Welcome, today we are talking with Rachel Brimble! I would like to thank you for taking time out of your busy writing schedule to answer a few questions. First, let’s delve into who you are. Some of the questions may be untraditional but you’d be surprised at what readers connect to, and sometimes the simplest ‘I can relate to that’ grabs their interest where nothing else can.
Can you share a little something about yourself that’s not mentioned in your bio on your website?
Of course! I am a huge fan of jigsaw puzzles and spend far too much time in front of the TV with my latest puzzle watching period dramas and true crime documentaries when I should be writing. Oh, and I haven’t had my ridiculously curly hair professionally cut since my wedding day in 1998!
How long have you been writing?
I began writing short stories and articles when I was pregnant with my first daughter in 1998 and after some magazine and online success, I started working on my first novel when my youngest daughter started school in 2004. That book was accepted by The Wild Rose Press and published in 2007.
I haven’t looked back since!
What have you found most challenging about it?
The plotting and the middle EVERY time! I’m currently writing my 33rd book and it never gets any easier. Each time I sit down to start a new novel, I can’t remember how I did it last time and every time I reach the 35-40,000 word mark in my latest work, I draw to a halt and either think the whole thing is rubbish, or else my characters decide to stop playing ball!
What does writing do for you? Is it fun, cathartic, do you get emotional?
That depends on two things – 1) My mood that day or 2) the scene I’m writing. Sometimes I’m having the time of my life, other times my writing is like therapy and I’m working something through in my own life, past or present.
I’ve been known to laugh out loud and cry when I’m writing!
Describe what your writing routine looks like. Are you disciplined with a strict schedule or do you have to be in the mood?
Very disciplined, but that’s probably because I love my job! I am lucky enough to write full time, so I tend to work 8.30am-5.30pm, Monday to Friday with a lunch break in between and usually work a couple of hours on Saturday if I’m not doing anything else.
Did you go into writing thinking that it would be a hobby or a job?
Desperately wanted it to be my job, but didn’t think it ever would be until I was about ten novels in!
What inspires you?
Everything! I find inspiration everywhere – newspapers and magazines, old buildings, holidays abroad, my past, TV dramas, the list goes on…
Let’s move on and give readers some insight into your personal life. What are your pet peeves?
I hate prejudice in any form – why can’t people just live and let live? On a less serious note, I do not understand why my husband can’t put his dishes IN the dishwasher rather than just leave them on the counter NEXT to the dishwasher!!!
Who is your hero?
I don’t think I have an actual hero, but there are plenty of men and women through history I admire and a lot of successful businesswomen who are killing it right now!
Give us one thing on your bucket list.
Maldives
What is your favorite hot drink (coffee, tea, etc.)?
English breakfast tea
What would readers find surprising about you?
Apart from the second part of my answer to question 1? It might surprise them to learn that my family and I were rescued by helicopter during the 2010 French floods.
If you could go to heaven, who would you visit?
My dad – I lost him to dementia in 2018 and so much has happened in my life and my children’s lives that he’s missed. I’d love to tell him everything and show him pictures of my girls over the years he’s been gone…
Just for fun. What is your least favorite:
- Hero type – Too much Alpha
- Body part – Broad shoulders (Mine not men’s, haha!)
- Overused word in a title – The
- Genre – Sci fi
- Dirty word – Too many to mention…
Now that our readers know who Rachel Brimble is let’s get down to the business of your book, The Home Front Nurses. Please tell us a little bit about The Home Front Nurses. What was your hardest challenge writing this book?
This was the first time that I have written a book with three points of view so that was a challenge, but I absolutely loved it and really proud of how things came together in the end.
What kind of research did you have to do?
It is set in Bath, England (just a 30 min drive from where I live) during WWII and I was inspired to write it after a friend told me about the Baedeker Raids that hit Bath in April 1942. I started researching those bombings and realised I needed to start the series a few months before so I started researching the city at the time/home front roles and conscription/hospital nursing/rationing etc.
I read a LOT of books, online articles and spent many hours in my local history/archive centre where I found so many invaluable diaries, letters and newspaper articles from the time.
What in your opinion makes good chemistry between your leading characters?
I adore my girls, Sylvia, Freda and Veronica! They are newly qualified when the story opens and meet on their first day working at Bath’s Upper Borough Hospital. I hope each of them leaps off the page with their individuality and that their potential for deep, long-lasting friendship shows potential from the very beginning. They are all very different, but they fit together perfectly!
Any other works in progress?
Right now, I am just finishing the proofread for book 2 in the series, Dangerous Days for the Home Front Nurses which is available for preorder now and releases February 14th as well as rushing towards the end of the first draft of book 3.
Any advice for aspiring authors?
Yes, lots! My second job is providing a critique and proofreading services to new authors so I love paying my experience and expertise forward – the advice I give all my clients is ‘Give yourself permission to write a crappy first draft!’
Once I listened to my own advice and wrote my first draft all the way through without looking back, my output quadrupled. Of course, the hard work comes in the following drafts…
Final words?
Thank you so much for having me and I really hope your visitors pick up a copy of The Home Front Nurses and love every page!
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