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BJ: Can you single out
your biggest thrill as a writer?
ML: My husband and I were
on holiday on Rottnest, a gorgeous island off Perth. The kids
were tiny; we spent the day on the beach and half way through
the afternoon we bicycled up to the general store to buy an
icecream. There on the stands was the first ever of my books for
sale. It was a thrill that’ll stay with me forever. We bought
it.
When and how did
you start writing romance?
I made a bet that I could
write a romance while I was on family leave from teaching maths
at our local university. That was fourteen years ago. I gave up
teaching five years back, lasted six months and went stir crazy.
I found myself talking to the fridge! So I returned to part time
teaching until last year, when a brush with breast cancer made
me slow down. The fridge is now my friend, and I’m trying
again to be a full time writer.
Your first sale
was ... ?
...to Harlequin - a Mills
and Boon Medical. Luck played a part, as the medicals then were
doctor/nurse romances, a line which wasn’t my favorite. But I
made my hero and heroine doctors, and my manuscript landed on
Elizabeth Johnson’s desk just as she was trying to make the
series more contemporary.
How many books
have you written?
I’ve written forty four
romance novels, and one non-fiction historical tome (Fading
Links To China which follows the history of Chinese goldminers).
My first fifteen romances were medical, but now I’ve broadened
and have written sixteen contemporaries, including a longer one
for the Maitland Maternity series.
Can you define your
writing voice? Is that uniform across the several category lines
you are now writing for?
I’m very much a ‘tender’
writer. I like real characters, I enjoy creating a warm,
feel-good romance with elements of humour, and yes, I think it’s
my voice so it crosses the lines.
How do you feel
about the recent accolades and awards? Do you think this is a
result of your growth as a writer?
I’ve been absolutely
thrilled. I don’t wonder whether these books are better than
past books - my major worry when I look at the books that are up
for awards (always with some surprise because generally they
were written a couple of years back) is that they WERE good. And
then I look at what I’m writing now and feel very, very
nervous. They say you’re only as good as your last book, and I
don’t think any writer ever gets complacent. To a certain
extent, winning puts more pressure on. But then so does being
published...
Does your RITA
success (and wonderful Romantic Times reviews) mean you’ll be
focusing more heavily on the American market in future?
That success is very much
a by-product of what I’m writing. To be honest, I write for my
mum and my daughter and two or three really good friends. This
market target has worked so well for me in the past that I’d
be foolish to ignore it and write for some phantom US market.
Was the Maitland
Maternity continuity book written any differently, being
specifically requested for the American market?
I didn’t write
differently - I can’t. For this series where I needed an
American voice to fit with the rest of the authors, I had a
great US copy editor. She went through the manuscript with a
fine tooth comb to take out any glaring problems. I think trying
to assume an American or English or any other voice that you’re
not familiar with will only get you into trouble. We’ve all
read books by overseas authors attempting an Australian voice.
It doesn’t work.
Are you still working
only with your UK editor, or with an American one as well?
I work with whoever is
looking after the series I’m writing for at the moment.
Harlequin is an international company, so whether I’m edited
in Toronto or New York or London doesn’t bother me. And I’m
finding that the more editorial input I have, the wider my range
of appeal. Different editors see different strengths and
weaknesses. I’m always open to suggestions, and I think the
varying editors have strengthened my voice.
What’s coming up in
the next 12 months for Marion Lennox?
I’ve just had a long
overseas holiday, which has given me so many ideas... My husband
and I took a walking tour in the Dordogne - Fairytale country! -
so my next book is full of castles and royalty and scenery which
takes your breath away... And one Australian heroine who goes to
the Dordogne to improve her skills at dry stone walling, and
falls in love... Well, why wouldn’t she? I did!
Any plans after that,
maybe to write something different?
I plan something different
three times a day and sometimes more. The problem for me is
finishing the current project before I allow myself dreamtime.
Are you a reader?
What/who do you enjoy reading?
I have problems with
reading as I’m writing - I love it but I do become derivative.
My last book was written as I rediscovered PG Wodehouse, and I
had huge problems trying to stop my hero saying “right ho!”
all the time (I didn’t stop him completely. It became
irresistible).
Who do I enjoy reading? Do
you have a couple of days? There are so many wonderful authors.
Favorite? Jane Austen for sure. Georgette Heyer was my first
love affair with romance writing - I still remember my mother
hauling back the bedcovers to find me reading These Old Shades
by torchlight - and telling me I’d never get anywhere in life
if I spent my time reading romance.
Tell us about your
writing routine, if you have one.
I write most mornings, and
try to do about 2000 words on a normal day. (Normal? Is there
such a thing when you have kids?) But I don’t plot until I’ve
written at least the first three chapters. About page 70 I start
thinking how are all these conflicts going to be resolved? - and
sometimes it really surprises me. Writing to a strict synopsis
bores me to snores.
I spend the first three
chapters throwing as many problems at my characters as I can -
and falling in love with them myself - and then the rest of the
book is a challenge to give them a happy ending.
What is your
favourite thing about being a romance writer?
The freedom to indulge my
fantasies and be paid for it.
Least favourite?
Sometimes it’s a bloody
lonely career.
Any advice to
members wanting to break into either the HM&B sweet line or
the medical romance line?
Write what you enjoy and believe in your
romance. If you believe in it - if you cry and laugh along with
your characters - you’ll write a wonderful romance.
Trisha David/Marion Lennox Honor Roll
RWAustralia’s Romantic Book of the Year
Finalist
1999
McTavish and Twins -Trisha David
2000 Marrying William -Trisha David; Falling
for Jack - Trisha David;
The Baby Affair - Marion Lennox
2001 Marriage for Maggie - Trisha David; Bachelor
Cure - Marion Lennox
RWAmerica’s RITA Finalist (Traditional
Romance)
2001 Tom
Bradley’s Babies - Marion Lennox
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When
RWA President Linda Bagnat announced Marion Lennox as the
recipient of the third of ten special 10th Anniversary Awards
during the Romancing The Millennium Awards Dinner, the popular
author was stunned, humbled and speechless.