Sorry, I have been absent so long but I have been gathering my resources to bring you amazing interviews from some of todays hottest writers!
We also have a contest for a free book Virginia Henley's current release Lord's Of Desire. All you have to do to be entered into the drawing is follow all three parts of my interview with Virginia and comment on each site that the parts appear on. Almost like a Scavenger Hunt! Obviously, part 1 is here, at the end of this segment the next site will be listed.
Today we are starting with the timeless Virginia Henley! For those of you not familiar with Virginia here is a short bio to introduce her to you.
Virginia is a USA Today and New York Times bestselling author. Her work has been translated into fourteen languages. She is the recipient of more than a dozen writing awards, including the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award, a Waldenbooks Bestselling Award, and a Maggie Award of Excellence from the Georgia Romance Writers.
Pixie- Virginia, I'm thrilled to have you with us today. Why did you become a writer? Was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in life?
Virginia- It was just a daydream until I was 40. When my mother died, my father came to live with my husband and I and our two sons. The TV was always tuned to men's programs and I tuned them out and read to save my sanity. I read THE WOLF AND THE DOVE by: Kathleen E. Woodiwiss and immediately knew I could write historical romance books.
Pixie- What do you love about being an author? Is there anything you dislike?
V.H.- I love doing the research. History is my passion. I also enjoy working from my home and cherish the friends I have made in publishing.
The thing I dislike is the time it robs from my family.
Pixie- How do you balance your personal and writing time?
V.H. - It's not a true balance. Writing and the business end of things drastically cut into personal time. Being an author is really a life-style, not just a job. But each week I try to cram in time for shopping and when weather permits I walk on the beach. Instant messaging allows me to "talk" to my sons in Canada every night.
Pixie- How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?
V.H. - My stories are character driven, so they come first. For a plot, I read history until I dcome across a period that fascinates me. I never plot out the story ahead of time--I just sit down and write. I seem to become all my characters and they react how I would react, however I would react, and say whatever I would say, curse words and all.
Pixie- What genre do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?
V.H. - I write historical romance, or historical fiction. Quite often, I write about real historical people. Soemtimes even my heroes and heroines are real people from history; sometimes only the minor characters are real people from history, such as kings and queens, their nobles. I only write stories set in England, Ireland, or Scotland, because I enjoy doing the research, and because this seems to be what my readers want.
For more from Virginia Henley and a chance to win follow us over to Cat's place for writing.
To be continued...http://catsplaceforwriting.blogspot.com
