IMBROGLIO star Noel Valentine agreed to this interview with Kathryn E Jones for her blog A river of stones a while back and both Noel and Kathryn have said I can reproduce it here on my blog. Given Noel is the star of my novel IMBROGLIO I’m pleased to be able to add it to my website IMBROGLIO page.
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Hello Noel, lovely to meet you. Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed. There are so many questions I’d love to ask you about David and why you got involved but that would spoil the surprise for readers who haven’t yet discovered you. So I’m going to keep them general. Would you tell me a little about yourself (where you live, who you are, what you look like, what you hope to achieve, etc.)
My name is Noel Valentine –Alana hijacked my story for her conspiracy mystery thriller IMBROGLIO. I live in a studio apartment in Elisabeth Bay on Sydney Harbour. I work in the city as a PR consultant with William T Hall Advertising. I’m 25, 5’8”, pretty slim, have longish dark hair and my eyes … I like to say topaz with green flecks. These scars on my hands and arms—it’s okay to ask about them—the doctors say they won’t look so bad after a while. It’s only been a few weeks … I was on holiday in Cairns in Queensland and was behind a car that ran off the road down an embankment. It burst into flames. I managed to pull one of the men out but not the other—the police say he was dead already. And I got these burns.
 Phoebe Tonkin, the Australian actor the author would choose to play IMBROGLIO star Noel Valentine if a film version were made. Photo from ThePlace2.ru |
 The view Noel has from her studio apartment in Elisabeth Bay, Sydney. Photo by Alana Woods |
As for aims in life; once it was to be at the top of the PR game but that was before … well, before things went haywire. For the last couple of years it’s just been putting one foot in front of the other every day. But since all that’s happened in the last couple of months I’ve been able to look at the bigger picture again and I have to say that life has improved. I’m thinking that maybe I’ll stick around to grow old after all.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I swim. I find it incredibly relaxing mentally. My father taught me when I was little. Most mornings I’ll swim at Coogee but my parents have a pool and if the weather’s no good I’ll duck over to their place and do a few laps.
What is your favorite colour and why?
White. I know people say it isn’t a colour but I like it. It’s not the only colour I wear but it’s what’s predominantly in my wardrobe.
What is your favorite food? Why is it your favorite?
I been known to have fads ☺ Last one was Italian, current one is Thai. Why? The flavours.
What would you say is your biggest quirk?
Gloves! Ever since my hands and arms were burnt. I can’t go into a shop now without making a beeline for the gloves section. The last ones I bought were these lovely little lacy things, like gossamer, but enough to disguise the scars.
What is it about your antagonist that irks you the most, and why?
That would be Nick Donaldson, the lawyer managing Gem Techtronics. Everyone thinks he’s an upstanding pillar of society but he’s a criminal and one day I’ll prove it. And he’s a sleaze, which really is the icing on the cake. He cornered me on his motor cruiser the other night; it was a work thing and I was there with William. Such a sleaze!
What or who means the most to you in your life? What, if anything, would you do to keep him/her/it in your life?
Family. Definitely. I lost my dad when I was young. Mum remarried a terrific chap. And I have two younger half brothers who drive me insane but I love them to bits. I’d do anything to keep them in my life.
What one thing would you like readers to know about you that may not be spelled out in the book in which you inhabit?
I’m not a manipulative bitch. I know, given what’s happening, there’s a tendency for people to think I am. But, please, look a bit closer at the circumstances and what I’m trying to do before making up your mind about me.
If you could tell your writer (creator) anything about yourself that might turn the direction of the plot, what would it be?
Don’t put me in the water! I can sort out my issues without being put in that kind of life-or-death situation.
Ask me any question. I’ve always wanted to know what a character thinks about writers like myself.
I’ve been wanting to get this off my chest for a while now, ever since I found out Alana had written a warts-and-all about my life without consulting me. Why do writers believe they can do that? Write someone’s story without asking first. And why do they feel entitled to include the most intimate of details; things, at least as far as I’m concerned, I’d never in a million years have revealed to my mother let alone the world.
Noel, thank you so much!
You can find IMBROGLIO star Noel Valentine and read her story in IMBROGLIO
@PhoebeTonkin
This interview first appeared Kathryn E Jones’ blog A river of stones
Read my interview with David Cameron
