And our Sue's Clues Mystery Author is:
Our Mystery Author this round is Karen Ranney. The daughter of a military officer, she has lived an adventurous life travelling the world. Karen now lives in Texas, where she writes historical romances for all of us to enjoy.
Get to know a little more about Karen in the interview below. When you are done, visit her at her website to learn more about her and her writing.
http://www.karenranney.com/
Thank you, Karen!
1. Tell us about growing up as the child of an Air Force officer. You must have travelled quite a bit. How long was your father in the military? Was your entire childhood spent around the world? While it sounds very exciting, it must have been hard sometimes.
My dad was in the Air Force all my life. He began as a sergeant, and worked himself up to being one of the youngest Lt. Colonels in the Air Force. When I was a child, he was already a Colonel, and became a Brigadier General when I was in high school.
I went to twelve different elementary schools, four different high schools, and went on to finish my nomad life by attending three different colleges. We moved sixty-three times. I lived overseas more than in the states, in Okinawa, Paris, and Naples. I spoke Japanese before I spoke English, and at one point was considering a career in the Foreign Service since I spoke French, German, and Italian. I now speak only English. Hey, if you don't use it, you really DO lose it!
I had the most advantageous childhood on one hand, and the oddest on the other. I was expected to do things other kids weren't expected to do. For example, I attended a brand new school in second grade and had to register myself. I was always new, always different, and always alone. Yet being forced to fend for myself created a self-reliance that is part of me and something I value most from my childhood.
2. I read somewhere that when you were 16, while your family was in France, you ran away to Scotland. Is that true? Must have been quite an adventure!
Actually, it was more of an adventure than you know. I took my savings and rode on the Orient Express first. I was "adopted" by an Italian soccer team who slept in my compartment (there were 8 bunks) and insisted on guarding me. (When we moved to Naples, I contacted three of them and we had a great time catching up.)
When I came back to France, I just kept traveling and went to England and then Scotland. Again, I was "adopted" by all these lovely people who were shocked that I was so young and traveling by myself. I fell in love with the Scottish people, and the country.
3. You've written numerous books over the years. How have you changed as an author? Or have you? Is it easier now than when you first started?
How have I changed? I think I've become a better technician. I play this game with myself. I try to turn in a perfect manuscript, one that has absolutely no mistakes. I haven't done it yet. I have the best copy and line editors in the business, I think. I finished answering line editor queries the other day, and found a remark the line editor left for me. It was: Wow! Great book! Brava! My goal is to get more and more of those comments.
Writing a book is a mental and emotional adventure. For some odd reason, I have to feel what the characters are feeling, and it can be draining toward the end. It's not easier, but the fact that I've done it before is reassuring.
4. How about the romance industry in general?
I had the strangest experience after I sold three books to Zebra. I was signing my first book, TAPESTRY, when this woman breezed into the bookstore and proceeded to tell me everything horrible and dire about the mid-list. I didn't know half of what she was talking about, and I'm afraid my ignorance showed. I didn't know about RWA or the industry.
This woman knew so much more than I did. I was a baby compared to her. When I cautiously asked her what the names of some of her books were, she just stared at me. She said, "I'm almost finished with my first manuscript." The lesson I learned, right then and there, is that writing is writing and knowing about the industry is something else.
I occasionally read blogs about the industry simply because I'm curious, but not that many. The only thing I really care about is my writing. Someone else can be an expert on the industry.
5. What do you like to do in your free time? Do you have any?
I read. I love to read. The more I read, the more I write because reading fuels me. I also play computer games, and exercise. I've become addicted to exercise, which means that I work out about two hours a day. Otherwise, I'm sitting on my derriere all day.
6. What is a typical day for you?
Normally it's up at 5. Exercise until 6. Email and business stuff until 8. Work until 12. Exercise until 1. Lunch and playtime for an hour. Begin work at 2 again; if I haven't finished my goal for that day, it's writing. If I have, it's answering mail, etc. I work until around 6, then eat dinner and watch TV. Lately, however, my sleep patterns are odd, because I'm still in the first draft of a book. When I am, I only sleep three hours at a time, work six hours, and then sleep three hours. Something about the first draft just wrecks my sleep.
7. What or who influences your writing?
I love to write. I feel compelled to do so. I know that writing is part of me, and always has been. So, the influence is internal and probably something congenital.
8. We can always count on you for an amazing historical. What Is it about historical settings that attract you?
Oh thank you! What a lovely thing to say.
To me, history isn't really that far away. My great-grandmother's father fought in the Civil War. I still remember my great-grandmother.
I can imagine the people who built the Alamo, who died at Culloden, who were sent fleeing from France. We're not that different from them. As human beings, we have the same fears, the same wants and wishes.
Maybe it was being able to sit in the grounds of Versailles and imagine Marie Antoinette that made me attuned to historical settings. Or maybe it was floating down the Rhine, or riding a camel to the Pyramids, or working with an archeologist friend of my father's at Pompeii on the weekends. Or maybe it's just the feeling I've always had, ever since I was a child, that the past is just a whisper away, and that we can hear the ghosts of those who once lived if we just listen hard enough..
9. Have you ever thought about writing contemporary?
I've written nine contemporary books. I've never done anything with them. I do have a new book at my agent's right now that's a contemporary. We'll see what happens to it.
10. Tell us about your new novel, A SCOTSMAN IN LOVE.
A SCOTSMAN IN LOVE takes place in Scotland in 1852 and is the story of two wounded people falling in love. As the tag line says: What happens when a woman fleeing from her past meets a man hiding from life?
Robert McDermott came home to Glengarrow three years after his wife and daughter were killed in a carriage accident. All he truly wanted was to be left alone. Instead, he was faced with the irritating presence of Margaret Dalrousie, an arrogant, autocratic woman who insisted that he surrender his staff for her convenience.
She treated Glengarrow as if it were her own private estate instead of remaining in the small cottage that had always been part of his heritage. Her presence raised too many questions. Who was she? Why was she here? How had she obtained ownership of the cottage? And possibly the most important question of all: why did she practice shooting her pistol so assiduously each day?
Margaret didn't believe in love... not for herself anyway. It was all too obvious that Robert had loved his wife and adored his child. In fact, Glengarrow seemed filled with love, a reminder that her own life had been barren in comparison. Granted, she'd once been the darling of the Russian Imperial Court, but no longer. Now she couldn't even hold a brush to canvas without trembling.
The two of them become unlikely allies, then lovers, helping each other heal as they unexpectedly and passionately fall in love.
Warm fuzzies!
Karen
Web site: www.karenranney.com
Warm Fuzzies! Blog: http://karenranney.wordpress.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/KarenRanney
*Karen Ranney photo via http://www.karenranney.com/
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