Author Interview – Carol Preston

How did you develop your plot and characters? The plot of my story basically follows the facts from research, from which I know family configurations, births and deaths, arrivals in Australia, marriages, places of settlement. From these facts and events I immerse myself in the possible feelings and course of daily life for my characters. Their personalities, responses and character development I draw from my understanding of human nature. I like to focus on a particular relational and emotional outcome; a point of growth for the character, from which readers may also learn and grow, or be inspired by. To that end I plot the kind of challenges, hurdles and opportunities which may best enable the character to reach this goal. I also like to develop a story which has a satisfying end, not always ideal in the traditional romantic genre, because I don’t see that such an outcome is always realistic. However, I do believe that a positive point of growth and change is realistic and possible so this is a strong focus for my stories. Loving and being loved are central to my plots as I believe they are the most basic of human needs, and learning to love well is core to healthy human development.

Who designed the cover? My publisher designs my covers, although she is always collaborative, so we talk about possibilities and preferences.

Who is your publisher? Rochelle Manners, of Even Before Publishing

Will you write others in this same genre? I will certainly write more novels in this same genre, as there are so many more stories from my family history research that I’d love to tell.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? The main message in Tangled Secrets is that hiding the truth, or hiding from the truth, leads to many pitfalls, and is destructive to many lives. Truth, even hard truths, are best faced and worked through lovingly, and with courage. This message is followed up in the sequel to Tangled Secrets, which I’ve called Truly Free, where secrets finally come to light and must be faced.

In tragic circumstances Beth and her brothers are left in England to grow up without their parents. When Beth’s childhood dream to be reunited with her father in Australia finally eventuates she finds that dreams do not always come true. All that seems to follow is further abandonment. Will she ever find true love? And will she discover she doesn’t have to be alone before it is too late? Set in the early colonial days of New South Wales and based on real characters in the mid 1800s. Revisit Charlotte and Thomas from Charlotte’s Angel and Mary’s Guardian, and meet new characters in this new novel by Carol Preston.

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Genre – Historical Fiction

Rating – G

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