Guest blog – Loretta Hill

This photo is an unlikely setting for a book but that is exactly where my guest Loretta Hill set her books and I can tell you it was a perfect choice. Loretta’s first hand experience turns her books into a charming, engaging read with likeable characters with the red dirt backdrop. She’s here today talking about her fabulous characters from her new book The Girl in the Hard Hat. Welcome Loretta.

Dear Fiona,

How are you? I’m great! Thanks for having me on your blog today to talk about my latest release, The Girl in the Hard Hat due to hit shelves this month. I’m so excited about this book. More excited than I was for the first one! I think it’s because of everything I went through to get it done. The manuscript was due on my publisher’s desk by August this year. In the same month, I was also to give birth to my fourth child. It was a race to the finish line in both cases. Now on the other side, it’s such a great feeling to be holding the finished product in my hands.

The thing I love most about books are the characters in them. This particular book is a sequel to my first book, The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots, so it is also set on the Cape Lambert Wharf on the Pilbara. Readers will meet a lot of familiar faces and see their journeys continue. Dan and Lena get their very own stalker. Sharon and Carl’s relationship almost meets with a tragic end. Leg and Radar continue to make mischief. The person my readers will be most surprised about however, is Gavin. In Boots he wasn’t exactly a likable character. I think Lena describes him as selfish and shallow. In Hard Hat he does start out that way but soon it becomes obvious that there’s so much more beneath the surface. I hope they enjoy this bad boy’s journey to redemption.

I did of course, add a few new characters. How could I resist? My particular favourite is Chubb. When Wendy first arrives on site, I needed her to have a confidante. Initially I had her turning to Lena for advice. But they just didn’t seem to gel very well. Enter Chub, the irreverent, foodie with an uncanny ability to see to the heart of things. It was hard to say goodbye to him when the story ended. I may just have to bring him back in another book.

I’m looking forward to seeing your next novel, The Sunburnt Country on the shelves in March as well. I have really enjoyed your other books, particularly for your strong heroines. Thanks again for listening to me prattle on about my FIFO girls. Now I must get lunch together for the kids.

Best wishes,

Loretta Hill