It’s such an honour to welcome along another wonderfully talented author to sit in the hot seat to day to share a little about the person behind the books and find out what’s on the horizon, so without further ado, welcome Maggie Christensen!
Author Feature:
Author Image: Krista Ellelstun
After a career in education, Maggie Christensen began writing contemporary women’s fiction portraying mature women facing life-changing situations. Her travels inspire her writing, be it her frequent visits to family in Oregon, USA, her native Scotland or her home on Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast. Maggie writes of mature heroines coming to terms with changes in their lives and the heroes worthy of them.
From her native Scotland, Maggie was lured by the call ‘Come and teach in the sun’ to Australia, where she worked as a primary school teacher, university lecturer and in educational management. Now living with her husband of over thirty years on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, she loves walking on the deserted beach in the early mornings and having coffee by the river on weekends. Her days are spent surrounded by books, either reading or writing them – her idea of heaven!
She continues her love of books as a volunteer with her local library where selects and delivers books to the housebound.
A member of Queensland Writer’s Centre, RWA, ALLi, and a local critique group, Maggie enjoys meeting her readers at book signings and library talks. In 2014 she self-published Band of Gold and The Sand Dollar, Book One in the Oregon Coast Series and in 2015, The Dreamcatcher, Book Two in the Oregon Coast Series, and Broken Threads, the sequel to Band of Gold. Madeline House, Book Three in the Oregon Coast Series was published in July 2016, and Champagne for Breakfast, an offshoot from the Oregon Coast series set in Noosa, and The Good Sister, set in Scotland and featuring Bel from Broken Threads in 2017.
Maggie can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads or on her website.
What’s your most favourite thing about being an author?
I love the thrill when I read a review or receive an email from a reader telling my how much they’ve enjoyed one of my books. It makes it all worthwhile to know that I’ve given pleasure to someone.
What’s your least favourite thing about being an author?
Without a doubt, marketing. I’m much rather be writing and lost in a world with my characters.
If you could have written any book what would it be and why?
So many. But I’ll choose Marcia Willett’s Chadwick trilogy. These were the first books I read by this author and I immediately became a fan. I love her characters who become friends the reader really cares about, the sense of place and the way Willett brings back characters from earlier books to her readers.
How do you spend your time when you’re not wrapped up plotting your next book?
If I’m not tapping away at my laptop, you might find me curled up in my favourite chair with a book, walking along the river or the beach with my husband, or sipping coffee with him in one of our favourite cafes along the Noosa River. I also select and deliver books to a lady who is housebound as a volunteer for our local library. I live surrounded by books – my idea of heaven.
Do you have a set routine for writing? Rituals you have to observe? I.e. specific pen, silence, day or night etc.
I like silence and prefer to write in the early morning, though, if I don’t get my work count done then, I’ll revisit my manuscript in the late afternoon. I like to have a glass of water by my side and my copy of The Emotional Thesaurus, plus my notebook for the novel.
What’s on the horizon? What can your fans look forward to next?
I’m currently editing the sequel to The Good Sister, called Isobel’s Promise which should be published mid-year. When I wrote the end to The Good Sister, I knew I couldn’t leave Bel and Matt and had to continue their story. Isobel’s Promise is set in both Australia and Scotland
I’m also writing a follow on to Isobel’s Promise. A Model Wife will pick up Celia, a minor character in the Good Sister and follow her story almost two years later. It seems I’m developing a Sydney series as, in this book, readers will be reunited with characters from Band of Gold and Broken Threads too, some of whom appear briefly in Isobel’s Promise.
I love meeting old friends in the books I read – something Marci Willett does so well – so also enjoy writing them and hope my readers enjoy this too.
Finally, if you could impart one pearl of wisdom to your readers, what would it be?
It’s never too late to follow your dreams.
Can you tell me a little bit about your latest book? How would you describe it and why should we go read it?
Set in Scotland and moving from the nineteen-thirties to the present day, The Good Sister is a women’s fiction book featuring compelling real-life characters, fascinating plot twists and a strong mid-life heroine.
To quote one reviewer The Good Sister is a beautiful Scottish based wartime saga that fuses the past with the present, through two unforgettable women, who are both named Isobel.
In 1938, as the world hurtled towards war, twenty-year-old Isobel MacDonald fell madly in love. But fate and her own actions conspired to deny her the happiness she yearned for. Many years later, plagued with regrets and with a shrill voice from the past ringing in her ears, she documents the events that shaped her life.
In 2015, sixty-five-year-old Bel Davison returns from Australia to her native Scotland to visit her terminally ill aunt. Reading Isobel’s memoir, she is beset with memories of her own childhood and overcome with guilt. When she meets her aunt’s solicitor, events seem to spiral out of control and, almost against her will, she finds herself drawn to this enigmatic Scotsman.
What is it that links these two women across the generations? Can the past influence the future?
Buy links
Amazon UK http://amzn.to/2yK8iF6
Amazon US http://amzn.to/2h0DNB6
Amazon AU http://amzn.to/2hXWMMt
A huge thank you to Maggie for joining me today and sharing a little about herself, it’s always lovely to get to know more about the author behind the books. I love the sound of The Good Sister, will definitely have to add this to my ever growing reading list.
Social Media Links:
Website: http://maggiechristensenauthor.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maggiechristensenauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaggieChriste33
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8120020.Maggie_Christensen
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maggiechriste33/
