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Thursday, July 7, 2011

Who's That Girl? interview with Rachel Johns

Today let's meet RWAussie member, Rachel! Johns.
(Yes, the exclamation mark is supposed to be there, explanation below! :-D)

Name? Rachael Johns, although I’m more commonly known as Rach! The exclamation mark has been with me for a while and quite a few people say that’s what they know me for.

Where are you? I live in Goomalling in rural Western Australia. It’s a town of 500 people but we’re only an hour and a half from Perth, so I have the benefits of living in the country while being near to city friends and shops.

How many years have you been a member of Romance Writers of Australia? Just over five years I think. I became a member when I decided to write a Mills and Boon and learned about Romance Writers of Australia while researching how to go about this.

What genre/s do you write? I’ve been focusing on short contemporary romances but am also dappling in contemporary ST. I like writing about people with quirky jobs and am venturing more into writing about small towns as well.

Doubt Demon - every writer has one!
Who are your favourite authors? Ooh... how long have you got?

In terms of category – I’m scared to name them all. Most of my fave category writers are Aussies but outside of that, there’s Heidi Rice, Liz Fielding and Anne McAllister.

In terms of ST, I can’t get enough of Lisa Jewell, Jenny Crusie and Dorothy Koomson.

What inspired you to write romance? Breaking up with my first love. Although I didn’t recognise what I was writing as romance for a fair few years after that. 

Who's your dream agent and/or dream publisher? My dream publisher in ST (single title) is Penguin or any of the big Aussie pubs.

And in terms of category, I’m quite happy where I am at Carina Press at the moment. I’d love to write some more for them.

What's the best thing about going to conference? Socialising with my best writing buddies and meeting even more.

Minxy Meercat from the Minxes of Romance
And lastly, finish these statements...
My greatest strength as a writer is...beginnings. Contest success so far shows this but I really need to work on conflict and continuing the pace and thrill the whole way through to the end. 
A sexy hero needs...to have a wicked sense of humour and be besotted with the heroine. Oh and sexy arms don’t go astray. I’m an Arm Girl from WAY back! 
My latest WIP (work in progress) is about...a sexy farmer who was jilted at the altar.
When I write I like to...wear my pjs and drink Diet Coke (I know, I know, I’m asking for lectures).
My best writing milestone to date is...getting the email from Angela James on April Fools Day telling me Carina Press wanted to buy my book.

You can find more about Rachel on her blog or find her on Facebook.

27 comments:

  1. Great to put a face to the name Rach!

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  2. Oh, I'm most definitely an arms girls too, Rach!

    Lovely photo - is that taken in your new town?

    hugs
    Anita

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  3. Single title is a cool ambition -- but I loved the call story from Carina! I'm so wary on April Fool's Day :)

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  4. Hi Rach! and Kylie,
    Yes, I'm one of those who know you by the exclamation mark.

    Nice interview. It's good to see some arm girls here - too many butt girls around in the world! I'm shoulders myself :-)

    Cath

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  5. Hi Rach! and Kylie

    You got The Call on April Fools Day??? Oh man! LOL I'm with Jenny... not sure if I would've believed it.

    The first thing I notice about a man is his eyes. If the spark of kindness isn't in there I don't bother looking any further no matter how "sexy" he is everywhere else. It'd be like opening a box of Godiva chocolates to find there are only empty wrappers inside.

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  6. Rach! what a great photo of you, and I love your writing mascots.

    So looking forward to your debut release. Always loved your call story.

    x

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  7. Congrats on Carina Press, Rach! I'm an arm man too - love Vin Diesel's arms. oh and the rest of him.

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  8. It is a stunning pic Rach and I can't wait til December and your Carina release!

    i reckon you could squash that Doubt Demon with one hand!
    =)

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  9. oh gosh, Rach, I'm smiling at your '1 1/2 hours to Perth is close' statement :-D I think I'm too far away from the city at 40 minutes!

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  10. Great interview Rach, and lovely author photo :D

    Like Paula, I'm smiling at the 1.5 hrs from Perth thing, although for a different reason! For me, that seems so close - so hopefully I'll get to see you more often!

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  11. Back from hols in time for your blog post! Yay! Arms are good but I can't go passed a good pair of shoulders :)

    Congrats on your success with Carina Press! Can't wait to read your debut.

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  12. Great interview Rach! & Kylie. And a lovely photo too. Arms . . . well, good arms attached to nice shoulders work nicely together. Like Keanu Reeve's arms in Speed . . . sigh.
    Can't wait to read your Carina debut.
    Cheers :)

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  13. Hey Kylie and Rach

    Waving!!!

    Love the writing mascots!

    I agree that 1.5hrs isn't far from the city. Its doable as often as you want to 'do' it!

    Congrats on your debut novel with Carina - can't wait to read it!

    Bye 4 now
    Tina

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  14. Hey Rach, fab interview, you sound fizzing with excitement about how things are going - and so you should be!
    Love the minxy meercat pic too! :o)
    Jo - fellow exclamation mark queen. xx

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  15. Great interview, Rach! I love that The Email came on April Fools lol! Perhaps the secret to writing a fab book is writing in your PJs and drinking diet coke? I must try that ;-)

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  16. Thanks Kylie for having me on your brilliant blog!!!

    Kez - are you going to conf? If so, we can meet in person :)

    Anita - thanks but that photo was taken in a trip back to our old town by my friend.

    Jenny - at the moment the ST is driving me up the wall!!

    Catherine - lol on the !!!! I never even knew that people knew me for this until a few members pointed it out :)

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  17. Gracie - I didn't even think about the fact it was April Fools Day until a friend mentioned it. I stressed for a moment before I thought, surely Angela James can't be that cruel!

    Eleni - I love my mascots all the more because they were given to me by writing friends :)

    Bron - oooh yeah... Van Diesel :)

    Bec - thanks but I wouldn't want to squash DD since he was a gift from you. x

    Paula - lol! I was THREE hours away before so this is better :)

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  18. Leah - if you stopped gallivanting around the world, maybe we could catch up :) LOL, only joking.

    Thanks Helene - am so terrified about people actually reading my book. Hope you had a fab time away.

    Helen - now you've made me want to watch Speed. But you are right... fab arms and shoulders, oh yeah

    Thanks so much Tina - I guess distance is all in what you are comparing it too :)

    Joanne - only really clever and gorgeous people use enough exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Lacey - I don't know about it being the key Lacey, but I'm gonna keep on hoping that it works :)

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  19. Loving the minxy meerkat picture Rach!
    Pyjamas and diet coke - I knew there was a reason we got on so well!

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  20. You a DC and PJ girl too then, Scarlet?

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  21. Great interview, Rach. Can't wait for that sexy farmer to appear in print.I'm an arm girl, too. And a bum girl...and legs...and chest...and...

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  22. I love that you got your acceptance email on April Fool's Day. Classic :-D

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  23. Hi Rach! Great photo and interview. I have the same problem with maintaining conflict and pace throughout the story.

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  24. Thanks Cathryn!!! And lol on what type of a girl you are :)

    Janni - thanks. I think it's pretty cool too!


    Colleen - glad to know I'm not alone. I'm really trying hard in my new writing to work on this, that and avoiding cliches!

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  25. Loved your interview and getting to know you better!!

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  26. Loved getting to know you better, Rachael!

    I'm very late to the party, Kylie!

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  27. Thanks Jennifer and Nas! Better late than never :)

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