Arlette Gaffrey

Welcome and thank you for visiting my AMAZON Author's Page.

People often ask me how I go about writing a book. What can I say? Stories just begin forming in my mind until sooner or later they demand to be written down.

My first book "A World Of His Own: In The Land Of The Creoles" started several years ago by taking on a life of its own. For the first year or so, I simply thought about it. But then the story became so strong I had no choice but to put it to paper.

It was the same with my second book "Behind The Columns". I know this sounds strange, but once I start writing, my stories literally take over. For instance, with "A World Of His Own: In The Land Of The Creoles", I never thought Gabrielle would have the terrible problems she ended up with - that wasn't at all how the story was supposed to play out. But Gabrielle was so headstrong and willful that I simply couldn't control her!

Another thing I find interesting - my characters pick their own names. And if I don't give them the name they want, the story will simply stop until I do! Go figure.

I have found I truly love writing. For one thing, it is never lonely and it is most certainly *never* boring! How could it be? I have so many interesting people to spend time with - Andre, Julie and Jean Lafitte from my first book and Desiree, Lance and all the others from my second, not to mention all the wonderful and funny characters from my upcoming books.

This year I entered my book "A World Of His Own-In The Land Of The Creoles" in the Readers Favorite Author Book Contest and I won second place in the Fiction-Historical/Cultural. My review was wonderful as my book was rated 5 all across the board, and five is the highest rating.

For those of you who would like to know something about my personal life, I was born and raised in New Orleans, LA. My family settled in New Orleans in 1834 and I am a French and Spanish Creole.

When I was 18 I began modeling in CA and absolutely loved it! It was shortly after World War II and it was a time for beautiful clothes to return. I considered myself quite lucky being able to wear the high fashions that were all the rage at the time, and modeled off and on until I was in my late fifties.

I married a career Naval Officer who was also a Navy pilot. I have three children and six grandchildren. When my children were growing up, I enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom. I loved being with my three little ones - they were always so much fun. And I also loved the busy social life that came with being a Naval Officers' wife, all the pomp and ceremony and even all the moving from one side of the country to the other, never knowing where we would live when we got there.

Other things I love...

Old movies, and I do mean "old". I have a huge collection, some dating back to when I was a child in the 1930s. I've been puting all of my VHS movies on DVD and it's a good thing since I'm up to about 1,500.

Music of the big bands - Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and so many others...

The great singers of that time - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Doris Day...

And I dearly love my hometown, New Orleans. There's an old saying, "You can take a native out of New Orleans, but you can never get New Orleans out of a native."

As you read "A World of His Own: In the Land of the Creoles and "Behind the Columns", I sincerely hope you enjoy the characters and their stories as much as I have enjoyed writing about them, and that you catch a glimpse of the New Orleans that I love, a city like no other in America. And if you enjoy my books I'd love to have you give the books a review on Amazon.

I have a third book I hope to have published soon. It's totally different from the first two. This one is called a Regency Romance, takes place in Englsnd in 1814. The title is "It Happened in London". I'll let you know as soon as it's published.

Thank you again for visiting my author's page.

For more information, pictures, and upcoming books, please visit www.arlettegaffrey.com.