Miranda Lee

Interview by Carolyn (Cass) Bowman

Have you always aspired to be a published author? Was writing something you did as a child or in your teens etc or did you not start until later in life?

No, I never aspired to be a published author till I was a stay-at-home housewife and mother, desperately wanting some kind of creative outlet which might also earn me some money. Up till then, I had never attempted to write at all.

As a child/teenager were you a keen reader as most writers seem to be, and what did you particularly enjoy reading?

No, I was not an avid reader as a child. I was more interested in outdoor pursuits, being very sporty and a bit of a tomboy. As an early teenager, I did read the required texts at school - I went to a catholic convent boarding school from age eleven till I was seventeen - but didn't actually discover reading for pleasure till I was fifteen and my older sister gave me a copy of The World Of Suzie Wong one school holidays, instantly converting me to the joys of reading, especially books which contained torrid romances and what was considered raunchy stuff back then. I devoured sin and scandal sagas such as Peyton Place and Kings Row before later moving on to such epics as The Thorn Birds, The Fountainhead, The Carpetbaggers, Valley of The Dolls etc. Books like that. I also loved classic novels such as Rebecca, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice.

When you started writing for publication was it with a desire to write romance?

My decision to try writing romances rather than any other genre was more a practical decision than one of desire. My sister had been a published writer of Mills & Boon novels for some years and it was with her encouragement that I decided to try my hand at a romance. I knew that to be published in mainstream fiction was very difficult, and felt a category romance was my best chance at becoming a published author. I have to also confess that up till then, I hadn't read any category romances except my sister's books, so perhaps that is why I had such a long apprenticeship.

People, by that I mean other writers tell us that an author's apprenticeship can be as much as five to ten years. I understand it took some time for your books to be accepted. How long did you try before being published and did you have many rejections in the beginning?

I started writing around 1981 and sent off my first try in 1982. My husband actually took a photo of the brown paper parcel on our dining room table, which I still have. Both the photo and the dining room table. Of course this first try was rejected, with just a slip of paper attached. And rightly so too. In hindsight, it wasn't awful but it wasn't good enough, either. I am only working from memory here as I have since burnt all my correspondence and rejection letters from those years (I find burning things very healing.) Between 1982 and 1988 I must have sent a dozen manuscripts to Mills & Boon in London, as well as several versions of some of these. None of my rejection letters were particularly encouraging, I recall, although I was told my writing was intelligent and flowing. It wasn't till my work was passed to a brand new young assistant editor in early 1988 that I had my breakthrough. Tessa liked my writing and this particular story, called After the Affair, and gave me a whole list of suggestions for revisions. She accepted the revised version in December 1988, and this book was published in February, 1990.

I'm curious because we're always told patience and persistence are the key to success (as well as talent of course) Would you agree?

Yes, I most definitely do agree. Patience and persistence are vital to succeed in this business. Some talent too, of course. But let's not get too hung up on talent. What's talent, after all? It's very subjective. What one editor likes, another won't. Same with readers. Sheesh, if it was up to me most of the romances in the world would never have been published at all! Boy, am I picky! Look, if you want to write romances, and have enough brains to put your mind to it and learn all that you can about the craft then you can succeed. I'm living proof of that. But you do have to get your bum on that chair in front of the computer and do the work. And you have to keep on sending your finished stories to publishers. When I was getting rejected and downhearted, my husband would tell me not to give up, to keep writing more stories and keep knocking on that door (he was in sales at the time) because one day, he used to say, that door will open and someone will say yes to what you're selling. That is what getting published is, you know. Just one person saying yes.

I have a novel of yours which was published in 1990. Was this your earliest?

If that novel is After the Affair, then yes it was my first, followed in June 1990 by An Obsessive Desire.

Obviously, RWA was not in existence when you started. Did you belong to group, have a mentor/critique partner, someone who read your work and commented on it (hopefully constructively?) And did you always have support from your family and friends etc.?

