I was tagged by the lovely Jennie Jones to participate in the Meet my Character blog hop. Thank you Jennie!

Born and brought up in Wales, Jennie Jones loved anything with a romantic element from an early age. At eighteen, she went to drama school in London then spent a number of years performing in British theatres, becoming someone else two hours, eight performances a week.

Jennie wrote her first romance story at the age of twenty five whilst ‘resting’ (a theatrical term for ‘out of work’). She wrote a western. But nobody wanted it. Before she got discouraged a musical theatre job came up and Jennie put writing to one side.

She now lives in Western Australia, a five minute walk to the beach that she loves to look at but hardly ever goes to – too much sand. Jennie returned to writing four years ago. She says writing keeps her artistic nature dancing and her imagination bubbling. Like acting, she can’t envisage a day when it will ever get boring.

Her latest book is 12 Days at Silver Bells House, now available for pre-order. Visit Jennie’s site here. 

Now I want to introduce one of my characters from Breakaway Creek.

1.) What is the name of your character? Alex Baxter

2.) Is he a fictional or a historic person?  Entirely a figment of my imagination!

3.) When and where is the story set?  It is a dual timeline story set in both the present day and the 1890s, on a cattle property in Central Queensland. Alex is my hero from the 1890s.

4.) What should we know about him? Alex was adopted by the Baxter family and always believed himself to be their cousin who was orphaned at birth. Then, one day, he uncovers a shocking secret…

5.) What is the main conflict? What messes up his life? Alex falls in love with Emma, who is visiting his adoptive brother and sister-in-law. She feels the same way, but before they can marry, Alex knows he must tell her the truth about his ancestry.

6.) What is the personal goal of the character?  Alex must learn to trust and forgive before he can hope to find the happiness he craves with Emma.

7.) Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?

This is the blurb for Breakaway Creek:

Two city women, a century apart, find love and adventure in the Queensland outback.

Betrayed by her boyfriend, Shelley Blake escapes the city on a quest to unravel a century-old family mystery. Her search takes her to a remote cattle station run by Luke Sherman. Shelley and Luke try to resist their mutual attraction as he fights to reclaim his children from a broken marriage, and Shelley uncovers the truth about her ancestors, Alex and Emma.

Emma’s story of racial bigotry and a love that transcends all obstacles unfolds in the pioneering days of the 1890s. Shelley and Emma are separated by time but they’re bound by a dark secret to a place called Breakaway Creek.

8.) When can we expect the book to be published or when was it published?

It was published last year and is available from Clan Destine Press, Amazon, Kobo and iTunes.

Now I would like to tag two other authors who both write fabulous romantic suspense with rural settings.

The first is fellow Clan Destine Press author, Sandi Wallace.

Sandi is a crime writing personal trainer. Her debut novel Tell Me Why was released in September 2014 and is the first book in her new Rural Crime Files series.

Tell Me Why is set mainly in Daylesford, part of Victoria’s spa district, and combines thriller and police procedural with a touch of romance. The sequel is already in-house with her publisher.

Sandi has been shortlisted in the 2014 Scarlet Stiletto Awards with results to be announced at the gala dinner on Friday 21 November. She won the ‘Best Investigative Prize’ in the 2013 Scarlet Stiletto Awards and has been a finalist in other short story competitions. She also regularly contributes articles on health and other topics.

Sandi has devoured crime fiction in film and print since an early age. For equally as long, she’s wanted to be a crime writer – although she still wonders if she could’ve been a police detective and writer. She is currently polishing the third book in her series, and plans to start the fourth in the new year. Sandi lives in the beautiful Melbourne hills with her hubby and furry family. Her new release is Tell Me Why.

To purchase Tell Me Why, visit Sandi’s site here.

Next is Sandy Curtis, another Clan Destine Press author whom I have known for a number of years and who has been kind enough to share a room with me at several RWA conferences.

Sandy Curtis’s first five novels were published by Pan Macmillan in Australia and Bastei Luebbe in Germany. They were nominees in the Ned Kelly Crime Awards, and two were finalists in the mainstream section of the Romantic Book of the Year Award. They are all now available as e-books from Clan Destine Press. Her sixth thriller, Fatal Flaw, and seventh, Grievous Harm, are published by Clan Destine Press in print and as e-books.

Sandy was a magazine feature article writer for two years, a newspaper columnist, and has had short stories and serials published in leading Australian women’s magazines. She was a member of the Management Committee of the Queensland Writers Centre for four years and has organised WriteFest, the Bundaberg writers festival, since its inception in 2005. In December 2012 she was presented with the Johnno Award by the Queensland Writers Centre for her “outstanding contribution to writing in Queensland”.

Her new release is Grievous Harm.

To find out how to buy her books, visit Sandy’s site here.