Ten Questions With Gerri Brousseau

Historical romances of the piratical sort have always been among my favorites, and if I can combine such with another of my favorite things, talking with like-minded writers, I consider that time exceedingly well spent. So it is that I'm pleased to announce two debuts: A Pirate's Ransom by Gerri Brousseau, and a new feature here at Typing With Wet Nails. I first met Gerri at a meeting of Charter Oak Romance Writers, and was pleased to find that we both share a love of pugs and historical romance novels.Which made Gerri a natural choice to introduce my Ten Questions feature, but more on that later. If that cover has whet your appetite, read on.

1) When did you first know you were a writer?

That’s difficult to say because I have been writing stories since I was about 8 years old and I was the editor of my high school newspaper. As an adult, I worked in the legal field and wrote law briefs. So, I guess I have always been writing. I think in a past-life I must have been a scribe.

2) What draws you to historical romance?

I have always been enchanted with the romance of certain periods in history, such as pirate times, knights in shining armor, the French revolution, and the civil war, just to name a few. Although these periods may not ring “romance” I’m sure there was romance going on at the time. I have always looked at history as the story told about what happened, but I always wondered what stories were not told; stories of the people history happened around. “ ... It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ...” yes, the French revolution was not particularly romantic, but I ask myself how those people survived. Who found romance in the midst of their circumstances and what made them strong and made their love survive. That’s what intrigues me, imagining and writing those stories.

3) How long had you been writing before receiving the call (or the email)?

The first novel I ever wrote was According to Legend (release from Soul Mate Publishing 11/12) which I wrote in 2009, but set it aside. Subsequently, I wrote a second novel (under consideration for publication at the time of this interview) and then in July of 2011 I completed A Pirate’s Ransom. I submitted Pirates and Legend to Soul Mate Publishing in March of 2012 and they snapped them up. All in all, that was pretty quick. Certainly nothing like some of the horror stories I have heard. I really can’t complain. I’m actually pretty excited because that first book is not in a box under my bed, but is being published.

4) What was the first thing you did after you heard you’d sold? I got an email at 10:30 p.m. so I couldn’t call anyone. I screamed, I jumped up and down and I did the happy dance with the pugs. Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep that night!

5) What was your inspiration for A Pirate’s Ransom?

Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. Oh, sorry (excuse me while I wipe the drool from my chin) ... well, maybe he did have a bit to do with it. I’m sure I’m not the only woman who would find him to be an inspiration. However, I have always loved the romantic notion of being swept away by a handsome pirate, and wanted to try my hand at writing about it. I hope I have done it justice but I do have to tell you, I’m totally in love with my handsome, rogue, Pirate Captain Edmund Drake.



5) Tell us something that very intriguing book trailer doesn’t tell us about Edward and Catherine (and Blackbeard.)

Something only briefly mentioned in the book trailer, the Duke of Devonshire. He does play a larger part in this tale, but you’ll just have to read the book to see where my story takes you. (wink)

6) What are the best and worst pieces of writing advice you’ve ever received? The best advice was NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP!!!

The worse: one editor told me I should go to school to learn how to write. It should be noted here that this happened only weeks before I got the call and sold not one, but two books.
I would like to say to any writer who might be reading this. I had “friends” tell me I was crazy to think I could be a writer and ever get published. I had one “friend” in particular who actually said, “Do you actually think you will ever make enough money writing to ever be able to quit your day job?” Writers, get away from these people. DO NOT listen to them. Keep writing, keep submitting and never give up.

7) What is your all time favorite romance novel? Your most recently read?
Right now I’m reading The Undead Space Initiative by Casey Wyatt and I’m really enjoying it. My favorite novel of all time ... wow, that’s a tough one, I have a few I could read and re-read, and I do love Mister Darcy, but I could never pick a favorite. I will tell you though that the very first romance novel I ever read was The Flame and the Flower by the late Kathleen Woodiwiss, and I was hooked.
8) Surprise! I hid a parrot in your office while you worked on final edits for A Pirate’s Ransom. (Don’t worry, he’s back home now.) What three words or phrases did the parrot learn during that time?

