Writers On Reading: Fiona Palmer Talks Books and Reading Habits
This week I welcome the lovely Fiona Palmer to the blog to find out about her literary loves and inspirations. Fiona is best known for her Rural Fiction - The Family Farm, The Road Home, Heart of Gold, The Sunburnt Country and most recently The Outback Heart. 
And as if that list isn't impressive enough Fiona has a new release coming out on May 1st, her first Young Adult book, The Recruit.
The Recruit
Jasmine Thomas may not be completely normal, but she’s a pretty typical seventeen-year-old girl. She hates the rich mean kids, loves her best friends, and can’t wait to get out of school each day. Her spare time is spent at The Ring, a boxing gym where she practically grew up, learning karate, boxing and street fighting. So, yeah, she can kick some major butt.
Life seems pretty normal until the day Ryan Fletcher enters her gym, mysterious and hot with heaps of bad boy charm. Sure, she checks him out. Who wouldn’t? But what doesn’t show on his gorgeous abs are secrets and lies that dominate his very grown-up world. Now Jaz has to figure out just how far is she willing to go to know more. Could Ryan really be offering the life-fulfilling life path she’s always dreamed of?
*
Here's what Fiona had to say about books and her literary inspirations ... 1.Which books do you most vividly remember from your childhood?How Emu lost his wings by SRA Australian Stories. It was a book from my Gran. We also had a lot of fairy tale stories, like from The brothers Grimm. And of course any of Danielle Steel’s books as that’s what my mum had in her bookshelf. 2. Who are your three most favourite literary characters? Tell us what you love about each of them. Rose Hathaway because she is bad ass, a little hot headed but also funny. Elizabeth Bennet who is intelligent, strong willed and has Mr Darcy. Jack West Jr because he’s someone you want when you’re in a jam or looking for lost treasure. 3.Who is your favourite literary villain? Why? Snape. Because even with all that grumpy meanness he did care. He had a heart. We like to see bad boys turn good, or good triumphing over evil even in its smallest form. 4. If you could invite any five writers to a cosy dinner party who would you ask and why? Probably my fellow rural writers. We are so spread out but write with a common theme so we would have plenty to talk about. And it would be so nice to have time to chat with like minded people face to face instead of by email. 5. What book has made you laugh out loud? Kathryn Ledson’s Monkey Business. And her first one Rough Diamond. I know Kathryn, she’s a funny girl so I get her humour and love reading it in her books. 6. What book, or scene from a book, has made you cry? My golly there are too many to list. My own books do it to me, it’s hard not to when you get so attached to characters. I just finished reading Katie McGarry’s books Pushing the Limits, Dare you To and Crash into You. I’m sure each one had me sniffling at some point. She masters the emotion with ease. 7. Where and when do you do most of your reading? When I finally get around to picking up a book, if it sucks me in then you’ll find me reading it while I’m cooking or watering the garden. I’ll read a bit in bed at night or sitting on the kids couch. But if I’m struggling, and the book is not calling to me then it will be mainly at night after the kids have gone to bed. Sometimes I won’t read a book because I know I won’t be able to put it down and so I try to save it for when I have the time. 8. Is there a genre of book you’d never read? Why? For some reason non-fiction doesn’t interest me, I’ve read a few but it’s not what I look for when finding a good book. Literary books, I just don’t bother with as I don’t have the time to try and decipher what I’m reading. (unless it’s picked for bookclub and then I attempt it) Generally, I don’t like to read books that don’t have a happy ending. Life is crappy enough at times, I read to escape and I want it to take me to a happy place where I can smile at the end of a book. But I will read just about any genre if there is a romantic thread or a happy ever after. 9. Can you give us a mini-review of a book you’ve recently read and enjoyed? Katie McGarry’s Crash into You. I really enjoyed this book as I like car’s myself. You have Rachel who is the private school straight A student who loves cars. Then there is Isaiah a foster kid who’s had to learn how to survive on the streets and has never known anything different. But both of them have secrets and issues regardless of their social standings but together they end up helping each other. This was the third book in the series but can be read on its own. 10. What are the top three books in your TBR pile? Mountain Ash by Margareta Osborn, Crimson Dawn by Fleur McDonald and Divergent by Veronica Roth
***
Connect with Fiona:Website: http://www.fionapalmer.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/FionaPalmerRuralAuthorTwitter: @fiona_Palmer