Author Interview: Roberta Grieve

Long and Short Reviews welcomes Roberta Grieve who is celebrating the recent release of Daisy’s War, the first book in her A Family at War series. It’s currently on sale at Amazon for a limited time for only $0.99. Daisy’s War is her tenth full length novel, but she’s also written about a dozen novellas which have mostly been published by the magazine My Weekly.

Roberta has always been a storyteller, entertaining her younger siblings with stories and writing plays for them to act in. Along with writing, she also wanted to do nursing and belonged to the St. John Ambulance cadets as well as volunteered at the local hospital. Unfortunately, family circumstances prevented her from doing her nurse’s training so she started would at the newspaper, She worked at a newspaper, which gave her the discipline to write. She began writing seriously with a view to publication when she took early retirement from her job at the library.

I asked her, “What comes first, plot or character?”

“Usually character. Madeleine, in Madeleine’s Enterprise came into my head fully formed. I knew she was a strong woman who wasn’t going to be beaten by the problems she encountered. The story evolved from that. Daisy too was almost like someone I had known in real life although she wasn’t based on any particular person. Sometimes though, I want to write about a particular historical incident such as the Crimean War or the Suffragette Movement and the characters come to me out of the story.”

Her newest book is set on the Isle of Sheppey, and it’s where Roberta grew up in the 50s.

“I thought I knew everything about the place, but of course I didn’t live there during the war so had to do a lot of research. I was amazed and intrigued by what I found out,” she confessed. “For instance, how could I have not known the amazing story of the birth of powered flight on the island and development of aircraft there? Scope for another book maybe?”

When she finished writing Daisy’s War, her plans were to write a completely different story, but felt that she still wasn’t quite finished with Daisy and her friends and family. A friend suggested to her that she write a sequel, and it seemed like the logical thing to do. So, she’s currently working on the second book and there will be a third one to follow in the series.

“When did you first consider yourself a writer?” I wondered.

“I suppose when I had my first short stories and articles published, but I felt i could really call myself a writer when Abigail’s Secret was published.”

In some cases, they need long sexual simulation, while others ejaculate prematurely before they can even have intercourse and lose their erection. cialis prescriptions is the proven parent chemical that works best in treating male erectile problems. I pharmacy levitra ought to note on that. This increases pleasure and satisfaction for cialis viagra sale both parties during the act of lovemaking and better orgasms too! And if studies from different sexual health papers are to be believed, such penis enlargement & traction devices are more trusted than penile surgeries. Psychological or emotional cialis purchase problems should be treated immediately by a trained medical professional. When Roberta is not writing, she likes to potter in her small garden, though she admits she wouldn’t call herself a gardener. She loves walking and goes on guided walks with a group of friends around London. She also enjoys getting together with family, friends, and fellow writers.

She has spent her last 50 years living in West Sussex, first in Chichester and now in a village near Bognor Regis.

“I love visiting Sheppey but would not want to go back there to live,” she told me. “I live in a beautiful county with lots of pleasant walks and places to visit, I am learning to love village life, there is always something going on and people are more friendly than in town.”

She has three grown sons, two of whom live in the same village she does, so she sees them often. They often have family get togethers when her middle son comes down from Essex. She has a 23 year old granddaughter who also lives in Essex, though Roberta doesn’t get to see her as often as she would like. Roberta’s sister lives in Spain, and she visits her or her sister comes to the UK when she can so they can enjoy time together.

Living on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent at the outbreak of world War Two, Daisy is too young to join the WAAFs like her glamorous sister, Sylvia. Instead she joins the NAAFI, serving cigarettes and snacks to the soldiers and sailors stationed in the nearby garrison and dockyard. She has vowed to stay true to her childhood sweetheart, Bob. But he is serving overseas and she fears he will not return. Enter tall, handsome soldier Christopher, know to his friends as Lofty.

About the Author: I have written stories since I was a child and always dreamed of becoming an author. I had a few stories and articles published over the years but my goal was to write a novel and have it published. This finally happened after I retired with Abigail’s Secret. Several more followed with my latest Daisy’s Warbeing my tenth full length novel. My working life started on a local newspaper, moving on to library work which lasted for 22 years. Full time work and three children didn’t leave much time for writing which is why it took so long to get my first novel published.

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Buy the book for only $0.99 for a limited time at Amazon.