Welcome To Debbie's Den

Tell us a little about yourself.

I'm 30-something, soon to be married, and live in the Pacific Northwest. I have a master's degree in counseling psychology, and worked for three years on the graveyard shift of a mental health crisis line. I wrote THE CHANGELING BRIDE during quiet spells between calls! I also taught English in Japan for a year; during the Dark Days when I thought I'd never make it as a writer.

How long was the period between deciding to write that first book, and having it finished?

The very first book took about a year to write, but was never published. There were sputtering starts on a couple other books after that, but I was disheartened and gave up on writing for several years. The second book (once I got around to writing it) also took about a year to write -- and it took about a year of submitting it to publishers and being rejected before I finally got the "yes" nod from an editor.

You didn’t make the choice of writing romance? It just happened? Something or someone must have influenced you…

I loved reading romance novels from about age 14, which is when I discovered them. I don't know that something had to influence me to write romance as opposed to some other type of fiction, since it is the nature of many women -- myself included -- to be fascinated by relationships. We do so love to talk about them. Why not tell stories about them, too? What fun!

How difficult was your journey to publication? I’ve heard that you got an agent after your first book sold to Dorchester. How have your agent and your publisher helped your career and your writing?

Between the time I started writing my first romance (the one that never sold) and getting the "call" that I had finally sold to a publisher, was a span of ten years. A lot of those years I wasn't writing at all, but it was eating away at me inside. I wouldn't even let people ask me about it anymore; it was such a painful topic.
Chris Keeslar, my editor at Dorchester, was the one who bought that first book. That alone makes him the biggest influence on my career. He's also given me the freedom to write about any topic that catches my fancy. He has an excellent eye for where a book is weak and needs beefing up, and he knows when a plot hasn't come together right. I've learned to trust him when he says some part of my book needs work.
My agent, Linda Kruger, was the one who prompted me to write my Red Dress Ink chick-lit book DATING WITHOUT NOVOCAINE. She also got me hooked up with Pocket, when my next idea for a chick-lit book proved too "romancey" for Red Dress Ink.

You’ve said that you don’t think that a variety of writing topics are a good career move for an author. Many authors though switch genre’s, trying to reach a wider readership. How do you feel about it?

I think it's loads of fun to switch around, and it keeps me interested in writing. I get to indulge my curiosity in many subjects. I don't think it's done much to help me build a readership, though. No one knows what to expect from me. I myself often go buy a book by a certain author because I know which itch it will scratch, and I don't want something unexpected from them.
As for switching genres to reach a wider audience -- maybe it's more a matter of an author wanting a wider audience SO THAT the author can write a wider range of stories.

Jude Deveraux's "A Knight in Shining Armor" is said to be the book that inspired you to write THE CHANGELING BRIDE. What fascinates you about time travel, a theme that you’ve returned to?

The clothes! Ha! Really. The clothes. Oh... maybe it's that I like to imagine what it would be like to live in the past, and the time traveler is a place-holder for me. Writing a historical romance provides some of the same fix, but then I have to try to filter my perceptions through an imagined historical perspective. A heroine born in 1735 would not view hygiene conditions the same way that I would, and would not long for pizza. It's fun to be able to say, "Yuck!" and to try to change the environment to suit a modern taste.

You’ve stretched beyond the bounds of romance as far as a chick lit and a spy spoof release. How far are you willing to stretch?

You know, those were both difficult books for me to write. I didn't feel at home in those genres, and am happy to be back in Romance Land. I can almost imagine writing fantasy or horror, or maybe even some sort of mainstream fiction, but it will probably be a while before I try it.

How long does it take you, from conception of the idea, to completion of a manuscript, including research time?

The idea conception can happen many years before I begin to write the book. Research begins for one book while I'm still writing the previous book. Actual writing time is about six months. I tend to write in bursts, with days of inactivity between.

Your books are set in many different historical periods. Do you have a particular favorite period to write about and why?

It's not an intentional favorite, but I've ended up setting several books between 1790 and 1815. When I come up with a story idea, I have to do research to discover exactly when it has to be set, to be plausible. That 1790-1815 era is the one that has worked out most often.

What does it take to research a historical period to your and your readers’ satisfaction?

