The Romance Reader's Connection

FEBRUARY AUTHOR OF THE MONTH

 

 

 

 

Nina Bruhns 

 

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by Debora Hosey

 

This month, TRRC interviews Silhouette Intimate Moments author, Nina Bruhns, who also writes erotica under the name of Nikita Black. SWEET SUSPICION is Ms. Bruhns February release.

Debora: Welcome Nina.  You are a trained Egyptologist. Why did you decide to write contemporary category romance, rather than non-fiction or historical novels?

Nina: Non-fiction? Yikes! No, that's too dry and dusty for me. Besides you can't make up stuff. It all has to be true <G>. But as for historicals, well, I actually love reading historicals and over the years have started writing a few. But for whatever reason I never finished them (except the Nikita Black novella). If I ever get time, I have plans to do more Nikita Black books that are historical. But I guess my first love has always been contemporary romantic suspense. I enjoy the combination of a mystery and a love story better than anything, I suppose. However, in many of my books I do work a thread in about an old/historical puzzle or mystery. In CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, it was the story about the Civil War; in SINS OF THE FATHER, it was the mystery of the two brothers going west after gold; in my upcoming Sept book, GHOST OF A CHANCE, a big part of the plot revolves around an old diary and pirate treasure. So I guess you can take me out of historicals but you can't take the history out of me ;D.

Debora: What's the best thing about being a romance writer? A category romance writer? Have you encountered any negatives?

Nina: The best thing about being a romance writer is the fact that you touch so many women's lives. I love hearing from readers that my books have given them pleasure, or spoke to them on an issue, or brought tears or laughter (or desire!) to them at a time when they needed it. That's the best. I love writing category because you can concentrate on one story and don't have to split the book between several subplots or main characters. That way it makes for a very emotionally satisfying read, but it doesn't take a reader a week to plow through. These days that's an advantage to many readers who don't have a lot of spare time. Naturally I'd like to write bigger books at some point, but I'll always love the category format. Several of the big name authors today, I still like theircategory books much better than their single titles. I think category at its best boils a plot down to its essentials and therefore can be much more difficult to write than a meandering single title, which might tempt an author to get lazy with her words. As for negatives, well, I hate to say it, but some people really look down on category as being a less than worthy genre. I really hate that. They judge category by the silly covers (which we have no say over) or by the one book they may have read back in 1987, which has nothing whatsoever to do with category today. It angers me that a fabulous category author will rarely if ever make the New York Times list without the benefit of a concurrent single title career. And yet we all know male authors who write essentially (mediocre) category books and make that list regularly. But don't get me started on that topic!!!

Debora: You also write erotica as Nikita Black. What lead you into this genre?

Nina: Must be my bad girl side wanting to get out <G>. No, I guess I
attribute it to coming of age during the women's sexual revolution of the sixties and seventies, and this is just a logical outcome of that envelope-pushing mentality I grew up with. I think there are far too many women in this country who are afraid of their own sexuality, and think anything other than ordinary vanilla sex is bad and aberrant. I disagree. What I want to show with those stories is that everyday women can have wild fantasies and mind-blowing sex with their husbands or lovers and not be some kind of pervert. It's completely normal. We let men fantasize, why not women? One of my biggest frustrations is that I'm not able to write more Nikita Black books. The IMs pay the bills, so they have to come first.

Debora: Do you get teased about writing romance and erotica? How about your dh? <g>

Nina: Not really. I'm very proud of what I write and I let people know that in no uncertain terms. I pity the poor fool who tries to make fun of me to my face <G>. I know in literary circles they might look down on what I write, but in my opinion it's their loss that they're so narrow-minded. They're missing out on a lot of good books by ignoring romance. Hmm. I think the dh is just glad I'm finally making a paycheck <G>. He probably enjoys that I write romance because it gives him a certain cache with his friends (all that research, you know). ;D

Debora: Do you have any particularly harrowing book-signing stories?!

Nina: Actually, no. I've had boring book-signings but nothing bad has ever happened. I don't do a lot of signings, but when I do it's usually with a group of other authors so we always have a good time. Again, we're a formidable bunch of ladies so nobody would dare mess with us <G>.

