WWR: Okay, to start this off right, I have to ask...as of January 2008, how many titles do you have in print? How many will you add to that list in 2008?
Lucy: 38 as of Dec 07 and 7 original print releases in 2008. It's hard to believe my first book was published late in 2003, isn't it? Wow...shaking my head.
WWR: For those new to your work, can you give us a brief rundown of your whirlwind publishing career? When did it start? What was "THE CALL" like and who called?
Lucy: It's a whirlwind now, but it sure wasn't a fast path to success. I wrote for 9 years (4.5 of which were spent very seriously pursuing publication) before I sold my first book. It was actually the 13th one I wrote, but I have been blessed enough to have sold the other dozen since then, along with lots more. :) My first "call" came from Kim Young at Harlequin Mills & Boon. I didn't believe her at first...I mean I did, but my brain kept telling me that it wasn't real. She's an absolutely wonderful editor and I still write for her. The next call came after Lori Foster read my first book and passed it on to Kate Duffy at Brava. Kate read it and wrote me an email saying how much she'd loved it. I asked if she'd like to see a single title I'd written (became The Real Deal) and she said yes. Later, I also sold to Berkley and to Samhain. It's been amazing so far, and I often thank God for blessing my career so incredibly and me through it - through the stories themselves, interaction with readers and getting to work with such amazing editors.
WWR: As we know, you're a very talented, very versatile author. You write for multiple publishing houses and in several romance sub-genres. That being said, can you tell us which publishers you write for and what type of stories readers can expect to find from each of those?
Lucy: I write Harlequin Presents for Harlequin (short, sexy contemporary category), sensual contemporary romance for Kensington Brava (most of my single titles for them have an element of suspense as well), paranormal and historical for Berkley and inspirational and historical for Samhain. I don't expect to write any more inspirational, but I wanted to publish the two I had written as my sisters and mom really loved them. :)
WWR: Though I'm sure you've been asked a thousand times, we'd love to know if how you structure your time when you're working on a book. Has the way you work today changed from the way you did things when you first started out?
Lucy: I work more than full time. I spend several hours a day on promotion and business (though I do have a PA who helps with that), then I write new pages which I edit the next day before writing more. I'm busier now. I need less editing on my new writing than I used to and I write more instinctually than I did when I first started.
WWR: With such a large backlist, can you share any secrets on how to keep your character names and plots organized?
Lucy: I keep a list of books with character names and refer to it when making new character profiles. I also keep all my character profiles organized and easily referred to for when I have to do revisions, book promotion, etc. My sister calls me AR, my kids call me Ms. Monk and I just think I like to be organized.
WWR: Is there anything writing-wise that you haven't done yet that you'd like to do? Any other sub-genre? Any collaborations?
Lucy: I've got tons of books I want to write and only so much time to write them, so that answer will always have a yes reply to it. It's just the nature of the beast and I'm grateful that's the case. Much better to have too many ideas than not enough.
WWR: For our foreign visitors, can you tell us if you have any appearances scheduled outside the US in 2008?
Lucy: Not in 2008, no. Though I've done quite a bit of traveling in the past and plan to do more, all of my 08 trips are in the US.
WWR: Do you have any tips for keeping focused and writing through holiday madness and aftermath?
Lucy: Self-discipline. Locking myself in the bedroom to write - as my office is far too communal. And frankly, I recommend taking some time off over the holidays. Staying fresh and focused sometimes means taking a break. :)
WWR: We can't thank you enough for taking time and sharing your career with us!
Lucy: Thank you! I love talking writing. :)
