How long have you been writing?
It feels as if I just got started on this career. I'm always a little bit surprised by my answer to this question: it's 21 years. Honestly, I don't know how that's possible being as young as I am! That's certainly the upside of a career you love. Time flies.
How did you get started?
Unlike many of my peers, I was not one of those people who always wanted to be a writer. In all my college years, I only signed up for a creative writing class once, and I dropped it almost immediately. As soon as the professor mentioned "reading work aloud," I bolted. Little did I know that readings would be part of my job description years later.
Anyway, I got started writing in a roundabout way. It all started when I was in my third year of law school. My mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was beginning to lose the fight. She was hospitalized in downtown Seattle, so my daily routine became one of spending the day at school and the evening at her bedside. As any of you know who have been through this sort of thing, there are many things you don't want to talk about. We spent a lot of time looking for happy thoughts. It just so-happened that what my mom wanted to discuss were her beloved romance novels. "You know," she said to me at one point, "you're going to be a writer." Somehow, after that we decided to write a book together. It wasn't until much, much later that I realized the gift she'd given me: a dream.
A few years later, after she'd gone, I found myself in the middle of a difficult pregnancy. Bedridden for five months, there was no way to really work and nothing to do. I spent a lot of time reading and watching game shows. When I started to care who won The Price Is Right, I knew I was in trouble. That's when my wonderful hubby poked his head into my room and said: "What about that novel you and Sharon started? This would be a great time to finish it."
There it was, the dream my mom had left me. I booted up a computer, pulled a keyboard onto my lap and started writing.
What's your ideal writing day like?
Hmmm…let's see. The perfect writing day. Well, first of all, I'll be in a place where I can hear the waves washing along the sand and warm breezes rustling through coconut palms. Then I'll wake up early, go for a nice morning run along the beach, and come home ready to get to work. My very favorite thing is to sit in a lawn chair on my deck, notepad in hand, and lose myself in the story. It doesn't happen every day—or even often—but when it does, it's pure magic. And the perfect writing day.
How long does it take you to write a book?
For the most part, each of my books has taken a year. Some-notably Firefly Lane and On Mystic Lake-have taken a bit longer; between fourteen months and two years. Generally, I spend about three months coming up with idea, researching it, and formulating a loose plan for the spine of the story and the character arcs. The writing of the first draft-if I'm lucky-is about five months. This usually entails several "wrong" starts and do-overs. The final process of taking that draft and turning it into the novel I'd envisioned takes between four and six months. Normally, I do about ten drafts of the book.
Why did you make the move from romance to general women's fiction?
I loved writing the romance novels, but I've always had a short attention span. Truthfully, I began very early in my career to become interested in story lines and characters and issues that went beyond the scope of the traditional historical romance. I wanted to write love stories-then and now-but I wanted some of those loves to be between mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, best friends, etc. My first change was to contemporary romance. That novel, Home Again, really opened my eyes to a new world. I felt as if I'd come to the place where I belonged. As much as I loved historical settings, I felt freer and more original in contemporaries. After that, it became a gradual broadening of my vision. More storylines, more characters, more issues. My books now tend to be about women coming of age, whenever that happens in their life. More often than not, they fall in love along the way, but that love is a peripheral part of the journey, not the journey itself.
Do you miss practicing law?
Wait. I have to stop laughing. I can't see the computer keys. No. I don't miss it. I loved the law, but writing is the best career on the planet for me. I'm truly blessed. I can't imagine having to wear heels to work again. I'd probably fall flat on my face.
Why do you write?
Quite simply, I write because it frees something in me. It's the greatest job in the world. It allows me to be the wife/mother/friend I want to be, with plenty of time for the people I care about, while still giving me something that's mine, something that defines me as an individual.
What's a typical day like for you?
The great thing about being a writer is that there really is no typical day. When my son was home, my writing schedule was pretty much subject to the local high school schedule. For years, I wrote school hours, school days, school months. It gave me a lovely, if inflexible, routine. Nowadays, though, I'm much more of a gypsy with a pen and paper. My ordinary day begins with a three or four mile run--preferably along a stretch of sunny beach--then it's back home to get started. I'll write fairly solidly until about five o'clock. There are certainly breaks taken along the way--lunch, phone calls with girlfriends, and checking my email. At the end of the day, I try to spend at least an hour outside, sitting on my deck and relaxing. Now, of course, I'm supposed to fit blogging into all of that. Wish me luck! :)
How do you know when a book is over?
