Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Margaret Tanner: What Is She Doing Now?

Thank you Judith and Sarah for welcoming me back as a guest for RTG Anniversary. I am very pleased to be here with you again.

Margaret Tanner
For those who don’t know me/or remember me from earlier times. I hail from Australia and write Australian Historical Romance and Western Romance. Up until recently, all my Historical Romance novels were with publishers, and my Western novels were self-published. Once I received my copyright back, I proceeded to re-publish my Historical Romance stories one by one.

Why did I do this you might ask?  My last publisher was excellent. Due to changed family circumstances I needed the flexibility of being able to publish as many or as few books as I wanted. I wasn’t on a deadline, and if I didn’t have time to promote, that was fine because I was the only one affected.

I accidentally fell into writing westerns. I have always been a western fan, and I used to watch endless westerns on TV, Bonanza, Little House On The Prairie, Wagon Train, the list goes on and on. A friend, who writes Western Romance novellas, suggested that I should try my hand at writing a western, and I did. I wrote a short story for a Western Anthology which whetted my appetite, and I was honoured to be part of the American Mail Order Bride series (50 brides from 50 different states). Well, after that I was hooked.

Surprisingly enough, there are many similarities between frontier Australia and the American West, including a large single male population with few women of marriageable age. Isolation, lawlessness and hardship, not to mention wild animals and hostile natives. Only the brave and resilient would survive such a hostile environment, fighting to carve out a life for themselves and their families in the harsh, untamed wilderness. Yes, we had stagecoaches, which were often held up. Our men carried guns, but not in holsters like they did in America, usually it was stuck in the man’s belt. Many of our pioneer women could shoot a rifle and ride as well as any man. Their homes were built of split logs. Sound familiar?

My other era I fell compelled to write about is the 1st World War, or the Great War as it was called. 1914 – 1918 are the centenary years of this terrible conflict, so I wanted to mention it here.  I have visited the battlefields in France, Belgium and in Turkey. Beautifully kept cemeteries, but so many young men lying so far from home, the poignancy of it brought tears to my eyes.

All my books are available in Kindle and print format on Amazon.

I will briefly mention only two of my books here, one a Western, and the other set during the Great War.

The Sheriff’s Outcast Bride.
A Western Cinderella story. Becky’s reputation is ruined by a lie. Her only hope of salvation rests with Blackwood’s Marshall, Ryan Mulligan. Will he prove to be a saviour or a sinner?

Daring Masquerade:
When Harriet Martin masquerades as a boy to help her shell-shocked brother, falling in love with her boss wasn’t part of the plan.

Margaret’s Links:



My book is Cora, Bride of South Dakota and will be published on December 28. The books are in KU for the first 90 days.
Cora will be available for pre-order in the next day or so and I will post the link.






1 comment:

Sarah Raplee said...

It's good to hear from you, Margaret!

I'd love to read both the books you described! They sound really good! I love all the history you include in your stories.

Happy Writing!