Monday, Monday

It's Monday morning and boy am I bushed. I worked again for the third night at my night job until 2 am, so needless to say I wasn't at my day job by 8:00 am. Fortunately, my boss is traveling on business, so I'm taking full advantage of his absence. I'd have an Irish coffee in the morning to celebrate, if I didn't worry about getting fired. I'm also behind on NaNoWriMo which is not good. I know we're not supposed to try and make up the word count the next day but somehow I need to add an extra 14 pages to this week's turn out. Wish me luck!

This past weekend was my birthday weekend (I tend to celebrate my birthday the entire month of November if I can get away with it). Friday night, I had a drinks party at a really nice wine bar called Wined Up near the Flatiron building. It was all wood paneling and the wine wasn't served in wine glasses which was really interesting. About sixteen friends showed up to help me celebrate. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures because I was too busy yacking, particularly about cutie pie author. Had to have the garlic fries through and a delicious salmon tartare. The evening was great until the end when one of my guests felt the need to yell at me for checking my messages to find out why two of my guests hadn't shown up. Kind of put a damper on the evening, and I certainly will never be inviting this person to any event I throw again. I found it rude and insulting.

The other thing I found obnoxious was that my boss didn't bother to wish me a Happy Birthday or take me out to lunch. Nor did anyone else that I work for. He also had a party at his house for the marathon which he didn't invite me too. Talk about not making me feel like a valuable member of the team. I would totally quit this day job if I had a book contract, and just keep my night job.

Saturday was our monthly chapter meeting where I raffled off a lovely basket full of goodies to celebrate my birthday. Received many lovely gifts from people who couldn't make the party Friday night. Also our chapter is revamping our web-site and creating some really awesome content over the next few weeks. I'm really excited about it, and I can't wait to see it up and running.

I also discovered a groovy new CD by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss thanks to AOL Music. They have these CD listening parties once a week where you can listen to a whole album instead of just clips from it. These week they were previewing the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss collaboration which I listened to in between writing questions for America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back, the show that will make you think that everyone is a criminal. Seriously, if you are even remotely paranoid, don't watch this show. You will never leave your house.

So after listening to the CD, I went out and bought 4 copies for friends, because I loved it so much. I gave one copy to ex-sweetie pie as a thank you for taking me out to brunch to celebrate my birthday at One if by Land, Two if by Sea, a lovely restaurant housed in what used to be an 18th Century carriage house that Aaron Burr owned in the Village. Normally neither one of us would be able to afford to eat there (the prix fixe menu is $79 a person) but they have a brunch on Sundays for $20 that includes a mimosa, bloody mary and bellini. And the food was really good. I highly recommend it if you are in New York on a Sunday, because it's a very romantic restaurant. And the end of our brunch, they brought out a plate with a candle that said Happy Birthday in chocolate with 2 tiny oatmeal raisin cookies, marshmallows and a mini tart. It was a wonderful end to the weekend.

I hope to be able to post my interview with Blaze Author Kathleen O'Reilly this week. Stay tuned!

EKM

Welcome Anna DePalo!

The Lady Novelist is pleased to welcome RWA NYC member and Silhouette Desire author Anna DePalo to Got It Goin On today. Anna's June 2007 release, An Improper Affair was recently nominated for New Jersey Romance Writer's prestigious Golden Leaf Award in the short contemporary category, and was 4 on Borders' series romance best-seller list and #36 on Nielsen BookScan's romance best-seller list. And her latest release, Millionaire's Wedding Revenge reached #1 on the Borders Group/Waldenbooks series romance best seller list and was awarded 4 Stars by RT Book Club.





Don't deceive a man with money.
The Miami Millionaire could have any woman--but Stephen Garrison intended to have newly returned Megan Simmons. She ended their sizzling affair years ago.... leaving without explanation.... leaving Stephen determined to seek his revenge. But his plan to seduce his ex-lover, was met with an unexpected discovery: she'd had his child. And now it was no longer enough to seduce Megan back into his bed. Stephen had decided marriage would be the ultimate payback.












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









I was an intellectual property attorney for close to seven years. I joined Romance Writers of America soon after I graduated from law school. So, I was working my way to publication between 1998/1999 and 2001, when I pitched my first completed manuscript to a Harlequin/Silhouette editor at the New Jersey Romance Writers conference. That book saw publication as Having the Tycoon’s Baby (Silhouette Desire, August 2003) and went on to win the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best First Series Romance.


Q: Tell us about when you got “the call.”


It was soon after my wedding in 2002. I came home from work and there was a phone message from the Harlequin/Silhouette editor that I’d pitched a manuscript to months before at the New Jersey Romance Writers conference. She wanted to buy the book! The rest is kind of a euphoric haze for me , but I recall jumping up and down, grinning like a fool, shouting “yeah!” and then calling my husband at work to share the good news.



Q: What made you choose romance?

