Here is an interview I did for another blog:
1. How long have you been writing? How many books?
I have been writing for twenty-six years seriously. I sold my first book July 1981 and have sold 47 since then.
2. Tell us about “The Call.”
I wish I could tell you about the call. I honestly don’t remember a whole lot about it. I got the call from my agent and I was stunned. The book hadn’t been at Silhouette more than a month when they bought it for their Silhouette Romance line (a new line). I accepted right away and was thrilled. I remember answering the phone in the kitchen on a July afternoon. The first person I called was my husband. We celebrated that night.
3. Where did you get your idea for this latest release?
I am a teacher in a high school and have dealt with different situation involving children in foster care and parents who leave their children to raise themselves. I have talked with our social worker at school about certain situations and that has led me to want to write a series using the foster care system as a backdrop.
4. How detailed do you plot before you start writing?
I know the beginning and usually the black moment and the resolution of the story. I know who my characters are and I often have certain pivotal scenes that I want to have in the middle of the story. Other than that I don’t plot until I’ve written a couple of chapters. I like to get a feel for the characters and their interaction before I start figuring out scene by scene what I want. I don’t always plot scene by scene even after that. That doesn’t mean I don’t know fully what my characters’ goals, motivation and conflicts are.
5. What else do you do to help you keep characters straight, etc.?
I write scenes down on cards and move them around until they make sense to me. I have a chart I use listing the chapters where I can mark if I addressed the hero or heroine’s goals, motivation or conflicts. It also addresses if I introduced a secondary character or dealt with a subplot. The chart is a visual cue to help me make sure I have covered everything and have at least three reasons for a scene.
6. Do you consider yourself plot-driven or character driven?
Can I be both? Actually in my romantic suspense books I’m more plot driven while in my Love Inspired romances I’m more character driven. I want to stress I think characterization is more important than plot because if your reader doesn’t care about your characters they won’t care what happens to them.
7. What comes easiest to you as far as writing is concerned?
Story ideas come easiest. I have six or seven I want to write. There isn’t enough time in the day to get all the things done and books written.
8. Other comments to inspired gonnable published authors?
Don’t give up and keep writing. Determination is very important in this business. I had a dry spell for eight years where I didn’t sell anything after having sold eleven books. If I had given up, I would never have sold the other thirty six books.
