| This month TRRC is featuring a Warner debut author as one of its' Authors Of The Month. It is Toni Blake and her September release is THE RED DIARY.
Livia: Toni welcome to TRRC. Many of our readers are just becoming aware of your work. Could you give us a brief background on the type of stories you write?
Toni: Up to now, my books have been short contemporaries, primarily sexy romantic comedies. I penned three for Kensington's Precious Gems line, three for Harlequin Temptation, and one for the Harlequin Duets line. Readers interested in checking out my backlist can find out more at my website:
http://www.toniblake.com/.
Livia: You've written a number of categories for several different publishing lines. Which do you prefer, writing category or single title?
Toni: Moving into single title is a big change, and I appreciate the elements of both story lengths. While I've always loved writing a tightly-paced shorter book for the category market, I'm also really embracing the opportunity to spread my wings in single title and explore some deeper, more expansive storylines.
Livia: Was the single title sell an easy one to publishers?
Toni: No, actually. THE RED DIARY has a somewhat tortured hero and looks at some pretty serious topics. I was trying to sell this book just as romantic comedy was becoming big, big, big in the single title world. Many editors turned the book down with the basic comment that it was good, but just too dark for them, or for the climate of the market.
So needless to say, I was thrilled when the book sold to Warner, who loved everything about it. I like to think maybe this is one sign of the market opening up a little, making room for grittier books alongside light-hearted reads.
Livia: Let's talk about THE RED DIARY. The hero and heroine in this book have less than sterling upbringings. The hero Nick's younger years were devastating and carried a lot of emotional and mental anguish. Did a lot of research go into his character?
Toni: Not really. In my life, I've known a lot more people who've suffered some type of emotional hardship in their childhoods than those who've had happy, trouble-free upbringings. While I don't know anyone who endured the particular abuses Nick did, I drew from the various experiences of people I've known and simply wrote Nick from the heart. As a writer, I kind of think it's my job to "be the character," to innately understand what he/she is feeling even if I've never experienced what they're going through. So it takes a lot of thought, and a lot of digging into deep emotional places, but not really "research," per say.
Livia: His brother Davy despite his set-back in life is a doll! He understands a lot more than people give him credit for and he deserves to have his own book. He has something going for him, will we read his story one day? Did his character take a lot of research?
Toni: Okay, here's a little secret about Davy, which I haven't shared with anyone up to now. I'm a lifelong fan of "All My Children," and Davy is very, very loosely based on the character of Stuart Chandler on that show. For those who don't know Stuart, he has always been considered "slow" or "simple," but he's also an artist and a very insightful man who can see the other side of any situation. It was more the "idea" of Stuart that I kept in mind when writing Davy than anything specific - because I wanted to create a guy who, as you say, understands more than he's given credit for. I also wanted readers to view him from the inside out, to be reminded that Davy's feelings and wants and needs are just as real and relevant as anyone else's.
As for giving Davy his own story one day, I doubt it. I love Davy, and I hope readers will, too, but I feel his story was well on its way to an ending by the close of THE RED DIARY - and readers can finish it as they wish in their minds : )
Livia: The elements of unscrupulous business practices combined with dysfunctional parenting makes for a strong storyline. What gave you the idea to use the two?
Toni: The dysfunctional parenting aspect was always there - from the moment I conceived of Nick and Lauren, I just knew they both had "parent problems," even if very differing kinds. The part about the unscrupulous business practices arose naturally as a major part of the conflict when I began piecing the plot together in my mind.
Livia: The "diary" itself adds a significant impact to the story, do you keep a diary?
Toni: I don't keep a diary any longer, but I was a major diary-keeper while growing up. I had quite a number of those little locking diaries with a page for each day of the year, and later, in high school, keeping a journal was a part of the English program I was in, which focused on nurturing creativity. I took this to heart more than most of my classmates and by the end of my senior year, I had amassed a six-volume, 1800-page journal. I also had more than one instance of having the wrong eyes fall on certain pages (oh, the teenage angst!) so I can relate to the concept of having your private thoughts invaded, as happens to Lauren in the book.
Livia: Toni, many of our readers and staff are "writers-in-training". Once they visit your website, they will discover that you are a member of a regional romance writer's group. How has this helped your career?
Toni: Infinitely. My local group of the Romance Writers of America (the Ohio Valley chapter) is very active and over the years have hosted numerous conferences and workshops featuring countless authors and editors. Much of what I have learned about craft and the market has come, in one way or another, from my association with this group. They've also been extremely supportive of me through all the ups and downs of my career.
Not every group will be able to provide as much "hard-core learning" as mine has, but I still encourage authors to build a support system, and to seek out those local learning opportunities, whatever they may be.
Livia: What's coming up next for Toni Blake readers?
Toni: Next July, my second book from Warner, tentatively titled IN YOUR WILDEST DREAMS, will be released. I'm finishing that book up right now, so I'm very excited about it. In it, strait-laced ad exec Stephanie Grant travels to New Orleans in search of her missing sister, and begs the help of Jake Broussard, a bad boy ex-cop with a secret. Like THE RED DIARY, this book features a tortured hero and covers some pretty serious topics. I took a fabulous research trip to Louisiana a couple of months ago, and I'll soon have pictures from it posted on my website - probably late this fall.
I've also recently sold a super-sexy novella called BRUSHSTROKES to New American Library. No release date yet, but the story will be featured in an anthology with offerings from Patricia Ryan and LuAnn McLane and I'm excited about watching this project come together, hopefully sometime in the coming year.
Livia: Toni, thank you so much for visiting us here at The Romance Reader's Connection.
Toni: Thank you so much - I really enjoyed it! I'd also like to thank your readers for their interest in THE RED DIARY and I hope they'll pick up a copy. If they visit my website (http://www.ToniBlake.com) they can read an excerpt and enter my monthly contest!
(Click
here for a review of THE RED DIARY)
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