Writing Secrets of 33 Bestselling Romance Authors

WRITING SECRETS OF 33 BESTSELLING ROMANCE AUTHORS

JUDE WILLHOFF

BIJOU PRESS

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Foreword By Debbie Macomber

Introduction

Tea and conversation with Judith Arnold

Tea and conversation with Toni Blake

Tea and conversation with Jasmine Cresswell

Tea and conversation with Jennifer Crusie

Tea and conversation with Cynthia Eden

Tea and conversation with Roberta Gellis

Tea and conversation with Lexi George

Tea and conversation with Colleen Gleason

Tea and Conversation with Robin Lee Hatcher

Tea and conversation with Laura Hayden

Tea and conversation with Brenda Hiatt

Tea and conversation with Vicki Hinze

Tea and conversation with Linda Howard

Tea and conversation with Yvonne Jocks

Tea and conversation with Joan Johnston

Tea and conversation with Jayne Ann Krentz

Tea and conversation with Sally MacKenzie

Tea and conversation with Debbie Macomber

Tea and conversation with Kat Martin

Tea and conversation with Pam McCutcheon

Tea and Conversation with Kathleen Morgano

Tea and conversation with Pamela Palmer

Tea and conversation with Christy Reece

Tea and conversation with Tea JoAnn Ross

Tea and conversation with Sharon Sala

Tea and conversation with Barbara Samuel

Tea and conversation with Amanda Scott

Tea and conversation with Bertrice Small

Tea and conversation with Deborah Smith, Author, V.P. Bell Bridge Books

Tea and conversation with Angel Smits

Tea and conversation with Deb Stover

Tea and conversation with Liz Talley

Tea and conversation with Susan Wiggs

Summary

Note to My Readers

About the Author

Also by Jude Willhoff

Excerpt from No Direction Home

Writing Secrets of 33 Bestselling Romance Authors

Nonfiction

Romance/Inspirational/Motivational

Copyright © 2013 by Jude Willhoff

ISBN 978-0-9896380-9-8

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission, in writing from the publisher. E-books are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this book.

Thank you.

Cover design by The Killion Group

Interior format by The Killion Group

http://thekilliongroupinc.com

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My heartfelt gratitude to Debbie Macomber, Jennifer Crusie, and all the authors who graciously contributed their wonderful uplifting stories to this book.

Thanks to Agent Terrie Wolf and Neil Erickson of AKA Literary, LLC for your support during my many rewrites of this book and always believing in this project. You rock!

And to my HUSBAND

Robert J. Willhoff Jr.

My husband, my hero, the love of my life who stand beside me through my trials and tribulations.

And to the rest of my wonderful family

Robert and Elizabeth Willhoff III,

John, Aimee, Lydia and Hannah King,

Kevin, Jessica and Natalie Willhoff,

Robert, Jennifer, Makaela and Jayda Powilleit.

Thanks for the way you’ve all shown your love and support with my writing.

And to

Rosecolored Ink, my critique group, my writing sisters who keep me on track when I go off the rails. Thanks ladies. You rock. Always!

And to the Number 33

The 33 is the most influential of all numbers. It is the Master Teacher. When expressed to the fullest, the 33 lacks all personal ambition, and instead focuses its considerable abilities toward the spiritual uplifting of mankind. What makes the number 33 especially impressive is the high level of sincere devotion. This is shown in its determination to seek understanding and wisdom before teaching others. The 33 in full force is extremely rare.

My agent found this on a numerology site and this is why I stopped with 33 authors. Here’s to the spiritual uplifting of writers everywhere. May you be inspired with these amazing women’s stories. Thank You!

FOREWORD BY DEBBIE MACOMBER

Dear Reader,

Getting published is the hardest thing you'll ever do. If you think this is an easy business to break into, then stop right now! You want easy, then forget writing and consider brain surgery or sending a rocket to the moon. That's a piece of cake by comparison.

It took me almost five years to sell my first book, and I wasn't politely tapping against the door of opportunity. I slammed the full force of my determination, drive, and ambition against that door on a regular basis and came away bloodied and bruised. At the end of four years of writing full-time and not selling, I was dejected, depressed, and defeated.

There's nothing more frustrating than an unfulfilled dream. Those dreams haunt one's spirit with the might have beens and the if onlys. For my part, if I had discarded the dream of being a published writer I would have lost a piece of my soul. But you know what? I nearly did give up. I nearly did walk away with my tail between my legs. Who could blame me? Who would blame you?

