Welcome to my fun Q&A where you’ll discover new things about some of your favourite authors. Shirley (with the best last name EVER) is adding a little New Zealand flavour to my blog series that celebrates art (because my new novel is a love story about a sitter and an artist!!) It’s actually fitting that Shirley follow on from Lily Malone’s author portrait, as Lily would also like the last name ‘Wine’. As would I, although I fear mine would more likely be ‘Whine’.
Welcome, Shirley, let’s start…
Q: As pose and composition are important factors for a portrait, choose what kind of ‘look’ would you like for your portrait.
- On a chaise lounge (Kate Winslet/Titanic style)
- Fully clothed in a rocker (Whistler’s Mother style)
- A close up of your face (Girl with the Pearl Earring style/Mona Lisa)
- In all your formal finery befitting your ‘authorly’ status (Regal style)
- Other
A: A close-up of my face
Q: *Snap* I just took your photo as a reference for my portrait of you. Tell us where you are and what you’re wearing. (Be honest.)
A: I was all dolled up to attend the New Zealand Governor-General’s Waitangi Day Garden Party on February 6th 2018.
(Shirley, you looked fabulous with Jacinda and in that hat!)
Q: Given a choice, what precious item would you want to be included in a portrait of you?
A: A pendant my Mum gave me before she died. My Dad had given it to her many years earlier.
(Shirley, you may very well relate to the characters in A Place to Remember!!)
Q: With acquired savant syndrome* featuring in my next novel, I’m curious . . . If you were to wake up from a coma one day to find yourself totally obsessed and a genius (in something other than writing, of course) what would you want it to be? (music, painting, languages, maths, touching your toes while typing, etc)
A: Definitely, an artist. I’ve always admired people who can turn a blank canvas into an arresting piece of art. I don’t paint, but my house is filled with artwork. It feeds my soul.
Q: If you happened to wake up one day and be a genius with a paintbrush, whose portrait would you want to paint and why?
A: Dame Whina Cooper … I can hear you say, who is she? (Yes, do tell, Shirley.) Dame Whina was an 80 year old Maori lady who in 1975 set off from Te Hāpua (in the far north) and walked to Parliament in Wellington to protest the sale of Maori Land by the Government of the day. She was one gutsy lady who believed in standing up for what was right.
Q: Your preferred medium would be?
- Oil on canvas
- Watercolour
- Pencil/Ink
- Pastels
- Kiddy crayons
A: Definitely Watercolour
(Your wish is my command, Shirley!)
Picasso once asked the question: “Are we to paint what’s on the face, what’s inside the face, or what’s behind it?” In my next novel, the artist says to 58 y.o Ava, “A mature person has depth of character and it’s their layers, built from life’s lessons that interest me the most—when wisdom replaces curiosity and experience replaces youthful exuberance.”
Q: What two traits would you hope an artist captures in a portrait of you?
A: Hope and perseverance; what is life without either of these qualities? It is Hope that keeps the human spirit alive, without hope you have nothing.
Q: Because every fireplace deserves a portrait, in whose house would you hang a portrait of you as a surprise and what would they say?
A: My youngest daughter, she’s endured some really hard times. I would like to think she would be heartened to receive such a gift as a reminder that despite sorrow and sadness, life does go on.
Q: Keeping in mind that lucky recipient of your portrait, how would see yourself framed?
- Minimalist or no frame at all – just the canvas (take me as I am)
- Modernist – chrome, nothing too fancy
- Sophisticated – warm, wood, old world
- Flamboyant – go all the way and gilt-edged!
A: Definitely Number three …nothing beats the mellow charm of old wood.
Q: Finally, if someone was to add a plaque/title your portrait, how would it read?
Shirley Wine: Life’s Survivor.
(I hear ya, Shirley. You have triumphed despite every sad and bad thing. You are an inspiration and I am so glad we caught up here in Oz in 2015. Must do that again!)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Shirley Wine is from a large farming family in which oral storytelling was encouraged, a throwback to her family’s Irish roots. She has lived and worked on the land alongside her husband for many years, and a love for the land runs as deep as the blood in her veins, so writing rural romance was a natural progression for this author.
No stranger to devastating personal tragedy, these experiences are often reflected in Shirley’s often gritty stories about triumph over adversity.
For many years, Shirley was a freelance writer with a regular ‘Country Comment’ column in a New Zealand national daily newspaper, and she has worked on local and regional newspapers. A long-time member of Romance Writers of New Zealand, Shirley is now retired and lives with her husband in a quiet rural Waikato town with one spoiled cat and two equally spoiled dogs.
Website https://www.shirleywine.com
Shirley’s latest Book: Caught By Her Spell http://a.co/2jMuRum
GIVEAWAY: Shirley has TWO e-copies of Caught By Her Spell to give away.
Just leave a comment.
Before you go…
I will have more book giveaways, author portraits and some special gifts to celebrate my 5th novel, so you might like to subscribe to my newsletter. March 1 is ‘E’ day for A Place to Remember. Yep, you can be reading it before the book hits the shops (March 19 in Australia/NZ and April 5 overseas). I have all links right here in my Book Room.
*Acquired savant syndrome, in which a person acquires prodigious capabilities or skills following dementia, a head injury or concussion, epilepsy or other disturbances.