Wendy Markham 

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Livia: Wendy welcome to The Romance Reader's Connection. Your August 2003 release for Warner Books is a story of an Italian family from Queens, NY called The Chickalinis'. THE NINE MONTH PLAN features the oldest daughter Nina Chickalini who works with her dad at their family pizzeria. You manage to create very realistic characters. Do you know a family like this in real life?

Wendy: I sure do--my own! I grew up in a very large, close-knit Italian Catholic clan, where dozens of members of our extended family lived within blocks of our house and multi-generational Sunday dinners and sprawling holiday celebrations were--and still are--a long-standing tradition.

Livia: A love story developed between two best friends is a scenario that has been used often in romance however, you managed to give it a different twist. Without revealing too much to our readers, can you share with us if this was an easy premise to create?

Wendy: Absolutely! As an editor and then a cover-copywriter at Harlequin-Silhouette, I read more than my share of wonderful best-friend love stories featuring footloose heroes and heroines with ticking biological clocks. I like quirky twists, so I often found myself wondering what would happen if the tables were turned--if it were the heroine who longed to be free and the hero who longed to settle down with a baby. I also have always loved the movie It's A Wonderful Life, about a character who longs to escape his conventional world and start living...only to find out that everything he craves is under his nose all along. So I'll confess that there's a little George Bailey in Nina--and a little Bedford Falls in Queens!

Livia: There are several very interesting male members in the family. Will we be hearing from them in the near future?

Wendy: Funny you should ask! I just finished writing ONCE UPON A BLIND DATE, which will be coming from Warner Forever in March. Nina's womanizing middle brother Dominic is a featured character, and the expanding Chickalini and Materi families are revisited, so readers will get to find out what happens to Nina, Joey, and the others a few years in the future.

Livia: You are a multi-talented author of mystery suspense, horror, and contemporary romance. Please share with us all the names you write under. What is your writing schedule like and are you ever at any time writing all genres at the same time?

Wendy: My schedule is demanding. Because I have two small children at home, I write around their school, play, and sports schedules. I tend to rise in the wee hours and get to the computer by four or four-thirty a.m. After a few solid hours, I write in spurts between getting the kids off to school, picking up my younger son at preschool, and bus runs for my older son, not to mention playdates, appointments, and lessons for both. I write one proposal and one book at a time, rather than switching back and forth mid-project. But in the past three months, due to editorial deadlines, I've completed, back-to-back, one romantic comedy, one chick lit, and most of a mainstream suspense novel. I write mainstream suspense and romantic comedy under my real name, Wendy Corsi Staub, chick lit and romantic comedy under the pseudonym Wendy Markham, and horror and series romance under the pseudonym Wendy Morgan. I have also written a teen biography of Prince Harry under the pseudonym Wendy Brody.

Livia: On top of being a success at the three genres previously discussed, you've recently ventured into the "Chick Lit" genre. How big of a departure was this for you?

Wendy: When my editor approached me to give Chick Lit a whirl, I was very busy and initially resisted the idea, though it sounded like fun. Being married and living in the suburbs, I figured I was too far removed from the world of happy hour margaritas, roommates, and entry level office work. But the more I considered the universal elements of the urban twentysomething experience, the more tempted I was to venture back to my own single-in-the-city days--at least, on paper. Eventually, I was persuaded to mime memories of my own romantic mishaps for the tale that became SLIGHTLY SINGLE. I was stunned at the positive response to the book and by the requests--from editors and readers--for a sequel. I just finished writing it, and I'll confess, there is probably more of me--and my past--in my Chick Lit novels than in anything else I've written.

Livia: Do you remember what you were doing when you were told you had made the NYT Bestsellers List?

Wendy: How can I forget? It was a snowy Wednesday morning in February and I returned home with a carload of groceries to find several urgent telephone messages from my agent--and one from the local florist, trying to deliver flowers. Valentine's Day was two days away and I figured my husband finally got the hint. Wrong! The roses, when they arrived, were from my publisher--and when I called my editor, perplexed, he gave me the shocking news. I cried hysterical tears of joy. When I reached my husband on his cell phone--he was in a cab in midtown with his boss--I was so beside myself he could barely comprehend. All I could do was scream and cry. Aside from accepting a few more deliveries from the florist, I don't remember how I spent the rest of that day, but I do know that when my husband got home that night--with another congratulatory bouquet--the groceries were still scattered on the countertops but the champagne was chilling!

Livia: Many of our readers also aspire to becoming published authors some day. As a successful author, do you have any advice for beginning authors that want to follow in the same path as you?

Wendy: At the risk of sounding like a cliche, the best advice I can offer is to read--and write!--every chance you get. I've seen too many aspiring writers attempt to write in genres they haven't read thoroughly or frequently enough to grasp. It's crucial to become familiar with your genre--not to mention your readership and market--before delving in. I've also seen many aspiring writers spend too much time planning and discussing what they want to write, rather than actually getting busy at the computer. What many newcomers don't understand is that writing fiction is a craft that has to be learned through years of practice and hard work, like any other profession. These days, especially, people are accustomed to instant gratification. Building a writing career takes a long time and a tremendous amount of patience.

Livia: Wendy, thank you for agreeing to be The Romance Reader's Connection's Author of The Month. We always enjoy spotlighting authors because it allows our readers to broaden their reading horizons. Livia Holton, Editor-TRRC

Wendy: What a thrill and a great opportunity, thank you Livia.

(Click here for review of THE NINE MONTH PLAN)

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