Fiction Friday | Getting To Know D. J. Blackmore with Giveaway

Welcome to  Fiction Friday. Today we are going to have a little fun getting to know D. J. Blackmore. At the end of the post we you will have a chance to win one of two copies of Central to Nowhere.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Up until fairly recently I milked cows. Every morning I was in the dairy milking my favourite Jersey, then I’d haul the stainless bucket to the kitchen to begin making cheese. I kept bees and had a popular little roadside stall, selling honey, homemade jam and free-range eggs. Most of what we ate came from paddock to plate. Most would call six and a half acres a hobby farm, but it was my life.

When you were a child did you have a favourite book or books?

was always in the school library borrowing ghost books, hungry to travel the globe of possibilities in my very small world. The librarian and my mother discussed by penchant for the spooky and stopped me borrowing, fearing for my mortal soul. It didn’t stop my passion for books. I eventually took it further and picked up the pen to create those places for myself.

Do you have a favourite Genre to both read and to write?

The author who has become my new favourite, is Hannah Kent – The Good People and Burial Rites. I also enjoyed The Miniaturist – Jessie Burton. I also enjoyed Sanjida Kay’s – Bone by Bone, The Stolen Child and My Mother’s Secret.

What do I like to write? Historical fiction is my first love. My debut novel, Charter to Redemption was published in 2014 by Even Before Publishing, and its sequel, Folly was put to print in 2017. They are set in the penal settlement of colonial Newcastle.

My parents took me to the United Kingdom for one whole delicious summer when I was eight, and we visited castles, cathedrals and English country gardens. My father loved history and the apple didn’t fall too far short in that respect. Other early inspiration came from excursions to colonial houses when I was in primary school. Day trips to places like Old Sydney Town, made history jump out at me.

I also love nature, the country, grass roots living. No microwave, no television, yet alas no horse and cart. But living on the land is still very close to my heart. I’ve lived the cottage craft industry for many years, so perhaps it’s not a surprise that rural fiction is just as much a part of who I am.

Did you have any favourite authors growing up who have influenced you?

The English classics like Kidnapped – Robert Louis Stevenson, Wilkie Collins – The Woman in White, Moonfleet – J. Meade Faulkner, Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte, Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte. Anne Bronte – The Tenant of Wildfell Hall … But perhaps I ought to take a breath and cut the rest of the list short?

When did you know you wanted to be an author?

I was fourteen. I had been given a typewriter for my birthday and I was set. I began my first novel. When I announced my intention to become an author, I was told that I had to be either really good, or really lucky. I never did finish that book. but it was a starting point, and although I think that luck is for the most part about hard work, I make that my focus and I still strive to be my very best.

How did you go about becoming an author?

English was a passion at school, and I was always striving. Maths, that was another story. I was the dreamy teenager who loved words and wrote poetry. I often showed my English teacher. When I left school, she implored me to keep writing. Those few words meant so much, and they were encouragement enough.

So, I kept writing. I didn’t give up. I queried. I was rejected, and I kept writing. I’ve learned that rejection isn’t failure, it’s merely a choice to quit or have the determination to keep on going. In between mothering five children, I never stopped believing. I will always be thankful to Rochelle Manners at Rhiza Press for seeing my potential as an Australian author.

If you were not a writer what would you like to be?

I was the Sunday congregational singer in the local church for about fourteen years, and it would be so uplifting to hear and feel the sounds of song rising from me to fill some old empty cathedral, just for the love of it.

I wanted to be an archaeologist growing up but digging up some dirty pharaoh wasn’t worth the sunburn, freckles and shedding skin, so I scrapped it. The idea of artefacts and old bones still gives me the goosebumps. But being an author, I can time-travel in my mind, and for me, there’s nothing quite like it.

Outside reading and writing what do you like to do?

Anything involving the arts and nature, I’m regularly walking, swimming and bicycling. Right now I am recovering after a bicycling accident. I broke my fibula, chipped my tibia, and had a plate and screws installed. Still feeling a bit like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, but I’ve improved. Last bone I broke was caused falling off a horse. Perhaps I will stay with water leisure activities—wearing a lifejacket, or course. My past experiences tell me that this would be wise.

Do you have a place you love to visit or would love to visit?

My husband and I have just returned from our second visit to Holland. Every day he would push that wheelchair seven kilometres through the snow, to visit my daughter and her newborn baby girl. But I would enjoy visiting the United Kingdom again, more especially castles and ruins. Burial mounds … You get the idea.

If you could have a meal with 3 living people who would you choose and why?

Although I have five children, I am going to say my three daughters, because my eldest lives in the Netherlands and it would be great to have that time with the sisters together. Let’s just slot our grandchild Aurora in there too, can we? She’s only tiny and won’t take up too much room. The little aunties Cordelia and Mariah have not met her yet.

Finally, can you tell us about your latest release.

My latest is a rural romantic comedy set in Central Queensland, where I lived for a spell. It’s called Central to Nowhere. And for those that live in CQ, I hope you will forgive my cheeky title. I believe you will fall in love once you read it.

The book can be ordered at any bookstore and here is also a link to buy from the publisher at Rhiza Press, direct:

http://www.rhizaconnect.com.au/books/adult-fiction-books/112-central-to-nowh

If readers want to learn more about me, or would like to subscribe to my occasional newsletter, my website is:

https://djblackmore.com.au

Giveaway

D. J. Blackmore is giving 2 copies of her new book Central to Nowhere to 2 commenters. To enter please leave a comment on the interview or asking a question by April 19. The giveaway is worldwide.