Author Interview and giveaway: Janet Gover

Today I interview Janet Gover, and there is a chance to win her new book :)

Welcome!

1. Tell me about yourself?

Let me see – I was born in Australia and grew up in a small town, not unlike the towns I write about in my books. I now live in London – which came about because I met a lovely Englishman with green eyes and a guitar, and yes, reader, I married him. I have been writing since I was about 10 years old, and I cannot imagine a time when I will ever stop. When not writing, I work with computers – mostly in the television and film industry. Going to work is much more fun when there’s a chance of bumping into Johnny Depp at lunchtime (and yes, I did.)

2. And about your new book, The Wild One?

It’s the story of four people, who come together to save a herd of wild horses. Dan Mitchell is a former serviceman, still carrying a burden of guilt from events while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Rachel Quinn is a photographer who has no home. She actually lives all her life in hotels, or camping from the back of her car. She too is running from a tragedy in her past. There’s Carrie Bryant – a jockey who was injured in a terrible race fall and now is frightened of the horses she once loved. And Justin Fraser – who is struggling to hold onto his father’s legacy. For all four of them, their redemption is linked to the fate of a beautiful wild stallion. 

3. This book is a part of a series, but does it work as a stand alone too?

It is the second Coorah Creek novel – but it is a stand-alone story. It’s set in the same small outback Australian town as the first book in the series, Flight To Coorah Creek and we revisit some of the characters in the first book, to see how their story is continuing.  The idea with the series is that the readers get to know the people in the town. The main characters in one book will come back in other book. I want my readers to feel like they are visiting old friends and family when they go back to Coorah Creek. 

4.  Give me some juicy details on Dan and Rachel? ;)

Ah.. Dan. I’ve been slightly in love for him for a while. He’s a strong, thoughtful man, who cares deeply about other people. As a former soldier, he looks pretty good with his shirt off too. When he and Rachel Quinn meet, they are nose to nose in anger on the banks of a billabong ( an Australian word for a small lake). A bit later in the book, they are back at the billabong – but this time to cool down after a hard days work in the hot sun. Do I see you smiling? I smiled too as I wrote that scene  .

5.  Are you writing more books set in Coorah Creek?

I’ve already written a novella as part of the same series. It’s all about a young English nurse who finds herself celebrating Christmas in forty degree heat in the outback. And the man who rescues her... or does she rescue him? I’m also working on another book set in Coorah Creek. It’s working title is Little Girl Lost. This one asks the question – what do you do when the wrong person is so very very right? 

Thanks!

Giveaway

1 e-copy of The wild one

1. Open to everyone in the world.

2. Ends May 21st

3. Enter by commenting

Blurb

Can four wounded souls find love?  

Iraq war veteran Dan Mitchell once disobeyed an order – and it nearly destroyed him. Now a national park ranger in the Australian outback, he’s faced with another order he is unwilling to obey ...  

Photographer Rachel Quinn seeks out beauty in unlikely places. Her work comforted Dan in his darkest days. But Quinn knows darkness too – and Dan soon realises she needs his help as much as he needs hers.  

Carrie Bryant was a talented jockey until a racing accident broke her nerve. Now Dan and Quinn need her expertise, but can she face her fear? And could horse breeder, Justin Fraser, a man fighting to save his own heritage, be the person to help put that fear to rest?  

The wounds you can’t see are the hardest to heal ...

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www.janetgover.com

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Buying Links

Amazon UK: http://goo.gl/nwrDKR

Amazon US: http://goo.gl/EAzdOh

Amazon AU: http://goo.gl/bN1lih

Author Interview and giveaway: Janet Gover

Today I interview Janet Gover, author of Flight to Coorah Creek. There is also a giveaway :)

1. Who is Janet Gover?

Gosh – you really start off with the hard ones, don’t you. I’m a girl who grew up in a tiny bush town – I was the only person between the ages of 4 and 40. It was a bit lonely – so I escaped through books. When I got older I escaped for real – I was a TV reporter, an academeic, a horse breeder and trainer, a teacher , a comuter geek, a shop assistant.. all these things.

But underneath it all, I was a girl who wanted to explore the whole world and meet everyone in it.

