FAQ Friday

Okay, it’s time for FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Fridays.  This is the time I pull questions from my email bag and take a moment to answer what’s been on some readers’ minds.

So I hope you enjoy today's mail bag selections.

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Q. Does a romance author need to be in love to write love stories?
A. It helps to know the depths and heights of love, romance, loss, and pain to write love stories. There are so many facets to love that you can’t write it from an observer’s perspective. You can’t write about how Cupid did a number on a character’s heart unless you’ve felt it.  It won’t read true to your readers and you may have some difficulty getting characters fully engaged with each other.

Now, I’m not saying you can’t attempt to write a love story if you’ve never been in love, you can do whatever you want. I’m just stating love should be in your life in some form. I truly believe your words will flow easily when your heart in engaged in the process.

Q. What is the best advice you would give your daughters about men?
A. Men are wonderful, complex, loving, funny, demanding, cocky, passionate, and strong. They can make you giggle like a school girl, swoon like a southern belle, and shiver like a woman in heat. So I would tell my girls to never underestimate them, or yourself. Enjoy how they challenge you to be the best you can be but don’t tolerate being disrespected. They should treat you as good as you treat them in a relationship and remember ‘like ALWAYS attracts like’.

Q. I just signed with Soul Mate Publishing, how do you like working with their staff?
A. Soul Mate is a small independent publisher and I appreciate the work they do.  The staff is still relatively new, so some things are still need polishing, in order to create the best products but there are some many wonderful things about being part of something new. I love my fellow authors and SMP has been a great publishing home for the Sheridan series.

Q. Which Sheridan sibling is your favorite and why?
A. It comes and goes in phases. When I was writing SOUTH BEACH, Laila was my hands down favorite because of her fire, fashion sense, and the way she dabbles in neology (creating new words). She was very fun to write because she was so layered but now her twin brother, Latrell is my favorite.  I’m presently working on WILD WEST and Latrell reminds me an awful lot of my grandfather as a young man. 

Latrell is a hard-working, determined man, with a great sense of humor and knows his way around horses. It’s been so much fun to see Oklahoma through his eyes.

Q. Did you create the Angie Awards so your staff can nominate you for an award?
A. Ah, NO! As the founder, I’m not eligible to be nominated. AMB Ovation Awards, or ‘The Angies’ were created to acknowledge the literary efforts of my peers. As a writer I don’t have the time to read all of the works of my colleagues but I need to be aware of the wonderful works that are being published in my field.  

Presently, when I speak to readers about my novels I also speak to them about some of my author friends and promote their works as well. It creates a synergy effort in my genre that work really well in book sales for everyone. With so many great AA/IR/Multicultural romance authors out there, my staff and colleagues wanted a reader based award that the recipients could receive and know with a certainty that their readers love their efforts and their characters.