An Interview with Myself

Because no one else will do it…

First, do you want some quick info about who I'm not? It even has pictures.

Do you believe in HEA’s (happily ever after)?

Absolutely. I hope everyone finds their own HEA.

Then why don’t you write them?

I do! Haven’t you read Darker Water??? Sure it was on a dare, but I did it. And I loved it. Everything I write has, or will have, a happy ending. My avoidance of them in my two urban fantasy series (Hyde and the Heights) is simply because these books have so many subplots and complications that I have a hard time believing two people living in these worlds can truly find their happy endings in 400 pages. If the characters are ‘real,’ meaning they have the same hang-ups as most of us do, other hang-ups caused by their paranormal-ish-ness, plus lots of strife from outside, murderous forces, I don’t think they can simply ‘get over it’ and be together forever in the last fifteen pages of a book. I imagine it like this:

Hero says to heroine: “Look babe, I know we’ve spent the last 380 pages arguing, proving we are angst-filled and total messes, going after the bad guy(s), and fighting our feelings for each other, but we only have 20 pages left. And in those twenty pages, we have to save the world, declare our love for each other, and still have time for another hot sex scene. So…let’s get on that, shall we?”

To me, that’s just not plausible. Some authors can do it but not many. And certainly not me. I love my characters because they are real to me—tortured and totally dysfunctional. They need more than one book to get over their issues for me to believe they are ready for a lifelong commitment to someone. Then again, I really try not to say ‘never’ anymore–it always seems to come just before I do whatever it was I thought I’d never do.

Where do you ideas come from?

I am constantly inspired by the people around me. Someday someone will steal my computer and find hundreds of half-formed ideas for characters, plots, and stories. The thief might even think a few of them are good.

Where did you learn how to write?

I blame everything I know on the amazing writers on www.critiquecircle.com, my local writing group (*waves hello* Wassup, Witches?!?), and my cruel-yet-brilliant critique partners.

What was the first thing you ever wrote?

Aside from small assigned projects in high school and college, I wrote the first few chapters of a project called “Kara’s Journey” (great title, right? Ugh) about a girl who visits Montreal, Canada, to meet up with a man she fell for at a resort in the Caribbean. That brilliant storyline came from the fact that many years ago, I went to Montreal to visit a man I fell for at a resort in the Caribbean. In the story, he ends up to be a bad guy. In real life, he ended up to be my ex-husband. Perhaps my creative mind was trying to tell me something.

But my first real attempt at writing fiction was a full-length novel called “Think No Evil” about a telepath. I would love to eventually blow the dust off of it and fix it up well enough to let someone read it, but that may be impossible. After that, I wrote a number of short stories to learn the craft of writing.

The second novel I attempted was Hyde, an Urban Fantasy.

Who inspires you?

Everyone inspires me. But in terms of writers, I’d have to say JR Ward for her insane ability to create a mood and truly be in her characters’ heads, Karen Marie Moning for her cliffhangers and the way she can say something truly profound while staying in her character’s voice, Piers Anthony for his humor and use of puns and clichés, and…about a billion others. Stephen King, Agatha Christie, James Clavell, Robert Michener, Robin Cook, Dean Koontz, Maeve Binchy, and…maybe two billion others.

There are very few romance authors in that group.

True, although their books all have romantic subplots in them. But I was introduced to the romance genre late. I, like many people, looked down on the ‘bodice rippers’, and had a totally incorrect impression of all romance novels. Not to mention that the genre has come a long way since then and has developed subgenres that everyone can enjoy.

More to come, but since I have a deadline looming, I should probably get back to work.