ELIZABETH (FINALLY) ANSWERS

I’m doing a two-part blog on Monday and Wednesday, answering your questions, because Stella had aliens gnawing on her shoulder and shouldn't be typing two-handed for a week or three.

Which book would you like to see made into a movie and who would your dream cast be?

I spent a few years working in Hollywood. What I learned was that books and movies are two very different art forms. Movies…move. They are visual and come with sound to reinforce the story. Movies are usually viewed in an audience, and the audience (for better or for worse) becomes part of the experience. The shared gasp, the shared laughter, the shared tears; all are a part of the movie experience.

Reading is a silent collaboration between the author and the reader. The words on the page become pictures in the reader’s head. It is, by nature, a solitary experience. (I’ve often wondered what the blind see when listening to an audio book.) You can get together and talk about books you’ve read, but I don’t know anyone who gets in a group to actually read.

Because of the very separate demands of books and movies, I find it miraculous when any movie is made from a book without totally destroying the reader’s hopes for the movie. We all visualize heroes/heroines differently. (Just think of book covers. Or don’t. *shudder* Little boy-toys portraying tough adults. Centerfolds portraying shy virgins. *shudder*)

I watched Evan’s book, ALL THE WINTERS THAT HAVE BEEN become a TV movie. Did Evan’s hero resemble Richard Chamberlain? Uh, no.

Hollywood and a London producer both optioned (one after the other, over a period of years) TELL ME NO LIES. Hollywood’s ultimate response: “Couldn’t we pack them [ancient Chinese bronzes] with dope so people would care?”

Do you think that most romance novelists marry their ideals?

I can’t speak for others. I didn’t even want to get married until Evan changed my mind. Like Evan, my heroes are intelligent, honorable, fiercely protective of those weaker than themselves, sensual, and capable of enduring love. That’s why the heroines put up with the vices of those virtues: stubbornness and protectiveness/bossiness come immediately to mind!


Karende asked: How does one go about finding an agent?

With your special difficulties, I’d suggest getting the help of a reference librarian to search for agents who are selling the kind of writing you do. No point in sending a mystery to an agent who specializes in non-fiction or science fiction or poetry. Many agents work online, which would be suited to your needs. If the librarian doesn’t have time (with all the cutbacks, I wouldn’t be surprised), look into hiring someone (junior high or high school) for a few hours to go with you to the library and search for what you need.

If you’re writing romance, find your nearest local RWA group and join. You’ll learn and make friends, the kind of friends who wouldn’t mind helping you in your search for agents.


Is there someone in your family background who was a writer or otherwise more "creative" type of person?

I’m the only writer on either side of my family.

Evan is the only writer on either side of his.

Our son has two unpublished manuscripts. He sold a graphic novel, only to have the publisher go out of business two weeks before the novel was to appear. At the moment, he’s the hands-on parent for two healthy, active, intelligent kids under six, lovingly referred to as the Energy Vampires. That's all the creativity one person can handle.

Our daughter has two romantic suspense novels (as Heather Lowell) published. If the Knee From Hell ever permits, there will be many more.

Do you feel that you have grown as a author?

I’ve certainly changed! As Jayne and I have often discussed, about every ten years an author has to reinvent herself in order to stay interested in the game. Since I’ve written and published nonfiction, science fiction, mystery, historical novels, historical romance, contemporary romance, and romantic suspense, I’ve stayed interested. If that changes, I’m outta here.


Do your non-writing friends understand your frustrations or joy when you talk about your stories? Or do they give you the vacant stares and polite smiles?

My non-writing friends rarely talk to me about writing. Nor do I talk to them about their careers in any but the most general ways. It’s the time off we share—the dinners and laughter, the kids and grandkids, fishing, boating, hiking, gardening, hobbies. Basically when I’m not writing, I don’t really care to talk about writing. When I get together with writing friends, we tend to talk about the business of writing, rather than the "art" itself.


How do you keep yourself from doing too much research - particularly if you're working on a historical? I really enjoy that aspect and sometimes fear I use it as a form of procrastination.

I love research. Having deadlines keeps me honest. That, and the knowledge that my readers aren’t stupid. If they really want to know the minutiae of an historical era—or anything else—they’ll go to the library or research online.

For me, research that actually appears as words on my novel’s pages is barely the shine on the tip of the research iceberg. Research suggests characters and plot points and action, a sense of place, of difference, of immediacy.

IMHO a novelist should always, always, remember the book will be filed with fiction. Don’t let a parade of facts get in the way of a good story.


Which three people (currently living or deceased) would you love to have to a dinner party?

I’m afraid I don’t/can’t think in those terms. History is written by humans who have known or unknown filters through which facts are strained. Dinner with anyone would be, at best, an exercise in understanding that people from different times view the world differently. As I can get that among my friends, there’s no need to disturb the famous. ;-)

If there was one thing you could go back and change in your writing career, what would it be and why?

Nothing.

Everything I’ve done has led to what I have now. If I changed anything, I’d end up in a different place. I like where I am now.


Has there ever been a book you've written, that you wish now you hadn't?

No. Again, everything I’ve done has led to this moment. I like this moment.


For all the Quills...if you weren't writers, what would be your dream job?

This is my dream job. If I can’t do this, I don’t want to work, period.


That's it for part one. Part two on Wednesday.