How often does one get the opportunity to interview an award-winning author like Sarah Stuart?
The pleasure was all mine today.
Sarah has a wide mix of interests which are reflected in her sizzling romantic suspense novels, royalties from which, she donates to animal conservation and rescue charities worldwide.
Not only is she a talented author, but she is generous too.
Tell us a little about yourself
I have a lot of interests and I’ve been very lucky to be able to follow them.
Theatre, music, travel, history and wildlife conservation probably seem an odd mix, but they do come together in the one thing I love most: writing.
I was thrilled when my first two novels, Dangerous Liaisons, and Illicit Passion, began winning awards.
Do you have a specific writing style?
I do. I never use dialogue tags.
I think actions that identify the speaker drive the story forward, and that seems confirmed by the number of reviewers who use “fast-paced”.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Yes. Hunting for sport or financial gain is deplorable.
I demonstrate it with Lizzie, the heroine of Dangerous Liaisons; she grew up on a shooting estate and her parents took a financial gamble to change to a wildlife reserve.
Kinloch House, the hotel on the estate, is a setting to some degree throughout the Royal Command series.
What book are you reading now?
On Distant Shores by Rebecca Bryn.
It’s part of a trilogy called “For Their Country’s Good”.
What are your current projects?
Writing book four of what was supposed to be the Royal Command Trilogy.
Several reviewers and dozens of Goodreads fans have asked for “just one more”.
The title is Sweet Temptation.
Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
All my Facebook friends.
I’ve actually met very few of them but I find they rally around when I need them, and I do my best to reciprocate.
Do you see writing as a career?
No. I teach Adult Literacy.
Most of my students are very bright: they got bored with school, played truant, and now regret it.
A few simply want to be able to write a shopping list.
They are ashamed to admit that they are poor readers and virtually can’t write at all: the toughest step for them is coming for help.
I feel very honoured by their trust. (For them, it’s free; it’s funded by a Further Education College.
What makes you laugh/cry?
Courage, shown by others, makes me cry, they are so brave.
Unplanned moments make me laugh, like when one of my dogs crept up behind a very grand lady, hopelessly overdressed for a walk on a country trail, and stuck his cold nose on the back of her leg.
She shrieked, and I, temporarily, only owned one dog: the one that didn’t do it.
Other than writing do you have any hobbies?
I’ve always had dogs, trained for Obedience Competition, and I owe the ones who enjoy the limelight a lot.
The handler of a dog onstage, playing Sandy in the musical, Annie, for example, must be backstage for every rehearsal and every performance.
It made writing realistic showbiz characters and settings possible.
What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?
I hate television with its endless adverts, and I never go the cinema.
I do have a collection of DVDs as diverse as the twelve Fawlty Towers programmes to films like The Sound of Music and my all-time favourite, Goodnight Mr. Tom.
Connect with Sarah at
Goodreads
View her Books
viewbook.at/DangerousLiaisons
viewbook.at/ILLICITPASSION
viewBook.at/DynastyofDeceit
