Romance Weekly

"Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn't you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all... About our writing of course! Every week we'll answer questions and after you've enjoyed the blog on this site we'll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride! Tell your friends and feel free to ask questions in the comment box."

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Welcome to my wee slice of Romance Weekly. Here are my responses to this week's jackpot questions:

How did you get the idea for your book?

This is a tough one, since I’ve written several books and there’s been significant evolution as each went from the first kernel of an idea to the finished product. My first book, The Queen of Swords (releasing March 22 from Vamptasy), I can vaguely recall as a reaction to some of the things I was reading on the Internet in response to Twilight. It was clear people didn’t understand the history of vampire literature, so I set out to write a vampire book that referenced the genre.

How did you decide on the title?

I have a devil of a time coming up with titles. All of my books have had several. The title for The Queen of Swords references the tarot card the hero draws which references the heroine. The idea for my second book, The Knight of Wands, came to me on the freeway on my way to the national RWA conference in Atlanta last summer. I knew it would be the first in a series of four, each featuring a faery knight and one or more forms of divination. The light bulb came on as I was plowing through Midtown. The four knights of the tarot. In hindsight, it seemed pretty obvious, but I find most good ideas do. For the series name, The Knights of Avalon, I was sitting at the bus stop with my daughter one morning, debating between two names for the title of the magical island ruled by the wicked fairy queen who enslaved the knights—Avalon, after the legendary island, or something I made up. One of my neighbors drove by in a Toyota Avalon, which I took as a sign from on high.

What motivated you to get the book completed and published? 

I’m a very self-motivated person. It’s much harder to make myself take time off from writing than to make myself write. I started sending out pitch letters to agents as soon as the first draft of my first novel was published. It took several rewrites and giving up on mainstream agents and publishers before I started approaching smaller publishers directly. The convergence of craft and approach resulted in getting contracts for all three of my finished manuscripts at the same time. I guess it was kismet that I publish them all in 2014.

Thanks for listening. Now on to Victoria Barbour's blog to hear what she has to say in response to these questions.