What is your favorite thing about being a romance writer?
I love to submerge myself in another time period and imagine how it would be to live another life in another era. There’s definitely a little bit of me in all of my heroines (or, at least that’s what I like to think!) Our imaginations allow us to live many more times and ways than we’re able to do “for real.” As a reader, I love to escape into the fantasy world of romance. As a writer, I try to make that escape believable for others and take them along for the ride.
What genres and authors would we find you reading when taking a break from your own writing?
I read a variety of genres and I’m always discovering new-to-me authors. Of course, romance is my number one favorite genre. I lost patience many years ago with all those books tagged as “literature” in which everyone dies. Even the good people! I love HEAs.
Historicals are my favorite (surprise!). Authors I enjoy are Meredith Duran, Sherry Thomas, Madeline Hunter, Loretta Chase. I began reading romance with Regency trads and I have a big collection of old Mary Balogh and Carla Kelly. I also read medievals, but they’re hard to find these days.
My favorite historical fiction always has a romance plot line. Favorites include Sara Donati’s series, which started with Into the Wilderness. I also read Ariana Franklin, Philippa Gregory, Kathleen Givens, and Barbara Kyle as well as Dorothy Dunnett and Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.
Science fiction and fantasy favorites include Jim Butcher, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Guy Gavriel Kay.
And, of course, erotica—I love Samantha Kane and Emma Wildes. Both, not surprisingly, write Regency-era erotic romance.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Pants, pants, pants. I couldn’t plot my way out of a paper bag. I start with a scene that has appeared in my head. I write that down and go as far as I can with it. Then I work on another story. Eventually, I’ll figure out, completely subconsciously, what comes next.
Right now, for example, I have about five erotic romances in various stages of completion—two Regencies, one medieval, one contemporary, and one science fiction. I move back and forth between them as ideas come to me. I am easily bored, so having the freedom to write what I want to when I want to is invaluable.
What do you hope readers take with them after reading one of your stories?
A warm, cozy happily-ever-after feeling and the sense that there’s a place in the world where everything comes out right in the end.
What’s something fans would find fascinating about you?
I actually have a doctorate in anthropology. While I’d like to eventually be able to support myself with my writing, I’m not there yet. Right now I teach at a university in Alaska. I’ve done archaeological work all over the United States, as well as in Peru, Mexico, and the Russian Far East. I’ve always been fascinated by the past.
When not writing, how do you relax?
I do contemporary-style quilting (bright colors and bold geometric patterns). I am also an avid birder and I’ve been lucky enough to have the chance to volunteer on a couple of scientific studies of endangered seabirds. I spend as much of the summer gardening as I can. And I travel a lot—mostly to Europe and almost always on my own.
If you could be a paranormal creature, which one would you be?
A were-warbler
What’s a guilty pleasure you have?
Eating peanut-butter M&Ms straight from the bag while watching a TV medical drama and petting my rescue kitty, Cyrus (that’s three guilty pleasures, but they sort of go together).
If you could have three wishes granted, what would you wish for?
I’m going to answer this selfishly, rather than wishing for world peace and an end to hunger and violence against humans and animals. Wish #1: a house with a decadent bathroom; #2: property enough to give homeless animals homes; #3: my own happily-ever-after.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would be the most essential for you?
Books, my cat, and my sister, who is the funniest person I know.
What’s number one on your list of things you hope to do before you die?
Visit the Galapagos Islands and see the incredible animals there.
*Please share with us your future projects and upcoming releases.
I have a science-fiction erotic romance coming out from Ellora’s Cave on July 7th that I’m very excited about. It’s called The Antaren Affair. It’s about a gruff, duty-bound military officer who meets an alien woman during a diplomatic mission.
She’s part of an oppressed class on her planet and she speaks a language that requires her to think of herself only as an object. The hero, who also happens to be a linguist, literally gives her the words to reconceptualize herself as a person, as an individual with her own needs and, er, desires.
http://www.authorericaanderson.blogspot.com/
Thanks again for the chance to talk about reading, writing, and romance!
ReplyDeleteyes I AGREE A HOUSE with a decadent bathroom and shelter for homeless animals is very important ,humans survive no matter what the situation in peace or at war!
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