I'm in a coma. Or my deadline is looming. Or I have a migraine that lasts for two days. The truth is, a book never really feels "done." I wish it did. What's more likely is that my deadline is approaching and I've simply run out of time. Thankfully, I'm a disciplined writer. I actually start my books on time; no more than two weeks after the previous effort is finished. This gives me the full year to work on each novel.
Do you always know the whole story, including the ending, when you begin?
I think I do. On occasion, I even turn out to be correct. Because my books are more character than plot driven, the end of my novels is wholly dependent on the characters' arcs and growth patterns. For example, in The Things We Do For Love, I knew the plot and how it would unfold, but because I didn't exactly know the characters when I began, I didn't know how it would end, what choices each character would make. In Between Sisters, I knew that the sisters were estranged and that one of them would face a life-threatening illness. I didn't know until the second draft what the outcome of that illness would be. Years ago, when I wrote the romances, I always followed a strict, twenty-page outline and lengthy character biographies. I spent a lot of my research time creating characters; then I moved them through the plot as I'd conceived it. In the end, I found that this hampered my creativity somewhat and began, as I moved into the bigger, more complex books, to require more editing. So, I let go. Now I spend more of my time discovering my characters. Although it creates a lot of missteps and wrong starts, I find that I enjoy the process more.
Do you have a favorite character in your own novels?
Honestly, I have a couple of characters that stay in my mind after the writing is over. They are, in no particular order—Izzy from On Mystic Lake, Alice from Magic Hour, Tully from Firefly Lane, and there's a guy in the book I'm writing for 2009 that is showing real promise.
How do you recommend new writers get started?
This is a question that I get asked a lot, of course. The easiest and most obvious answer is also the most difficult to accomplish: it's to sit down and keep writing. Over the years, I've seen a lot of writers come and go—published and unpublished—and what I've learned is that the ones who make it keep writing no matter what. When life is tough, they write; when the kids are sick, they write; when rejections pile up, they write. Are you seeing a pattern? That's really what this career is ultimately about. Showing up at your computer day after day to hone your craft. Of course you should take classes and read other peoples' books and study as much as you can, but none of it can ever take the place of daily work.
It feels as if I just got started on this career. I'm always a little bit surprised by my answer to this question: it's 21 years. Honestly, I don't know how that's possible being as young as I am! That's certainly the upside of a career you love. Time flies.
How did you get started?
Unlike many of my peers, I was not one of those people who always wanted to be a writer. In all my college years, I only signed up for a creative writing class once, and I dropped it almost immediately. As soon as the professor mentioned "reading work aloud," I bolted. Little did I know that readings would be part of my job description years later.
Anyway, I got started writing in a roundabout way. It all started when I was in my third year of law school. My mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was beginning to lose the fight. She was hospitalized in downtown Seattle, so my daily routine became one of spending the day at school and the evening at her bedside. As any of you know who have been through this sort of thing, there are many things you don't want to talk about. We spent a lot of time looking for happy thoughts. It just so-happened that what my mom wanted to discuss were her beloved romance novels. "You know," she said to me at one point, "you're going to be a writer." Somehow, after that we decided to write a book together. It wasn't until much, much later that I realized the gift she'd given me: a dream.
A few years later, after she'd gone, I found myself in the middle of a difficult pregnancy. Bedridden for five months, there was no way to really work and nothing to do. I spent a lot of time reading and watching game shows. When I started to care who won The Price Is Right, I knew I was in trouble. That's when my wonderful hubby poked his head into my room and said: "What about that novel you and Sharon started? This would be a great time to finish it."
There it was, the dream my mom had left me. I booted up a computer, pulled a keyboard onto my lap and started writing.
What's your ideal writing day like?
Hmmm…let's see. The perfect writing day. Well, first of all, I'll be in a place where I can hear the waves washing along the sand and warm breezes rustling through coconut palms. Then I'll wake up early, go for a nice morning run along the beach, and come home ready to get to work. My very favorite thing is to sit in a lawn chair on my deck, notepad in hand, and lose myself in the story. It doesn't happen every day—or even often—but when it does, it's pure magic. And the perfect writing day.
How long does it take you to write a book?
