When Cullen’s Bride took out the 1997 Emma Darcy Award, it capped an impressive list of contest successes for author Fiona Brand, including wins in the 1997 Opening Chapter and Synopsis and the 1997 Write to Win competitions, and a finalist gong in RWAmerica’s Golden Heart.

In early 1998 all Fiona’s hard preparatory work came to fruition with a call from Silhouette senior editor Leslie Wainger to say Cullen’s Bride had been accepted for publication in their Intimate Moments line.

BJ: Your name came up regularly in contests results for years before you were published. At what stage did you begin entering contests and why?

FB: I started entering contests about a year after I started writing. I entered them first of all to get critiques and to set myself short-term goals. Later on I entered them to get my work in front of editors, or simply to gain name recognition.

BJ: How did contests help your career?

FB: They made me better, quicker. The Emma Darcy Award in particular was great because it was a whole manuscript competition. Some contests also get your work in front of an editor, which is a prize in itself.

BJ: What were the most important things you learned in those early years?

FB: Read, read, read. Ask questions and always look for information about writing and the publishing industry. The two most significant things I learned were to expose myself to criticism, and then use the criticism to make my writing better no matter how much it hurt, and to write the whole book each time. Writing proposals is all very well, but a whole book is much more complex. There’s no point in being a great proposal writer if you can’t supply the book.

BJ: At what stage did you discover your niche was with Intimate Moments?

FB: I started out writing Mills and Boon novels. I had four rejections there. My big problem is that my stories were too big and too hard-edged - I also needed to write better. I discovered I loved suspense, so SIM seemed like the place to go. I had a couple of rejections there before I sold Cullen’s Bride.

BJ: What happened to those rejected manuscripts?

FB: Two have been shelved - although the characters haven’t - and the other two became my second and third Intimate Moments.

BJ: What are you working on now?

FB: I’m writing a series of six books using all the SAS guys who were introduced in Cullen’s Bride. The second, Heart of Midnight (a romantic suspense) is out at the moment. Blade’s Lady, a paranormal suspense, will be released in August in the states. I’m currently working on the fourth, Marrying McCabe.

BJ: Is your writing still evolving? Does it get any easier?

FB: Yes, my writing is evolving and changing. When I look back at the first book I can see the difference. I find the writing does get easier, and I really enjoy plotting now.

BJ: Have you plans to write single title romantic suspense as so many SIM authors have done?

FB: I do have a particular single title book in mind when I’ve finished the SAS series and it’s not such a leap because a lot of IM books are very close to mainstream. In fact, the thing that attracted me to read SIM’s in the first place was that writers such as Linda Howard, Elizabeth Lowell, Anne Stuart and Nora Roberts had written there.

BJ: How long does it take you to write a new story, idea conception to finish?

FB: I’m erratic with time because I’ve always worked around my family, school holidays, etc, and how the book goes is another variable. Getting to contract stage with a book usually takes three or four months. As for writing the book, I do have to know the main plot before I start, but I always leave my mind open to intriguing little side roads, and the characters that keep popping into my head. The story evolves as I write it. I’m often surprised with what I come up with.

BJ: Who have been your influences?

FB: I’ve read very broadly from childhood, so I guess that’s been my major influence - which is why I could never write comfortably in one viewpoint. Most of the books I’d read had multiple viewpoints. The writers who have had a big influence on me are Tami Hoag, Linda Howard, Elizabeth Lowell, Susan Krinard, Jayne Ann Krentz, Laura Kinsale, and lately, Laurell K Hamilton. As for mentors, Robyn Donald and Daphne Clair and their Kara School of Writing gave me my start. They’ve given me a lot of advice over the years.

BJ: Have you any advice for RWA members keen to join you as an Intimate Moments author?

FB: There’s a wide range in the type of book that’s offered in this line. I’ve always chosen to push for a more mainstream edge because that’s what I love - it also makes your book stand out in category. There is one rule to follow when writing SIM and it’s true of all category romance books - write the love story, everything else is subplot. I’ve heard editors say on a number of occasions that giving too much weight to the suspense plot in a SIM romance is a common reason for rejection. My view on this is that the suspense plot should be a support to the love story, and if it can grow out of the love story, so much the better.