If you've discovered the bestselling novels written by my husband, author J. Robert Whittle, you may already be familiar with the part I have played in his story since we published his first book in 1998. As Robert's editor and publisher, I soon found myself enjoying his short children's stories so much I turned one of them into our first book in the "Moonbeam Series." A few years later, one book turned into two complete with audio books and I was truly an author. The fun of these books is that they feature three of our own grandchildren. Shayla was seven when she joined me in a recording studio and read her own part for the audio book of Book Two. She did so well and it was a fun experience for both of us.
You want to know about me?!
If you aren't familiar with our books you may be surprised to find they contain no sex or graphic violence and we keep the cursing to a minimum - our Victoria Chronicles trilogy has no cursing at all and it's our most popular books.
"(Before my 30s) no one ever taught me about setting goals, thinking positively or believing in myself. In the past 10 years, I have learned that believing you can do something is only half the battle."
Since we began producing books in 1994, I have had a bio on our website about my author/husband, J. Robert Whittle and his interesting life but now, for some reason, people want to know more about me! Perhaps it's because they have come to realize that Robert can't possibly do all this alone ... yes, I am the hub of the wheel which has made our publishing company so successful. Just saying that is difficult because I am by nature a modest person who has never felt that comfortable in the limelight, although I have been tossed into it many times in my life. Today, I'm not only publisher, editor, webmaster, and author, but marketing director, wife, mother, and grandmother. So let's see, what else can I tell you about myself.
I was born in Victoria, BC in 1945. My mother was already a war widow so we lived with her aging parents and mom went to work to support us all. I learned early about having a strong work ethic. My first loves since I was a young teen has been books and music ... especially singing. As a 17-year-old, with mom's encouragement, I moved my quiet hobby of singing from my bedroom out into the public and became the soloist at Job's Daughters. The next year I became a Chapter Sweetheart for a DeMolay chapter and I did a lot of singing at meetings and public events. I married and had two children continuing to sing in choirs and taking voice lessons. I drove my young family crazy when I rehearsed my new love ... grand opera and the classics! Today I rarely sing (mainly due to allergies) and I miss it terribly. Divorced years later, as a single parent, I returned to live in Victoria where the next stage of my life was about to begin.
I am a perfect example of how life can take over on it's own accord and guide you to a wonderful new beginning ... within the next year I met Robert.
When we got together in 1985, more than 10 years were ahead of us before he began to write (see his bio for how that came about) I was so taken by this previously unknown talent, I decided I was going to publish one of his books and introduce him to the reading public. The fact that first book (Lizzie : Lethal Innocence) became a Canadian bestselling novel, through the support of mainly local readers, was our second miracle (discover our first miracle in Robert's bio).
We have had an amazing journey and because of this I re-discovered how much I loved writing. Thus, in the past 10 years, I seem to have become a book editor and publisher, webmistress and marketing director, for a small but successful independent publishing company located in Victoria, BC.
Our company, Whitlands Publishing, now has 11 books to its credit, several audio books (Lizzie, my Moonbeam Series and in 2005, an autobiography containing Robert's life stories which I directed and produced (Laughing Through Life). Yes, I wear many hats in our organization and not one bit of it was planned, at least not for the first few years!!
I was born in Victoria, BC in 1945, but the important part is really the fact that I was the daughter of an Air Force couple who had met during the middle of WW2. Mom and Dad met on the Canadian Prairies where they were part of the British Commonwealth Training Plan but sadly Mom became a young war widow expecting a child (me), a common fate to many women as a result of the war.
When I met Robert we searched for a business to do together and then in 1994, he needed something to do while recovering from surgery and surprised us all by discovering he could write. The great thing was he loved it! We had no idea where this was going to lead us and, admittedly, we might not have begun if we had realized then that we would pour our heart and soul into it for at least 12 years! We soon realized that selling books is such a competitive business it's almost impossible to make a living from it so this became our labour of love which certainly gives a lot of pleasure to readers.
When I decided to publish that first historical novel in 1998, Robert did not believe he was a good writer, however, soon after publishing that first book, the accolades began. It would take a while for him to believe he had a talent for writing - only a few months after people began reading his first published novel at Christmas! There's a lot more on this story of how Robert's rotten leg and surgery started this process on his bio page.
My most favourite job was always the editing process but now it gets even better with me as Robert's co-author. The success of our working partnership has been amazing and we both love our lives thanks to the support of our wonderful fans.
In 2007, we won our first Independent Publisher Gold Medal for Loyalty's Haven and what an honour. But later that year we wrote and produced our first collaberative novel, Whispers Across Time, our tenth book which won our second Gold Medal in the same contest - which some readers claim is our best yet! Whispers Across Time received rave reviews from fans and reviewers.
It's now the end of 2009 and we are still moving along, so check our Event page and see where you can find us.
Thanks for reading.
Joyce Sandilands
