Award-winning romance novelist Margaret Kaine worked as a lecturer at further education colleges before deciding to focus on writing. Her short stories have been published in women's magazines in countries that include Australia, Norway, South Africa and Ireland. Her first novel, Ring of Clay, won the Romantic Novelists' Association New Writer's Award in 2002, and the Society of Authors' Sagittarius Prize in 2003.
Other novels include Rosemary (Poolbeg Press, 2003), A Girl of her Time (Coronet Books, 2004), Friends and Families (Hodder Paperback, 2006) and Roses for Rebecca, which is coming out in 2007.
Margaret Kaine spoke about her writing and what she strives to achieve with each new book.
When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?
I always wanted to write, but found it impossible when I was younger. Working as a lecturer in further education and with a young family, there just wasn't the time to devote to it. I began to write when my son left to go to university.
Who would you say has influenced you the most?
To be honest, I don't think any one person. But when I was younger, I used to love Catherine Cookson's novels.
How have your personal experiences influenced the direction of your writing?
I think my close contact, through teaching, with women of all ages and backgrounds has influenced my writing enormously.
What would you say are the biggest challenges that you face?
As with any published writer, that the next novel should be as good as, if not better than the last.
How do you deal with these?
By always being aware of the challenge.
What is your latest book about?
My most recently published novel, Friends and Families, tells the story of two girls, from different backgrounds, growing up in the inspiring period of the 1950s. It contrasts their family lives, and describes the social and moral climate of the time. When men and romance enter their lives, their close bond becomes more important than ever before. The novel has been described as a compelling love story - a feel-good book.
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