You're right. There was no RWA when I was trying to get published. I did, however, have my sister, (Emma Darcy) who helped me tremendously, as did her late husband, Frank. We would often get together and talk romance writing for hours on end. They also read quite a lot of my early work and gave me some very honest criticisms. Now I know what some of you might be saying. "Oh I see, she had leg-in there." But that's not true. The powers that be at M & B in London had no idea I was Emma Darcy's sister till years after they accepted and published me. Aside from that, my main helper and support has always been my husband, Tony. He reads and critiques all my stories, as well as cooks great food and puts up with my paranoia the day I post off a book. I never get used to that feeling, that sick one you get in the pit of your stomach when your baby is being sent off into the big bad world.

I read somewhere that you've now had over 50 books published. Is this correct and are they all through HM&B.

Actually, I have had 52 romances published through Harlequin M & B, including the Secrets & Sins series, as well as one novella and one Blaze. I do have another Blaze coming out soon called A Man For The Night as well as a sexy M & B called At Her Boss's Bidding. I am currently working on a trilogy for M & B sexy, which is quite dark and very erotic.

How long does it usually take you to write a book, (standard sexy romance length) including re-writes/editing etc?

I take approximately three months to write a sexy M & B, including rewrites. Four months for a Blaze which is a longer format and where I also have to submit a synopsis first.

Are you contracted to write a set number per year as I've heard many other authors are?

Yes and no. I do have contracts with a set number of books and deadlines, but each one varies depending on where I am in my life at that time. In the past I have tried to do four books a year, but currently, I am scaling back to three, making sure that I have time off for breaks and Christmas and family etc.

Have you any desire to write longer novels and branch out into mainstream fiction? Your novel *Secrets & Sins* Book 7 in the Hearts of Fire series is almost a mainstream - much longer and more involved than most of your others, even the other six in the same series - was this a deliberate decision on your part or did it simply evolve that way?

If you did, would it still be mainly romance, or would you choose to write something completely different. Or maybe a combination, romantic suspense or paranormal for example?

Any writer of category romance gets tempted by the lure of mainstream fiction and I am no exception, but at this moment, I am resisting that temptation. It's a case of when you're on a good thing, stick to it. I'm comfortable and confident with what I do, so that's where I will be staying for a while yet. Book 7 in the Secrets & Sins series was a one-off. I was commissioned to write that book and was encouraged to make it more mainstream whilst still being true to the series. I did enjoy the experience but am not in a hurry to repeat it. If I ever write mainstream fiction, it will be something completely different. An erotic thriller, probably. I do have this story which has been teasing me for years, but it is extremely dark, with an anti-hero unlike any I've ever read in fiction before. I'm not sure that the world - or my readers - are quite ready for it yet.

Are you a disciplined writer or do you fly by the seat of your pants? You know, plotting carefully first, or are you a FLIMMER?

I am not a disciplined writer, but had to become slightly more disciplined when writing that Secrets & Sins sequel and the Blaze books, where I had to submit detailed synopses to the American editorial and marketing teams before I started. Mostly, however, with a sexy M & B, I do fly by the seat of my pants. I usually have a general idea of the style of book it is before I start, along with the two main characters, their inner conflicts and the initial inciting incident, but after that, I just go with the emotional flow. This does carry you down dead end streams occasionally, but when that happens, I just go back, delete, then forge on ahead again till it feels right. I am convinced that with category romance, especially sexy M & B where the emotional journey of the relationship is the story, this is the best way to go. The stories read fresher and more intense. Plot them out too much and a staleness creeps in, along with a predictability which the reader can spot a mile off. I like my stories to surprise me, the writer, and then I know they will surprise the reader.

As you have so many books published, I assume this is your principal occupation. Did it take you many years to be able make a living from your novels?

It took about five years of publishing a few books a year before I could have supported myself fully on my writing. Much longer than I anticipated. Since my husband worked at the time, it wasn't a problem, but writing category romances is not as lucrative a career as some people might think.

How many hours a day do you spend writing and do you work to a set routine?

I do have a set routine although naturally life sometimes intervenes. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, I work from eight till one, at which point I have lunch and then go to the gym. I may or may not go back to work later in the afternoon or after dinner that night. It all depends on deadlines, or if I'm at an exciting part of the book which draws me back. Saturdays, I work most of the day. Wednesdays and Sundays are my days off. I aim to write twenty five pages a week. Sometimes, I do more. Sometimes less.

