Today I'm interviewing Contemporary Romance author Rebecca J. Clark. Here's a little bit about her before we start the interview.
Rebecca Clark has wanted to write romance novels
since she read her first Harlequin Romance at age 11. When she’s not writing,
she works as a personal fitness trainer and group exercise instructor, where
she teaches Pilates, Turbokick®, Zumba®, and yoga. She makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of 24 years, two kids,
a German Shepherd beast who thinks he’s a lap dog, two cats, two rats and a
gecko. In her not-so-abundant free time, Rebecca enjoys reading, watching
Criminal Minds reruns on TV, and doing absolutely nothing.
Welcome Rebecca, I'm so glad you could join me.
How long have you been writing and what
made you decide to pursue a writing career?
I’ve always wanted to be a
writer—well, since I was about 11 anyway. That’s when I read my first Harlequin
Romance and was hooked. I saved all my babysitting money and bought every book
in that line as it came out each month. My grandpa referred to them as “I Love
You Truly” books. LOL. It took many years before I wrote my first book—I knew I
couldn’t write about love until I had experienced it. And I didn’t experience
it until I was about 22. Then life got in the way—marriage, non-writing career
(graphic design at the time), kids. When my oldest was two I finally decided to
pursue my writing dream. Then it took many years after that before I sold my
first book.
I love the name your grandfather gave the Harlequins. Do you have a writing routine? Where do you usually do your writing?
My
day job has really crazy hours—sometimes I work a triple shift (I’m a personal
fitness trainer and instructor). So my routine varies depending on the day. I
think I’d be more productive if I had a set routine. For instance, if I could
write from 1-3 p.m. every afternoon. Sigh. Someday. As for where I write, I have a nice little office to write in…but I prefer
setting up my computer on the dining room table. It doesn’t feel as dark and
closed off. Once a week I take my son to Seattle
to skate (he’s a sponsored skateboarder), so I park it at my favorite Starbucks
and get a few hours of uninterrupted writing in.
I'm in awe. I couldn't imagine working a triple shift. I write at the dining room table too for pretty much the same reasons. Why
do you write in the genre/sub-genre that you do? Any plans in the future to
write in a different one?
I write straight contemporary because that’s what I
love to read. I also love, love, love romantic suspense, and I have a couple of
story ideas that include a suspense plot…. We’ll see.
Who is your favorite
author? (I know, an unfair
question. I couldn’t name just one
myself.)
Totally unfair question! But I will give a shout out to my two
ultimate favorites: HQN author Laurie London (cuz she’s my sister) and Avon author Candis Terry (she was my first writer friend,
first CP and still one of my BFFs).
How cool that your sister is also a romance author. How do you stay motivated when writer’s
block hits or your muse won’t cooperate?
The only thing that works for me
is BICHOK. Butt in chair, hands on keyboard. Then I keep my fingers moving.
Sometimes (often times) I write things like, “This is stupid. I have no idea
what comes next. My hero is an idiot.” Then I start brainstorming on the
screen, asking myself “what if” questions. Sometimes, I might write pages of
this self-talk/drivel, other times it’ll just take a sentence or two before I
figure out the scene. Back to BICHOK—I find I get writer’s block way more often
when I’m not writing every day. So I make sure I write every day. Period.
Otherwise, I have no one to blame but myself.
I love how you deal with writer's block. I find I also get writer's block more often if I don't write everyday. Do you have a critique partner or partners? If so, do you think they help more in terms
of moral support or in terms of line editing, brainstorming, etc?
I have two
CPs—both my favorite authors I mentioned above. But, unfortunately for me, I
don’t utilize them as much as I should. When I do, it’s mostly for moral
support (they often assure me, “No, you don’t suck.” “No, your story idea isn’t
the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”) and for brainstorming. I also belong to
a plotting group with the fabulous Cherry Adair, my sister, and about 8 other
writers—we call ourselves the Cherry Plotters.
I think we all need those same reassurances. What’s the best writing advice you were
ever given?
Can I share two? 1—Write
every day (see my answer to number 5). 2—Don’t write for the market unless you
can write really, really fast; otherwise, by the time you finish that book, the
market will probably have changed.
