Kate’s 25th party, guest blogger #15 – Fiona Lowe

Today I’m delighted to welcome my guest blogger, fellow Medicals author Fiona Lowe. We haven’t yet met in person, but we’re working on it (and there will most definitely be partying involved!). Despite a time difference I can never quite work out (it’s 12 hours, roughly, but before or after? I get it wrong every time), we manage to talk about all kinds of things – gorgeous heroes, chocolate, pianos, music, medicine… Anyway, I’ll stop talking now and introduce you to Fiona, who's just back from holiday - so don't mention the word cr*c*d*le to her...

It’s so exciting to be here to help Kate celebrate her 25th book!

It got me to thinking about what I was doing when I was 25. I had just started doing my Midwifery training. My very first shift was in the Nursery and I had to change a nappy. Much to my embarrassment, I had to ask how it was done!! I learned very quickly how to fold nappies for boys with the extra folds :o)

Up until that point in my life I’d had nothing to do with babies. At the time I wasn’t totally sure why I was doing Midwifery except that it was ‘the thing to do’ if you were going to work in the country. And that was the plan.

Training to be a Midwife was a turning point in my life. Suddenly gone from my working life were sick and dying people. Instead I was bringing new life into the world and watching families take shape. I adored it. I became passionate about it… just ask my friends and family :o)

And it influenced my writing. The very FIRST book I ever tried to write was all about midwifery. The French Doctor’s Midwife Bride is the rebirth of my very first book.

The original idea for this story hit me back in 1995 when I was pegging out nappies for my first-born. I loved the idea of an independent midwife who balanced her time between community midwifery and hospital midwifery. I loved Xavier and Charlie but the story wasn't quite good enough so I put it aside, waiting until I had the skills to tell their story.

When I peeked back into the lives of Xavier and Charlie I asked them this question. "What if everything you ever believed in suddenly changed?"

Xavier, my deliciously gorgeous French doctor, with an accent that makes your knees go weak, has just realized the women he thought he would spend his life with has been using him to gain a career advantage. He's packed his bags and come to Australia to restart his life and he is determined to give all career-minded women a wide berth.

Charlie is a passionate midwife and believes that delivering babies and living in Amaroo is all she needs to be happy.

Suddenly, with Xavier's arrival her independent midwifery program is under threat.

Set in a fictitious town in southern Australia where the whales come each winter and give birth, Xavier and Charlie battle their attraction for each other and eventually learn there is more to life than work and yet work is a vital part of their life.

GIVEAWAY: Fiona’s offering a copy of The French Doctor’s Midwife Bride (with the lovely new UK cover)

GIVEAWAY QUESTION: Please tell me a story about a baby, or a French Doctor or about whalesJ
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