Braiding Roses is a romance between two doctors in the Australian outback. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?

I wanted to show two people who were so perfect for one another that they just had to end up together, even though they’re kind of a mismatch of city vs country. And I wanted to build it very slowly!

Along the way I aimed for it to be stimulating for the reader’s brain in other ways, not least by presenting some very detailed medical information in simple terms. And as a backdrop I chose an amazing location, which is a real place in Western Australia, and actually has lavender farms, wild dolphins, and a massive tree to climb. Surely one of the most romantic places on the planet!

What were the morals you were trying to capture while creating your characters?

Love not lust. What I was aiming for was to show that true love is a connection between two brains, each with their own personalities and feelings, falling in love just from talking, and not so much about the body.

What experience in your life has had the biggest impact on your writing?

In writing Braiding Roses I drew from so many different life experiences, for all the varied perspectives on the different types of love. Sometimes I don’t even know where things came from! When you’re stuck for ideas and desperately trying to get that word count higher, you’ll grab onto anything that floats into your mind.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

When I finished Braiding Roses, I discovered that rather than being joyous, I was actually feeling a little sad to leave that beautiful place. I miss my mornings with Mandy. So I’d like to go back there to visit again, but I’m not sure how to do that, or with what pair of lovebirds. I’ve also found a couple of other beautiful locations that I might write about instead. So I’m still in the “fiddling” stage and have nothing immediate to announce.

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