Claire Plaisted Interviewed By Mistral Dawn

 

Hi Everyone!! :-)

We're here with Claire Plaisted today to talk about her writing! Can you tell us about yourself Claire?

Claire: I live in New Zealand though I grew up in Cheshire, England with my parents and two siblings. I first came to New Zealand for a holiday in 1989, yes romance blossomed. This is where I met my future head on. Over the following few years we courted via phone calls and letters – no email for us in those days. I finally moved to New Zealand in 1991 and married in 1992. Since that time, we have had four children; losing our youngest daughter. At present, we have two pet cats who don’t like each other.

My main interest is Genealogy, I have research and compiled a few reunion books over the years, including my husband’s line and his mothers. A lovely past time that came to a stop one month a few years ago. Bored with waiting for new research, I opened a document and started to write. I’ve never really looked back.

I have a lot of drafts on my computer though at this stage I only have 8 books published with another two within the next few months.

Me: Wow! Sounds like you've been busy! What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?

Claire: My favourite book of the moment is Girlie and the War of the Wasps. It was inspired by my friend Sharon and written for her grandson who is three years old. It is a story to be read to a young child by their parents, grandparents and or babysitter. 

The story is about a bright blue ladybug called Girlie. She falls into her first adventure when her best friend Grassi the grasshopper gets kidnapped by nasty wasps. During her adventure she meets makes many new friends, including Pedi the Centipede and Sammie the Cat. The nasty wasps are lazy and aggressive due to a bad diet as larvae, though the queen wasp has noticed this she doesn’t know what to do. 

Me: How sweet! :-) What are you working on now?

Claire: At present, I am not writing at all. I have been going over my novels and revising them so I can release second editions. This gives my fingers a rest. The novel I will be working on next is my NaNoWriMo novel. (Yes I did the 50,000-word count challenge) This is actually book 6 in a series I am writing at present.

Me: Congrats on participating in NaNoWriMo! :-) What authors, or books, have influenced you?

Claire: I have no idea what authors or books have influenced me. If I look at my bookshelves they either have Thrillers or kid’s books on them, be they in the now, past or future.

Me: Hmm...a mystery! ;-) What are you reading now?

Claire: I haven’t got a book open right now.

Me: Slacker! ;-) For those who might consider reading your book, what would you tell them to expect?

Claire: Expect a great read which is fast paced with adventure and lots of unexpected twists and turns in the adult books. In fact in most of my books have adventure with twists though, of course, there is romance in my adult books, but none in my children’s books.

Me: Sounds like fun! :-) What is your favorite part of being an author?

Claire: Scaring my children with my vivid imagination, so they say. It makes me smile

Me: Ha! Well, it sounds like you all have good senses of humor. :-) Do you have a day job as well?

Claire: Yes, I do. I have a business. I format draft books into eBooks and or print so they can be uploaded online. I do this for those who are not computer savvy enough to do so themselves. It is great helping others and doing so at reasonable rates.

Me: Sounds like a great job! :-) What is the hardest and easiest part about being a writer?

Claire: What is the hardest? You know I have no idea, it can be various things, like hoping nobody will disturb you, been a mum and working from home can sometimes get frustrating with all the interruptions. The only other thing I can think of is writing too many drafts and not finishing enough of them. The easiest part? For me; that would be the actual writing. I am prolific, to say the least, and I still have no idea where my ideas come from. I let my fingers to the writing.

Me: Yes, getting uninterrupted time can be challenging. What genre do you place your book in?

Claire: I’m all over the place with my genres. I have detective, mystery, romance, thriller, erotic, fantasy, adventure, children’s, Regency historical, sci-fi, social history and of course my family history books. A lot of these are still in draft.

Me: Great! Keeps it interesting! :-) Is there anything else you'd like to tell your readers?

Claire: You will definitely get a good and enjoyable read. They are fast pasted, easy reading to enjoy in comfort with a nice drink.

Me: And so everyone can find all your wonderful books, are there any links you'd like me to post?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Plaisted-Publishing-House/249186435274458

http://plaistedpublishing.wix.com/self-publish-service#

http://www.pinterest.com/rotosis/

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/claire-elizabeth-plaisted/6a/481/605

http://claireplaisted.wix.com/author

https://twitter.com/rotosis1

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/27755343-claire-plaisted

http://myjourneyintowriting.blogspot.co.nz/feeds/posts/default

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00P26WF2I

https://www.facebook.com/GarrettInvestigationBureau

http://mynovelexcerpts.blogspot.co.nz/

Thank you Mistral.

You're welcome, Claire, and thank you for joining us! :-) Everyone else, thank you too, and please check in often for the newest in Mistral Dawn's Musings! ;-)