Welcome Catherine Greenfeder

The Lady Novelist is proud to welcome RWA NYC author and charter member Catherine Greenfeder to Got It Goin On this week. Catherine's second novel Wildflowers came out in June to rave reviews including 4 stars from RT Book Club who said, "Greenfeder's western romance is filled with the trials of settlers going west. The author pulls no punches, and the dangers are graphic to say the least, but very realistic for that era. The villain is a nasty piece of work; the heroine strong-willed; and the hero brash but lovable and a bit clueless when it comes to matters of the heart."










Ryan Majors, trapper, mountain man, and half Nez Perce Indian, is down on his luck. Trapping is in decline. In St. Louis, Missouri, he learns of his brother Chet’s murder and swears revenge. He also promises to help his sister-in-law and her children. Luck appears in the form of an opportunity to lead a missionary wagon party to the Willamette Valley. Ryan would rather teach a mountain lion to dance than lead a missionary, but the money and the minister’s spirited daughter, Johanna Wade, persuade him otherwise.



Johanna Wade left her native Boston to join her father’s missionary wagon to Oregon. She didn’t count on meeting the ruggedly handsome mountain man-turned trail guide, Ryan Majors, who would teach her not only how to survive in the wilderness but a reason to love again.

Together their journey along the Oregon Trail meant danger, opportunities, and the chance for love.

Q: Tell us a little about yourself, what is your background and how long have you been writing before you were published?

I'm a full-time language arts teacher and a part-time novelist. I'm married and have one son in college. I've been writing a long time; I published short nonfiction including travel articles, book reviews, and poetry before having my first novel published last year.


Q: Tell us about when you got "the call"?


I received an offer for a contract for Angels Among Us in July 2004 from Wings e Press. It was the second time that I submitted the manuscript to them. The first time they rejected it with the advice to revise and resubmit which I did. After trying to publish a work of fiction for so long, I was overjoyed.


Q: What made you choose romance?

I've enjoyed reading romance novels since high school; however, I really got interested in writing a romance much later in my adult years. I enjoyed the happily ever after endings, the sensuality, and the characters who engage my emotions. Even the classics that I read for English classes -- Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Lady Chatterly's Lover, and Shakespeare's plays have romance in them. I found that one of the most compelling parts of the plot.


Q: What you do love about writing romance?


I enjoy telling stories where the characters overcome obstacles that challenge them and their relationships, creating characters whose lives touch the reader on an emotional level, and where "true love" wins out in the end.


Q: Your book, Wildflowers is a Historical Romance, set along the Oregon Trail during 1848 has received rave reviews. What sparked the idea? Was it a character? A scene you just couldn't get out of your head?


Wildflowers had been the first romance that I wrote. I think the idea for the book came from my love of westerns, my interest in Native American culture, and my respect for the pioneers. A psychic told me that in one lifetime I'd been a homesteader on the frontier and in another a Native American. I'm not sure about that, but I did feel a strong affinity with both the time and places I wrote about. I also have family in Oklahoma which is the home of the Five Tribal Nations. So, visits there gave me an opportunity to research for the book.


Q: Anything that constrained you or that you had to plot carefully around?


When I edited Wildflowers, my editor had been a native Nebraskan. She had been very helpful in editing details on the forts which were stopovers for the wagon party. I had to plot carefully around the setting and the time it took for the pioneers to travel across the country from Missouri. I did extensive research including consulting the National Parks Service and a woman who participated in a reenactment of traveling on the Oregon Trail.


Q: Did you have to do any major research for this book? Did you stumble across anything really interesting that you didn't already know?


Yes, I have boxes of books and research notes that I took before, during, and even after I wrote Wildflowers. I loved to research, so it wasn't that difficult. I learned a lot and used some of it. Pictures, diaries, and maps came in handy. I also viewed documentaries and listened to music of that era. I had never realized how difficult it was to travel across the country, and most pioneers did so by foot. The wagons were used mainly for supplies. The elderly, the very young, and the sick rode the wagons. I learned how they forded the rivers, descended steep mountains, and dealt with the daily obstacles they faced. It was very hard on the women, and quite a few of them were pregnant as they traveled. Many of the pioneers had been farmers so they were used to hard work, but this was an extraordinary and difficult journey. Johanna, the heroine, is the minister's daughter. She used her skills as a teacher and to care for the sick and injured. I learned about home remedies and Native American cures for all kinds of ailments. Ryan, the trail guide, was brought up among his mother's Pawnee people. So, he knows how to hunt, to survive in the wilderness, and is familiar with the tribes they meet on the trail.


Q. You've also written a paranormal romance, Angels among Us, also from Wings E-Press. What sparked that idea and how easy or hard is it to switch from writing contemporaries and historical?


