. Not just for their writing, either. Their lives were fascinating, in all its tragedy. If you’ve never read about them I encourage you to do so. Their story is like a soap opera or one of Charles Dickens’ novels. As for her writing, I remember well when I first read Jane Eyre. I can’t recall reading a book prior to it that had such an overwhelming effect on me. I couldn’t stop reading it, even after I’d finished it. I read it several times, then read it aloud to […]

There’s no doubt that Jane Austen has inspired me although I freely admit that I do prefer the Brontes’ work to hers. Jane’s writing errs a little too much on the side of ‘telling’ rather than ‘showing’ for me to be supreme fan, although there’s no doubt she had an amazing grasp on not only communication through the written word, but also the social constructs of her time. Her understanding of behaviour in polite society and just what went on under the surface of all this careful use of manners is fascinating. I can only imagine what it would be […]

Sunday 1st June marked exactly a year since my first novel, The Heir, was released. It was surreal reflecting on that, especially since it didn’t seem like a year had passed. The fact that I’ve had two other books released since then should have made me more aware of the passage of time, but it didn’t. I remember The Heir‘s book launch well. It was exciting to be launching my first novel, but daunting at the same time. How would it be received? Would any of my friends like it? Would any people beyond my circle of friends and family […]