The Author Inside

by Claire Plaisted

It’s a strange thing to find an Author inside yourself, especially when you don’t know it’s there. In fact, I didn’t find out until I was in my late forties. Though going back in time, I’m not overly surprised now as I was in 2012 when this journey of mine started.

Childhood 

I grew up in a small town in Cheshire, England. I have two older siblings and parents who’ve now been married for 62 years. I lived in a semi-detached home with huge gardens. A cherry tree in the front with plenty of grass to play on, and an even bigger back garden with twelve apple trees, lots of fruit bushes, and veg gardens; we still had space for a rose garden my grandfather had planted plus a swing set.

Our home was on the edge of town, and we’d go cycling down the country lanes. I suppose now it’s a bit like reading ‘The Famous Five’ books, except there were only three of us. The joy, the races, were fantastic. School wasn’t brilliant, though I kept smiling. I’d always enjoyed writing, enjoying Literature and Language, both of which are so different from how our children learn today.

Leaving home at age nineteen for North Wales, I ended up writing to my parents. There was no internet for me in those days. I remember I always wrote long, chatty letters. In 1989 I sealed my fate and visited New Zealand, later marrying a kiwi guy who once again I had to write to on paper during our courting. We still have the letters, and they were usually pages long, well from me. I was a chatty person in those days.

Life goes on. Married, Children and Family History Research. Boredom hits while waiting for information and the fiction writing began. A Historical Romance set in Regency Times which has never been published. It still needs a lot of work, and I had to learn a lot. Agents, Publishers, Editing, Grammar… I’d never heard of Independent Publishing at that time. Once I did, it would be one heck of a journey to learn to do some of the things needed to actually have a manuscript to publish.

Though I am still writing stories, many of my old ones require editing, and the process is slow, with over thirty books to do along with clients to work with.

 Next time I’ll tell you how I found my muse(s).

About the Author

Claire Plaisted lives in Palmerston North, New Zealand with her husband and son. At present, her daughters are in the UK. Claire is a multi-genre author and has published many books under several pen names, with side-lines in genealogy where she researches and formats family history books for clients. Since this time, she has also developed a business to help Independent Authors with Independent Publishing. Her publications include: a series of short stories called Garrett Investigation Bureau, six contemporary romance novellas under her pen name ‘Beth Bayley.’ Claire also has a children’s book series called Girlie Adventures. The first three are now available: Girlie and the War of the Wasps, Girlie and the Quest for Pedi’s Family and Girlie’s Circus Adventure. Visit Claire online at:  https://www.claireplaisted.wordpress.com.

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