The idea for Angels Among Us came to me while at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I always had an affinity with angels, and I've been collecting them (statues, pictures, etc.) for years now. Whenever I see the Neapolitan tree at the museum I am in awe. A few years ago I went to see it, and I swear that one of the angels "spoke" to me. She said something like "When are you going to write my story?" So, I thought about that. I wanted to write a romance novel with an angel as a main character. Hence, Eviance Angelique, guardian angel to Kay Lassiter who happens to be a psychic seeking the truth about her parents' deaths. The romance part had been more difficult as I focused more on the paranormal. Yet, I knew that Kay had returned to her native New Jersey home for a few reasons -- to start a business, put the past behind her, and to make peace with what happened to her. In the process, she also rekindles a romance with her high school love, Jake O'Malley, local science teacher.


I found writing historical very time consuming in terms of research. I've written a mainstream woman's book which required research on the Great Depression and W.W.II years. At this point, I prefer to write contemporary and paranormal romances.



Q. What/Who do you like to read?


That's a tough question. I like to read a variety of books including mysteries, romances, and nonfiction. Early on I liked Janet Dailey, Danielle Steele, Sydney Sheldon, and Mary Higgins Clark. I'm trying to read more current books. We have a lot of really wonderful writers in the RWA chapters I've joined. So, I've read some of their books, and I've learned a lot from them. I also read a lot of YA books because I teach middle school students.


Q. What is your writing process? Do you plot extensively first or do you tend to "fly in the mist?" Has your process changed over time? Do you write multiple drafts or clean up as you go?


I think that my writing process varies depending on the book. When I worked in Manhattan, I had an hour commute by bus. Rather than read a romance novel, I decided to try to write one. So, I drafted Wildflowers in a notebook (pre-laptop days) on my commute. I did everything with that book -- research and write, outline on index cards, keep a notebook, use clippings, and so on. That book went through a few critique groups. A former member, Rita Rinaldi, had been a big help with revisions.

I wrote Angels Among Us quickly and researched after the draft. RWA/NYC chapter member Kathryn Hayes had been invaluable with giving me feedback on the draft. As I said, my agent has the other two books. She's actively working on getting them published. She has given me helpful critique. Former member Michael Powaznik acted as my critique partner for the mainstream novel.

I just finished the rough draft for my third paranormal romance novel. I'm working with a critique group to revise the book. I hope to have it done in a few months then send it off.


Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring novelists?

Yes, never give up! Years ago at an RWA/NYC chapter meeting I had the chance to listen to Alice Orr speak about writing. She handed out a paper which I keep near my computer. It reads "Do It Anyway". Through the years of rejection, writers' block, and struggling with putting words on the page, I often think of her advice. Also, I view writing as a craft, one that you learn as you do. I'm always learning. Hopefully, the writing gets better.


Q. There was a recent article called "Harm in reading romance novels,"Do you think romance novels harm or empower women?


In general, I think that if they portray strong female characters, romance novels provide role models for young women. They also can show ideal images of relationships and romance. It's something to aspire to. When I write my hero, for instance, I think of the qualities that I'd admire in a man. I "fell in love" with Ryan as much as Johanna did in Wildflowers. He was courageous in the face of danger, protective, and very romantic.

Q: Romance has garnered the biggest market share in genre fiction, yet it gets the least respect in popular and literary culture. Do you have any thoughts on why that is? Do you find this prejudice changing?


I think that romance novels have gotten a bad rep for different reasons. First, I find that people who don't read romance are quick to criticize those who do or those who write them. Secondly, some of the book covers don't do justice to the author's work. Finally, there's an elitism. I teach middle school students. Not surprisingly, the girls (aged thirteen to fourteen) enjoy the teen romance novels. So, I've been sure to include books by such authors as Mary Kennedy, Meg Cabot, Nicholas Sparks, and others in their book club selection. By the way, I've "come out of the closet" about being a romance writer at work. My students are proud of my accomplishment, and I think it inspired a few to go off and write their own books.


Q. What are you planning to work on next?

I'm currently revising Ghost Writer, a paranormal romance novel that I drafted over six months. It's in the "rough" stage, and I feel it will take a few rewrites to get it up to submit. It's a ghost story set at the Jersey Shore. It involves parallel plots with ghosts from the Victorian era and the present occupants of an inn. I'm having fun writing it.





Thanks Catherine for stopping by! Catherine will be at the New Jersey conference this weekend at the booksigning but you can order both Wildflowers and Angels Among Us from Wings ePress now.

Coming up an interview with Silhouette Desire author and RWA NYC member Anna DePalo!

EKM