Arrr ... I thought I heard that rascal. I apologize if he’s now screaming “OMG! You want me to add what??? WTF!”
Three words he would have learned: scoundrel, derriere and courtesan.
Here are three phrases he may have seen:
1. Spoken by Captain Drake to Lady Catherine (Countess of Dorset): “Countess, why must I continually remind you that you are, in fact, my prisoner, and as such, you are in no possession to be making demands? Now, if you would kindly excuse me, my crew awaits.”
2. Spoken by Lady Catherine to the Quartermaster, Tobias Smith (don’t you just love that name?): “To devil with the Captain and his orders.”
3. Spoken by Captain Drake to Lady Catherine: “Every Lady needs a scoundrel in her life.”

9) Imagine you’re browsing your favorite bookstore and encounter that rarest of birds, a curious reader who has never heard of a romance novel. In one sentence, how would you define the genre to this reader?

A handsome hero enters into an adventure where he meets a beautiful heroine and sweeps her off her feet, but circumstances and conflict separate them, yet they strive to overcome these circumstances and ultimately find love.

10) What can your readers look forward to next?

In November 2012 Soul Mate Publishing will release According to Legend. I hope my readers will enjoy this time travel novel. Legend has it that when the spirit of the Tribal Princess is born again and she holds the enchanted stone in her hand, the lovers will be reunited ... even through time. This story is about a woman who comes into possession of a dream catcher (which has the enchanted stone woven into the net) and through her dreams she is drawn back in time and into the arms of the handsome warrior chief. This story actually takes place right here in my home state of Connecticut. For more information on this adventure romance, I invite you to visit my website www.gerribrousseau.com where I share more about it.

Thanks for stopping by, Gerri. I know what's going on my TBR pile. Readers, if you're convinced, too, stop by Gerri's site or cut right to the chase and get your copy directly from Soul Mate Publishing here.

Readers, if you are an author of historical romance and would like a crack at Ten Questions (and don't mind sharing your office with a parrot, hypothetically speaking) drop me a line at AnnaCBowling@gmail.com.

Reading Romance on the Bathroom Floor

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

My mother had passed on when I was fourteen, but I had some awesome aunts to see me through the turbulent teen years. One of them introduced me to the wonderful world of romance novels, by dint of writing them herself. Another story there, but the other night, while going through my TBR bookshelves (yes, plural) I had a visit with my teenage self, back when I stashed historical romance novels in the cabinet under the bathroom sink.

The bathroom was a sanctum for teen-me, the one room I knew nobody would disturb me, and thus the room I always volunteered to clean when it was housework time. I could take care of tile and fixtures lickety split, but I'd stay in there as long as I could, thanks to my secret stash.

I still remember specific books I read there, Spanish Rose by Shirlee Busbee, and Heartland by Rebecca Brandewyne, to name two. It's not only the titles I remember, but the books themselves, the smell and feel of the pages, the heft of the four hundred plus pages in my hands, the gorgeous Elaine Duillo covers - I collect those now- and the pink cardstock bookmarks with "Jan's Paperbacks" in black script on them. That UBS is long gone, and I have twice had to replace large portions of my keeper stash, but it's times like this that adult-me can make teen-me scootch over on the white and yellow tiles and I'm there again.

The world outside the bathroom door still existed, so I don't term this an 'escape,' but a respite. Time and again, no matter the setting or era, I read about strong, resourceful women who refused to sit by and let life happen to them. These gals went to war, they captained pirate ships, they navigated Court intrigues and crossed the badlands, their femininity not a weakness but a strength. These books nourished me, both as a reader and as a writer. I knew that I would be the one writing making these heroines and their heroes come to life one day; it wasn't something I had to figure out, any more than I had to figure out having green eyes. This was right. This was me. The adventure, the characters and their relationships, all the highs and the lows on the way to HEA, that was home for me.

I loved the variety of settings; a favorite author might have taken me to Renaissance Italy this time, but next time, we'd have a date for Colonial New York, then go a-viking, then attend a glittering Edwardian soiree, then elsewhere, then elsewhere, then elsewhere. I still have that literary wanderlust, asking myself where I want to go and who I want to meet this time, in a new book read or a new story waiting to be born. Even with stories scattered over space and time, it was what was the same that resonated with me the most. The women always won. They got what they wanted, sometimes at great cost, but I always closed the covers that final time with a happy sigh and the feeling that yes, life will go on. Whatever the hero and heroine had to fight to find and keep each other, they made it, and they will make it through whatever life brings in the future.

