| The
Romance Reader’s Connection is pleased to present
Norah Wilson, a Canadian author, as our August
Author of the Month. For more information on her
novel, LAUREN’S EYES, debuting this month, please
see my review. To know more about Ms. Wilson, please
stop by her website at http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/wilson.
KR:
Could you tell us something that readers might not
know about you?
NW:
I would wager they don’t know how long I’ve been
studying and writing and honing my craft so I could
bring them a story that (I hope) will grab them and
hold them for 300 pages.
It’s taken me a solid ten years.
Perhaps that timeframe could have been
shortened had I not been working full time for the
whole period, but I think for any writer, it takes
significant commitment and desire.
KR:
What inspired you to start writing?
NW:
I’ve always been fascinated with communications.
In fact, I can’t imagine why I didn’t
pursue a career in that vein.
I love the challenge of using language –
word choice, word arrangement, juxtaposition of
ideas – to influence people and win them over.
I’ve also always been an avid reader.
Eventually, those two loves met and merged,
and I found myself taking up the challenge of
learning to write a novel and selling it to a
publisher. Because
it’s all about winning readers – and editors!
– with your words.
KR:
What is your favorite book and why?
NW:
Ooh, very
tough question!
I probably should say “Gone With the
Wind” or “Jane Eyre” or something classic like
that, but that’s not really me.
Actually, for nostalgic reasons, I think
I’d have to go with the first book in Terry
Brooks’s Shanara fantasy series (“Sword of
Shanara”). I
read it as a teenager and it truly transported me.
Not only was it a finely crafted story, but
the book itself was gorgeous.
The copy that was passed to me is long gone
now, having disintegrated from too many readings,
but it was an oversized soft covered affair
published by Del Rey, and contained a handful of
wondrous, lovely illustrations.
I’d love to have that original issue back!
I’d take much better care of it.
<Sigh>
KR:
Who is your favorite character and why?
NW:
Truthfully, my favorite character is usually the
hero in the book I’m currently writing.
J
I really have to fall in love with these guys
a little bit. However,
since I picked “Sword of Shanara” as an all-time
favorite book, I’d better go with Menion Leah, the
handsome young prince from that tale.
He was dashing, courageous, unwaveringly
loyal, and completely principled.
He also had a terrific character arc; he goes
from being an indulged young prince/adventurer to a
smart, courageous warrior.
And of course, he falls in love.
KR:
How do you come up with your characters?
NW:
I normally start with a story idea, then develop
characters that I think will best serve the idea.
Every reader knows a good romance needs
strong conflict, so I build my characters around
creating that conflict.
One way to create it is to give them apparent
value differences, to make the hero embody the
heroine’s worst nightmare, or vice versa (e.g.,
homebody heroine and footloose, commitment-phobic
hero). Another
way is to put their respective goals in conflict
(both want something, but only one can prevail).
And to do that, you have to give each
character an appropriate backstory and set of
beliefs to support their goals and motivations.
It’s all about tailoring those characters
to maximize the dramatic possibilities.
KR:
What inspired you to write a romance that takes
place in the Alberta Foothills? Have you been there?
NW:
I was looking for a great western setting, and did a
lot of web-surfing to check out various guest ranch
operations and cow-calf operations in both British
Columbia, Alberta and the prairie provinces.
I settled on the Alberta foothills because I
was totally seduced by the travel literature.
Apart from flights of
imagination/cyber-visits, I’ve never visited the
area, though I once flew over it on my way to
Vancouver.
My setting (Borland, Alberta) is actually a
fictional one.
KR:
Can we expect to see more of Lauren and Cal?
NW:
Probably
not, unless they crop up some day as secondary
characters in someone else’s love story.
Much as I hated to say goodbye to this pair
(it really was wrenching!), once the obstacles to
the romance are removed and they get their
happily-ever-after, the story is done.
I hope they’ll live on in readers’
memories as they do in mine.
KR:
Have you ever been to a Guest Ranch?
NW:
No, but
it’s at the top of this Maritimer’s to-do list
if/when I ever go West.
Unlike my character Cal, I am not the least
bit conflicted about the guest ranch concept.
KR:
Did you enjoy adding the paranormal element to
Lauren's character. Would you do this again?
NW:
The paranormal element was actually a great deal of
fun. I
tend to write primarily straight romantic suspense,
but it was fun to give my heroine these psychic
qualities, making up the rules as I went.
I’d definitely consider writing another
paranormal.
KR:
What kind of advice would you give aspiring writers?
NW: If
you want to write romance, I would strongly urge you
to join the Romance Writers of America (RWA).
They’ve done more to shorten the learning
curve for new romance writers than any other
organization I could name.
Then get involved with your local RWA chapter
and find yourself a critique partner or two.
I could say lots about targeting your market
to maximize your chances of selling to a particular
line or imprint, but Job 1 is learning the structure
of story in general and the conventions of the genre
in particular.
Basically, this requires a lot of reading and
writing, as well as exposing your material for
appropriate constructive critique (RWA contests are
very good for this), and critiquing other writers
material (nothing teaches you to recognize your own
mistakes like finding the same mistakes in another
writer’s work).
KR:
Being an author from Canada, do you find the book
market the same as in the United States? Are the
same resources available to you?
NW:
My publisher (Dorchester Publishing) is American,
and thus the domestic market for this book is the
US, although I gather it will also be available in
Canada, the UK, and Australia.
The only handicap in being north of the 40th
parallel is the delay and expense of sending
documents back and forth to New York across an
international border.
Also, it will be strange when I eventually
start seeing Canadian sales showing up on my royalty
statement as “foreign” sales.
But across the board, I think the selection
of books available in Canada is very similar to the
US market.
KR:
Thank you Norah for answering my questions for the
August AOTM interviews at The Romance Reader’s
Connection.
NW:
Thanks for having me at TRRC!
I love talking to readers, and would welcome
hearing from them at norah@nbnet.nb.ca,
or via snail mail at P.O. Box 25030, Fredericton, NB,
E3A 5V7, CANADA.
Or you can visit me at my cyber-home at http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/wilson/
(Click
here for a review of LAUREN'S EYES)
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