Susan Krinard 

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Thea Candee: Hi Susan, I'd like to start off by talking about your first published book, the book that started it all, PRINCE OF WOLVES. What influenced you in writing a paranormal romance? And why werewolves?

Susan Krinard: I've always loved wolves, but I never actually thought seriously about becoming a writer. I fell into it "by accident," after I'd graduated from art school and found myself between clerical jobs (none of which I was very thrilled with!) I'd been involved in fandom for the TV show BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and had written one short story based on the series. A published friend read it and suggested I try writing a romance novel. I'd never even considered such a thing, but I'd been reading SF/Fantasy all my life and I did love romantic stories, so I figured I had nothing to lose! The result was PRINCE OF WOLVES. I'd always loved shapeshifters, wolves in particular, so it was a natural subject for me. (At the time I didn't even consider that it might be a hard idea to sell to a publisher!)

TC: When you first wrote PRINCE OF THE WOLVES did you ever imagine that you'd have such the success that you've had,or that there would be such a following over your werewolf story? (When asking who to read in the paranormal genre, your name will be among the top five given to a new reader on who to check out.)

SK: Thanks! No, I never really saw any "future" ahead of me as a writer; when I wrote the book, I was focused on getting it finished and sending it out, without any real plan to make writing my profession. It was all a little unreal to me, especially when I sold the book as part of a three-book contract! However, I was smart enough to continue writing books while POW was with editors, and as a result I sold another book shortly after Bantam offered me my first contract. I still have two manuscripts that'll probably never see the light of day!

TC: How long did it take you to become published? And how hard was it to find a publisher who was looking for a paranormal romance?

SK: It took me about six months to write POW, and about a year to sell it. The first publisher I sent it to rejected it (they weren't even publishing that kind of romance), but the second, Bantam, offered me the three book contract. The process of sending in my query letter, having the partial requested and then sending in the full manuscript took less than six months. But I think it was all a bit faster in those days! Most of my steep "learning curve" has happened since I've sold, instead of before as with many writers.

TC: I've read all of your "Wolf" series, along with THE FOREST LORD in which the lead character was Lord of the Fane, and a shapeshifter as well. What other types of paranormal stories have you written?

SK: I've written a time travel, TWICE A HERO; a ghost/reincarnation story, BODY AND SOUL, a "futuristic" (now print on demand) STAR-CROSSED, and several novellas for anthologies. Next year's romance will be another "SF Romance, " KINSMAN'S OATH, a spinoff from my novella "Kinsman" in the NYT bestselling anthology OUT OF THIS WORLD.

TC: Morgan Holt, the werewolf hero in your newest release, TO CATCH A WOLF, is incarcerated for several years and forced to hold back his natural inclinations. It's bad enough to be human and locked away, but to be a shape shifter and locked away seems even more torturous. Along the same lines, the heroine of the story, Athena Munroe who was crippled at a young age-also fights the call of the werewolf. Do you feel that a paranormal story should have that dark and tortured tone to them?

SK: Many authors approach the paranormal with a light touch ... in fact, I once read a review of one of my books which seemed to take me to task for daring to approach the "Faerie" idea seriously! For me, the drama of the paranormal comes in the dark aspects. I love tortured heroes, because I love to see them overcome their pasts and their flaws and find happiness through the power of love. It's that "overcoming" that's so important to me as both writer and reader. That sort of struggle has been very much a part of my own life. Essentially, I write about hope in the face of overwhelming odds.

TC: You showcase strong characters who learn to accept and love, which ultimately allows your characters to grow. This is undeniably one of your greatest aspects to your stories. How do you achieve this? Is it something that you consciously decide beforehand, or do your characters take on a life of their own and grow as you write?

SK: I think it's a combination. I never know my characters "inside out" when I begin to write. I have an idea of who they are, but they do indeed "grow" as I write, and sometimes they surprise me. I consider the process very much like that of getting to know a real person, a little at a time. I believe that character growth is the most fascinating aspect of any story, even as a reader. Characters who are "perfect" from the beginning bore the heck out of me!

TC: What is your writing schedule like? How involved in your writing do you get? Do you find that you bring your characters up in everyday conversation?

SK: I try to do a certain number of pages a day, working from an outline which I feel free to change as I go along and get better ideas. I usually do things like e-mail in the mornings, start work on writing in the late morning, break for lunch, and then do most of my work in the afternoon. I often spend some time on evenings and weekends reading research or plotting or worldbuilding. I never entirely escape my writing--I work at home, where my office is one of the bedrooms--but I try to take time away from it by gardening, getting out into nature, or just reading a very good book. When I'm actually in the process of writing, it's a rather private affair; I very seldom discuss my characters with others. It's as if you're being told intimate secrets, and it would be wrong to blather them about! I don't feel as if the world and characters are ready to share until I've finished at least the first draft.

TC: Do you use a critique group? If so, how did you go about finding partners for the group?

SK: I don't currently use a critique group or partners. I have had single critique partners before, which certainly helped with plotting, and sometimes I ask my writer friends in the local RWA chapter to help me work out the general plotting of my stories. They often help me get over the "stuck places" when I'm at the very beginning stages of a book.

TC: What kind of research did you do to make your paranormal characters so believable? Have you taken a blend of folklore and mixed it with your own imagination? Or do you write from the hip-and your characters do what you want them to do?

SK: I think the secret to making paranormal characters believable is to make them fully human, whatever powers they may have. They'll have their fears, their hatreds, their likes and dislikes just like any ordinary person. I also have a very long background in reading science fiction and fantasy, so there is very little that seems particularly "strange" to me. I do use books on folklore and extrapolate from legends and fairy tales to create my own variations--for instance, my werewolves are really a subspecies and not supernatural at all. They change shape at will, can't necessarily be killed by a silver bullet, and don't as a rule attack humans.

TC: Do you have any advice to pass on to aspiring writers? Especially for those who want to embark upon the paranormal genre?

SK: Ultimately, I think you have to write what you love. If paranormal/fantasy is what you love, then it should come fairly naturally. The problems I've faced have always arisen from my ideas being too "out there" for romance, at least when I started out. I think that's less of a problem now. Polishing your craft, being the best writer you can be, is every bit as important now, perhaps even more so, than it was ten or fifteen years ago. That comes first, no matter what genre you choose.

TC: What are you working on now? Do you have a webiste where readers can find out more about you and your backlist?

SK: I'm currently working on my first "straight" fantasy, the first book in a projected five-book series, for the new Luna fantasy line. It features an Amazon warrior heroine and a panther-shapeshifter among the male characters. I'm planning out a couple of possibilities for my next romance novel (for 2005), which might be another in my historical werewolf series or the start of a whole new contemporary series. My career is in a particularly interesting period of transition right now, with a whole new set of challenges.

I do have a website, at http://www.susankrinard.com. I update it quarterly with a newsletter, and I also have a monthly newsletter for which I write articles and such. You can sign up for that at http://www.simegen.com/mailman/listinfo/skrinardmonthly-l. I love to hear from readers, who can write me at sue@susankrinard.com. I'm a little slow to reply sometimes, but I always do! Thanks!

Thank you Susan. We've enjoyed having you as our September Author of the Month! 

(Click here for review of TO CATCH A WOLF)

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