For me, that is happily-ever-after, not that there will never be any bad times, but that we will make it through whatever comes, and we don't have to do it alone. Sorting through my shelves, I got a lot more than the chance to pick out what I wanted to read next. I got a chance to reach back through time and for a few minutes there, I was reading romance on the bathroom floor once again. It's the closest thing I can think of to a meeting of minds between teen-me and adult-me, and I have to say we had a fabulous time. We're meeting again tonight.

The (Guiding) Light goes out

I haven't watched Guiding Light in years. In college, though, it was a different story, and one of the reasons I loved my nanny job in my freshman year was that it allowed me to watch GL without interruption during my three-year-old charge's nap. His infant sister learned to recognize Josh and Reva when they were on screen. They were my favorite couple on the show and long after I stopped watching, through all the breakups, reconciliations, other spouses, amnesia, kidnappings, misunderstandings and such I gleaned from the world at large, still held out for their happily ever after. Yep, definetly a supercouple in my book. Today is the last episode of GL ever, after several decades of scandal, trauma and over the top weddings. Even though I haven't watched in years, I will miss it, but no matter what happens according to that final script, I'm going to believe Josh and Reva are living happily ever after in the locale of their choice.

Below, perhaps *the* iconic Josh/Reva scene, and below that, a few brain droppings of my own.

Why this scene sticks with me: It's raw, honest, emotional and risky. At this point in the story, Reva and Josh, though they do love each other, have a lot of baggage. Reva has already married and divorced Josh's brother and is now married to his father. Josh has some attitude issues and we have two alpha characters with big chips on their shoulders and things are going to come to a head.

This is definitely something I want to bottle and learn how to use in my own writing, and I would love to see more scenes of this impact in historical romances. Passion doesn't only occur during love scenes, but is at the core of both characters and that depth and intensity of feeling will spill over into everything they do.

Heroes and heroines do make mistakes and bad choices and they will have to live with the consequences, but for my money, that's part of what makes the ride to the HEA that much fun. For a supercouple, ramp that up another notch or two.

Other soap supercouples I have loved:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Brady_and_Hope_Williams

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Deveraux_and_Jennifer_Horton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Black_and_Marlena_Evans

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shane_Donovan_and_Kimberly_Brady

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Johnson_and_Kayla_Brady

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Newman_and_Nikki_Reed (I didn't actually follow this one by watching the show, but still enjoy the dynamic)

and the classic that started it all:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Spencer_and_Laura_Webber

(though I do maintain heroes do not rape and rapists are not heroes)

There are others, which I will explore later. What couples would you put on your supercouples list?

No, I'm not referring to the fact that I have actually posted within a reasonable amount of time. (Ahem) Nor do I intend to make this entry (much) about real life, but the fact that yesterday came with an annoying surprise in a real life matter (other family terms for such things: hiccup, extra step) did provide some good food for thought about reading and writing romance. Characters surprise writers with, well, surprising frequency, packing up their stuff and tromping off to different centuries or subgenre when we're not looking, giving us no chance but to grab a beverage of choice to go and follow along. I'll never forget the original love interest I gave a long-ago fanfiction character...who was only supposed to be a blip on the radar and obligingly die so character could pursue his canon match.

Umm, no, she told me, quite firmly. First of all, her name wasn't what I thought it was, it was something else altogether, and I'd call her that or nothing at all. Furthermore, she didn't have the job I thought she had, she had a different one, she had a large family when I had thought she was an orphan, and she didn't want the secondary character I'd picked out for her. Oh no, she wanted one of the big guys, and for my information, she was going to get him, and that bit about dying? No. She was going to live, get her man, and eventually made off with him (and other family members a writing partner and I came up with) into a romantic historical world with absolutely no ties to the original source that inspired it.