Tell us about your
current release in a couple of sentences.
Her One-Night Prince is a
Cinderella story about a shy and sheltered woman who wants to go back to her class
reunion a changed woman. She just needs a little help from the hero first.
Sounds interesting. Can you tell us
a little about your next project?
I am working on a sweet short story for
The Wild Rose Press (one of my publishers), and a spicy follow up to my first
book, Borrowed Stilettos. I hope to have the short story submitted next month,
and the other by summer. But I’m a slow writer, so we’ll see on that.
Anything else you’d like to
share?
Like my heroine, Lydia,
from
Her One-Night Prince, I tend to
be a bit on the introverted side (used to be really, really shy, too). I have a
blog for shy writers called
Once Written,
Twice Shy. So if any of your readers fall into that category, I’d love for
them to stop by.
http://shywriters.blogspot.com.
Thanks for the great interview, Rebecca. Now let's learn more about Her One-Night Prince.
Blurb: Her
One-Night Prince is a Cinderella story about a woman’s dream to be something she’s
not for just one night at her class reunion.
As all fairy tales go, however, happy endings don’t come
easily.
Shy and sheltered Lydia St. Clair is uncomfortable around
men, so she advertises for a gay man to be her date and revamp her style. Mitch
Gannon answers Lydia’s
ad and he’s perfect for the job--he’s handsome and, even more important, he’s
charming.
Unbeknownst to Lydia, Mitch is straight and
answered the ad as the unwitting victim of a practical joke. Before he can
reveal the truth, Lydia
is convinced he’s her fairy godmother, ready to transform her into the belle of
the ball. And Mitch, prince that he is, doesn’t have the heart to set her
straight.
Excerpt:
With a firm hand against her
upper back, Mitch propelled Lydia
out of the bar and out the door. She peered back through the windows and could
just make out that waitress standing behind the bar and staring out at them.
“She’s beautiful,” she said,
turning back to Mitch. Something about that woman signaled a déjà vu of sorts
in her mind, but she couldn’t quite put a finger on it.
“Who? Edwina?” He glanced into
the pub. “Yeah, she is.”
Edwina’s showstopping figure and
stunning looks caused Lydia
to self-consciously smooth back her boring, pulled-tight-into-a-bun-as-usual
hair. She couldn’t imagine a woman like Edwina ever advertising in the gay
personals. She couldn’t imagine Edwina making a boob of herself by assuming
Mitch worked at a gay bar.
With the heel of her palm, she
bonked herself in the side of the head a few times. “Just shoot me, will you?”
Mitch pulled her hand away from
her head. “You’re too hard on yourself, Lydia.”
For a moment she zeroed in on
the feeling of his large, warm hand holding hers. It felt good, like it
belonged there, which was a crazy thought. Reality returned, and she pulled her
hand from his grasp.
“What in the world was I
thinking?” she asked. Her skin burned from embarrassment, or the heat of
summer, or his touch…or all the above.
“It’s understandable you’d
assume I worked at a gay bar. I mean, you think I…er…”
She waved her hand back and
forth. “No, no. That was just plain stupidity. What I meant was, I had this
grand notion of you helping me out and transforming me into the belle of the
ball. You know, Queer Eye my style or
something.” She wrapped her arms around herself despite the warm air and strode
down the alley. If a sinkhole opened up in front of her, she’d gladly fall into
it.
He jogged up beside her as they
reached the sidewalk. “I don’t know about the clothing and hair stuff,” he
said, “but I could certainly give you advice on men.” He cleared his throat and
coughed. “I mean, since I’m a, ah, man.”
“That’s okay. It was a dumb
idea. Besides, I don’t want advice on men. It would be pointless.” She pulled
black-framed sunglasses from her purse and exchanged them for her regular
glasses to block the blinding glare off the sidewalk.
Mitch didn’t respond right away,
so she knew he silently agreed with her. Finally, he asked, “Why would it be
pointless?”
She had about a million reasons.
“It just would be.”
Buy links:
You can learn more about Rebecca at any of the links below:
Twitter @rebeccajclark