Jude Willhoff understands what many struggling writers have endured. She's documented the stories of other writers, those who persisted and eventually succeeded. Writers just like you. Men and women with a dream, a fragile one at that, who withstood repeated rejection and constant frustration. Writers who, despite the odds, no matter how strong the temptation, never gave up. Each author, each story is filled with insight and inspiration. What Writing Secrets of 33 Bestselling Romance Authors offers is hope. That's food to a starving artist's soul.

So pour yourself a hot cup of tea, pull up a chair at this bountiful table, and partake in this substance that's guaranteed to nourish you for the long, arduous journey ahead.

Debbie Macomber

INTRODUCTION

Imagine sitting down with a cup of hot tea on a snowy afternoon to chat with your favorite romance author. You may ask anything you want—how they got started writing; what they did before they were published; about rejections, their regrets, mistakes, and fears; or writing habits; how they write and handle promotions, agent and editor advice; about their booklists, websites, and the publishing business in general; getting personal advice about the writing life.

Writing Secrets of 33 Bestselling Romance Authors is a collection of in-depth conversations with some of New York Times and USA Today's bestselling romance authors and authors on the rise. Peek behind the scenes to see how these inspiring women became the headliners and legends they are today, sharing their struggles and triumphs in the industry.

Pam McCutcheon, an award winning, published author, critique partner and mentor, once told me it was important to learn the craft, network with other writers and find out as much as I could about the business. By doing this I would be able to gain a better perspective of how those published authors have paved the way for new authors. It made sense. As in any profession, if you're taught by the best, it's only natural that you'll aspire to become the best.

Being a shy person and having a thirst for knowledge about the writing profession, I decided the best way for me to achieve this would be to interview successful authors. It would help me with networking and to gain insight into these wonderful people.

My goal was to find out the secret handshake, to get them to open up and tell me how they got published so I could follow in their well-worn footsteps. Along the way I discovered something beautiful; Romance writers have an amazing sisterhood that reaches throughout the Romance Writers of America chapters and writing conferences. It makes me feel humble and grateful to be a part of this group that's so willing to share their success stories and help other authors rise up from the writing trenches.

I hope you enjoy these conversations that touch the heart and rejuvenate the writing spirit.

May you be blessed on your writing journey,

Jude Willhoff

TEA AND CONVERSATION WITH JUDITH ARNOLD

I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of her dreams, and endeavors to love the life which she has imagined, she will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

—Henry David Thoreau

Judith Arnold has sold more than eighty-five novels, with more than ten million copies in print worldwide. She currently writes for various Harlequin imprints and for HCI Books. She has received several awards from Romantic Times magazine, including awards for the Best Harlequin American Romance of the Year, the Best Superromance of the Year, the Best Series Romance of the year, the Best Contemporary Single-Title Romance of the year and a Lifetime Achievement Certificate of Merit for Innovative Series Romance.

She has also been a finalist for the Golden Medallion Award, the Rita Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from RWA. Her 2002 novel, Love In Bloom's, was named one of the best books of the year by Publisher's Weekly. Her 1996 novel Barefoot in the Grass remains a classic among breast cancer survivors, patients, and caregivers.

Judith has presented countless workshops at national and regional conferences and local RWA chapter meetings. In 1999, she was the Special Luncheon Speaker at RWA's national conference in Chicago. She has also given speeches promoting romantic fiction at colleges, libraries, book clubs, churches, and other civic organizations.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Smith College, Judith holds a master's degree in creative writing from Brown University. She has received writing fellowships from the Shubert Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and has taught at colleges and universities around the country. She has also written several plays, which have been professionally staged at regional theaters in San Francisco, Washington, DC, Connecticut, and off-off Broadway.

Judith is a former president and Advisory Council Representative to the board of Novelist, Inc., an international organization devoted to published authors of popular fiction. She has served RWA on the Long Range Planning Committee and the PAN Steering Committee. She is also a member of the Authors Guild.

Married and the mother of two sons, she lives in Massachusetts.

Judith Arnold never really wanted to be a writer. She was a writer. Even before she could write, she used to put herself to sleep by telling herself bedtime stories. She knew how to read and write by the time she was four years old, and one day she just started writing. It wasn't something she planned on or dreamed about doing. It was something she did... like breathing.

She had lots of ideas for careers: astronaut, Supreme Court Justice, actress, architect, rock star, and third-grade teacher, because she loved her third-grade teacher. It wasn't until she went to college and won a playwriting prize—with a money award—that she began to think of writing as a way to make money.

In college, Judith decided to become a playwright. She worked in the theater for ten years, but burned out on it and decided to return to her first love, prose fiction.

She wrote three Great American Novels that landed her an agent but never sold. At her husband's urging, she read four romances. I'd never read one before then—and I loved them. Her husband suggested she take a year off (from her paying job teaching Bonehead English as an adjunct professor at two area colleges) to see if she could sell a romance novel. She really didn't want to go back to teaching, so she wrote like a fiend.

