About Writing ... FAQs

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
FAQ’S

During the course of my published career, I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with many readers and writers either in groups or individually. Wherever I go, I always allow time for questions and answers. Here are some of the most popular questions I’m asked. Maybe you’d like to know the answers, too.

Q. Where do you get your ideas?

A. Story ideas usually come from characters who grab my imagination. For example, in HOUSEFUL OF STRANGERS, fifteen-year-old Dani haunted me for many weeks before I wrote one word of the story. I didn’t know her name would be Dani; I just pictured this street-smart runaway kid riding the NY subways. Sometimes, a question might spark a story, such as: Is there really only one soulmate for each person? I explored that question in THE SOLDIER AND THE ROSE. In my Pilgrim Cove books, it was the setting that laid the groundwork for the stories. I guess the short answer is that story ideas can come from anywhere.

Q. How did you get started as a professional writer?

A. By reading, reading, reading. My writing career evolved slowly. I was not one of those people who dreamed as a child about writing books when she grew up. In fact, as a kid, I felt sorry for authors because they had to spend so much time alone! But I was very glad they wrote books I loved to read. As a young mother living in New England, I discovered that Harlequin romances could make a dreary winter bearable. I read many series authors, and one day, I found myself in front of my trusty IBM selectric trying to put a story together. After five attempts with many laughable mistakes (laughable in retrospect), I finally sold my first book to Harlequin Superromance in 2000.

Q. What is your favorite part of the writing process?

A. Writing “The End.” Hands-down, it’s my favorite part of the process. I also enjoy solving knotty problems that crop up, the kind that prevent me from going further with the story until I solve them. They’re not necessarily craft issues, but questions such as, should I use Boston or make up a city? What are the pro’s and con’s? I need to answer these questions before I can continue the book.

Q. How long does it take you to write a book?

A. Do we count the time spent daydreaming? Yes, daydreaming. Without imagination time, there would never be a book, and although I can prod my imagination, I don’t rush it when an idea begins to simmer. At this point, I’ll jot notes to myself. When I realize that I’ve covered pages with ideas for this one story, when my heart is beating double-time with excitement, I’ll begin putting the notes together to create a synopsis. I’ve learned that starting too soon at the computer can result in a lot of rewrites and frustration. Once I have a complete story outline that I’m comfortable with – and my editor’s go-ahead – I’ll begin the first chapter. From that point, it can take about four or five months for me to write a Superromance.

Q. Do you write on a schedule?

A. When I was in the regular workforce, I wrote on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I was a real weekend writer. Now that I’m writing full-time, I’m at the computer every morning by 8:30 and work until I’m tired or hungry. I return in the evenings to review and perhaps write another page or two. I’ve always been a “morning” person and try to live in accord with my circadian rhythm. I feel better rested and alert when I’m early to bed and early to rise.

Q. Does it make a difference to the author if I buy her book used instead new?

A. I’m so glad to address this topic! You might be surprised to learn that it not only makes a difference to the author, but also to the reader in terms of more books being published by that favorite author in the future. This is how it works:

When a book is purchased used, the publishing house is not notified of the sale because the publisher doesn’t pay the author for the sale of her used books. An author gets paid only on the sale of new books – and not much at that for most of us (think more starving artist than Grisham, King, or Nicholas Sparks). Publishers look only at the number of new books sold and judge an author’s success by that number. So if most of your favorite author’s books are bought used, the publisher will never know. The publishing house will think that the author’s sales numbers are low, and that author might not get a contract to write another book. Say bye-bye to your favorite author.

I buy used books only when I can’t get them new. For example, the Harlequin series books such as Superromance (my line), Desire, and Blaze come out every month and are only available new in stores for a very short time – maybe a month or so. You can buy them new on-line for a few months perhaps. So if you miss a new release of your favorite author, of course, you should try to find it used. By the same token, if you discover a new favorite author of non-series books and want to read her out-of-print backlist, you’d probably find them used.

Here’s the bottom line: if you want to keep reading the work of your favorite authors, buy their books new!

If you have other questions for me, please send me an email and I’ll try to answer them here. Send to: linda@linda-barrett.com.