1 what inspired the idea of your story?
I'm not entirely sure if I'm totally honest. Probably a number of factors I've always been an avid reader and as I've grown up it's progressed to having a soft spot for romantic novels with a happily ever afters and I guess I wanted to write something similar to the books that I'd spent the last few years of my life reading and hoping that I could do the genre justice.
2 what is something you struggled constructing with your story?
A writing schedule definitely. I was in my second year at college and preparing my application to university at the time and I felt as if I had 101 things going on at once and sometimes I ended up forgetting about my book for a while and I always felt so guilty about it but life really did get in the way of being able to sit down during the evenings and getting lost in writing for a few hours.
3 what did you enjoy writing most of your story?
The happily ever after mostly but I also really enjoyed writing and developing the main characters relationship together and watching how it progressed throughout the book along with how they both overcame their individual hardships and setbacks.
4 what's the overall response of your story from your readers?
I feel it's been quite positive, and I've always been super proud of how positive people have been about my writing as I've always been my own worst critic and have a habit of putting down my achievements.
5 is your story a stand alone novel or a piece of a series ?
stand alone
6 what would you like your readers to take away from your story?
Don't let fallbacks define you. You are stronger than you may first realize. Life is excruciatingly hard sometimes and surrounding yourself with people that understand you and accept you as who you are is paramount to getting through the hard times and it's amazing to have people around you that you love and who support you when you need it most weather it's through the good times or not so good times.
7 what advice would you provide to fellow writers, when it comes to focusing on their own story?
Never give up. Cliché, I know but if you're passionate about the project you're working on keep chipping away and follow your heart. You may feel like you're not getting anywhere, and your engagement may not be what you want it to be, but it will happen it just takes time, try searching for communities that give constructive criticism back to writes and enter competitions. I felt the same when I first started writing and now my first book has just over a quarter of a million reads – something I never even thought possible when I first started out.
8 does your main character share any similarities to yourself?
I feel she does yes. There's been quite a few times in my life where things have happened that have taken me back a bit and affected me quite deeply and being able to look back on them now a few years later I feel that they shaped me as a person and that's given me a different outlook on life. I've always worked towards a goal of getting my veterinary nursing degree and like Harper one of my main characters I've pursued that goal relentlessly and I can happily say that 6 years later I achieved my goal in the end – a lot like Harper does in my book.
9 what is something about your story you believe would draw in new readers?
That the main characters take time to forge a romantic a relationship. I feel it gives their relationship more depth and meaning than one where the characters dive in and go from 0-100 within minutes of meeting each other. However, I am a sucker for quick burning romance novels I just chose to go down a different route for my characters.
10 do you have any future projects?
Yes, I do. I'm currently very slowly chipping away at writing my third book - My Canis Lupus. I'd love to have more time to sit down and write but I work full time so I'll be writing as and when I can but I'm really excited about the thought of writing another book