I like to get the details right, and can waste copious amounts of time trying to do that. Historical detail is one of those things that looks easy until you actually try to do it. If I have a character walking through a forest in England in 1350, for example, there are a hundred and one different details I can think up to check. What type of trees will he see? What birds would he hear? Probably different trees and birds than he'd see and hear now, beyond one or two common things like "oak" or "lark" (but do larks live in the woods?). What were his shoes like? His food, if he carries any, and how does he carry it? What does he drink? What is the liquid in? How far can he walk in a day? What type of stranger would he likely come across on such a path?
I think readers vary in how much detail they care about, though. I've had one reader say I got all the details right and was utterly historically accurate, and another reader of the same book say that my historical detail was "wallpaper".

You’ve set your books in a variety of different locations. You do like to travel and you seem to like "exotic" localities. Can we expect them to be featured in upcoming books? Personally I’d love to see a romance set in Japan. And a year teaching English in Japan is bound to have given you plenty of material and impressions to work with.

Japan isn't yet on the schedule, although I wouldn't rule it out. There is potential for a contemporary romantic comedy. I think a historical set there would be biting off more research than I could chew.
My next two books will be set in medieval Transylvania and vicinity. I'm traveling to Romania this fall to do the research. I hear there are packs of wild dogs roaming Bucharest, and that a common dish on the lunch menu is tripe soup. What fun I'm going to have!

One of the things mentioned about your writing is that you’ve got a healthy dose of humor, satire and wit in your books, that you make your readers laugh and that the humor you include is often on the darker side. How much humor is enough and how can it help a romance?

Oh heck, I don't know how much is enough, or how much is too much. Humor is notoriously subjective, so I don't suppose there IS one answer. I don't know why my humor has so often had a dark edge. I usually strike people as a kind and cheerful person. Repressed thoughts, perhaps?

Another thing mentioned about your writing is your originality and diversity, your individuality. Is it something you consciously strive for? How does an author find their individual voice?

Whenever I start writing a book, I think that I am writing something "usual". Once or twice I've thought I was treading slightly on the edge -- like when I had a professional wrestler as a hero -- but for the most part I thought I was writing in the mainstream, following well-worn routes. Apparently though, judging by the comments I get, I'm a bit of an oddball. Sometimes I worry that such "differentness" will limit my audience. As for a writer finding her individual voice: I think it will come out on its own, the more she writes. Does that mean I'll get even more weird....?

Your characters are often described as delightful, charismatic, rich and warm. They are definitely different. One only has to read your latest two novellas, PUDDINGS, PASTRIES, AND THOU (part of the anthology WISH LIST) and the RITA nominated THE BREEDING SEASON (part of the anthology A MOTHER’S WAY). By the way, I was charmed by Evelina and Charles and would have definitely awarded you the RITA! How much of your own experiences are included in your heroes and heroines? How much are they modeled after friends and acquaintances?

I take snippets of myself and my friends and acquaintances, and combine it all when I make a character. All of us (meaning all us humans) experience the same emotions, the same wishes and hurts, and have varying degrees of the same traits. I just choose which traits to make the strongest elements of a character's personality, and sometimes use the experiences of myself or my acquaintances to help me understand what that person would be like in reality.

Your heroine in DR. YES was modeled after an Australian tour guide in Nepal. Have you told her about the book yet? Has she read it yet and how did she react?

I did tell her about the book, but I never heard if she got her hands on it. I know she was embarrassed at first about the idea of appearing in a fictionalized form. :)

I’ve heard you like discovering new authors. Who was you latest discovery and who would you like to recommend to us?

Heh. Actually, I'm reading a funny book by Jerome K. Jerome right now called THREE MEN IN A BOAT, written in the late 1800's. I'm on an old-funny-English-book reading kick right now, and would recommend COLD COMFORT FARM by Stella Gibbons to anyone who has a taste for the same and who wants a bit or romance (and mock romance), too. I've also been reading some P.G. Wodehouse, which is in an even sillier vein than the rest.

Your next release will be the romantic comedy, HAVE GLASS SLIPPERS, WILL TRAVEL. What can your readers expect?

They can expect the modern-day trip to London that some of us American women dream of, in our most secret of fairy-tale-loving hearts. They can expect a lot of fun, too -- the story is about a techie girl from Seattle, looking for an aristocrat -- any aristocrat! -- to marry. Of course there's going to be trouble!.