Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The Giddy, Joyous Feeling Of Being A Romance Author

Normally I have blogs set up to run Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. This week has been different. I hope I'm not confusing you. :-) Next week will be back to normal, I promise.


So why am I tossing in different blog days this week and confusing the heck out of you? Well, it's simple really.

I really wanted to have Amelia Grey as a guest on Over Coffee and the only day she had available was Tuesday.

I love reading Amelia's books and I like her attitude about writing romance. She loves what she does and does it well. So I worked with her schedule to be able to have her here.



I have many romance writers here, Over Coffee, but I was curious what Amelia's favorite part of writing romance.

You know me, if I want to know something, I ask.




I was asked to write about my favorite part of being a romance author. That is certainly easy for me to answer because I absolutely love writing, and I’m thrilled to be a published author. I’m happy to say that romance is the only thing I want to write.

It’s difficult to choose just one favorite part of being a romance author, but I have no problem admitting that I get this giddy, joyous feeling deep inside me the first time I see a copy my latest book with my name on it. When I first started writing, I really thought that after I’d published a few books, three, five, or even fifteen books the feeling would start to wane, or at least, that I wouldn’t be so eager to get my hands on the finished book that I’d get butterflies in my stomach, but guess what? That hasn’t happened.

My twentieth book, A Marquis To Marry, which is the second book in the Rogues’ Dynasty Series has just hit the shelves, and I was like a school girl waiting for a birthday present. I couldn’t wait for the first copy to arrive at my door. When my authors’ copies arrive, I grab a copy with my hot little hands, and run all over the house saying, “It’s here! It’s here! Come see it!” My family usually lets me do that for about ten seconds, and then they bring me back down to earth.

Another favorite part of being a romance author is that I love the creative part of thinking up the characters. I have an incredible excitement about my work. I look forward to going to the computer each morning and letting my imagination take flight with characters, conflicts, and emotional drama. I enjoy the control I have in creating a book from start to finish. I like the fact that in “this world” I get to decide the color of everyone’s hair and eyes. I get to give them their names, their personalities and their quirks and faults. I decide who the bad guy is going to be and what the intrigue is going to be about. I mean it doesn’t get any better than that.

I like working out their character traits. Who will be impulsive and who will be a neat-freak. Who will play by the rules and who will break them? Working out all these kinds of things is tremendous amount of fun for me, and I love the complete and total control.

An example of this in A Marquis To Marry, the second book in The Rogues’ Dynasty Series, I had to make sure that while the book kept the same tone as I had in the first book, I needed the hero and heroine in the second book to be completely different. In the first book of the series, A Duke To Die For, which is still available at local and online bookstores, the hero’s life is chaotic and undisciplined so I gave him a young, innocent heroine who was and orderly and stable. In A Marquis To Marry, I had to do something entirely different so I made the hero fun-loving and carefree. I gave him a heroine who was a widow his own age and of a serious nature.

I also love it when I hear from a fan that they loved my book or a particular character or scene in one of my books—so maybe that’s my favorite part—pleasing my readers and fans.

As you can see it’s difficult to talk about just one favorite part of being a romance author.

So why don’t you tell me what is your favorite part of a romance book: the meeting, the break-up, or the making up and getting back together?


A Marquis to Marry
Book Two in the Rogues’ Dynasty Trilogy
In Stores October 2009


Alexander Mitchell Raceworth, the dashing fourth Marquis of Raceworth, is shocked when the alluring young Duchess of Brookfield accuses him of stealing priceless pearls belonging to her family. Susannah Brookfield is the most beautiful, enchanting woman he has ever met, but despite his attraction, he's not about to hand over the pearls.

Though suspicion and mistrust drive them apart when the pearls are stolen, Race suggests they pool their resources to recover them. If they do find them, will they finally be able to give in to love, or will the truth of the elusive necklace tear them apart once and for all?








Two of Amelia Grey's books, A Duke To Die For, and A Marquis To Marry, will be awarded to two commenters on todays blog. Be sure to leave me a way to contact you.

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Amelia Grey’s awards include the Booksellers Best and the Aspen Gold, and as Gloria Dale Skinner, the coveted Romantic Times Award for Love and Laughter and the prestigious Maggie Award. Her books have been featured in Doubleday and Rhapsody Book Clubs. Happily married for twenty-five years, she lives in Panama City Beach, Florida.

Amelia's Website