Trio to share publishing insights

Aspiring writers will have the opportunity to pick the brains of three Rockingham writers this month when they gather for an author talk.

Romance author Claire Boston, paranormal-romance author Shona Husk and aspiring novelist and journalist Maureen Eppen will share their experiences in the field at Rockingham Arts Centre to encourage others to put pen to paper.

Ms Eppen, who has worked as a journalist for 33 years, including reviewing novels for _The West Australian _, said she had wanted to be an author since she was a teenager.

"I have a number of books that are planned out but I'm kind of at the point where I am stuck on the first book," she said. "I'd like to talk to people about some of the things I'm doing to get me from a would-be author to a published author - the tactics I'm using, including attending writing classes, networking with published authors and accumulating a library of reference books and sitting down and making time to write."

Ms Husk, who has been a published writer for five years, said each writer's pathway to publishing was different - hers came from writing a series of novellas.

She said the beauty of writing a novel was the endless ideas to choose from, and despite the seven or so main storylines, it was important for newcomers to remember every author put their own spin on their work.

"It is all about drawing on life experience and your own beliefs and imaginations," she said.

"No two authors have had the same life." Ms Boston, who has been writing for nine years, said she penned four novels before she was published.

"It is amazing - the day I got the email from Momentum Publishing which said: 'we want to buy your book', I screamed so loud I'm surprised the whole neighbourhood didn't hear me," she said.

Now onto her second book series, Ms Boston said her best advice was to never give up.

The authors' top tips include sit down and write, get the first dirty draft out and then go back and edit, learn the conventions of your genre, write what you love, maintain belief, read widely and find a routine.