You would think this would be the easiest question of all, but it's not. I wouldn't say I chose my genre...because my stories CHOOSE me. That being said, though all three of my books have been different, they are all LOVE STORIES. The Romance genre is a very large tent and I'm happy my stories are at home here. My tag line is: 'Romance may be pretty but love stories are real.' That's the kind of story that appeals to me. Real people, real stuff.
What do you find most challenging about the writing process, and how do you deal with it?
To make sure I'm being historically accurate with details. My stories have spanned from the Edwardian period to the 1920's and most currently the 1960's. I'm a dog with a bone about details and actually love the whole research process.
When and where do you do your writing?
I'm so lucky to have my own writing space. A home office decorated with all my favorite things. With my beautiful Yellow Lab, Elizabeth Bennett by my side, I spend hours at a desk so big it has its own zip code. I have no set schedule for writing. I'll collect dozens of thoughts, words, phrases, and notes in my audio files in between writing sessions. When I can actually sit down at the computer, I'm ready to go.
What have you learned about promoting your books?
That you can never do enough. Ha ha. What I LOVE about the process is all the people I've been able to connect with, who follow me on my social sites. To have this little relationship with people from all over the country and all over the world...it's humbling.
What are you most proud of as a writer?
That I actually published a book. Do you know how many people talk about writing a book one day? How many people dream about it? I took that dream and nailed it down on paper. I'll be forever proud to say, "I did that."
If you could have dinner with any writer, living or dead, who would it be and what would you talk about?
I'd prefer to have a big dinner party with the table full of interesting guests from all eras, because my tastes are too varied to put into one box. I'm usually reading at least two books at any given time and I go back and forth depending on the mood of the day. But if I were lucky enough to be invited to this fabulous soiree, I'd hope to be seated next to Jane Austen. I wonder if she'd be pleased to know I named my dog Elizabeth Bennett?
Author Bio
ROMANCE MAY BE PRETTY BUT LOVE STORIES ARE REAL.
Down every road is a story. The telling of my story has a distinct before and after quality to it. My life before, was a love story. A Hallmark movie. With a couple of I Love Lucy episodes thrown in for good measure. Boy meets girl in High School. Sweeps her off her feet and marries her. But after 41 years of love and laughter the bottom fell out with the uttering of one little word. Cancer. A love I thought I'd grow old in, slipped away in the middle of the night. Leaving me to ask, what now?
Thankfully the writing that sustained me through my entire life was there to catch me when I fell. At first I poured it all out onto the pages of my journal. A mix of words, ink, and tears tucked safely between the leather covers.
Here I am in the after part of my story. But the after is also the NOW. Eventually the purging of emotion led me back to another story that had been pushed to the back burner during trying times. Characters who had been waiting patiently began to nudge and push. It was time to sit down at the computer and let the story be told. Let the healing begin.
When I ask the question, who am I now?...I realize though the road may have changed, I'm still a storyteller.
If it's one thing I know about, it's love. But I'm not interested in simply writing about; boy meets girl. My tag line is: Romance may be pretty but love stories are real. And that's where I want to be when I'm writing...down deep where the real story lives. Because love is messy. And glorious. I want to roll around in a story and fall in love. Want to come with me?
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