Do you ever fear running out of ideas for your stories?

Never. I have found that the more I use my imagination the more active it becomes. The only fear I have sometimes is that the story I am currently working on is not as good as the one I'm already planning to do next.

Where do you find inspiration. Are parts of yourself and your friends and family included in your heroes and heroines?

I'm sure that parts of myself, my relatives and my friends must creep into my novels, but never consciously. My daughters always ask me when they're going to be one of my heroines, and I always say never because I would find that very constricting. I think characters born from the imagination are far more interesting than trying to use real ones. Of course, the brain is a sponge and I feed mine all the time. I read constantly. Books. Biographies. Magazines. Newspapers. I also watch heaps of television and go the movies at least once a week. How do I fit that all in? I'm an insomniac.

Your novels are wonderfully, highly sensual, the love scenes are always moving and fabulous, in fact one of yours I bought was a Blaze. Just a Little Sex... was a fabulous read. Have you ever considered writing women's erotica or does the love and romance element mean too much to you?

Thank you for those kind words. The sensual part of my stories is very important to me as a writer. It's that element I enjoy the most, possibly because I feel I do it well. Write it, that is. Part of the secret to writing great sex scenes is that they should never be gratuitous. They should be built into your story so that not a single one could be removed without it affecting the plot. A lot of romance writers forget that a sex scene should be an action scene, not a scene made up totally of narrative and introspection. I like to include reasonably explicit descriptions which paint erotic pictures in my readers' minds. I also like to use dialogue to take them right there into the bedroom or wherever it is my hero and heroine are making love. Consequently, some readers find my love scenes con-fronting. But those who like them, really like them a lot. As to my writing women's erotica, I have thought about it occasionally, but I have a problem with the erotica published today, which is that the stories are so pathetically thin and weak, they lose my interest quickly. I'm not sure the style of erotica I would write would find a ready market. Of course, my romances already have a high erotic content, especially in my first Blaze book, and even more so in my next one, A Man For The Night.

Do you consider there is anything more for you to learn about the art of writing romance?

Heavens, yes. You never stop learning. And you never stop changing. If you don't, your stories - and your storytelling - gradually fade from popularity. You only have to watch an old movie, or read an old romance to see how things date. My essential voice has stayed the same and the changes in my writing are subtle, but they're there. The pace in my books is even faster now. And the emotional punch is more immediate and intense. The sex goes a little further. The characters are more up-to-date in their thinking and motivation. Descriptions are pared down to a minimum. People want quick reads and almost instant emotional involvement. I'm the same when I read, so I am happy to oblige.

Many published authors today have websites where fans (such as myself) may find out more about authors and their novels/new releases etc. Do you?

No, I don't have a personal website. I know websites have become popular but I refuse to go there at this stage. Aside from the privacy issue, keeping a website up to date requires time and effort which I would rather spend on writing a better book. I am happy to let my books speak for me and trust that any fans out there who enjoy my stories will seek them out, regard-less. Sorry about that.

And lastly, do you have any words of advice for aspiring authors and RWA members to help them in the slow progression towards publication.

Advice. That's a tough call. People don't really like advice and they rarely listen to it. But here's mine for what it's worth. Read. Read your targeted line. But read the best authors in that line. Read how-to-write books. The best ones, again. Then sit down and write, write, write, then write some more. Full manuscripts, too, not just three itty bitty chapters. If you truly believe you have talent then don't listen to anyone but yourself. Don't talk about your writing much, either. Have faith in your work and keep on knocking on those publisher's doors. If you've done your homework properly, then one day, that door will open and someone will say yes. But don't quit your day job that very day. Wait another five years!

Cass Bowman

And lastly a note from me, the interviewer, who, as Miranda Lee so rightly surmised, is a great fan. I'd like to thank Miranda for her wonderful in-depth answers to my questions - hope all of you enjoy them too.

I'm thrilled to say that I have the very first book Miranda wrote and most of the others.

If anyone out there has a full list of her titles I would greatly appreciate them getting in  touch with me - email address cassbowman@bigpond.com 

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