|
TRRC
welcomes Sandra Hill as our July Author Of The Month!
It is an honor to have her join us.
Fans have been devouring Ms. Hill’s Viking series for years,
and now comes TALL, DARK AND CAJUN which brings readers back into the
lives of the LeDeux siblings.
TALL,
DARK AND CAJUN is my first Sandra Hill novel, and suffice it to say
this certainly puts me on the hunt for her other books.
Packed with humor and passion, I could not put it down.
Fans wanting to know more about Ms. Hill are urged to visit her
website - www.sff.net/people/shill/
Tracy:
You grew up in Pennsylvania, yet you clearly have a fondness
for Louisiana. Is this
just from visits or have you spent some serious time in the south?
Sandra: My
fascination with all things Louisianan started about ten years ago
while accompanying my husband on a business trip. I was off
exploring historic sites by myself and knocked on the door of an
ante-bellum house with a plaque outside indicating tours were
available at certain times. Well, a genteel lady in period
attire answered the door and invited me inside, as if I were an
invited guest. She gave me a one-person tour of "her"
house, followed by tea in the front parlor.
After that, I was hooked and have returned to Louisiana several
times, just for the love of it. I can't prove it with genealogy
records, but I swear I have a genetic memory of that region.
Tracy:
In your Viking books, you go against the norm and incorporate a
lot of humor. What made
you use humor instead of violence as a vehicle in these romances?
(Thanks to fellow reviewer Thea for this question and the one
that follows.)
Sandra:
It was never a conscious decision. Growing up, I was always
rather shy and quiet, and I certainly never had much of a sense of
humor. But I married a man and had four sons, all of whom have
incredible senses of humor. I always say that I developed a
sense of humor as a survival instinct living in a house with four
males. In addition, I have to say that I believe humor in
romance novels can be just as important as angst, or education, or
social issues.
Tracy:
You’ve written some very amusing, tongue-in-cheek, almost
spoof romances in the past (FRANKLY MY DEAR, LOVE ME TENDER).
Do you plan on writing more?
Sandra:
Actually, I believe most of my books are spoofs...mostly spoofs of men
who are clueless about women, or women who are unhappy about their
bodies, whatever. In addition to the books you mentioned,
SWEETER SAVAGE LOVE was a spoof of Rosemary Rogers' famous SWEET
SAVAGE LOVE; and THE LAST VIKING was sort of a spoof of the movie
about an alien who landed in a widow's home (can't remember the
title...possibly THE ALIEN).
Tracy:
Your time travels must involve loads of research.
How do you handle researching the past and then being able to
bring it into the present without it seeming trite?
Sandra:
I love research. The bigger problem is how not to use too much
and bore the reader. Although my time-travels, especially the
Viking ones, involve a fantasy Viking world, it is important to me
that the backdrop be historically accurate.
Tracy:
You are working on Charmaine and Rene’s stories.
Will they be released in succession or do you have other
projects that will come in between?
Sandra:
Charmaine's story, THE CAJUN COWBOY, will come next in July
2004. It is set up in July's book, TALL, DARK, AND CAJUN.
After that, Rene will get his own story.
Tracy:
For those that have no concept of the work involved in writing
a book, can you share your experiences in writing and then getting
published?
Sandra:
My background is in journalism; so, I have been a writer of
sorts for many years. I probably started writing seriously about
three years before I sold my first book. More important, I am a
lifelong reader of all genres. That is important to the aspiring
writer. Read voraciously. You learn how to write from
reading.
Tracy:
I spent over an hour in your website.
What made you think of putting in your characters’ family
tree?
Sandra:
I have written a number of loosely linked (can be read out of order)
series, with seven books so far in one of them. That represents
a lot of characters. Readers begged me to do it. All the
charts are a work in progress, though, and way more difficult than I
imagined with all the half-siblings and time-travel and such. I
am still searching for a good genealogy program.
Tracy:
If this hasn’t been answered in the previous questions, what
books can readers expect to see released in the future?
Sandra:
TALL, DARK, AND CAJUN, 7/03; THE LOVE POTION reissue, 10/03; HERE
COMES SANTA CLAUS anthology reissue, 10/03; A TALE OF TWO VIKINGS,
5/04; THE CAJUN COWBOY, 7/04.
Tracy:
Thanks so much for joining us.
This has been my pleasure, as I am always thrilled to find a
“new-to-me” author to catch up on!
(Click
here for a review of TALL, DARK AND CAJUN)
|
