You discovered Harlequin romances as a teenager and became an avid reader. How did those early reading experiences shape your dream of becoming an author?
I found my calling within them. I wrote my first story in the first grade. It was published in a little school booklet. It was called, It Happened One Night, and was a story about my mother and me telling my father to go back to bed while the two of us caught a boogey man. The first Harlequin book I read, hooked me into the world in which I wanted to spend the rest of my life. A world where love is true – which I believe wholeheartedly – and where love wins over evil – which I also believe.
The story of being suspended from typing class for reading a Harlequin Romance is unforgettable. Looking back, what does that memory mean to you today as a bestselling author?
It makes me laugh. And also makes me proud of myself. Not for disrespecting my teacher, but that incident gave me a chance to stand up for myself. The teacher, for whatever reason had been pronouncing my name wrong since the first day of class. I’d repeatedly corrected her. When she went to the extreme of kicking me out of class for reading when she wanted me to be typing, rather than just asking me to put my book away, I involved the principal, as she had, and refused to go back to class until she agreed to call me by my right name. The whole thing was made a bit more complex because my father was the president of the school board and everyone wanted me to just quietly go back to class so he wouldn’t be told I was in trouble. Of course my parents were called and we ended up having this big meeting in the principal’s office and I agreed not to bring out a book during class and my teacher and to agree to call me by my right name.
You have written more than 150 novels and sold over six million copies worldwide. What has kept your passion for storytelling alive throughout such a prolific career?
First, I just got a royalty statement and I’ve sold over seven million copies, heading to eight! And I have no real answer to the question other than that I was born with a particular gift and using it well strengthens me every single day. Also, I have people in my head, living their stories, all the time. I have to get them out of me to stay healthy! Always have. Being granted the huge privilege of selling them and making a living by doing so is my greatest blessing.
Your books are known for their emotional depth and strong character development. What is your process for creating characters that resonate so deeply with readers?
I don’t create them. They’re just there. I’m a panster. Not a plotter. I was, just this past week, down to the last twenty pages of a book. Talking to my mom on the phone. Told her that I had no idea how the book was going to end. And I didn’t. She just said, you’ll get there. You always do. My husband says the same thing, often. I had to let the story unfold, get out of my own way and let the people show me, until the very last page. It sounds woo woo. It’s one-hundred percent true.
Having your work published in more than twenty languages is a remarkable achievement. How does it feel to know your stories connect with readers across different cultures and countries?
It’s surreal. Seriously. I know it in my head. I don’t grasp the reality emotionally. I can’t. I’d spend my days worrying about letting them down, and then I’d be unable to write. I just have to trust that I was given the talent for a reason, and use it to the best of my ability. Hoping that every single book adds a light to at least one reader’s life.
You began your professional writing career as a newspaper stringer. How did your journalism background influence your approach to fiction writing?
Haha – have to laugh at this. My parents patted me on the head when I kept talking about writing for Harlequin during high school. I used to get ‘talked to’ about getting my nose out of those books. (My mother later came to work for me…) My Dad told me I had to graduate college before I could think about writing for Harlequin. I was taking every writing class I could, including journalism because it was the only writing class available at the time. My dad had a good friend who had a top job at the Dayton Daily News. He got me the job so that I’d be able to use my writing to actually support myself. I quit after just a couple of years. I felt like a fish out of water, there. It wasn’t what I was meant to do.
What inspired your transition from writing magazine articles and journalism to becoming a full-time novelist?
I never saw myself as a magazine writer or journalist. I was going to write for Harlequin and I was working my way toward that by at least being in the field of professional writing.
As a USA Today bestselling author and recipient of numerous awards and nominations, which career milestone has been the most meaningful to you and why?
