THERE was a pause, and a wistful look and then Nicola said: “My heart is in historical novels’.

The former nurse at Musgrove Park Hospital has turned from what could be described as an amateur writer into a professional. What once was a hobby is now a full time job, one with ups and down, highs and lows and pressure but it is one which Nicola loves.

She is set to release her third novel, The Cornish Dressmaker in May, while having already written her four and well on the way to completing her fifth.

The plot of The Cornish Dressmaker surrounds choices, the choices of Seamstress Elowyn Liddicot who has to decide who to marry. Is it Nathan Cardew or is it William Cotterell?

Time they say is a luxury but it is one luxury you need when you are writer even thought the pressure is building and the clock is counting down towards a deadline.

Her latest book took one year to write and while it is part of a trilogy, the other two being Pengelly’s Daughter and The Captain’s Girl, published by Corvus Books, you can read them in isolation and enjoy each as being pure escapism.

Nicola said: “My first book was easy to write, the second was fine but I had to organise a social platform, a website as I was a new author.

"The third, this new one, was fine but it is getting harder as I spend a lot of time promoting the books, getting on with my life and still have to find time to write.

"It is getting busier and it can be like a merry go round but I do enjoy writing.

"I like taking my time, doing my research and reading old letters.

"I could be described as a slow writer but I like things to be exact and right.”

Nicola must be getting ‘it right’ as her books are selling in the UK as well as in Australia and New Zealand.

She added: “Knowing people are reading them, knowing they are selling well, gives me the confidence.

"I like to write chronologically and let the characters build up.

“At heart I am a romantic writer who loves the historical novel and my favourite era in the late 1700s, the years after 1790- the age of enlightenment.”

Details about Nicola and her books can be found online at nicolapryce.co.uk