I’ve always been a voracious reader and never more so than with the romance genre. I’m a fairly optimistic person, and I like happy endings. I can always count on a good romance novel to make me relax and unwind, laugh and be entertained. I don’t think there’s much more to it than that!


Q: What you do love about writing romance?


I like to write generally (it seems to go hand in hand with loving to read!). But I especially enjoy spinning upbeat, entertaining stories of the sort that I prefer reading. Plus, I have an active imagination, and writing gives it a necessary outlet!

Q: Your new book, Millionaire’s Wedding Revenge is set in Miami. What sparked the idea? Was it a character? A scene you just couldn’t get out of your head?









Millionaire’s Wedding Revenge is part of the Dynasties: The Garrisons continuity series from Silhouette Desire (which features six books about different Garrison family members). Part of the idea for the series was that it was to be set in hot Miami Beach. I have to say, I was happy to go along! I’ve generally set my books in trendy urban settings (Boston, New York and, for next year, San Francisco), so I was pleased to explore another area with its own unique and yet identifiable culture.
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?


Well, I delved into Miami Beach’s interesting Art Deco architecture. I love Art Deco myself, and since my heroine was an interior designer, I needed to explore Miami Beach’s cultural scene even more. In the process of researching dialogue for my heroine, I picked up design tips from the newly redone White House Situation Room, believe it or not.




Q: You’ve written continuity books for Silhouette Desire. What has that been like? Anything that constrained you or that you had to plot carefully around?



I’ve enjoyed writing all the continuity books that I’ve participated in for Desire (Cause for Scandal, March 2006, part of Dynasties: The Elliotts; An Improper Affair, June 2007, part of Millionaire of the Month; and Millionaire’s Wedding Revenge, September 2007, part of Dynasties: The Garrisons). I enjoy working with other talented authors. Sometimes the broad outline of a continuity story will present some challenges as far as making everything fit together, but that’s the challenge and fun of working on a continuity. For example, in Cause for Scandal, according to the continuity idea, the heroine was supposed to be engaged to another man when she loses her virginity to the hero; it was a little tricky to make the heroine a sympathetic character, but I think I succeeded .
Q. What/Who do you like to read?


There are so many! Within fiction/romance, I like Regency historicals (Lisa Kleypas, Madeline Hunter, and so many others!), contemporary romantic comedies (Susan Elizabeth Phillips) and category romances. Just now, I’ve dipped into paranormals with J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood. But I’d put Jane Austen at the top of any list!

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 have to do a synopsis for my editor, so I always have an outline to work with. I usually breeze through the first three chapters of the manuscript, but then I have to stop to regroup and take stock. At that point, if I haven’t already done so, I do a sketch for each chapter (listing each scene with its main action and point of view). I make sure I know where the main points are supposed to occur (dark moment, climax, resolution, etc.).





In the past, I’ve also done rough character sketches of my hero and heroine, listing each character’s name, occupation, age, hair color, build, likes/dislikes, and personality traits. The character sketches helped me when I got stuck: I’d go back to them and see if there was any detail I could explore and use to move the story forward. These days, those character sketches tend to stay in my head rather than getting written down.






I write a fairly clean first draft. In the past, I’d circle back and edit what I wrote again and again until I reached the end. Now, I try to get as close to finishing as possible before doing much editing (I find that’s a time saver; since story details always change as I write, leaving the editing for later saves me from unnecessary work).

Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring novelists?

Keep writing! You will get better! Writers are made, not born. Also, write what you are passionate about. It’ll make a better story.


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

It amazes me how often this question comes up! I can think of many things that “harm women” in this world, and I doubt romance novels are even in the top 100. And for the record, I like to give romance readers a little credit: romance novels are entertainment, and the readers know it. Does anyone think a (male) reader of thrillers is going to go out and attempt James Bond-like stunts? Of course not!
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 the bias against the romance genre stems from the fact that it’s mostly entertainment by women for women. Things of that variety are generally undervalued and derogated, unfortunately. Some people might sniff that the romance genre is unrealistic, but the same can be said of science fiction and mystery, for example, and yet those genres don’t face the same prejudice. Other people might point to the sex (these are relationship books, after all), but how many esteemed male writers have had articles in Playboy and been none the worse off for it?
Q. What are you planning to work on next?


I just finished a stand-alone book for Silhouette Desire. CEO’s Marriage Seduction will be out in March 2008. It’s about a tough CEO who butts heads with his favorite heiress…until things take a turn for the steamy . After that, I’ll be wrapping up a 2008 continuity series for Desire, Park Avenue Scandals, with The Billionaire in Penthouse B in December.

Thanks Anna for stopping by! You can purchase Millionaire's Wedding Revenge from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Eharlequin.



Stay tuned for more interviews with RWA NYC authors, Jule McBride, Dee Davis and Kathleen O'Reilly in coming weeks.