Romance at Heart Magazine Author Interview: Gwen Masters

Interview with Gwen Masters:

Hi Gwen. Thank you for doing this interview. I would like to welcome you to the Romance at Heart Interview and Author Grilling session. *bg* We are interested to find out as much about you as we possibly can, so lets get started...

- Please tell us about your latest book.

There are two books to tell you about – first, After All These Years, my novella from Forbidden Publications. It’s the story of a woman who lost her husband in the Beirut bombing of 1983, and when a man appears out of nowhere at her Chicago train station, she comes to believe he’s her deceased husband’s old friend. The truth is a shock, and the aftermath is a testament to the strength of love.

Secondly, there’s One Breath at a Time, which is coming out in January from Black Lace books. It’s the tale of a woman fighting a lot of demons, and the man who leads her down the path of BDSM in the search for trust, healing and a brand new life.

- What can we expect from you in the future?

Even more short stories and novels! Up next is The Green Room, a book that explores the question: Can love really survive in the harsh glare of the spotlight? Up after that is Carolina Hurricane, the romantic story of two people thrown together in the midst of nature’s ultimate fury. Short stories will be popping up all over the place, in several anthologies and magazines.

- How do we find out about you and your books?

There are two places, actually. My website, www.gwenmasters.net, is undergoing renovation, so please excuse the mess! My blog, at www.gwenmasters.blogspot.com, is filled with regular, sometimes daily, updates.

- How may readers contact you?

Send me an email! The best address to use is gwenmasters@yahoo.com

- How many readers/fans contact you?

Several readers take the time to let me know what they think, and sometimes to request particular themes for stories. I try to answer every one.

- Do your fans' comments and letters influence you in any way?

Absolutely! I take their suggestions and thoughts into account. Readers have been the spark for new series or stories. Occasionally they become my critique board, and sound off loudly if I’ve done something really outrageous with a character. They are a conscience, of sorts, and I pay attention to what they have to say.

- Do you have a favorite comment or question from a reader?

It’s not so much a comment as it is a series of emails. A teacher from Ohio wrote a brief note to me on almost every story I ever published. He sometimes just gave a brief compliment, but sometimes the emails would be pages long when printed out, full of edits and suggestions. He really made me a stronger writer. He passed away this past year, and I didn’t realize how much he had influenced me until those emails stopped. I miss him very much.

- Why did you decide to write romance novels?

I’ve always been a writer. For as long as I can remember, I was writing something. When I began writing, my stories were about relationships – good or bad, better or worse, they were all about emotion and people and their interaction when thrown into interesting situations. Romance and the associated genres was a natural place for my novels to go.

- Do you have a target audience, and if so, who are they?

I can’t say I’m writing for a particular audience. I can say that my writing is about emotion and relationships and overcoming hardships to find what you’re looking for, and in that sense, my target audience is everyone who has ever had love, lost it, fought for it, and learned more about themselves because of it.

- Who would you say has influenced you the most?

My influences change as my writing does. Years ago, I would have named several editors as the biggest influences. Now, my influences tend to come from people who have stories of their own to tell. My mother is one of the biggest influences in my writing right now, and as time goes on, my grandmother becomes an even stronger force. I look back at their lives, at the struggles they have endured and the joys they have found, and I draw inspiration from that.

- How much of your personality and life experiences are in your writing?

Much more than I’m willing to admit! –grins- My personality shines through, I think – I’ve had many readers tell me they knew it was my story before they looked at the byline, thanks to the character and the attitude of her. I know my life experiences have a huge hand in what I write. One Breath at a Time, for instance, has echoes of my own journey through BDSM. The Green Room has quite a few references to a former boyfriend and his struggles with addiction. After All These Years has my respect and appreciation of the military, and how difficult it is for families to handle someone going off to war.

- When did you first think about writing and what prompted you to submit your first ms?

My first erotic piece was submitted on a dare. I bet against myself, but my friend believed in me – that was one of my first lessons in the writing world, that a friend who believes in your work, even when you don’t, is an incredible driving force.

My very first manuscript, a story about invisibility that illustrates the old adage of “a coin always has two sides,” was published when I was fourteen. Watching my mother prompted me to write it. She was always working on a project at her typewriter, always had her notes spread out on the dining room table, and I admired her work. I wanted to be like my mother.

- Generally, how long does it take you to write a book?

It used to take eight or nine months. Now it takes four, maybe a bit more. If it’s a book I’m really emotional about, and I have the time and space to write at leisure, I’ve been known to finish 30-40,000 words in a week. The editing takes more time than the writing does.

- Do you have a set schedule for writing or do you just go with the flow?

I used to have a set schedule. I would write four hours a day, minimum, in the morning, then I would deal with the red-tape and contracts and promotions in the afternoon. I stick with that on most days, but the schedule is a bit in flexible now. It’s not unusual to take off three or four days, which was unheard of before my husband came along – I was a workaholic! Now, I have children in school with all their projects and plans, a husband with a busy schedule, and a ton of charity and community work to consider. As my personal life has changed, so has my writing schedule.

- What is your writing routine once you start a book?

Whether it is a book or a short story, I try to write four hours a day, at least. That gives me plenty of time to fall into the story and let it gain its own momentum. I’ve been known to write for ten or twelve hours straight, if I have the time to spare and life doesn’t get in the way...

- What about your family, do they know not to bother you when you are writing - or are there constant interruptions?

Constant interruptions! It happens all the time. The only time they know it’s off-limits to approach me is when I’m on the phone with an editor or publisher. But as soon as I hang up the phone, they can have my attention. Because of this, I tend to write a lot more when the children are in school! –grins-

- What do you do to relax and recharge your batteries?