Now that I’m older – I like to go back to that small country town. I appreciate now what a unique upbringing I had. It has given me some rare insights that I use in my writing. But I still want to go everywhere and meet everyone in the world! 

2. Tell me about your new book, Flight to Coorah Creek...

Coorah Creek is a fictional town in the far outback of Queensland. It’s a place people sometimes go to hide - from their past or from themselves. Jessica Pearson is tryin to hide from her past when she takes a job flying the air ambulance. Dr Adam Gilmore is hiding a dark secret that as haunted him since he was a child.

They are two damaged souls – who may just find redemption together.

The book is also about the town itself – the people who make it the sort of close knit community it is.

3. What was your inspiration behind this book?

Coorah Creek was inspired by the town in Queensland where I grew up. I am trying to capture that experience in the book. 

The idea for the air ambulance comes form my own experience – I was once flown out if the Central Austral desert by an air ambulance. I guess this book is my way of saying thank you to those wonderful people who may just have saved my life.

4. Now let's talk characters. 3 words each that sum up Jessica and Adam?

Three words? That’s hard - I can barely manage to tweet ...  Ummm (thinks)

Jessica – lost, determined, honest. 

Adam – dedicated, strong, caring.

5. I only know the outback from The Flying Doctors (loved that show), so is the real outback like that?

This is going to sound strange – but I don’t remember ever seeing the series. I think it may have been more popular the UK than in Australia. I always think most TV shows have an element of truth, exaggerated or modified to make a better show.

Having lived there – I can say it’s not an easy life. There are droughts and bush fires. Working a cattle property is physically demanding – especially in the heat. The people who live there have to be tough, but there is a community spirit in the small towns which is wonderful.

And it’s beautiful. At night, looking up into the sky, there are more stars than you would believe. They hang so low in the sky, you feel you could reach out and touch them. 

6. And last, are you working on something exciting right now? :)

I am almost finished the second Coorah Creek book. This features two characters we met in Flight to Coorah Creek – it was time for them to have their own stories. Adam and Jess and some of the other characters from the first book make an appearance too – so you can check in and see how they are getting on.

Thanks!

Thanks for having me on the blog.

Giveaway

1 copy of Flight to Coorah Creek

1. Open to everyone!

2. Ends March 22nd

3. Ask questions if you want to :D

That's all!

PS. And yes please leave a way to contact you if it's not in your profile (and I do not do google+, never find anything there)

www.janetgover.com

twitter @janet_gover

https://www.facebook.com/janetgoverbooks

Flight to Coorah Creek - Janet Gover

Only Jessica Pearson knows the truth when the press portrays her as the woman who betrayed her lover to escape prosecution. But will her new job flying an outback air ambulance help her sleep at night or atone for a lost life?

Doctor Adam Gilmore touches the lives of his patients, but his own scars mean he can never let a woman touch his heart.

Runaway Ellen Parkes wants to build a safe future for her two children. Without a man—not even one as gentle as Jack North.

In Coorah Creek, a town on the edge of nowhere, you're judged by what you do, not what people say about you. But when the harshest judge is the one you see in the mirror, there's nowhere left to hide.

My thoughts:

I loved the show Flying Doctors as a kid, and a teen, and  honestly I can watch that show anytime. So when I saw this book I wanted to read it, and it had the same heart. A small town, a close community and what matters is what you do there.

Jessica had a lot of issues. She was a pilot, fell in love with her boss, who then turned out to be a drug smuggler. She blames herself, she should have seen it sooner. Poor thing. I mean it was not her fault! And she had to run to the outback do get away from the papers and pointing fingers. I felt for her, people can be idiots.

Adam has issues too, I am not going to say what, but he does not want to get too close to anyone. But then Jessica shows up, and he likes her, oh he likes her.

The book has another couple too, Ellen who is also on the run with her two kids and Jack, the mechanic who falls for her.

I got to see all of these work through their issues and find love. And a new life and friends too. It was a lovely town.

We get a bit of, well medical action as that is what she is there for after all. A bit of very slow building romance and just life in general.

Conclusion:

I would take a flight to Coorah Creek if it meant meeting all of these people.

Paperback, 320 pages
Out now in ebook form from Choc Lit (print US March 15)
Women's fiction /romantic fiction
for review