Q: When did the writing begin?

 Looking back I’ve always written. My first diary was at seven chronicling my ballet classes which I hated and my tap dancing classes that I loved. Over the years my diary entries graduated to cataloging my first crush with entries like ‘he smiled at me today’ to a detailed account of my time spent as an AFS’er in Kenya. Newspaper articles followed, then short stories to the novels I write today.

 

Q: Formal Training? 

It came naturally to me. But I did go to The University of the West Indies to fine tune my gift and was lucky enough to be guided by Wayne Brown a Trinidadian Author and columnist. 

Q: Do I have a writers habit?  A: Not really. But it must be quiet and sometimes I burn a vanilla scented candle if I’m writing in bed with my laptop propped on my knees!   Q: Where do I get my ideas? What inspires me?  A: My imagination is crazy. Say for example I go to bed at 9pm. My mind is so busy forming plots and scenes I’m still awake four hours later and then I have to reach for my note book to jot something down if inspiration strikes or I like the name for a future character! It’s madness.   Q: Where is home?  A: No matter where in the world I am. I always go back to Jamaica. It grounds me and give me a chance to catch my breath. My favourite place is my parents house in Kingston and eating fried fish and festivals on Hellshire Beach during the week when it’s quiet. With Jamaica it’s all about the atmosphere. There is nothing or anyplace like it.

Q: How did your first novel come about?  

A: In my twenties I’d lost two cousins and an uncle within an 18 month period. My grief was profound and although I did the normal things like going to work as a travel agent and going out with my husband and friends, at night I withdrew, finding solace in writing.

  Four months later I had a 97,000 word manuscript and a change of direction. I got so much enjoyment from that manuscript and up until that point I never really thought I could become an author. But the words flowed, the story developed and the characters were dynamic.

  I kept that untitled manuscript in a cupboard in Jamaica for years until recently, I re-read it, fell in love all over again, polished and updated it and sent it to my publishers. That untitled manuscript has become Caribbean Whispers. My second book. Although really it is my first.

 

Q: Do I ever get writers block? 

A: No. In every profession there are down days. On my down days I start by writing a letter to myself and the creative juices just seem to kick in when I go on about how fantastic I am! Or, when I really don’t feel like writing I will do something ‘writer related’ like clean up my computer files or re-read some of my older stuff.

Q: Favourite Author.  

I love Johanna Lindsey and Jodi Picoult whome I recently met. K. Sean Harris, a fellow Caribbean writer and also my friend is another favourite, but to be honest I've yet to read a book that hasn't thrilled me in some way.

 

Q: How do I find the time to write? 

I’m naturally a night owl, so although I work part time to keep myself grounded I finish work at 2am and then write, sometimes until the children get up for school. I sleep when I’ve finished the school run. Thank God for grocery deliveries!!

 

Q: Is there anything I’ve written that has affected me emotionally? 

A: Everything I write. I get very involved with my characters, I live and breathe them. It is emotionally draining sometimes and it scares me. But I feel liberated when they develop and leap off the page.