How
did you get started writing?
All my life I have been a voracious reader. One day I read a particularly bad historical
romance and thought, I could do a better job.
So I bought a typewriter (yes, this was before home computers) and
started a book. I quickly learned that
it's not as easy as it appears, but I finished that novel that terrible first
draft and realized I loved writing. At
that point, I began the journey to learn how to craft stories. Along the way, I
met some fantastic writers who not only taught me the craft, but some were my
critique partners who helped guide me on this journey. It took me three books and eight years before
I published. I published nine
historicals with a major New York Publisher before I decided to go straight
Indie.
Tell
us about your current book.
My book, The
Wanted Bride is a runaway bride story. My heroine is an only child who has
received everything she wanted and never had to work hard in her life. But
that’s about to change.
What
is your favorite part of writing?
I love to storyboard an idea, so that I have the
necessary map to take me on the journey. Then I sit down and I let the fingers
fly on the keyboard, while the movie plays in my head. I'm sort of the stenographer at his point,
just getting the story down on paper. I hit roadblocks and things change along
the way, but to me this is the best part of writing, just letting the story
flow onto the page.
What
is your least favorite part of writing?
My least favorite part of writing is the last
draft. At this point, I've edited the
story 3-4 times. Usually around draft 5, I have everything the way I want and
I'm going back through to make certain that the scenes work, end on a hook,
setting, grammar, etc. By the last
draft, I'm ready for the story to end and to start thinking of a new project.
What
is your next project and when will it be released?
Right now, I'm working on the first draft of a Christmas
novella that is about the matchmaking mother in my Burnett Brides series. I thought she deserved her own story. So Eugenia Meets Her Match is what I’m
currently working on.
What
is your typical day like?
I get up at six am, ride the elliptical for twenty
minutes and then I'm off to the computer.
I work on the computer for an hour and then get ready for the day
job. The day job is working for a small
insurance agency, where I take care of commercial insurance for clients. I'm home at five thirty and back on the
computer until supper time. Eat a quick
bite and then back on the computer until about nine o'clock, when the body
wears out and the eyes start to see double.
I sit downstairs and watch several taped TV shows, until I crash into
bed about eleven o'clock.
How
has your experience with self-publishing been?
I absolutely love self-publishing. I'm learning as I
go, but I know that I don't have the time to do everything, so I am hiring out
editing, cover design and formatting.
That being said it's really important that you find someone who is good
at the formatting. I’m in charge of my
own destiny and if I fail, it's no one's fault but my own.
What
advice do you have for other authors wanting to self-publish?
I was scared to try. I also didn't want to be seen
as someone who was "vanity" publishing. It took me hearing from at
least three people that this was the future and how successful they were before
I decided to put out my backlist. Now, I
doubt I ever sell to another New York Publisher. I'm not a New York Times
Bestseller yet, but I'm doing okay and I'm publishing again. I'm hearing from
readers again. I'm back doing what I love and I'm not waiting for an editor or
agent to send me a rejection letter any longer.
Now I'm working at my pace, not a publishers pace. I'm happier than I've been in years and it
just feels right for me.
What if you found out five minutes
before you walk down the aisle, that your best-friend is pregnant by your
fiancé? Everyone is seated in the church when Valerie goes running out the
door, jumps in his vintage corvette to escape until the car breaks down in
downtown Dallas.
I won’t tell you what
she did, but there’s a reason it’s called The Wanted Bride. If you like sassy heroines and tales of women
who change, then you’ll enjoy The Wanted Bride.