Frequently asked questions
Q. What made you decide to write a book?
There wasn't one defining moment. Writing a novel is a dream I'd harbored most of my life. I'd dabbled in freelance writing and had success with articles, but I was a voracious fiction reader and had stories of my own that demanded to be told.
Q. Why write in the romance genre?
I've read variants of romance since I was a teenager, sneaking books from my grandmother and mother who were both avid readers. Those first books were medical romances and series romance and the fact they were can't-put-down reads. Later, I started reading historical romances and fell in love with the larger than life characters of the past, as well as learning about the fascinating facts of history that we didn't learn in school.
Q. What's the market for romance?
Well over a billion in total sales each year. Romance novels have comprised over 50% of popular fiction sold in North America, and around 40% of all popular fiction sold. Romance Writers of America has the latest stats on the market.
Q. What’s the hardest part about writing?
Making it fresh each time. Writing the first draft. I don't do intensive plotting or draw up character charts-—I've tried and just can't wrap my brain around that technique—so I learn the important things about my characters as I write, which often results in a total rewrite of my early chapters.
Q. How do you get your story ideas?
From life. I'm a people watcher and I'll usually read about or see someone who'll spark an idea. Then I play with that situation, letting the germ grow through a series of what-ifs until I come up with conflicted characters.
Q. Are your stories historically accurate?
As much as I can make them. I do extensive research, but there will always be gray areas in history that can't be authenticated. I've also found sources who don't agree on something, and unless I can find a tie-breaker, I have to make a choice. Then there are those times when an author has to take literary license to make a plot work.
Q. How long does it take from story idea to finished novel?
Anywhere from a one to a year! Four months is a comfortable time frame for me, but I've done to hammer a story out in a month several times.
Q. How did you go about selling your first novel?
After failing to find an agent interested in representing western historical romance, I submitted a partial to an editor. A month later, she offered me a two-book contract.
Q. What's the best advice you can give an aspiring novelist?
Write from your heart. It doesn't matter if it's romance, suspense, futuristic or paranormal or straight fiction. Your characters must come to life on the page so the reader can feel their soaring triumphs, crushing defeats, and driving desire to succeed and grasp the brass ring.
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