She sent out her first two manuscripts, which were promptly rejected, then wrote two more and didn't send them out. I knew they weren't good enough. She sold her fifth completed romance in 1983, less than a year after she'd read her first romance.

Judith's first book, Silent Beginnings, was bought by Leslie Wainger at Silhouette, who published it as a Desire. I wish I could say I never got any rejections after that, but... How many rejections? I never counted!

Judith has been writing and selling for nearly thirty years now. She's not the same person she was when she started out, and she's not the same writer, either.

I'd like to think my writing gets better with every book. Because I've gotten my life in balance, I'm enjoying writing now more than I did in the 'eighties and 'nineties. Somewhere along the way I realized writing wasn't bringing me the pleasure it ought to; it had lost its magic. All I cared about was making sales, moving up in the hierarchy, being a ‘success.’

A few years ago, Judith had to rethink her life. "I realized that life is supposed to be joyful, and that I needed to forget about the superficial measures of success and focus on real success, which to me means believing in my work, loving my characters, opening my heart with every book I write. I've been doing that ever since. And interestingly, once I stopped obsessing about my career, it improved considerably."

Judith is with a new agent now. After being with one agent for more than twenty years, she decided the time had come for a change. Her new agent, like her old, doesn't specialize in romance fiction. He represents a broad spectrum of fiction and non-fiction and is an enthusiastic cheerleader. I know some writers who don’t care if their agents love what they’re writing. But it’s important to me that my agent feels as passionate about my work as I do, Judith says.

Judith has some great advice for new authors. "Remember that the agent works for you. You are the boss. If you aren't comfortable with what your agent is doing, fire him or her!

"I know of so many new authors who are intimidated by their agents, so grateful to have an agent that they're afraid to assert themselves. This is crazy. You are paying the agent; the agent works for you."

When asked how long it takes to research and write a book, Judith says, I'm a believer in Parkinson's Law, which states that the amount of time it takes to do a job expands or contracts to fit the amount of time available.

What this means, in terms of her writing, is that the amount of time it takes her to write a book is the amount of time she has to write it. If she only has two and a half months to write a book, she'll write a book in two and a half months. If she has six months, it'll take her six months.

Judith tries to space her deadlines sanely, giving herself at least six months to write a single title novel, which will generally run about 100,000 words, and less time for shorter works. If the deadline is tight, she can complete a 70,000-word novel in two months, but she prefers to write at a more leisurely pace.

Judith doesn't do much research, and she doesn't write more than one book at a time. Although when I'm about halfway or three-quarters through one project, I usually begin mental preparation for the next project. She'll open a file on her computer and jot notes, but she won't do any concentrated writing on it until the previous book is done.

As for a schedule for my writing—it varies on how close I am to my deadlines. A typical day for Judith goes something like this: "I start with a long jog, then eat breakfast and read the New York Times. If I have errands to run, I'll do them in the morning. I also do my first e-mail download in the morning, and take care of any other business that demands my attention. Then I have lunch and read the Boston Globe. Then, in the afternoon, I will write. I'll write pretty much nonstop until I have to fix dinner.

After dinner, I'll do a second e-mail download and check Facebook. If I feel I didn't get enough done during the day, I’ll work on my manuscript a bit more. Now that my kids are grown, I no longer need to shuttle them to their appointments with my laptop tucked under my arm. Instead, I find myself taking my mother to her appointments, and I’ve got a nifty little netbook, which is much easier to carry around than my laptop was. I sit in the waiting area, pounding out a few paragraphs or pages, and then drive my mother back home. If I’m under deadline pressure, I will write wherever and whenever I can.

She really can't break her writing up into hours or pages. When she's deep into a project, she likes to write two thousand words a day. If I write less, I don't beat myself up over it. If I write more, hooray!

Most of Judith's books have been set in New England. It's where she lives and what she knows. She's not sure the settings play any role in the success of her stories, but she's sure her stories are better than stories she could write set in places she's unfamiliar with.

"New England is one of the most beautiful parts of the country—and I love the Yankee spirit that colors our lives here. We're individualistic, but community-oriented. The New England attitude is: Mind your own business—but holler if you need me, and I'll be there, immediately.

Our region is physically diverse: We have oceans, rivers, lakes, mountains—well, all right—hills, islands, old settled cities, and charming villages. We have all four seasons—and they're all magnificent. New England seems to me to be under-represented as a setting for romance fiction. So many romances are set in the west. Readers love cowboys, but I think New England is just as romantic.

