Christina Dodd HOLDS HERSELF UP AS A BAD EXAMPLE

Jayne, here, to introduce my special guest, Christina Dodd. She writes both historical and contemporary romance and rumor has it she will soon be moving into the paranormal. Regardless of where she goes, I will follow because I love her books. They are wonderfully clever and thrilling. Enjoy!


CHRISTINA DODD:

THE PRINCE KIDNAPS A BRIDE is my thirty-first book, and my first book published in December.

I’ve been lucky. A December book is an author’s least favorite fate. The bookstores are swamped selling books for Christmas, so the paperback romances are frequently late getting on the shelves. The readers are so busy they don’t have time to read. Somewhere in the country there’s a blizzard, and people, selfish beings that they are, are more concerned with having electricity and staying warm than in braving the icy roads to get a book, no matter how much they want it.

On the other hand, THE PRINCE KIDNAPS A BRIDE has a lot of pluses going for it. For one thing, no one ever asks what’s it’s about because … get it? THE PRINCE KIDNAPS A BRIDE. It’s the third book in the Lost Princess series. The cover’s sexy and romantic. And there’s the dedication …

To Bernadette and Roberto —
Thank you for being so patient with me through six years of learning to write.
I’d be lying if I said that I enjoyed every minute,
But I’ll never forget you or what you taught me.

I get letters asking — who are Bernadette and Roberto?
They’re the hero and heroine of my very first, never-published and never-to-be-published novel, ETERNAL SPRING. It took me six years to write that book. It had dramatic unveilings and volcanoes and an earthquake and a smallpox epidemic and a Spanish landowning hero tortured by the inequities of the Colonial system.

It was truly awful.

Oh, and did I mention it was set in Guatemala?

But I had a great time writing ETERNAL SPRING, and THE PRINCE KIDNAPS A BRIDE is my twenty-fifth historical. I wanted to acknowledge the two characters and our long relationship. So not only do I mention them in the dedication, but if while you read THE PRINCE KIDNAPS A BRIDE, you’ll catch a the brief glimpse into the opening scene of that first book where Roberto catches Bernadette bathing under a waterfall (I said it was awful!). And the scene in the House of Ill-Repute contains characters I know very well — the madam and her working girls I invented in ETERNAL SPRING.

When I talk to unpublished writers, especially the writers who have been writing for a long time and are getting discouraged, I remind them I wrote for ten years without any publisher interest. I talk about six years spent with Bernadette and Roberto in Guatemala, doing everything wrong while learning my job, and pretty soon they realize if I can do it, they can, too. That’s me — the bad example that gives every writer (or artist or musician or chef or dancer) hope.

I once heard a story about a woman, born in the twenties, who wanted to become an artist. Her parents, of course, wouldn’t allow such a thing, so she said, “When I grow up, I’ll paint pictures.” But when she grew up, she got married and had children and she didn’t have time to paint. So she said, “When the kids are grown, I’ll paint pictures.” But her husband died, and she had to go to work to support herself, and she said, “When I retire, I’ll paint pictures.” But when she retired, she had arthritis and couldn’t hold a brush. So she said, “When I go to heaven, I’ll paint pictures.”

The holidays are a time of hope, and the New Year is the time to reflect on your deepest dreams and desires. What are your hopes and aspirations? What are your goals for 2007 and forever? You can tell me — I’m your bad example … and you don’t want to wait for heaven before you paint your pictures.

http://www.christinadodd.com