The write stuff: Poole author Nikki Moore

The mum-of-two, who lives in Poole, grew up in the county and is hoping her new work will give the area "time to shine".

Nikki's first book, a rom com called Crazy Undercover Love, was published as an ebook in April 2014 and in 2015 she published a series of five novellas, the Love London series, all set in the capital city - another of her favourite haunts.

With the first set of foreign rights for the Love London series acquired and the novellas being published as ebooks in Italy in May and June - as well as Nikki having taken a year off of writing following family bereavements, a change of role in her HR day job and seeing her daughter through her GCSEs - she felt it was time to return to her Dorset roots.

"I had a call from my editor in January 2017," she says. "She asked me to go to London, said she had an idea. We've been working on this new book together ever since. It's a women's fiction novel and it's going to be set in Dorset.

"One of the questions I asked her was 'where do you want this book to be set? Do you want it to be London again?' She said 'what do you want to do?' I've been told over the years by a number of different agents and editors that books set in Dorset are only ever cosy crime, but I'm really passionate about Dorset. I've lived here my entire life.

"There are so many stunning places. I think it's a shame not to set it somewhere so stunning. There are a lot of people that have never been to Dorset - I feel like I'm sharing one of my favourite places in the world with people. I think it's time for Dorset to have its time to shine a bit more.

"I'm having a great time writing it. It has been difficult and very hard work at times. I'm hoping to finish it this year and hoping it will be out next year."

Realising she was never going to get the book finished if she continued working full-time, Nikki reduced her hours to four-and-a-half days a week to dedicate one afternoon a week just to writing.

She also visited a Retreats For You writing retreat in North Devon for five days, during which time she managed to write 25,000 words - a quarter of the book.

"I decided to plough some money and time into it - I thought this book deserved it," she explains.

"I definitely feel that every book I write it gets better and closer to the finished article. The book that became my published novel must have been the eight or ninth draft. I think this book it will be the second or third.

"So this novel has been really close to my heart. This book, for me, will be perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Paige Toon, or Dani Atkins. It's an epic love story. It's a mix of current day and flashbacks as well."

Nikki already has her sights set on her next project - completing a book she has been writing on and off for the last ten years, having begun the novel when she was recovering from an operation following diagnosis of Achalasia, a rare disorder of the oesophagus, which causes it to lose the ability to move food along.

The illness, which saw Nikki spend six weeks with a naso-gastric tube to her stomach, was the catalyst for her writing journey, having always harboured a secret desire to become an author and follow in the footsteps of her aunt, best-selling writer Sue Moorcroft.

It's clear Nikki has a passion for her craft which, for her, is so much more than just a way of making money.

She shares writing tips on her blog, is a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association - which is how she met her editor - and is an avid reader herself.

"I have to write," she says, simply, "when I write, I'm happy. If it entertains someone, or takes them out of their own world for a couple of hours, I'm happy with that.

"I still feel in some ways that I'm pretty near the beginning of my journey. I will keep writing for as long as I've got stories in my head that I want to tell. The fact that I make money from it is just a bonus."

W: nikkimooreauthor.wordpress.com

Twitter: @NikkiMoore_Auth

Facebook: NikkiMooreWrites