Harlequin gives out awards to authors who reach publishing milestones. I’m set to get my 150th book award this next year – the books are already written and in production – and that will be the most meaningful at this point. Then it’s on to 200. Until then, it was my 125th book award. I’m very very happy with all of the professional milestones, the awards, of course, as they tell me I’m touching readers hearts, but those milestones are only as good as the one book they were awarded for. They’re also totally out of my control. But my life goal is writing for Harlequin. Those Harlequin book awards celebrate my soul’s purpose. And my chance to live my entire adult life doing what I most want to do.
You served as President of the Romance Writers of America and spent many years on its Board of Directors. What were some of the most valuable lessons you learned from those leadership roles?
To stand up and do what’s right for others, not for self. I took a lot of hard hits, most of which few will ever know. It was a grueling, growing time in our industry. I also made my very best friend in the world during those years as another saw what I was faced with and what I sacrificed so that others could be shined upon.
Romance novels often explore the complexities of human relationships. What aspects of human nature most fascinate you as a writer?
The emotional cortex. The whole gamut of what people feel. And how their left brain, thinking, interacts with that.
Your stories frequently tackle real-life challenges alongside romance. Why is it important for you to address deeper social and emotional issues in your books?
Because that’s life and I believe that in everyday, real life, love wins. We just have to be able to keep scarred hearts open to the intensity of what love asks of us, to get the intensity of love’s blessings. Which is the only way to find ultimate happiness. To live a life where we’re happy with the day ahead and aren’t always looking for more than what we have. My stories take readers through real life challenges, and show them how love can still win.
After writing so many novels, do you still face creative challenges, and how do you overcome them when they arise?
I don’t face creative challenges – the whole panster thing. I face challenges when I’m on a deadline, have to get a book down, and I get in my own way, try to force things to happen. They never do. I give in. And on we go. Many of the people in my life don’t really know me at all. I’m pretty weird with all the emotional insights and mostly just keep me to myself. I also face challenges in terms of getting so lost in story that I fail to tend to other things in my life. Thankfully, those closest to me truly do know me and understand that it doesn’t mean that I don’t care. They want me to get the stories out. They know that if they need me, if there’s an emergency or a problem, I’m there. Always. My husband and I have routines where we do certain things together every single day – like eating our meals together, always, outside of the office – and I talk to my mother every single day. Without fail.
You are an experienced public speaker and workshop presenter. What is the most important piece of advice you give aspiring authors?
Ask the hardest question. Find out, inside yourself what you really want, and then make reachable goals to get there. And don’t ever compare yourself to the world’s standards of success or compare yourself to other authors. You are you. Your voice is unique. You have something to offer that no one else does, and that’s what the world needs from you.
Travel seems to play an important role in your life. Have any of your adventures with your husband inspired settings, characters, or storylines in your books?
Haha – they all do! My accountant, who read my books, once told me that everything I do is tax deductible. (She was joking, it’s not, and I don’t deduct enough, my current accountant tells me.) Traveling shows me people, places, and stories are born. Just driving through the desert, I see loners in the wilderness in my head, I start to feel what that would be like, and a story comes to me. I can be sitting at the airport, waiting for a flight and overhear a two-sentence conversation, have it hit my heart, and I have to write a story to make everything okay in a world that, for those two sentences, didn’t feel okay. Same with the way some sights make me feel. Or how some food makes me feel. It’s all about the emotion for me in life, which is why my books are so emotionally intense.
You've connected with readers and authors through many platforms over the years. What has your experience with AllAuthor been like, and how has it helped you engage with readers, promote your books, or expand your author presence online?
In all truth, I don’t have any idea. I don’t pay attention to numbers as there’s no way to really know if it’s publisher efforts, a past book, or a promotional platform that helps or doesn’t help. (And because I learned young that the one thing that can kill my spirit, my belief in the worth of what I have to offer the world, is to involve myself in each book’s reception.) I’ve been a background part of AllAuthor for a long time. There are so many many platforms designed to make money off of authors and I just trust AllAuthor more than the rest. Because of the longevity of the platform, and because it doesn’t oversell what it can do for me with promises it can’t keep as so many do. Most promise things that are out of their control. Instead, AllAuthor does exactly what it says it’s going to do.
