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LOREN TEAGUE |
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Biography: Writing and reading books has been an integral part of my life ever since I was a child in Scotland but it was only later in life that I took up writing professionally. After immigrating to New Zealand, my first article was published in the Nelson Mail in 1996 and I went on to review books for that newspaper and other writing magazines. In 1998, with the increasing use of the internet, I could see there was huge potential for an online book review scheme in New Zealand, so as a feature of the New Zealand Writers’ Website, and in conjunction with New Zealand publishers, I set up a scheme offering writing opportunities to around thirty writers. (This scheme is now run by the NZ Society of Authors and is in its eighth year.) From judging writing competitions to organising publicity for other authors, I learnt a lot about the book publishing industry and so started my own manuscript assessment service, Pen and Ink, in 1999. This gave me a chance to help other writers as I knew what it was like to write a novel and need feedback and guidance. My first novel, Jagged Greenstone, a romantic suspense, was published as an ebook in 1999 by New Concepts in the US. The novel was a finalist in the Romantic Novelists’ New Writers Award in the UK in 2000 and also Highly Commended in The Clendon Award organised by Romance Writers of New Zealand. As an immigrant to New Zealand from the Highlands of Scotland, time and distance has brought another perspective to my Scottish heritage and so it was with great passion I wrote Highland Rebel, a historical romantic adventure, published by Whiskey Creek Press in April 2006. The novel received an Honourable Mention in the Richard Webster Award—New Zealand’s only award for popular fiction. At the end of 2007, my romantic suspense novel, True Deception, was accepted for publication by Robert Hale Limited in the UK and will be published in hardback in July 2008. Under the name of Gina Martinelli, I’ve now launched into erotic romance with my first short story accepted by Xcite Books. After ten years in the writing and book industry it’s been quite a journey—and in spite of the long hours and hard work at learning my craft, the low points and also the high ones, and not forgetting the many people I’ve met (some of them now long time friends and colleagues) I reckon it’s been worth every moment. Here’s to the next ten years.
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novelist |
