'Waking up in a sumptuous seventeenth-century French château every day is a dreamlike opportunity for any historical author.' That's what Maggie Hamilton, then the wonderful publicist for Random House Australia, said about the experiences in France that partly inspired my first novel, La Créole. Truth to tell, it's hard to pin down where the impetus for each story comes. All I can say is this: writing is a drive that exhilarates and challenges me. Cheryl Sawyer is my maiden name and I was born in Wellington, New Zealand, then lived in Cambridge and Auckland. I have been a teacher and university tutor and hold two master's degrees with honours, in both French and English literature.My first historical mystery: MURDER AT CIREYMy gradual descent into a life of crime began a long time ago, when I was working at the Château de Breteuil, southwest of Paris, and asked the marquise: 'Who is the beautiful woman in that painting?' She turned out to be one of the best-known of that already famous family. Born Gabrielle-Émilie le Tonnelier de Breteuil, she became Marquise du Châtelet, a physicist and mathematician, and translator into French of Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica. She also lived with the notorious and fascinating poet/philosopher Voltaire at her Château de Cirey in the Champagne countryside.I read their letters and works, researched their lives together and, very much later, visited Cirey. Since then I've written a great deal about them - but this is the first novel I've released in which they appear. Why a crime novel? Du Châtelet's and Voltaire's lucid observation of life, the universe and everything convinced me that, if a military police investigation were mounted on their territory, they'd react in ways no one could ever predict. Especially if Voltaire were first suspect ...Free Literary MentorAfter a long career in publishing I now write full-time, and also offer a free service to writers and readers on my website http://www.cherylhingley.com/