1) I was born and raised in Chilver's Coton, a parish of Nuneaton where many of my stories are set. Even as a very young child my favourite subject as school was always English, although I was abysmal at maths! I was amazed when I began to research the area to discover just how steeped in history my home town house is. For many years Nuneaton's main industry was ribbon weaving and many of the ribbons that were produced here were transported all over the world. Perhaps that what inspired our novelist George Eliot to write her wonderful stories. I've been writing for as far back as I can remember and I've always loved telling stories to my own children and the dozens of children we fostered over the years. I'd always written purely as a hobby but it was actually my husband who encouraged me to take the first step to becoming a published author. My first book, The Bad Apple, was released in 2004 and I'm now writing my 30th novel so it's been a very busy time but I'm pleased to say I still love it!
Rosie Goodwin
2) Almost five years ago we moved to live in a very old character house in Hartshill, a village on the outskirts of Nuneaton and I love it here. We like exploring antique shops and now we finally have just the right house to home the items we find in them. At the bottom of our garden is 38 acres of woodland, which my grandchildren and my dogs love to explore. Within a very short time of moving here I realised that we had a resident ghost, a very elderly lady dressed in old fashioned clothing, but we get along famously and she's a very friendly spirit. I'd never really given a lot of thought to the afterlife or ghosts before but I decided that she must have lived here long before I did, so why should she vacate the premises now?
3) After having our own children, we became foster carers and for many years my husband and I cared for many children of all ages, shapes and sizes. Some of them came for just a short time, others stayed for many years and I think that's one of the reasons I never seem to run out of ideas for my books. Along with the children came a menagerie of animals that I always ended up caring for when the novelty wore off with the children, but I didn't mind as I love animals.
4) I now have four Shih Tzu dogs who are spoiled shamelessly, they even come to bed with us which doesn't leave much room for me and my husband! Their names are Tallulah, Sassy, Honey and Alicia and we rarely go abroad as we don't like leaving them behind. Instead we have a holiday home on the East Coast where we spend as much time as we can, work permitting.
5) As well as being a foster carer I was also a placement support worker for our local Social Services and during the time in that role I also became the first person in Warwickshire to become a qualified level 3 NVQ Assessor. Part of my job was running training courses for other carers anywhere in Warwickshire so with seven children to care for too it was quite a busy time.
6) I've never been a particularly sporty person, I prefer to be in my office writing, but I do like to go off on rambles with the children and the dogs, especially along the beach when we are at our holiday home. It's especially lovely after seven o'clock in the evening when the holiday makers have left the beach and all is quiet. You can ramble along for hours then without seeing a soul and I find many of my ideas for my books come during this time.
7) Another great love of mine is reading and over the years I've read a bit of anything and everything. It doesn't really matter what genre it is as long as it's well written. I must confess though that Catherine Cookson was one of my all-time favourites. I think she was incredible to write over one hundred books and I was delighted when I was the first person in the world to be chosen to write sequels to her trilogies. It was a great honour although it was also very daunting. After all, her characters were already created and I had to stay true to them. As any author knows, in the last book of a trilogy all the loose ends are tied up so it was also quite a challenge to have to unpick all the threads and move it on for another book. I think writing the sequels to Catherine's books inspired me to write a trilogy of my own and the last one, Dilly's Hope, is out shortly in paperback.
8) I never work set hours. I tend to get all my jobs done then settle down to whatever book I am working on. That's the best part of the day when I can lock myself away with all my imaginary characters and lose myself in the stories. During the writing of each book I get to know and love each and every one of them, even the baddies, and I always have a little weep when the book is finished and I have to say goodbye to them. It never lasts for long though. I soon find there are other characters and other stories to be told and off I go again.
9) I love gardening and always find it much harder to work during the day in the summer than I do in the winter. There's something quite magical about the dark winter nights when I can lock myself away in my office with nothing but the wind to be heard sighing outside the window. A couple of years ago my husband had our loft converted into a large office for me. It is accessed via a spiral staircase and the view from the window across the Hayes is so breath-taking that I had to move my desk away from it because I was spending too much time watching the wildlife instead of writing.
10) I think an author's life can be very solitary and not at all glamorous. After all, we spend most of it locked away with our imaginary characters. For the duration of the book I am writing they become like a second family to me. In fact, my children often tease me that I spend as much time with them as I do my real family but they are all very tolerant. I suppose that's why I love my book signings and the talks and events that I attend when I get to meet my readers and have a chance to dress up for a while! I usually write at night or first thing in the morning in a baggy old dressing gown, PJ's and comfy old slippers! When someone tells you how much they have enjoyed one of your stories and you hear about the pleasure it has given them it makes every second you spend locked away in your office worthwhile. I can honestly say that there is nothing I would rather be doing than writing and I promise there are very many more stories to come.
Dilly's Hope by Rosie Goodwin is published on 25th August by Corsair priced at £6.99.