I take road trips. We all hop in the SUV and take off to destinations unknown. It’s a good way to leave the work behind. We stop at antique shops and buy things for our house. I also take time to do the pampering things for myself – I cook big meals, which always relaxes me, and I take long bubble baths with a good book in hand, and sometimes just sitting out on the swing and talking with my husband makes the day melt away into a peaceful, calm moment.

- Where do your ideas come from?

They can come from anywhere at all; from a conversation, a look, a place, even a sound. I take the simple, everyday things and craft a story around them. I tend to write several stories set in various places, mostly because architecture and history both affect me so strongly, and I find inspiration in those things.

- What does your husband think of your writing?

My husband is the greatest supporter I have ever had. He loves what I do, especially when I write about him! He loves to hear the ideas I bounce at him, and he is always curious about my plot lines, or where I came up with this or that. He feeds my fires of creativity.

- Do you ever ask him for advice?

Sometimes, yes. He’s a writer as well – a journalist, in addition to the many other hats he wears! – and he loves to talk about the writing business. We have like views on things, and he is always one to tell me if I am overreacting on an issue. Even when we disagree on things in the publishing world, and even when I don’t want to take his advice, it’s a good kind of learning experience, because I know he’s in my corner.

- Fill in the blank favorites –

Dessert: Vanilla sundae with chocolate sauce
City: Nashville, Tennessee. (Of course, I’m a bit biased…)
Season: Autumn, right before the turn of winter.
Type of hero: The kind I could fall in love with.
Type of heroine: The one who is stronger than she thinks.

- Do you have a favorite author? Favorite book?

The answer to that changes from time to time. Right now one of my favorite authors is Jodi Picoult and one of my favorite books is Nineteen Minutes. I always love Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible, and Anita Shreve’s The Pilot’s Wife. I love books packed with emotion and studies of the human condition. As a writer studying the craft, I love Stephen King’s On Writing, mostly for his sheer honesty, not only about himself, but about the writing business in general. I also love Lisey’s Story, because it captures perfectly the life of a writer, and how one person can become a muse, and that muse can become as vital as the very air you breathe.

- Who are some of your other favorite authors to read?

Wally Lamb is a fantastic author. A. Manette Ansay has a gorgeous, stark way of telling that gets me right where it counts. I really like autobiographies, and sometimes biographies, such as Dutch by Edmund Morris. For books that never fail to impress, I adore Updike, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald.

- Where do you see yourself in five years?

Hopefully, still doing exactly what I’m doing right now. I’m perfectly content.

- After you've written your book and it's been published, do you ever buy it and/or read it?

Sometimes I do. I buy it for friends and family, and sometimes I sit down and read it for myself, but I’m always thinking about what I could have done better.

- Among your own books, have you a favorite book? Favorite hero or heroine?

I can’t possibly choose a favorite! That’s like asking a mother to choose her favorite child. You can’t do it. They have their own qualities that set them apart from the others.

- What book for you has been the easiest to write? The hardest? The most fun?

One Breath at a Time was the easiest to write, but it was also the hardest. The words flowed out of me like water, filling up page after page, but the emotional aspect of it was difficult. I was going through a really rough time after the end of a relationship, and I was fighting my way through that while working on a novel about a woman who was fighting her way through the same kind of thing. She’s not me, but her emotion is mine.

The most fun would have to be

Carolina Hurricane

. I’m polishing it up right now, and it’s still fun, even when I’m editing, which I usually hate.

- Are you in control of your characters or do they control you?

Oh, they control me! After a certain point in the story, I have little say-so in the matter. Little quirks come out in characters as I write them, and then their actions change accordingly. I can have a grand idea for a story, all the way down to the ending, and then I write the novel and the ending looks nothing like what I had planned. But it usually looks better than what I set out to do. The characters take on a life of their own.

- Have you experienced writer's block---> If so, how did you work through it?

I have a few times, yes. I went through a terrible breakup last year and for a long time, I couldn’t write at all. Not even a grocery list. I tried all the usual tricks to get through writer’s block, but I found myself frustrated and then resentful about the whole thing. I finally got to a point where everything I was feeling was crowding out all my common sense, and I had to write it down or I would go crazy. That’s when I started writing again.

- If you weren't writing, what would you be doing?

I can’t imagine not writing, but if I had to work outside of the writing business, I would probably go on the road as a tour manager for a country act. I did a bit of that years ago, and it was definitely a challenge, but one that gave back constant rewards. I could handle doing that for a while – then I would write a book about it!

- -What will your next book be about?

After these, there are two I’ve already started. Skipper’s Compass is a story of a woman on the run and the tabloid writer who suddenly grows a conscience. One Week in Winter is the story of just that – a woman who finds her whole life turned around during one week and one snowstorm.

- Which comes first, the story, the characters or the setting?

It’s usually the setting. I tend to look at places and immediately put characters there. The story then follows, because characters do very real human things, and something is going to happen. I just let them tell me what it is, and then I sit down and write their story.

- What are the elements of a great romance for you?

In romance, there is always a conflict, but that isn’t what interests me. What interests me are the way the characters grow through it, the things they learn, and the way they cope with sudden, unexpected twists. In other words, real life is a good element in any romance novel.

- What is the most rewarding thing about being a writer?

That’s pretty simple: Writing is what I love, and I get to do it every single day.

Thank you very much for taking the time with us and answering our questions. I really appreciate this interruption to your busy schedule. Good Luck, and we will be looking forward to the next delightful creation from your talented imagination!

Yours in good reading,
Rose!

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