My current WIP people (calling them characters at this point would likely only make them angry and some of them are rather vocal about it) started out in similar fashion, jostling me out of my misconceptions every step of the way. Rather like a small child's teddy bear while the child runs through an airport. Teddy's head bonks against every orange plastic chair in the terminal, getting quite the view, but it will all end with a seat on a ride to somewhere wondrous. Hopefully in first class, but seriously, as long as I get tea, I'm fine with coach. I think. Can we make that plane a train, or better yet a ferry? Kthanx.

LOLcatspeak. Another surprise. This has worked its way into the vocabulary of many of my friends and family. Not sure how it started, but it did, and it's here, and we're okay with it. We have also adopted our pastor's term, "going off on a bunny trail" to denote veering off topic with no discernible departure point, which it looks like I've done here. ::shrug:: Had to save something for next time, didn't I?

Claire is here because I'm feeling a wee bit lost, regarding the day's schedule. Also because she has quite the look of the historical romance heroine about her. Not only the long blonde hair and delicate features (because heroines come in many shapes and sizes and colors) but that determined look in her eye. She is also bringing Charlie because I refuse to give up on the little Hobbit, same as a good heroine will never give up on her hero, no matter what circumstances may be. We still have a couple seasons left on that show, and if they can have a polar bear, then Charlie can swim. So there.

But that's not why I'm here. With real life getting all changey --and make no mistake, mostly good changes, but some are a bit, shall we say, poignant-- keeping the discipline of writing daily is a must. I have a second draft of the time travel to polish and start querying about, and any day now, edits for the new historical are going to land smack in my in-box. On top of that, I'm researching my darkest historical yet, but I promise the dark is going to pay off with a big triumph. At least for the characters.

At church this week, one delightful gent prayed that I would "sell more books than Harry Potter." I laughed, but I also said "amen." Who wouldn't love sales figures like that, with loyal readers who keep coming back for more? I sure wouldn't turn it down. Which ties into the advice I referenced in my previous post. The best way to be a writer is to write. Every day. Something.

So, as the castaways on Lost have to dig in and do what's needed to survive, there are times we writer types must put on the real life blinders, put posterior in chair and fingers to keys.

Why is Sawyer here? Do I have to answer that? Umm, because he is a reader, of course.

Reading (and writing) It Old School, part one

I came of age as a romance reader in the time of the big epic historicals that spanned years and continents and hero and heroine might even have to go through (at least) a spouse each before they were free to have their well earned HEA. I remember once thinking that I especially liked when the heroine had the couple's first child, because that meant we were in for the meat of the story with lots more still to come. It wasn't that uncommon to see the little sproglets grow through the book and have actual bearings on plot and character development. Neither were they automatically being set up for their own books.

These were the days of Small, Woodiwiss, Brandewyne, Busbee, McBain and Sherwood, to name only a few. Single titles rather than series were the norm, though there were exceptions. Jennifer Wilde's character, Marietta Danvers, was the heroine of three books, and not all with the same hero. Valerie Sherwood's Kells and Carolina swashed their buckle from colonial Virginia to the island of Tortuga through three big, thick books, and the same author's Imogene and VanRyker (not related to Kells and Carolina) had two and a half books, the other book and a half devoted to Imogene's presumed-dead-in-infancy daughter and her hero. Rosemary Rogers' Steve and Ginny had them all beat, with a whopping four books to their relationship before their daughter had a turn in the spotlight. Depending on how much one wants to quibble through a saga, Aola Vandergriff's Dan and Tamsen may well be the king and queen of the continuing stooooory, having lead or at least central roles in no less than six books of her Daughters series, following the tempestuous Tamsen and her sisters from late teens to old age and final days. Dan and Tamsen didn't have children, either.

Books of this era could often be termed heroine-centric, which suits me fine. A heroine might be beautiful, corageous and strong (none of those bad things) but by no means perfect in the Mary Sue sense. Shanna, from Kathleen Woodiwiss' novel of the same name, started out as a selfish spoiled brat, but there was room for change, and boy, did she. Plus she got Ruark. No bluebirds doing the hair of these gals, and I think it's high time they had a shot at the center stage once more. At least that's what I'm trying to do, and it's what comes most natural to me.