Q&A with Georgina Penney

About The Author: Georgina Penney has lived all over the world including Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and presently, Brunei Darussalam. She shares a jungle stilt house with her wonderful husband and opinionated cat and spends her days writing emotional, humorous novels featuring heroines who tackle life head on. 

Interview

1.   Did you always dream of being a writer?

I did! Well actually I think I dreamed about being a girl detective, a cowboy and maybe superman but with boobs (I liked his costume better than I liked Wonder Woman’s). But when I really think of it, I wanted to be able to write all along.

2.   Can you tell us more about your novel Irrepressible You?

It’s about Amy Blaine, a lady barber with a penchant for pin up clothes who runs into Ben, a charming British satirist who’s spent his entire life pulling the piss out of people for a living.

Ben falls head over heels for Amy and writes column after newspaper column about her, not realising that she might not be as happy with his brand of comedy as all of his previous girlfriends. High jinx ensue;)

There’s also an outhouse named Harvey and a narcoleptic bulldog called Gerald thrown in the mix as well. When the book first came out, I couldn’t believe how much people loved Gerald! All he does is drool and sleep!

3.   Your next book Unforgettable You is coming out soon, what is it about?

I’m so chuffed to be able to say that it’s been unleashed on the public. It’s actually a prequel to Irrepressible You and features the story of Amy Blaine’s sister, Jo.

Jo’s a kickass lady who works as an engineer on oilrigs and one day she comes home to find a naked man in her bed and learns that Stephen Hardy, her childhood crush is now living in her house. As Stephen was one of the reasons Jo had to run away from home as a kid, she’s not too happy... at first;)

4.   You also have a blog, what do you blog about?

I have two blogs. One is called Steamy Puddings which is all about my love of all things slightly dodgy in romance. I feature book reviews, information for other authors, topical rants and try to share a little of what it’s like to be a romance writer living in the middle of Borneo with my readers.

My second blog, Naughty Ninjas.net is one big site devoted to all things hilarious in romance and I run it with a bunch of other awesome author broads. It’s a little hard to describe it all, so it’s probably best to just check it out, particularly Lady Fluffy Beaver’s Advice Column For Discerning Lady Ninjas.

5.   What are you working on right now?

Lots! I have one more release this year, All or Nothing, and another five books in various stages of drafting. It’s a little crazy.

6.   Why do you like the romance genre so much?

It honestly saved my life. Not to get too dreary but I grew up in a pretty intense household and if it hadn’t been for a lady from my church giving me my first bodice ripper at age eleven, I wouldn’t have had a mental or emotional escape from all the craziness around me. I love the strong heroines, I love a good hero who’s a bit of a bastard but grovels in the end and I adore the happy ever afters.

7.   Where and when do you write your stories?

If you can imagine Gollum from Lord Of The Rings in his cave, yeah... that’s me. When I’m writing a story, it’s full time. I pretty much lock myself down in my study every day for up to seven weeks and bang out a first draft. I have two massive whiteboards behind my desk where I record all my ideas as I go and usually there’s a lot of swearing on them by the end of it!

8.   What do you do and enjoy when you’re not writing?

I travel a lot. I currently live in a very religiously conservative country so I try to get out as much as I can. I also love reading, talking with friends (I could talk the backside of a seated elephant... seriously). I love cooking as long as there’s great conversation and wine involved... and eating... eating good food with friends is possibly one of the best things in the world.

9.   Who is your favourite author and why?

Gah! Such a hard question. Okay if I’m going with my absolute all time, universal bestest favourite, I’d have to go Susan Elizabeth Phillips. She’s one of the most amazing writers and every time I read her I learn a little more about writing technique and how to get some awesome characters onto the page.

10.                 If you were shipwrecked on a desert island what 3 books would you want with you?

Another super hard questions... hmm... Kiss and Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantell aaaaannnnd, something by P.G. Wodehouse... maybe A Pelican At Blandings.

11.                 How would you describe your style of writing?

Swearing, wine guzzling, neurotic joy. Well, that’s only in the evenings. During the day I’m a respectable tea drinking broad who just tries to get in her wordcount without getting too distracted by weird stuff on YouTube.

12.                 You lived in a lot of places already, like Australia or Saudi Arabia. Can you tell us a little more about living in these countries?

I was born in outback Australia and I’ve lived in a crazy number of places. Saudi was a total learning curve but I made some of the best friends I could ever wish for there and found the inspiration for a novel that will be coming out next year. I think the main thing that came out of living in all the places I’ve been, including Brunei where I am now, is a whole lot of fabulous stories. For example I saw a construction worker walking down the side of the road here the other day with a water monitor (looks a bit like a komodo dragon) strutting along behind him like it was a pet. There’s always something going on.

13.                 You got a Communication and Cultural Studies degree, you study Psychotherapy and learn all about Hypnotherapy. What do these subjects include?

When you get down to it they’re all about people, how they behave towards each other, how they communicate, how they conflict. That’s what drew me to them and they’ve proven really useful in my writing when it comes to characterization I think. (I hope!)

14.                 If you could change something about your life, what would you change?

I would... you know what, I don’t think I’d change anything. Can I change something about the world? I’d love it if people took themselves a whole lot less seriously. That’d probably fix most if not all the problems in my life and a lot of other people’s.

15.                 I read that you also paint, do you do it regularly?

I used to paint a lot. I love pastels and acrylics. I used to do a lot of portraiture but it’s hard to get the painting supplies here in Brunei. Maybe I’ll pick it up the next place I go.

16.                 Coffee or tea?

Tea.

17.                 Paperback or e-reader?

I buy almost all my books on e-reader and then buy the ones I love in paperback.

18.                 Mountains or the sea?

Can I go with both? If I had to choose, probably mountains.

19.                 Summer or winter?

Another really hard one! There aren’t really any seasons where I currently live past wet and dry. Can I go I love Australian winters and English summers?

20.                 Sweet or salty?

Definitely salty