Monday, August 8, 2011

Introducing another Roses of Prose author: romantic suspense writer Glenys O'Connell

I'm delighted to join the talented writers at Roses of Prose, but I hate it when people ask me to introduce myself. I mean, I'm a writer – that's about the closest you can get to multiple personality disorder without being in a psych ward. Really.

Let's see, here's the mundane stuff. I'm a wife, mother of four, and slave to two spoiled felines. I'm a country girl at heart and I live out in what my kids call The Middle of Nowhere in Ontario, Canada. It's actually a beautiful area of lakes and forests, you know, the kind of place where even the poorest locals feel sorry for the 'summer' people who own the very expensive lakeside cottages – after all, we get to live here all year round, while they, poor things, just get to visit!

That said, I've lived in some big cities, too, and they're all reflected in my writing: Toronto, Canada; Dublin, Ireland; Leeds, Yorkshire, England; Cambridge & Bedford, England. I adore Italy and France; could wander around Rome for hours, although the traffic in Paris scares the…whatever out of me! But I'm at my happiest back in the Middle of Nowhere, tending my garden, feeding the birds, sitting out on the patio and writing (see the pic). And in my spare time, I'm a counselor and enjoy poking about in other people's minds.

That's the boring part. There's another part of me, too – the Woman in Jeopardy part. I've been a Canadian wildlife artist, loved by two powerful men and stalked by a killer (Judgement by Fire). I've been a struggling female Irish private investigator, making a living by testing the seducability quotient of husbands and boyfriends for the insecure woman in their lives while coping with a jewel thief, a crazy grannie and a homicide cop who writes sexy romances (Winters & Somers). I've been a British special crimes task force detective, framed by a gang of thugs and stalked by a psycho killer (Resort to Murder). Still in Britain, I've been an aristocratic lady, broke and determined not to be the last of the 500 year old line, so I've gone off with my BFF to snare an Irish millionaire (Marrying Money). I like a bit of mystery and the odd – with the emphasis on odd – murder with my romance.

I've also been a lonely little boy whose best friend is a magic talking pebble (the Pebble People Save the Day, The Pebble People Make a Garden) but we won't talk about that now.

In my next incarnation, I'm a counselor living in a small Ontario village. However, because characters are drawn from real life, no matter how we try to disguise them, I guess I'll have to move far away before that one hits the book stores.

And, in order to lure other unsuspecting would-be novelists into my strange world, I teach a quirky online creative writing course titled Naked Writing: The No Frills Way to Write Your Novel. Soon to be made into a book by the same title.

So that's my introduction, my life in a nutshell. I hope you're still awake and you'll come and visit the Roses of Prose often – especially on the 8th and 29th of each month. Those are my blogging days, and I don’t want to be all alone out here….


Glenys O'Connell is currently working on a romantic suspense series about a counselor who attracts more than her share of nutzoids, and a book on creative writing coming in September. Her work has been published by The Wild Rose Press and Red Rose Press (what is this with roses?) She also writes non-fiction, with her latest book, PTSD: The Essential Guide,  also due out in September. If you still want more, you can find her at her web site: Romance Can Be murder, www.glenysoconnell.com; on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GlenysOConnell; Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/glenys.oconnell. She also hangs around other blogs while trying to escape the voices in her head.

11 comments:

Laura Breck said...

Hey, Glenys, you've lead a fascinating life, and your books reflect that. It was great getting to know you, eh! (I had to throw in that little bit of Canadian)

Colleen Connally said...

Great blog! Love your characters. Sounds lovely where you live. I'm a country girl myself. Nothing better than sitting outside on your patio writing.

Brenda Whiteside said...

What an absolutely not boring life you lead!! I am such a gypsy, I can identify with the fun of your travels but I love the middle of nowhere the best. That's the move I'm in the process of making. Your books sound marvelous. Good to get to know you.

Barbara Edwards said...

Hi Glenys,
It's so nice to learn more about you and that you love to travel, too. Adding your books to my TBR list.
Barbara

Jannine Gallant said...

You have some amazing settings for your stories. And all of them suspense. I love it!

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Living in the middle of nowhere isn't bad, if you're living with the guy you love. Lovely blogpost. Very interesting.

glenys said...

Thank you, Roses, for the warm welcome!Isn't it funny how so many writers want to live in their own particular version of Middle of Nowhere, and venture out to explore from time to time? Guess we need to gather new material...and Vonnie, I've been with my guy over nearly 40 years and still can't think of anyone I'd rather be with :-)

Pat McDermott said...

So you live in the middle of nowhere, Glenys? What does it matter, when you live such exciting adventure through the characters you create? Your stories sound wonderful, and I love how you say "I've been a" when referring to them. Keep 'em coming!

glenys said...

Pat - for a while there, I thought maybe 'being' my characters was some sort of personality disorder :-) Thank you for dropping by, and for the kind words - it really means something from you.

Margaret Tanner said...

Hi Glenys,
Sorry I am a little late, these different time zones are a killer. You sound like you have lived a very interesting life. Nice finding out more about you.

Regards

Margaret

glenys said...

Glad to see you here, Margaret, and thanks for visiting. Time zones may be a killer, but I've heard Australia is beautiful - it's on my 'must visit' list!