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Why don't you write
historicals anymore?
The
simple answer is I'm
writing the books
I could sell right
now.
The
long answer's a bit
more complicated.
I've always kept a
file of ideas that
didn't fit my historical
romances, that either
needed to be set in
a contemporary setting
and or had elements
that didn't fit under
the romance umbrella.
When I left Avon,
I sent around one
of those proposals,
as well as an historical
romance proposal.
Just
Sex simply generated
more editorial enthusiasm.
I'm was thrilled to
write it; it was a
creative stretch,
and it explored some
ideas I was very interested
in doing. |
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Will
you ever write
historicals again? |
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Oh,
I hope so! In
the best of
all possible
worlds, I'd
alternate, though
truthfully I
probably don't
write fast enough
for that. But
now I keep a file
of historical
romance ideas,
and someday I'm
sure I'll want
to write some
of those. |
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Are
you the Susan
Kay who wrote
PHANTOM? |
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No,
I'm not .
. . although,
if the extremely
flattering
e-mails for
her that are
sometimes
sent to me
by mistake
are any indication,
maybe I wish
I was! The
name similarities
are purely
coincidence.
Susan Kay
Law is my
real name
and I write
(at least
so far) only
under that
moniker. I
use the Kay
because it's
not only my
middle name,
but my mother's
first name,
and I figure
she's earned
some acknowledgment,
for she had
a great deal
to do with
my love of
books. |
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You
mention that
your father's
a minister.
What does he
really think
about you writing
such sexy books? |
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First,
you have to
know that
I hit the
jackpot in
the parents
department.
My dad is
enormously
supportive.
He's even
read all my
books... which
is far more
than I can
say for my
husband.
If the person
asking is
really concerned,
Dad usually
says something
along the
lines of: "I've
spent thirty-odd
years in the
ministry,
and you would
not believe
some of the
things I've
heard in that
time, the
things that
people who
claim to love
each other
are capable
of doing to
each other.
In Susie's
books, the
people clearly
love each
other, clearly
respect each
other, and
I say they
should go
to it!"
If
the person
is just ribbing
him a bit,
he generally
pats his chest,
grins, and
says: "It's
in the genes." |
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I've
always wanted
to write, but
my life is very
busy. You have
three children;
how do you find
the time? |
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First
of all, I don't
particularly
buy the truism
passed among
writers as gospel
that "writers
can't NOT write." Because
I most certainly
can not write;
in fact, I'm
pretty darn
good at it.
Playing with
ideas in my
head is ever
so much easier
than actually
putting them
down on paper,
and going to
the park with
my boys always
seems a lot
more fun than
slogging through
the rough draft
of chapter fourteen.
One thing that's
helped me a
lot is to give
up the idea
of needing big
blocks of time,
two to four
hours, to write.
That's a luxury
my life generally
doesn't yield.
I've learned
to write in
snatches – a
page before
the kids get
up, fifteen
minutes here
and there before
I have to leave
to do the endless
taxi-ing, another
ten while dinner's
in the oven,
perhaps another
page after they
finally go to
sleep. Maybe
because this
keeps the book
in the forefront
of my mind and
I spend the
day thinking
about what I'm
going to write,
I often can
get a surprising
amount done
in these little
snatches. Leave
your computer
on, with your
book file already
called up, all
day so it's
ready and waiting
for you. Three
pages a day,
done regularly,
adds up pretty
quickly.
When
I'm really desperate,
however
– especially when
I've got to revise
a manuscript to
meet a deadline
– I've
been known to
check into a
hotel for the
weekend. |
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