Judith has occasionally set books in actual places. "For instance, Safe Harbor was set on Block Island, and I was so faithful to the streets and beaches and shop names that the residents of Block Island made a huge deal out of the book, bringing my whole family to the island so I could attend book signings and parties when the book came out, and writing me up in their weekly newspaper."

In other cases, she's invented towns and cities based loosely on actual places. All her Daddy School books are set in the fictional city of Arlington, Connecticut, which is based vaguely on Danbury. Albright College in The Woman Downstairs, was actually Smith College, her alma mater.

Judith's first book for MIRA, Looking for Laura, was set in Winfield, MA., which is based on Northampton, MA. Her second MIRA, Love in Bloom's is set in Manhattan. Growing up in the New York, she felt very comfortable writing a book set there, trying to capture the city's unique atmosphere. She’s since written several other romantic comedies set in New York City, including Blooming All Over, a sequel to Love In Bloom’s.

When beginning work on a new book, Judith usually starts with character instead of plot. I think characters are the most important part of any novel—not just romance novels. If I don't care about the characters, if they don't come to life for me, then I will not like the book. I have trouble plotting, so the characters often bring the plot with them.

Judith is pretty much a seat-of-the-pants writer. "I create some strong, interesting characters and let them live their story for me. I'll usually have an idea of where I want to end up, and I might know a few points of interest along the way, but other than that, I set the characters free and let them provide the story. More often than not, they'll come up with much more interesting ideas than I would.

As for sexual tension—before I start writing a book, I will try to imagine my hero and heroine in a sexual situation. I'll write an entire sex scene in my mind. I want to know how this man and woman react to each other, what the chemistry is like—and how they feel about each other afterward. I learn a great deal about them this way. And if they aren't compatible, I'd rather know before I start writing the book.

As Judith mentioned earlier, she tries to keep her life in balance. Her family is the most important thing in her life. Writing comes second. "When my sister died of cancer twelve years ago, I realized that life is short, and the most important measure of success is how good a life we live—how much love we give, how much we receive, how well we sleep at night and how eager we are to wake up and embrace each new day. I've learned to maintain an inner peace. There was a time in my life when I always felt like a failure. Now, I honestly believe that if I died tomorrow, I could die knowing I had a successful life.

"With that said, I still want to make the New York Times bestseller list. She smiles. Seriously, I want my books to be read and enjoyed. One of the best things about being a writer, to me, is studying my royalty statements and realizing how many people have bought and read my books. All those millions of readers out there—they read something I wrote! That's a great feeling.

"I also admit I like the money I earn with my writing. It's a thrill for me to be able to pay someone to clean my house, because I absolutely hate housecleaning. Success means not having to vacuum."

One thing Judith is glad she did was join Romance Writers of America. She'd never even heard of RWA when she sold her first book; a publicity person at Silhouette told her about it after she made her first sale. It's through RWA that I've made some of the closest friends in my life. No one understands what the writing life is like better than another writer. Romance Writers of America is like a sisterhood, and I am grateful to be a part of it.

Another thing Judith is glad she did for her career was not quit when she went through burnout about fifteen years ago. I was miserable in my writing, but I couldn't think of any other job I wanted to do, so I kept writing through the burnout. I wrote some of my best books during that time, and when I emerged on the other side I discovered I loved writing even more than I had when I first started out. So I'm glad I didn't quit.

Judith believes things happen for a reason and incidents that seem catastrophic at the time often lead to far more wonderful opportunities down the road. Every mistake I've made in my writing career has taught me something invaluable, so ultimately I don't regret those mistakes.

She's learned a lot from most of the editors she's worked with, and considering she has more than eighty-five novels published, she's worked with a lot of them. She has also been inspired by too many authors to list here. There are so many truly brilliant authors. I read their books and they make me want to do better, try harder, aim higher.

Among mentors she includes her playwriting teacher in college, Len Berkman. He was demanding and invigorating. He had tons of energy and faith in the individual voices of the writers he worked with. Another mentor was V. S. Pritchett, who proved to me that writers—even those destined for knighthood, as he was—can be human and accessible and perpetually cheerful.

Her most important mentor was her sister. She was a brilliant writer and I idolized her. My dream was always to be as good a writer as she was. She published poetry, essays and one literary novel in her short life, and she was also my toughest critic. She read everything I wrote, and when she told me she loved something I'd written, I knew she meant it. I still feel her sitting on my shoulder, whispering in my ear as I write. That phrase doesn't work. Come up with a better one. Don't be lazy. Make it as good as it can be."

Judith's thoughts on e-publishing: "I think it’s finally coming into its own. As e-readers have become less expensive, e-books have become more attractive to readers. There will always be people who prefer an actual book with paper pages to an e-book. I love holding a book, turning the pages, measuring my progress through the book with