Author: Jenn J McLeod

Hi Loretta, let’s start by telling me if it’s scones and tea or some other homemade delight you have whipped up for me today!!!!! 🙂
As you can see, three of my kids are running around like blue arsed flies and the baby has been screaming all morning, so I haven’t had time to bake. Actually, I haven’t had time for breakfast yet. Feel like a bowl of cereal with me?

(Hmmm, feeling a little Fruit Loopy, actually.)

At home… 
My mum says garden gnomes make a house a home! Are you loud and proud in your love of garden gnomes at home, a closet gnomer or with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?
I have no gnomes. Actually, the thought of getting some has never occurred to me. To be honest they kind of creep me out. I have no idea why. Maybe I’ve seen too many horror movies where inanimate objects come to life. An evil dwarf running around with a shovel scares the hell out of me!

(Hmm, okay, did NOT need that image! *cue scary music*)

What vegetable (or fruit) have you always wanted to grow at home?
Hmmm… well I love avocados. I would love to have them on tap in my garden but I’ve heard they’re pretty hard to grow. As I’m definitely an amateur gardener I think I would be wiser to practice with something that doesn’t take as much watering or maintenance – like a cactus.

(Avocados are easy. You need a male and a female and … voila! A happy ever after! You’re good at those :))

If I came to your home and looked in the refrigerator, what would I find?
First of all, please don’t! My fridge needs a clean out. It’s a jungle in there. My family tends to show love through food. And for some reason, can’t think what, they all think I’m struggling with the kids and everything. So whenever someone comes to visit which is almost daily – (I have three sisters and a mum who lives just up the road) they bring something. You’ll find currently in my fridge… half a mud cake, half a casserole, half a pot of curry, a tub of fried noodles, a lunch box of tuna fish sandwiches, a take away container of chilli con carne and the list goes on…

(And I’m getting cereal?! Crack open that mud cake, Loretta! Sheesh!)

If you sorted your wardrobe by colour, what colour would stand out? (Ahh, do you sort your wardrobe by colour?!)
I tend to have a lot of natural shades. Ie. brown, beiges, whites, blacks, oranges and reds. But half my clothes don’t fit me at the moment. I’m sort of still trying to lose my pregnancy weight. I say, “still trying” because despite my rock hard willpower (kidding) it’s kind of hard getting on the exercise bike with one baby on the hip and another trying to cut it’s fingers off in the spokes of the wheels.

(Ouch!)

What are you wearing now? (Be honest!)
Pyjamas. When I said I hadn’t had breakfast yet, I probably should have mentioned I wasn’t dressed either. You don’t mind do you?

(No, but if you coud take the child currently sticking those same fingers in my Fruit loops…!)

Whose home would you like to housesit and why?
That’s a hard one. There isn’t a particular type of home that I want, unless you’re talking hillside mansion overlooking the beach with it’s own cleaning and cooking staff. Honestly, my sights really aren’t set that high. I’d just be satisfied with a house that had no toys in it. Not a single teddy bear, car, gun or push button singing machine that is supposed to teach your kids the alphabet but really just drives you insane. I think if I could just have a space, just for one day without a single laugh from the cookie monster, that would really clear my head space, which is a little cluttered. Can you tell?

(Gun? Maybe let the kid have the Fruit Loops!)

Country curiosities…

We love a sunburnt country (slip, slop, slap and all that). What’s your ideal hat? Or are you a boots person?
Well, last year I was a boots person 😉 But this year obviously it’s hats. A “Hard Hat” of course. Yes, this is going to turn into a shameless plug for my new book, out this month : The Girl in the Hard Hat. It’s about a woman called Wendy who comes to town to find the father who abandoned her at birth but gets a lot more then she bargained for. To be precise: Three hundred fifty men with an attitude problem and a bad boy called Gavin who won’t leave her alone. It’s packed with all the fun it’s predecessor, “The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots” had : lots of laughs and of course, a delicious spine tingling romance.
By the way, you can attach broad brims to hard hats if you’re out in the sun a lot. My heroine Wendy is not big on that though, she’s too busy worrying about cyclones rather than sun stroke.

(I have a book coming out in a month. Of course I love a shamless plug, Loretta, and that question was just for you!)

If you were a tree (or animal) what kind of tree (animal) would you be?
I’d be a bird. I’d love to fly.

Now for the big question… Why did the chicken cross the road?
Because the hot rooster on the other side winked at her.

(See? Happy ever after – as long as that wasn’t one of those monster mine truck that just … Uh-oh! 🙁 )

About you…

Your turning point: I remember my turning point with House for all Seasons (See? Shameless plug!) When was that point in your life that you realized that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?
I guess when my first book got accepted for publication. I realised that in achieving my goal, one journey had just finished and now I was beginning a new one. Getting published is definitely only chapter one in a career as a writer.

What is the hardest part of writing for you?
Starting a new book. I think it’s because I lack confidence in the story. When you first start you always think, “this is just rubbish” and you have to keep reminding yourself “Of course it’s rubbish. It’s the first draft.” And just push past that barrier till you start to get more comfortable with your new world.

If someone was to write your biography, what do you think the title should be?
Madness, Multi-tasking and Motherhood.

(Working title: Fruit Loopy and Fabulous ;))

What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you answer that question?
My fantasy question would be: “Would you like nanny?”

My fantasy answer would be. “Yes, please. When can she start?”

(She? Come on, Loretta, this is fiction. Go the manny!)

Now… About “The Girl in the Hard Hat”

To tame a bad boy you will need:
a. One hard hat
b. Three hundred and fifty sulky FIFO workers
c. A tropical cyclone

Wendy Hopkins arrives in Wickham to search for the father who abandoned her at birth.
 She never expected to get mixed up in construction site politics at the Iron Ore wharf just out of town. But when she takes a job as their new Safety Manager she becomes the most hated person in the area. Nicknamed, “The Sergeant,” she is the butt of every joke and the prime target of notorious womanizer, Gavin Jones.
However, to solve the mystery of her past, she must persevere. Only she can save these workers from the coming storm, find a man who wants to stay buried and …put a bad boy firmly in his place.

Find out more about Loretta and her charming stories: www.lorettahill.com.au

Thank you Loretta and thank you readers.

If you enjoyed this (or if you want to know about my March 1 online launch fun – right here – subscribe to my blog and I will let you know what, when, where.