Writer living the dream
Having her debut novel launched by one of the world’s largest publishing companies is a dream come true for Wendy Vella.
The Reluctant Countess is the One Tree Hill writer’s first published work.
It’s being released in e-book format by New York based company Random House’s specialist romance digital book line, Loveswept.
Ms Vella is also the first New Zealander to be published by the line which is headed by romance genre great Sue Grimshaw.
‘‘I started writing because I ran out of stories to read and it’s become a real labour of love,’’ she says.
‘‘Now, after finishing more than 10 manuscripts over the past nine years that I’ve been seriously writing, it’s good to get some acknowledgement that what I’m writing is regarded as publishable by an editor of Sue Grimshaw’s calibre.’’
The Reluctant Countess is set in the Regency era which is one of the most popular genres of historical romantic fiction and Ms Vella’s favourite.
The author works fulltime as an administrator for Barfoot & Thompson in Pt Chevalier and says it’s taken a huge amount of determination to get where she is.
‘‘I write every night, and I’ve done that for the last nine years. My family is very supportive, they read all my books, and put up with me spending so much time at the computer,’’ Ms Vella says.
She is currently working on her next project which is a series of three historical romance books.
‘‘It’s such a huge part of my life now, I can’t imagine not writing. My ultimate goal is to become a fulltime writer and I’m now one step closer to that dream.’’