What
can I say about best-selling, award-winning Australian author Rachael Johns?
Every other romance author in Australia should hate her out of sheer envy at
her success – except that she’s so fabulous we can’t do without her! Hugely
talented, excessively charming, incredibly generous, and it seems that she can
write anything and make it wonderful. But today, I’m thrilled that Rachael has
opted to share a very particular novel with us, The
Art of Keeping Secrets, just released in North America.
About Rachael...
Rachael Johns is an
English teacher by trade, a mum 24/7, a chronic arachnophobic, and a writer the
rest of the time. She rarely sleeps and never irons. A lover of romance and
women’s fiction, Rachael loves nothing more than sitting in bed with her laptop
and electric blanket and imagining her own stories.
Rachael lives in the
Perth Hills with her hyperactive husband, three mostly-gorgeous
heroes-in-training, a ginger cat, a cantankerous bird and a very badly behaved
dog.
They
started out as the "misfit moms"—the trio of less-than-conventional
parents at their sons' tony private school. They've shared everything. Or so
they thought. Now, on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to New York City, they'll
sightsee, they'll shop, they'll catch a few Broadway shows. They'll tell all…
After
seventeen years as a single parent, Neve will reveal a past sin that could
destroy her relationship with her son. Emma will uncover the roots of her
exhaustion and divulge the inappropriate feelings she has for her boss. And
Flick—who knows a little about crafting a flawless exterior—will share the
shocking truth that lies beneath the veneer of her perfect marriage.
When
the tight hold they've each kept on their secrets for years begins to slip,
they must face the truth. Even if the truth will forever alter the course of
their friendship and their lives.
Read a little, buy the book...
As
their waiter retreated, Emma took a sip of her sparkling water and Flick’s
phone beeped. She glanced down at where it sat beside them on the table, then
sucked in a breath. Her cheeks flared red.
‘What
it is?’ Emma asked.
‘Nothing.
Just an old friend I met last night requesting friendship on Facebook.’
‘Jeremy?’
Neve exclaimed. ‘You’re not going to accept, are you?’
Emma
had no idea who they were talking about.
Flick
shrugged. ‘Why wouldn’t I? It was nice to see him again.’
‘Nice?
The way you two were acting it looked a lot more than nice.’
‘Could
someone fill me in?’ Emma asked, wondering what exactly she’d missed by going
to bed early.
‘Flick
met an old boyfriend in the bar last night and things got pretty damn cozy.’
‘What?’
Flick spluttered, her eyes wide. ‘For one, he was never my boyfriend and for
two, things weren’t cozy. We were just catching up.’
Neve
raised her eyebrows. ‘And would your catching up have been any different if
your husband had been there?’
But
Neve had to be overreacting – she’d had an emotional night and drank a fair bit
– no way Flick would ever do anything to jeopardize her relationship with Seb.
Emma scrutinized her friend’s face as they waited for her answer.
‘That’s
none of your business,’ Flick said finally.
Worry
lodged itself in Emma’s throat. Where was Flick’s defense that of course she’d
act the same if Seb had been there?
‘I beg
to differ.’ Neve leaned forward, encroaching across the table into Flick’s
personal space. ‘You’re a good friend, Flick, but so is Seb. He dotes on you
and the kids, he’s a great father and the best darn husband I’ve ever known.
Not many men would stay up so they could pick up their wife from a drunken
night out with her friends you know. I don’t like to think of you…’
Flick
slammed her hand against the table top, rattling the silver cutlery. ‘Can you
just stop going on and on about how bloody wonderful Seb is? Sometimes I
think the two of you are more in love with him than I am, but things on the
inside aren’t always as they look on the outside. And you don’t have the patent
on secrets, Neve.’
Buy it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Walmart.
Avril: Tell us a bit about how you career has progressed from first book to now…
Let's
Talk...
Avril: Tell us a bit about how you career has progressed from first book to now…
Rachael: It was a LONG process from first deciding to be a
writer to finally getting that magical offer of publication. I started writing
after accidentally dumping (yes, you read that right) my first love in the last
year of high school – I was absolutely broken by the break up and thought my
life was over. For some reason (and I’d never been a writer or a big reader
before this), I turned to writing. I wrote the story of me and that guy, but
instead of breaking up with him I gave him a horrific disease and killed him
off. It was really good therapy but I also caught the writing bug. Almost a
decade later (after a writing degree at uni, and many, many years of
rejections), I fell in love with category romance and decided to try my hand at
that. I got super close but didn’t quite make it, until after another five
years, I sold one of my “Mills & Boon rejects” to Carina Press. Around this
time, I also decided to try a different form of writing – single title rural
romance (which in Australia is a popular genre of romance books set in small
country towns). While this book was on submission (after so many rejections),
writing was starting to become a chore rather than the joy it always was, so I
decided to give myself one last ditch attempt and write something I wanted to
read rather than what I thought someone might want to publish. I wrote about a
small town, a runaway bride and the revival of a theatrical society and finally
sold this book to Harlequin Australia. Since then I’ve written 21 books (eight
rural romances, three women’s fiction and a number of digital novellas) and I’m
still learning and growing with each new book. I hope I can keep doing this for
many more years to come.
Avril: Romance – women’s fiction. You
write both, but what’s the crossover for readers?
Rachael: To me the difference between my romance books and
my women’s fiction books is that the romances are primarily about the
relationship journey of a couple, whereas the women’s fiction books are also
about relationships but more so the relationships between family and/or
friends. I find that my romance readers also enjoy my women’s fiction, but
perhaps not all my women’s fiction readers try my romance. I actually think if
they gave them a shot, they’d probably enjoy them as I think my voice is the
same across both genres and both forms of stories offer the same emotional kind
of read.
Avril: What would you say are the key elements of a
good story?
Rachael: Personally I love books that are about quirky
characters with interesting traits and unique careers, but I also want these
characters to be relatable. Even in romance and women’s fiction books, I like a
bit of suspense and by that I don’t mean a murder or a crime, but I like to be
kept guessing when I read to a certain extent. Nothing is worse for me than a
truly predictable plot and as a writer it’s a constant challenge for me to
achieve a compelling, page-turning one instead!
Avril: What are you favorite types of settings and
why?
Rachael: I do love a good small town novel as these
communities are very appealing to me on a number of levels – I like the fact
that in a small town everyone knows everything about everyone else, or so they
think. This can be great fodder for drama and conflict. But I also like reading
about places I’ve been and loved or places I’d like to visit. I’m obsessed with
New Orleans and will read anything set there I can get my hands on. I would
like to go back there one day and set a book there myself.
Avril: What’s in your TBR pile?
Rachael: What’s NOT in my TBR pile is probably a more
accurate question. Seriously, I buy WAY more books than I will ever be able to
read (as I’m sure many of your blog readers can relate to. Hey, there are worse
addictions!). Currently I’m really looking forward to Jane Green’s The
Sunshine Sisters and Michael Robotham’s The Secret She Keeps. I do
love a good crime or psychological thriller; I think because this isn’t the
genre I write in, I find it easier to read without trying to analyze what the
author is doing!
Avril: What’s your pet hate as a reader?
Rachael: Hmm… that’s a tricky question. Probably characters
who do things that don’t feel believable or react out of character to
situations the author puts them in.
Love stories about friends? Tell us why or why not in the
comments
and enter the draw to win a print copy of
The
Art of Keeping Secrets.