Author Darry Fraser has always had a love for the Murray River ever since she was a little girl.

As a child, she spent five years in Swan Hill between 1963 and 1968 and loved the romance of the area.

"From my childhood memories, living in Swan Hill was one of the best times I ever had," she said.

"Back in those days, a lot of my time was spent on the river or running around the streets with my friends.

"For me, the river and the bush were very romantic things through a child's eyes."

Her new novel Daughter of the Murray is a fast paced, historical romance about a headstrong young woman during the 1890s.

"A lot of readers have come up to me and said that it hasn't been what they expected it to be,' she said.

She will be visiting Swan Hill for the first time since the '60s to hold a book signing at the Swan Hill Regional Library on February 1.

It has been 34 years since she first sat down to start writing Daughter of the Murray.

"(It) has been going on for a very long time," she said.

By a twist of fate, Ms Fraser finished the manuscript around the same time that the popular television show All the Rivers Run first aired in 1983.

"I couldn't believe it. Although the stories were very different, both focused on a strong woman living by the river in the 1890s," she said.

"I had to shelve the book because I was afraid I'd be accused of plagiarism."

Since then, she has written ten novels, nine of which have been published through various mediums.

"I read a lot of different books across a lot of different genres," Ms Fraser said.

To read more about this story, grab a copy of Friday's Guardian (January 20).