Common Interview FAQs

• When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

  I’ve always wanted to be a writer (especially a Harlequin author, because those were the first romances that I read.) But as I grew up, I tried very hard to be realistic. I know that it’s incredibly difficult to make a living as a writer, and so I told myself that it was something that I could have on the side, but never really make a career out of. So I pursued a couple of other avenues of study – not just accounting, but bouncing around between degrees in Education, History, Anthropology, and English Literature – before giving myself a little slap, and realizing that I was bouncing around because the thing I wanted to do was right in front of me, but I wouldn’t reach for it.

  Eventually, I took a job as the accountant for a construction company, and although I liked the people I worked with and I enjoyed the work itself (I still love spreadsheets), I wasn’t happy with what I was doing. I felt as if something were missing. Added to that, I’ve always had a habit of telling stories in my head whenever I’m alone, and I had a long commute to that job, during which I’d play with a romantic story. I’d flesh out character, scenes, and plots on that drive – but it wouldn’t be one story for every drive. I’d use the story I had been imagining the day or the week before, and make it richer, deeper, and actually thinking of the words and sentences I’d use to describe the scenes rather than just letting them play in my head like a movie. Eventually, the commutes weren’t enough. I began writing some of this at work, too – quickly flipping between screens whenever someone came into my office.

  So that was the point I told myself: I’m actually going to do this. I’m going to try to finish a story, to see if this writing thing is really what I’m going to do with my life.

• How did you first become published?

  Here is a more entertaining version of this story at the Dear Author site.

  I was writing fanfiction at work and between classes, mostly to see if I could a) finish a long story and b) if there really was something about writing that I couldn’t live without. I did that for a while, until I didn’t want to be stuck with other people’s characters any more, no matter how much I loved them. So I was working on an original paranormal romance when I received an e-mail from Cindy Hwang, an editor at Berkley Publishing, who had read and enjoyed my fanfic. She asked me to submit a story to her.

  I did, and not much later, I was contracted for my first novella and novels — HOT SPELL and DEMON ANGEL.

• What is your average workday like?

  When I’m not on deadline (or god forbid, late with a book) I get up early and check e-mails, reply to readers on social sites, and go over what I need to write for the day. Then I get my girl and husband off to school, come back and begin writing. I’ll take a break for lunch and to check out stuff online again, then write until it’s time to pick up the girl and husband. Then I do a few family things, make dinner, help my daughter with her piano practice — that kind of thing. Then I write until I go to bed.

  If I’m on deadline or late with a book, I just write. And write and write until I fall down.

• What is your Guardian Series about?

  The Guardians is a romance series that straddles the line between paranormal and urban fantasy. In it, human men and women who have been given angelic powers fight demons, and fall in love along the way. The series includes an overarching storyline, but each book tells the story of a new couple who reaches their happily-ever-after, with a self-contained romance and plot (as a reader, I love a happy ending—as a writer, I’d never offer anything less.)

  My Guardian Series Primer contains an overview of the series mythology, including the origin of the Guardians, and a The Story So Far feature, which will give you enough background to dive into any book in the series.

• What is your Iron Seas series about?

  The Iron Seas features an alternate history where much of Europe and Africa fled to the Americas during the 15th-18th centuries to escape the oncoming Mongol Horde. Zombies roam over much of both those continents, giant megalodons and kraken terrorize sailors, and airships are the best way to travel – unless a ship full of pirates comes after you. The series combines nanotech and pirates with a gritty, gaslit Victorian atmosphere to create swashbuckling steampunk romance…with an emphasis on the steam.

  For an overview of the Iron Seas world, including a map, click here.

• You write a lot of novellas. Do you prefer writing longer or shorter?

  I like both. A lot of worldbuilding goes into the books, and in a novel-length story, I have a lot of room to explain and to allow things to happen. Characters can more believably fall in love in a long story, I can play out the mystery or a plot over a longer time, and I can explore more parts of the world and the characters. So writing a novel is definitely more labor-intensive and takes more time, simply because there is so much more going on.

  But writing a shorter format isn’t necessarily easier. Every single aspect of the story has to be sharper, and I have to fit so much into a shorter format without making the reader feel as if they are missing a lot and/or cramming the information in. And even though the plot and romance must be simpler, they can’t be any less satisfying for a reader – and that’s always difficult to pull off, whether the story is long or short.

  I do like writing them both, though. Novellas allow me to explore small parts of the world that don’t fit into the longer books, or they let me tell a side story whose plot wouldn’t sustain a full-length novel. So they can be a breath of fresh air between the long and complicated books.

• Why do you write steampunk romance?

  I also answer this question at the Book Smugglers’ blog, but a bit more exuberantly (and with a few swear words.)

  Mostly, because it’s fun! But I know that the idea of steampunk romance is a head-scratcher for some readers of both genres – the two genres seem quite different. Steampunk often possesses a gritty, industrial aesthetic and a story that challenges (or at least comments on) a socio-economic and/or political status quo, whereas romance often tells the story of beautiful people, sex, and normalized happily-ever-afters.

  On the surface, it does seem as if an unbridgeable gap exists between the two genres, but I’ve found that two particular aspects of steampunk lend themselves spectacularly to romance. One is the technological component – not necessarily the gadgets (though those are fun), but the effect of changing technology on society. Setting the series in the middle of that cultural shift opens so many avenues of conflict, whether it stems from characters who resist the changes, from alterations in class structure, or from an individual character’s uncertainty about where he fits in this new world (and, of course, the conflict that always arises when a character’s idea of his place clashes with society’s idea of his place).

  The second aspect is simply invention, which we see over and over again in steampunk. Technology can be used to oppress and dehumanize – but its creation can also be rebellion, or a triumph of human ingenuity. And a sense of wonder, adventure, and danger so often accompanies invention; it’s that new idea that may very well blow up and kill whoever tries to explore it…but the potential gain or discovery is well worth the risk. So a steampunk setting – a world crammed full of inventions – doesn’t allow for wimpy heroes and heroines. Whether they’re desperate or driven, they have to venture out into this world, and that exploration may very well kill them.

  …and I’ve just used a lot of phrases that describe my ideal love story. A steampunk setting provides plenty of external conflict, and the opportunity for the kind of adventure that I love writing and reading. But more importantly, the romantic conflict echoes everything I enjoy about steampunk. That means I write about characters who might resist the emotional and social changes a burgeoning relationship forces upon them. It’s an examination of where they’ll fit in someone else’s life (and it’s always best if they don’t fit easily.)

  And as for love … well, we all know that love can be oppressive, and a powerful tool. But falling in love with someone can also be liberating, and require a great deal of bravery – particularly if the characters know that, if something goes wrong, it can blow up and destroy them…but once again, the potential gain is worth the risk.

  Steampunk romance isn’t going to be for everyone. There will be both steampunk and romance fans who will read The Iron Seas series with a “What in the world is this? I can’t believe some author thought this would work” caption floating above their heads. But in my opinion, the genres fit together beautifully – and I’m only surprised that there aren’t already dozens of steampunk romances in bookstores.

  Hopefully, there soon will be.