I have special guest Kamy Chetty talking with us on my blog today! Let's give her a warm welcome!

Kamy Chetty, thank you so much for being on the blog today!

Tell us what a day in the life of Kamy Chetty is like.

A typical day would be me playing mum in the morning and dropping my teens off to school and then while I am stuck in Auckland traffic, I make use of the time by listening to audio workshops. I work five hours as an education manager implementing nursing education programmes and planning and delivering training for home help carers and nurses in primary health. Then I get to come home and so what I love, which is be a writer. By that point I am either interrupted by hungry children or a loving husband saying dinner is ready.

What was your favorite subject in school?

Definitely English and I’m not sure if it was because my teacher let me get away with reading other material in his class or because I loved reading and writing so much.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

Since I was five years old, all I wanted to do was be a nurse, which surprised my parents because they could never see my doing that type of work but, it’s what I wanted to do.

When writing, do you prefer silence or some kind of background noise?

I have to have music and usually I will have a soundtrack that I work with for a particular book. The soundtrack usually shows the mood of the book so I choose the songs carefully.

Coffee or tea?

Coffee definitely. I can’t drink tea except herbal teas.

What animal would you choose to represent you and why?

Ooh, that’s a bit of a hard one. For some reason a Bengal tiger comes to mind and I can’t say why. I can tell you that I can be protective over my babies- they may be teens but they are my babies. Two of them. I am loyal and strong but I have a soft side too and I love to be petted.

Morning person or night owl?

Definitely a night owl. I am not a morning person at all. I’m the one who will hit the snooze button five times before waking.

City or country?

Country- definitely. I like the quieter side of things and I prefer to chill and enjoy life. I came from a country that was too busy and too much about material things so now I prefer to take things easy and enjoy life.

Do you prefer to have a schedule or wing it?

I can do both and having worked in emergency for so many years, I can cope with it. So it’s nice to have a schedule, but I know that in life things happen and I roll with the punches and I am pretty easy.

Tell us something about yourself not many people know.

I seem to be telling people many of my secrets with these blogs :-) I had a fear of water and therefore never learned how to swim growing up. My husband decided that as a family we should learn, as we now live on an island and so I learned how to swim a few years ago. Not well, but I can swim.

What inspired you to be an author?

I have always loved writing and I have always written. My English teacher even encouraged me to enter writing contests but I never got round to it. Then when I came to New Zealand I was reading a book and I threw it across the room saying, I can do better than this.  That’s how the journey began.

Do you have any pre-release traditions?

Not at the moment but with my second release coming out I will let you know :-)

Who would you pick to play your female character in the movie?

It would be a toss up between Katherine Heigl and Charlize Theron

Your male character?

Ian Somerhalder- without a doubt

Do you have any authors who inspire your writing?

I believe contemporary romance is changing and writers are finding ways to get the best of their work out there and that in itself is an inspiration. 

If so, who are they?

Some of the authors who inspire me are Louisa George and Nalini Singh

Who are your favorite authors to read?

Nalini Singh, Amy Andrews, Maya Banks, Natalie Anderson, Kim Harrison, Karen Robards, Louisa George

When you have downtime from writing, what do you like to do?

I usually have a brain overload so I usually get on my treadmill and watch an episode of True Blood or catch up on my TV series. Quality family time is also a big plus. Teenagers don’t often want to hang out with their parents unless you throw in a movie or fun activity but it usually works :-)

Do you make an outline or just write?

           I am a bit of a plotter and a punster. I usually know a bit about my character arcs and what I want to achieve during the course of the book but I won’t have any idea as to the details and then I start writing and it comes together. I find that having a little structure does help to keep you out of writing yourself into a corner, it also helps to keep the pace up.

What advice would you give aspiring writers?

     Believe in yourself, never give up, be prepared to take on board constructive feedback if you really want to improve and become published because often other writers want to help you. You need to be strong enough to admit you need that help. Find a crit partner or writing group and have fun too :-)