Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart. And they both take practice.
Nora Roberts
Certainly the plagiarism, and dealing with the fallout of it, was the most difficult thing I've ever faced since I started writing.
Every writer has to figure out what works best - and often has to select and discard different tools before they find the one that fits.
I do indeed write on the road. My laptop goes with me everywhere.
Action, reaction, motivation, emotion, all have to come from the characters. Writing a love scene requires the same elements from the writer as any other.
I'd always loved to read - and come from a family of readers - but I never thought about writing as a career.
I read a lot - and I read a variety of genres.
The most important aspect of any story, to me, is character.
For over a year I continued to submit mss, and have them rejected - the last few with rejection letters indicated the story was pretty good, but I was American.
Mary Stewart will always be my goddess. I can pick up one of her early books - one I've read a dozen times - and still slide right into the story.
Actually, I find it great fun to develop family series with lots of characters.
Every single book is a challenge.
I don't base any character on a real person, and really don't do composites either. I make them up.
Aren't most romance heros, or heros in fiction of any kind, generally superior to real men? Same goes for heroines and real women.
I need to write to be happy.
I loved the process of writing.
I decided to write category romance as I'd recently discovered them, and enjoyed them.
In the summer of '80, Silhouette bought my first book.
I long for typical days, but rarely get them any more.
I find I use the Internet more and more. It's just an invaluable tool. I do most of my research on the Net now - and certainly do the bulk of my communicating through email.
I've gotten to know a number of readers from being online, and really treasure the time I've spent with them.
I don't think you can write - at least not well - if you don't love stories, love the written word.
One of my greatest pleasures is falling into a story someone else has written.
If you write in category, you write knowing there's a framework, there are reader expectations.
I don't believe for one moment you can write well what you wouldn't read for pleasure.
I believe strongly in writing groups such as Romance Writers Of America that offer support, information and networking.
You don't find time to write. You make time. It's my job.
And each book has to receive your best effort every single time. No slacking.
My own sense of family, where I came from and what I made for myself is an important part of my life.
I generally write a first draft that's pretty lean. Just get the story down.
I don't fiddle or edit or change while I'm going through that first draft.
I would hope that my writing's cleaner than it was when I started.
