To contact Margaret
McDonagh, please send an e-mail to
.
I cannot remember a time when my nose wasn't buried in
a book. My parents fostered my love of reading from
an early age and I devoured everything I could get my hands
on. I adored children's classics like the Anne of
Green Gables series and The Secret Garden. I loved
Enid Blyton's Famous Five and Secret Seven, the adventure
books by Willard Price, and the Sue Barton nurse books
by Helen Dore-Boylston. Most of all I loved the wonderful
pony books that kept me entertained for hours on end ...
authors like Mary O'Hara, Ruby Ferguson and the Pullein-Thompson
sisters. They inspired my dreams and fired my imagination. Then
came more grown up books, fiction and non-fiction, plus
the escape to the world of Mills & Boon® romances! I
read avidly but always knew that I had to write.
Ever
since December 2005, when I received the phone call telling
me that Harlequin
Mills & Boon® were to buy my manuscript for
their Medical Romance™ line, the
months have flown by! It was a dream come true and
one, after twenty years of writing novellas for My Weekly
Story Collection and Linford large print, plus serials
and magazine short stories for The People's Friend, I believed
would never happen. I was stunned, tearful, in shock
... and so excited! It took me a while to
prise myself off the ceiling! Then, in October 2006,
that first Medical, THE ITALIAN DOCTOR'S BRIDE, was
on the shelves in the UK! I still cannot believe
this is actually happening, that I won't wake up and find
it is all a dream.
Several more titles have followed,
with more in the pipeline, and all the stories are loosely-linked,
with familiar characters popping up again from time to
time. My fictional world of Strathlochan and the
wider villages and rural population, is one I hope readers
will enjoy discovering as much as I love writing them. I
have chosen to stay with southern Scotland as the setting
for most of my books because I love the feel of close-knit
communities and medical professionals for whom caring is
more than a job. As well as the natural beauty of
the area, the people are wonderful, and I have loved the
place since my very first family holiday there as a youngster. A long time
ago!
It's a hard life having to sit
and stare at a picture of a yummy man all day long and
write romantic and sexy things about him! I have
a great selection of photos to call on and on which I base
a look or a mood or a trait for my characters. My disappointment
at having to file the pictures away when the manuscript
is done is only eased by throwing myself into the next
set of characters and getting out a new hero photo to begin
work on! And it is good to know that it isn't really
goodbye – my characters will live on and reappear
in future.
Although I have never worked
as a medical professional, I have rather too much experience
as a patient! I also have some very good friends
working in various health fields who are extremely generous,
providing any information I need and answering my endless
questions. Having a passion for learning makes researching
an involving pleasure and I love developing new characters,
getting to know them and setting them challenges to overcome.
Romance writers are a terrific bunch of people. I
feel very blessed because writing has brought me many joys
and many special friends who have been so generous with
their advice and so unstinting in their support. And
I am honoured to be sharing shelf space with some of my
very favourite category romance authors whose books I have
read and enjoyed and found an inspiration for so long. I
am also so grateful to my wonderful editor for believing
in me and for all her encouragement and support.
Aside from writing and reading
books, my hobbies include listening to music, debating
current affairs and watching sport, especially football
(soccer), athletics, golf and motorsports. I also
have a passion for animals and would love a whole menagerie! I
hate cooking, housework and hot weather but I love the
countryside, crisp autumn days, my sponsored orphan elephant,
Lualeni, (who is with the marvellous Sheldrick Wildlife
Trust in Kenya), and drinking Innocent smoothies, especially
the Cranberries & Rapsberries and Mango & Passion
Fruit varieties!
Special thanks are due to the
amazing artist Jim Wylie who has allowed me to use some
images of his wonderfully atmospheric paintings to bring
Scotland, the setting for many of my stories, to life on
these pages. Please see the links page for details
of his own website and places where his incredible work
can be viewed and bought.
Most importantly, I would like
to say a big thank you to you, the readers, for visiting
my website and for your interest in my books. I hope
you continue to enjoy my stories, my characters and the
special world of Strathlochan.
If you would like to
email me, I would love to hear from you ... and I hope
you continue to enjoy the magic of reading all your lives.
Aside from writing and reading
books, my hobbies include listening to music, debating
current affairs and watching sport, especially football
(soccer), athletics, golf and motorsports. I also
have a passion for animals and would love a whole menagerie! I
hate cooking, housework and hot weather but I love the
countryside, crisp autumn days, my sponsored orphan elephant,
Lualeni, (who is with the marvellous Sheldrick Wildlife
Trust in Kenya), and drinking Innocent smoothies, especially
the Cranberries & Rapsberries and Mango & Passion
Fruit varieties! 