Debora: What is your typical writing day like? Are you a pantser, or an outliner? Do characters or plot situations come to you first?

Nina: Since I have kids, I try to do my writing while they are in school during the day. I also bring my laptop and work at soccer/baseball/swim/etc practice. My daily goal is 5 pages a day. I don't stop if I go over, but really try to get my daily quota done so I don't get behind on deadlines, etc. I usually plan to the extent that I jot down 1-2 sentences about each chapter, what happens, major plot points, etc, just so I don't go off on tangents or get lost, which is easy to do. Kills the pacing! But I don't usually plot scenes or details ahead, since they'll probably change by the time I get to that point in the book.That's how I prefer to work. A basic framework to start out with, of course including GMC for the characters, then the actual story emerges from the characters' interactions in the situations you place them in.  Very character-driven, which means plotting in advance is difficult for more than the broadest elements.

Debora: Tell us about your February 2004 SIM release, SWEET SUSPICION.

Nina: SWEET SUSPICION is a spin-off from SWEET REVENGE, featuring Grace's wild twin, Muse Summerville, as the heroine. From the first moment Remi Beaulieux walked onstage in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN he fascinated me, so I'd always planned to write his book. After SWEET REVENGE, the fan mail I got on Remi and Muse was tremendous so it seemed natural to pair them up. I always try to please my fans < G>. Here's the back cover blurb:

He had to stop kissing her! Muse Summerville was the only living witness whose testimony could put a notorious crime boss behind bars. Remi Beaulieux was the FBI special agent assigned to her safety. The FBI had rules about that sort of thing. But in the twenty-four hours since he laid eyes on her, Remi had broken every last one of them.

For years Muse had hidden behind her reputation as a party girl. But sharing every moment of every day---and every sultry second of every night---with her sexy protector was making it hard to hide anything. Suddenly her life wasn't the only thing on the line.

Debora: What goals do you have for your writing career? What's in the publishing pipeline that we can look forward to?

Nina: I'm finishing up my next SIM, GHOST OF A CHANCE. That one will be out in September 2004. It's about the 200 year-old spirit of a pirate captain and a skeptical travel writer who fall in love. Talk about impossible odds! I'm also working on a mainstream women's fiction proposal, and I still plan to finish SLAVE TO LOVE, the Nikita Black erotic thriller I've been working on for absolute ever. I really hope I'll manage to finish it this winter! However, SIM is my mainstay. I have a few proposals in with them, so we'll see what comes after that.

Debora: When you have some time to sit down and read, what authors do you spend time with in both romance and other genres? Do you try to keep up with what's current in archaeology?

Nina: I always have a book next to my computer that I slowly work on. When I need to get away from my own story for a few minutes and 'brew', I'll pick it up and read a few pages or a chapter. When I'm waiting for my email to download I'll read a page. I think it's really important for a writer always to be reading. I like to read in the area I'm planning to write in next. For instance, right now I'm reading mainstream women's fiction just to see what's out there. Before I started GHOST OF A CHANCE I read a bunch of pirate books (admittedly historicals) just to get in the mood. But archaeology, nah. I depend on the Discovery Channel for all my updates in that area. I'll always love it, but I'm not fanatical about staying in the loop. Frankly, I think my archaeology background laid the foundation for my interest in forensics and my ability to weave a good mystery, so I'll always be grateful I learned so much about how to piece together cultural puzzles. It's given me much insight into the human mind and therefore a great edge in my writing.

Debora: Is there anything you'd like to say to your readers?

Nina: I love you!!! There's nothing better than to hear from my readers. Please drop me an email if you get a chance! Even better, join my newsletter at < www.NinaBruhns.com> or <www.NikitaBlack.com>. Email: <NinaBruhns@aol.com>. I always like to know which of my books you like best and why. That way I can try to write more of those :D. Keep reading, and enjoy!

Debora: Thank you, Nina! TRRC wishes you continued success in your career!

(Click here for a review of SWEET SUSPICION)

 

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