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 Interview with Catherine Coulter, New York Times bestselling author of over 30 historical romance novels. The latest, The Courtship, was published in February 2000. Catherine Coulter is also the author of eight contemporary suspense thrillers. The latest, False Pretenses, was released in March 2000. Author's email: ReadMoi@aol.com Read our review of The CourtshipInterview by Charlotte Austin. Welcome, Ms. Coulter. Thank you for this interview. Your historical romance novels have been extremely successful bestsellers, read by millions of fans around the world. What are the most difficult aspects of writing in this genre? The most difficult aspect for writers in this genre is to keep focused on the hero/heroine's story without boring the reader to death with trite cliches/too much irrelevant sex, in other words, sex for sex's sake. If you think like that then you should be shot. Too much purple prose, such as, he rubbed his massive chest against her silken breasts with their soft supple velvety nipples, and such tripe as that is unacceptable. How are your novels different from other historical romance novels? Don't forget that the romance genre makes up at least 53% of the paperback retail market. That means there are many many romance novels written each year. There are more similarities than differences. Remember, the focus of each and every romance novel is getting a man and a woman together at the end. How are mine different? Well, I guess I aim for humor, for mysteries, and for people who are very very real and not just so utterly "perfect" in both mind and body. I try to avoid the tripe that I mentioned above (over-writing). I try to always write cleanly, clearly, and crisply. I like to laugh; falling in love should be filled with fun. In The Courtship, readers should be laughing their heads off. Just imagine, here is Lord Prith inventing the mimosa. And poor Flock, he can't marry Teeny because of what their names mean together. Keep the reader guessing, I guess that's something I always try to do. If you can go in two directions, always chose the road less traveled. In your latest novel, The Courtship, what issues do you explore as a writer? I honestly didn't intend to explore issues in this book. Actually I rarely explore issues, except, for example, Night Fire. I write to entertain. My goal is to tell a rip-roaring good story. If you want to consider discipline as an issue, fine, I've explored that, don't you think? We met Lord Beecham in The Sherbrooke Bride (1992) and Lady Mayberry in Mad Jack (1999). Why are the two reunited here and now, in a mystical quest called King Edward's Lamp? Lord Beecham was a neat character. He was an enigma in Sherbrooke Bride and I shoved him in the back of my mind so he could "ripen", which he did. Here comes Helen and I said, "bingo". They should be a real hoot together, and they are. Readers' opinions have been divided for The Courtship. Do you think the point of the novel was obscured for some by the mysterious quest? The reason readers have either loved or detested this book has nothing to do with the mysterious quest. If a reader detested the book it was because of the abundant sex. Depending on the book, there can be no sex at all (ex: The Countess) to very limited amounts (Mad Jack) to The Courtship, which is loaded because that's what's called for. What other novels are you working on now? I'm currently writing the fourth book in the Bride series. This will be called The Scottish Bride and it features Tysen Sherbrooke. It will be out early next January. This one is very interesting and especially challenging because Tysen is a vicar. What about future plans? Will there be a break away from historical romances and a leap into a different genre? As of four years ago, I began writing one original historical romance (paperback) and one FBI series book -- contemporary suspense thriller, out each summer in hardback. When I tour every summer, it's with the suspense book. I plan to keep doing this for a while. It's fun. I don't get burned out just writing one specific genre. What a mix -- romance and suspense thrillers. What advice would you offer to an aspiring writer? To an aspiring romance writer in particular? Aspiring writers: SIT YOURSELF IN FRONT OF YOUR COMPUTER AND WRITE. Don't whine about not having enough time, just do it. Also join RWA. Attend both national and local meetings. Meet other unpublished authors as well as published ones. Attend conferences. You'll learn everything you ever wanted to know about the publishing business and about how to motivate your dog Spot. Many published authors find the struggle to remain published greater than the struggle to become published in the first instance. What are your thoughts on this issue? Interesting question and it's very true. The publishing business has changed more in the past 5 years than in the previous 20 years. It's no more difficult now to get published than it was 20 years ago... It's just that you don't have time to very slowly grow with the house, slowly building your readership. You must prove to the publisher that they want to keep you on by making them money. You must do all you can (self-promotion). It's not just writing a book now and sitting back. Nope, you've got to get actively involved in selling your book too. After 5 or so books, if you haven't shown that you're headed upward and soon, then why should they keep you around? They can buy a brand new author who just might pop over the top and who will cost them less money to acquire. Don't ever forget: Publishing is a business. Any closing thoughts or comments? If you really really really want to be published, you must write. You must be disciplined. Don't talk about it, don't carry on and procrastinate -- WRITE -- a selected time each day, a selected number of hours each day. Do it. Learn all about the business. Very very important: when an author comes to town, go to their autographing. Published authors do a whole bunch for unpublished authors. In return the least you can do is go buy a copy of their novel and just BE THERE for them when they're sitting behind that table signing books. Read Catherine Coulter's full bio Author's email: ReadMoi@aol.com |
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