Boon's Bookcase

Mothering Sunday

by

Rosie Goodwin

BLOG TOUR

I have a Q&A with the lovely Rosie Goodwin for you today.

Hi. Thank you so much for agreeing to answer some questions on my blog about your writing.

Firstly, please could you tell readers a little about yourself?

I live with my husband and my five dogs in a very old character house in Hartshill on the outskirts of Nuneaton. I spent many years fostering children for our local authority and also worked as a placement support worker for our area. I now write full time but love gardening and spending time at our lodge at the coast walking my dogs along the beach.

When did you first realise you wanted to be a writer?

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t write. I’ve always loved it but it was my husband who first persuaded me to send some of my work away to see if it was worthy of being published.

What did you do as a job before becoming a writer?

I worked as a full time foster carer and a placement support worker for our local authority and over the years I fostered dozens of children. In my job as a placement support worker I travelled all over Warwickshire running training courses and I was also a qualified NVQ level 3 Assessor.

How do you carry out the research for your novels?

I like to visit the places I am setting the book if possible but also do a lot of research with books and online. I always feel the research is really important, just enough to make the book believable and to achieve the sense of time and place but not too much to make it factual and lose the thread of the storyline.

Which aspects of your writing do you find easiest and most difficult?

I don’t really find any of it difficult. I love all of it, it’s great when I start a book to find my characters coming to life and developing their individual personalities. I grow to love them all, even the baddies and always feel sad when a book is finished and I have to say goodbye to them.

What are your writing routines and where do you do most of your writing?

I don’t really have a set routine, especially in the summer when I love to be out in the garden but I do love writing in the evenings when all the household jobs are done and everywhere is lovely and quiet. All my writing is done in an office up in the attic of our house accessed by a spiral staircase. There is a glorious view of acres and acres of woodland from there but I had to move my desk away from the window because I was spending too much time enjoying watching the wildlife rather than writing.

When you're not writing, what do you like to read?

I read almost anything and everything as long as it’s well written but I’ve always been a huge fan of Catherine Cookson. I think it was her that inspired me to write.

How important do you think social media is to authors in today's society?

Social media is a lovely way to interact with my readers. I love to hear from them and see what they’ve all been up to.

Could you tell the readers a bit about your latest book?

My latest book,Mothering Sunday is set back in time and centres around a child who is left on the steps of the Union workhouse shortly after her birth. I truly loved writing this book and was delighted when it went straight into the Sunday Times bestsellers within days of it being released.

Which of your characters would you most like to be and why?

Oh, there are so many of them! I like characters that can rise above adversity and make their mark on the world but it would be really hard to settle on just one.

Thank you so much for your time in answering my questions.

To order a copy of Mothering Sunday click here