A collection
of the questions I’m asked most
often, in interviews, at conference workshops,
or whenever I mention that I’m
a romance novelist.
How long have you been writing and
what did it take to get published?
I started in 1995 after reading an article
in a women’s magazine that made
writing a romance sound like a walk in
the park. Ha! It took five years of studying
the craft and reading the books and figuring
out what readers looked for, and then
it took a large dose of luck: finding
an editor who liked my voice and my story.
That came after I entered the manuscript
in The Clendon Award, a contest run by
Romance Writers of New Zealand. I received
The Call in February, 2000 and my first
book was published in July 2001.
Why romance?
Why not? I love reading romance and
I love writing it. I love the positive
messages (love, home, family) and the
certainty of a happy ending. I love creating
a storyworld within my control, where
the good guy gets the girl and the girl
gets whatever she wants.
Do you write all the time or just when
the muse strikes?
I am a professional writer; I sign contracts
to deliver books on agreed-upon dates.
To enable me to honour those contracts
I have to write regularly—not every
day, but close to it. I then take some
time off between books to decompress
and catch up on other jobs.
How long does it take you to write
a book?
I allow 2 months per book, but that
is after I have put some work into preparing
the proposal that sold me the book in
the first place. That might have taken
another month or two. So, all up, let’s
say 3-4 months per book which, allowing
for holidays and research trips and such,
works out at 3 books per year.
What is your writing schedule?
I would like to write five days a week,
during school hours, but I am not quite
that regimented. I’m not a morning
person so I consider it a good day if
I’m writing before noon. Often
I don’t get started until after
lunch. I then write through until my
day’s pages are done (I have a
set weekly schedule I try to keep to)
which may be before dinner or sometimes
I have to finish them up at night. In
the week or so before deadline, I’m
usually a maniac writing all hours of
the day and night. Why, you ask? Because
I usually discover a major story hitch
that I need to go back and rectify and
which impacts on everything that’s
come afterward.
Do you outline your stories before
you write them, or do you “go with
the flow”?
To sell a book, I need to provide a
detailed story synopsis of about 10 pages.
Rather than a full outline, I come up
with the major plot points necessary
to write the synopsis. Then, when I’m
writing the story, I still have some
room for surprises in how I get from
plot point to plot point. The key turning
points provide a very important framework
. Because I write short word-count stories,
I need to be precise, to remember my
purpose and not to get carried away on
tangents.
Which of your books is your favourite?
At any one time that will be either:
the one readers are writing to me about,
the one I just finished, or the one I’m
about to start and which has filled me
with enthusiasm.
Do you design your own covers?
No. We do suggest scenes for the cover
but the experts in art and marketing
have the final say. I blogged
about this in more length here.
What are the best things about being
a romance writer?
Working from home with no dress code.
Research trips. Finding some of the best
friends a woman could ever have in fellow
romance writers. Spending my days immersed
in a world of make-believe, where I pull
the strings, where I make everything
better and produce a happy ending.
Who are your favourite authors? Have
any influenced your writing?
Absolutely. As a teen I loved Lucy Walker’s
outback romances, also Georgette Heyer’s
witty dialogue and the dark passion in
classics such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering
Heights. Loved Jilly Cooper’s “little” romances
for their wit and quirkiness and the
realism of the characters. When I started
writing I was influenced and motivated
by Australian successes such as Emma
Darcy, Helen Bianchin, Valerie Parv,
Miranda Lee, Alison Kelly and by the
breakthrough into Silhouette by NZer
Fiona Brand. As a reader I love Barbara
Samuel (aka Ruth Wind), Suzanne Brockmann,
Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Crusie
and in category Jennifer Greene, Leanne
Banks, Barbara McCauley, Virginia Kantra,
Eileen Wilks. I’m not sure if any
have influenced my writing (I can only
write in my voice, as the words come
out of my head) as much as they’ve
motivated me to write better and to understand
what drives the kind of romance I love.
Have you ever suffered from “writer’s
block”? If so, what did you do
to get out if it?
I suffer from perfectionism. Sometimes
I simply cannot find the words to convey
the scene rolling through my head and
that frustration stalls me. Sometimes
I can force myself to work on another
scene. Sometimes I need to walk away
and do something else--reading, watching
movies, anything that relaxes me and
gets me away from my writing--until I
work out the problem.
How has being published changed your
life?
Not a great deal, except I work longer
hours and harder at my writing now it’s
my job. Also I don’t feel guilty
about the long hours or the conference
trips or the research expenses or the
books I need to read. That’s all
part of the job—one of the many
fringe benefits that make this my dream
job!
How has living in Australia influenced
your writing?
The obvious first answer is in my choice
of settings, which include Australian
cities, small towns and the outback.
But Australia is a vast land with a huge
diversity of environments—using
them all will keep me busy for a long
time yet. Next influence is on my characters.
Australians are characteristically laconic,
dry-witted, don’t take themselves
too seriously, and sports-mad. I suspect
some of that comes through in my writing.
Then there’s my language and word
choice, which gives me away as an Aussie
even when I’m trying to write “American”.
I want to write a romance--where do
I start?
By reading, reading, reading. Read a
lot of romances from across the sub-genres
and think about what kind of romance
you want to write. Will it be sharp and
quirky, or warm and funny, or poignant
and heart-wrenching, or dark and spooky,
or chilly and suspenseful, or hot and
wild? Do you prefer real true-to-life
characters, larger-than-life archetypes,
or fantastical worlds that stretch your
imagination? Will your story be set in
the past, the present, the future? Do
you like traditional hero-heroine relationship
books, or do you want another story (a
mystery subplot, a secondary relationship,
a theme that transcends romance) mixed
in? Read until you know the kind of story
you want to write, until the ideas are
bursting from your mind, and then sit
down and start writing. I don’t
recommend reading a lot of craft and
how-to books because they sometimes stifle
a newbie’s enthusiasm. If you have
a story to tell, tell it first and THEN
look at the craft and technique issues
as you edit that first draft. If you
do want some help with structure, I recommend
starting with either Valerie Parv’s
or Kate Walker’s or the Robyn Donald/Daphne
Claire books. See
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