Guest post by author Renae Lucas

After hearing about the novel, Tokyo Hearts: A Japanese Love Story, I was so intrigued about why the author writes about Japan, that I asked her to write a guest post about it. So I'll hand you over to Renae Lucas to explain...

I’m an Australian-born British novelist and writer of Japanese fiction and non-fiction. When I was 21 years old, I completed a major in Japanese language and culture at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. After finishing my degree, I travelled to Japan where I lived in Setagaya, Tokyo for twelve months, teaching English at various language schools. When I returned to Australia, I continued to teach English privately to the wives and children of Japanese expats. Several years later, I moved back to Tokyo where I taught English for another twelve months. When my visa expired in Japan, I returned to Australia and at that time I decided that I wanted to study Marketing. Therefore, I went on to complete an Advanced Diploma of Business at RMIT University in Melbourne, before moving to the UK. I attended a primary school in Hertfordshire when I was a child and for many years I always wanted to return to England and live and work in the UK on a permanent basis. My dual citizenship allowed me to do this. I met my husband in Surrey and we decided to settle in Yorkshire where I worked for three and a half years for a well-known investment company, in the area of client communications and correspondence. At this time, I decided to write my first novel so I travelled to Tokyo and Kyoto for three weeks to research and gather information for my first book “Tokyo Hearts: A Japanese Love Story”.
This was published in June 2012. My husband and I moved to Gloucestershire a few years ago. We now live in the Cotswolds with our Siberian husky and I’m currently working on a collection of Japanese short stories and the sequel to “Tokyo Hearts”.
For more information, visit http://www.cherryblossomstories.com/