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Q:
How long does it take you to write a book?
A:
That depends on when my deadline is J. In general, about six months for a
historical, and about two for a contemporary series book. Anthology stories
take about a month.
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Q:
I’m an aspiring romance writer. Any advice?
A:
First of all, don’t ever give up. If your dream is to become published,
keep writing and recognize that publishing goes hand in hand with
rejection. Also realize that publishing is a business and should be
approached as such. I strongly recommend joining Romance Writers of
America, a professional organization of over 9,000 romance writers, both
published and unpublished. After joining, you can then look into becoming a
member of a local chapter in your area. This will help you make contacts
within the industry, hone your craft, and receive feedback. Check out RWA’s
website at
www.rwanational.org for more information. Other than that, keep writing
and don’t ever give up. I know I already said that, but it bears repeating.
J
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Q:
Red Roses Mean Love is a fantastic read and this book
has gotten me really interested in flowers. Did not know pansies meant
“you occupy my thoughts.” Where did you get your info from? Is
there a book on such? I’d love to know what white roses represent.
A:
I, too, became very interested in the language of flowers while researching
Red Roses Mean Love. The book I found most helpful and turned to most often was called
Tussie-Mussies by Geraldine Adamich Laufer. According to the book, white
roses can represent: unity, silence, keep my secret, I am worthy of you,
love, respect, or beauty.
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Q:
Where do you get your ideas?
A:
Everywhere! Newspapers, music, tv shows, conversations, current events,
historic events. Most of my stories arise from a game of “What If?” For
example, the idea for Who Will Take This Man? came to me while channel
surfing late one night. I came across an Indiana Jones movie and started
thinking, “What if Indiana Jones had lived one hundred years earlier?” And
“What if Indiana was a nobleman who had to get married, but he’d unearthed
an ancient curse that doomed any woman who became his bride?” From that,
the kernel of the story was born. Since I can never tell when inspiration
might strike, I try to keep a pad and pencil handy, but I often end up
taking hasty notes on any scrap of paper available.
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Q:
Did you study writing in college?
A:
No, although I’ve always been interested in it. My
degree is in international business.
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Q:
I read Love and the Single Heiress and enjoyed
the chapter headings from the Ladies' Guide. Was that an actual
book or did you make it up?
A:
All of the excerpts from A
Ladies' Guide to the Pursuit of Personal Happiness and Intimate Fulfillment
are from my own imagination (although I bet the ladies of Regency
England would have enjoyed such a scandalous book immensely!). The
Ladies' Guide excerpts will be featured as chapter headings in Not
Quite A Gentleman as well.
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Q:
I saw a book by you and Kat Martin called Sin Corazon listed on Amazon but
couldn’t pull up any details about the book. What’s the story about?
A:
This is one of those weird Amazon glitches that I’ve tried
without success to have corrected. I have to idea why my name is
listed. The book is a Spanish translation of one of Kat Martin’s books
and has nothing whatsoever to do with me. I’ve had a number of titles
translated into Spanish, but none titled Sin Corazon.
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Q:
I like to read books in a series in order. Which of your books are
connected and what order should they be read in?
A:
All of my books that are part of a series stand alone, so if
you read them out of order, you won’t be scratching your head thinking Huh?
But I agree that reading connected books in order adds to the reading
experience. I have two sets of connected books. I’d suggest
reading them in the following order:
The Whirlwind Series:
Whirlwind Wedding, Whirlwind Affair
My Avon historicals:
Who Will Take This Man?, Love and the Single Heiress, Not Quite a
Gentleman. A fourth book in this series will be published in Fall, 2006.
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Q:
I like that you write both historical and contemporary books. How do you
keep them straight?
A:
I’m always waiting for a copyeditor to find a cell phone in
Regency England or a horse-drawn carriage in 2005 J. (hasn’t happened
yet!). I really enjoy writing a shorter contemporary book after
writing a long historical. It keeps me fresh. I also find the
idea of plunging into another 400 page manuscript right after finishing one
very daunting. Switching from one to the other just seems to be a good
writing rhythm for me.
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I receive a lot of mail regarding my
characters, mostly asking if I’m planning to write sequels. Here’s the most
frequently asked:
Q:
Are you planning on doing anything with Callie or any of the
other characters from Red Roses Mean Love? I so enjoyed the book and
was interested to see what happened to the Albright family--Nathan, Andrew,
and mostly Callie. Are any of these characters in any of your other
books?
A:
I haven’t written any sequels to Red Roses Mean Love
and none of those characters have appeared in any of my other books
(although I have used the names Andrew and Nathan in later books as my
hero’s names, they are not Albright characters). At this time, I’m not
planning to write any Albright sequels, but I’d never say never!
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Q:
Just wanted to know if the characters from Who Will Take This Man? have been
in any of your previous works? The Greybourne name sounds familiar.
A:
Nope. They made their first appearance in Who Will Take
This Man?
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Q:
I loved Philip’s sister Catherine in Who Will Take This
Man? Please tell me she’ll have her own story!
A:
She does! The book is entitled Love and the
Single Heiress.
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Q:
I just read Love and Single Heiress and I think Genevieve would make a great
heroine. Are you planning to write about her?
A:
At this time, no. However, I do agree that she would
make a wonderful heroine, so it’s definitely something I’m keeping on the
back burner.
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Q:
I have really enjoyed your books and want to know if there will be a sequel
to Whirlwind Affair about Michael Evers. He was a terrific character.
A:
When I wrote Whirlwind Affair, it was my intention to next write Michael’s
story. However, after Whirlwind Affair came out, I changed publishers. We
mutually agreed that it would be better for me to begin a new series of
books with new characters. I’m not planning at this time to revisit Michael
Evers, but who knows what the future holds? J
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Q:
What’s coming up next for you?
A:
I’m so glad you asked! I have a website page devoted to this very
question. Click here to find out all the details!
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Thanks so much for
taking the time to ask me these questions! Don’t hesitate to drop me an
e-mail if there’s something you’d like to know. |
