Hello - My first blogg

My name is Joanna and I live in Richmond, Surrey, UK. It's my ambition to be earn my living from my novels. To help achieve this I joined The Richmond Writers' Circle in 1997. Creativity wise it's the best thing I've ever done. Comments from the group have helped me turn mediocre scenes into powerful ones. Often it's just a matter of changing the viewpoint or setting. Capturing the attention of a publisher these days is so difficult that I self-published my first novel and have been pleasantly surprised by the enthusiastic reaction. It is called Vissi d'arte (www.vissi-d-arte.com) and is set in an opera school in Melbourne Australia. My second novel, Eumeralla, is about family secrets, tragedy and love and is set in the Australian outback - due to be published soon. The writers' circle has been a constant source of inspiration to me and many of my postings will be about them and writing.
Another source of inspiration is the National Archives where I work. Having been passionate about British History since childhood, it is a fantastic place to work and the documents held there are amazing. Just holding an ancient deed fills me with wonder.