For the most part, each of my books has taken a year. Some-notably Firefly Lane and On Mystic Lake-have taken a bit longer; between fourteen months and two years. Generally, I spend about three months coming up with idea, researching it, and formulating a loose plan for the spine of the story and the character arcs. The writing of the first draft-if I'm lucky-is about five months. This usually entails several "wrong" starts and do-overs. The final process of taking that draft and turning it into the novel I'd envisioned takes between four and six months. Normally, I do about ten drafts of the book.
Why did you make the move from romance to general women's fiction?
I loved writing the romance novels, but I've always had a short attention span. Truthfully, I began very early in my career to become interested in story lines and characters and issues that went beyond the scope of the traditional historical romance. I wanted to write love stories-then and now-but I wanted some of those loves to be between mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, best friends, etc. My first change was to contemporary romance. That novel, Home Again, really opened my eyes to a new world. I felt as if I'd come to the place where I belonged. As much as I loved historical settings, I felt freer and more original in contemporaries. After that, it became a gradual broadening of my vision. More storylines, more characters, more issues. My books now tend to be about women coming of age, whenever that happens in their life. More often than not, they fall in love along the way, but that love is a peripheral part of the journey, not the journey itself.
Do you miss practicing law?
Wait. I have to stop laughing. I can't see the computer keys. No. I don't miss it. I loved the law, but writing is the best career on the planet for me. I'm truly blessed. I can't imagine having to wear heels to work again. I'd probably fall flat on my face.
Why do you write?
Quite simply, I write because it frees something in me. It's the greatest job in the world. It allows me to be the wife/mother/friend I want to be, with plenty of time for the people I care about, while still giving me something that's mine, something that defines me as an individual.
What's a typical day like for you?
The great thing about being a writer is that there really is no typical day. When my son was home, my writing schedule was pretty much subject to the local high school schedule. For years, I wrote school hours, school days, school months. It gave me a lovely, if inflexible, routine. Nowadays, though, I'm much more of a gypsy with a pen and paper. My ordinary day begins with a three or four mile run--preferably along a stretch of sunny beach--then it's back home to get started. I'll write fairly solidly until about five o'clock. There are certainly breaks taken along the way--lunch, phone calls with girlfriends, and checking my email. At the end of the day, I try to spend at least an hour outside, sitting on my deck and relaxing. Now, of course, I'm supposed to fit blogging into all of that. Wish me luck! :)
How do you know when a book is over?
I'm in a coma. Or my deadline is looming. Or I have a migraine that lasts for two days. The truth is, a book never really feels "done." I wish it did. What's more likely is that my deadline is approaching and I've simply run out of time. Thankfully, I'm a disciplined writer. I actually start my books on time; no more than two weeks after the previous effort is finished. This gives me the full year to work on each novel.
Do you always know the whole story, including the ending, when you begin?
I think I do. On occasion, I even turn out to be correct. Because my books are more character than plot driven, the end of my novels is wholly dependent on the characters' arcs and growth patterns. For example, in The Things We Do For Love, I knew the plot and how it would unfold, but because I didn't exactly know the characters when I began, I didn't know how it would end, what choices each character would make. In Between Sisters, I knew that the sisters were estranged and that one of them would face a life-threatening illness. I didn't know until the second draft what the outcome of that illness would be. Years ago, when I wrote the romances, I always followed a strict, twenty-page outline and lengthy character biographies. I spent a lot of my research time creating characters; then I moved them through the plot as I'd conceived it. In the end, I found that this hampered my creativity somewhat and began, as I moved into the bigger, more complex books, to require more editing. So, I let go. Now I spend more of my time discovering my characters. Although it creates a lot of missteps and wrong starts, I find that I enjoy the process more.
Do you have a favorite character in your own novels?
Honestly, I have a couple of characters that stay in my mind after the writing is over. They are, in no particular order—Izzy from On Mystic Lake, Alice from Magic Hour, Tully from Firefly Lane, and there's a guy in the book I'm writing for 2009 that is showing real promise.
How do you recommend new writers get started?
This is a question that I get asked a lot, of course. The easiest and most obvious answer is also the most difficult to accomplish: it's to sit down and keep writing. Over the years, I've seen a lot of writers come and go—published and unpublished—and what I've learned is that the ones who make it keep writing no matter what. When life is tough, they write; when the kids are sick, they write; when rejections pile up, they write. Are you seeing a pattern? That's really what this career is ultimately about. Showing up at your computer day after day to hone your craft. Of course you should take classes and read other peoples' books and study as much as you can, but none of it can ever take the place of daily work.
