Rolynn: welcome to ‘Romancing the Novelist’. I’m happy to have
you as my guest.
Firstly, what draws you as a reader to the romance genre?
Great
question, Elaine. I love to watch
a relationship build between a hero and heroine who present an unlikely
match. There’s something
mysterious and compelling about watching the ups and downs of couple-building
that is every bit as suspenseful as the action plot. In my mind, a novel isn’t complete without the emotional tension
of a romance. And by the end of
the story, I want to be assured the couple is pointed in the direction of a
sunset, together. Tension
resolved. I’m happy!
Sounds great but what is the most difficult part of writing a
love story?
Writing
fresh is the biggest challenge. In
this day and age, the ‘story’ has been told million’s of times. The key is to develop unique and
believable characters so that the reader experiences, anew, the mysterious,
compelling, growth of a relationship.
The hero and heroine need to be so fully formed that the reader not only
identifies with them but roots for them by the end. And I favor using humor along that rocky path, including in
the bedroom. Makes the writing job
a whole lot easier!
I enjoy lots of humor in books too. Is creating a book title
easy for you? Tell us about the process.
Not easy
at all…probably the most frustrating and time-consuming thing I do. Not only have all the good titles been
taken, but it’s difficult to capture the essence of a story and entice the
reader with a word or two. Most
books I’ve written are born with one title and get renamed once or twice in the
process. Titles for series are
easier, because once we have the theme/framework, we trot out the titles. My process is simple: I list all the
verbs I can think of that apply to my hero/heroine (the FLIP DICTIONARY and
Thesaurus is essential); next to this list I write all the nouns I can think of. I apply all the verbs to all the nouns,
manipulating the verbs and the noun ending, looking for a kicky combo that
hasn’t been used a lot (says Google).
That’s how I found LIE CATCHERS, the title of my next novel.
Wow, that’s a great way to come up with a unique title. Tell me,
do your characters love the direction you take for them or do they have other
ideas?
Great
question. Fun to answer! My characters are very patient with
me. I’m a pantser, you see, so
they have to twiddle their thumbs a lot while my ideas drift from my head to my
fingers. They never know,
day-to-day what I’m going to have them say or how I’m going to make them act. My poor characters get whiplash! One person that I’m convinced should be
a villain, ends up saving the day; another character who plods along being a
good soldier, becomes the greedy criminal by the novel’s wrap-up. I don’t worry about this very much,
even though it feels disorganized.
The advantage is, my reader will be as surprised as I am about the
outcome of the novel.
Any tips for writers that you'd love to share?
I learned
from playing golf that if you play for the joy of the game as well as the love
of being outdoors and with friends, you’ll be happier with yourself as well as
your product. In golf, less
tension means a better swing. The
goal is to play one stroke at a time, don’t think ahead about your score for
all 18 holes. Same with
writing. Love the words and the
characters in the scene you’re in.
If you think too far ahead, you’ll be too tense to craft the scene
you’re in. It’s an old saw: Enjoy
the moment. Apply it to writing and
you’ll see the tension fall off your shoulders and your writing improve.
Tell us about your next book.
LIE CATCHERS: Two unsolved murders will tear apart an Alaska fishing
town unless a freelance writer and a Treasury agent reveal their secret obsessions.
Tip of the iceberg: PARKER BROWNE is a U.S. Treasury
agent, demoted from a computer desk job to tracking financial fraud in
Petersburg, Alaska. LIV HANSON,
resident of the town, writes banal e-zine features under a pseudonym and
struggles to bring the family salmon canning store out of the red. Her latest projects: corner the market
on salmon oil capsules and write serious articles about a 1932 unsolved
Petersburg murder.
Below the iceberg:
Liv hides a total recall of details connected to her life, because no
one likes a lie catcher. Parker’s
computer and Intelligence capabilities led to the death of his girlfriend, a
nightmare that taught him to keep people he loves separate from his profession.
The titanic problem: To roust the killers they must mesh
their skills, putting their lives and their love in peril.
Elaine, thanks for asking such good
questions and for hosting me today!
Rolynn, it has been a pleasure to
have you as a guest and I truly enjoyed your answers.
“Don't miss SWOON
by Rolynn Anderson! If you like an interesting cast of characters, a heavy dose
of mystery and a lot of fabulous surprises, you'll be happily turning pages
late into the night.ˮ
~ Brenda Novak, NYT and
USA Bestselling Author of WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES
**Her dead clients won’t
rest in peace.**
When
the dead tell tales, Jan Solvang’s first reaction is to RUN! But then she gets caught up in their
mysteries.
Jan’s
a boutique funeral planner, new to risk, hired to bury a missing woman and
memorialize an infamous man. Yet
when she digs for clues to write their eulogies, she disturbs family secrets
and unmasks killers.
Roman
Keller, hard-driving documentary writer, is in complete control of his life and
his stories, until he falls for Jan, a woman who trusts her dog, her
faint-dreams, and her instincts more than she trusts him.
Can
they make the sacrifices necessary to cement their relationship or will the
mayhem caused by the dead ruin their second chance at love?
