Introducing Author Lynne Roberts

I'm happy to have Lynne Roberts with us today. She's the author of new release, After Hours. Sit back and take a look at the workings of her creative mind...

1. Tell me about when and how you started writing professionally. Wow. I think I’m still learning to write professionally. : ) I started writing about six years ago. I’d had a dream that wouldn’t leave me. I gave in one day and started to write the story down. It was 100 pages long. I decided to join a critique group and the 100 pages turned into a quartet. I didn’t have any luck placing it but I was bitten by the bug.
2. Did you always want to write, or was your decision more of an epiphany? I’d always been a writer. I wrote scripts for my sister’s Barbies or rewrote the ending of books. I wrote my first story when I was 18 in a spiral bound notebook. I don’t know if I always wanted to be a writer but it was always there.
3. Where do you get inspiration for your characters/stories? Give examples from some of your stories. Everywhere. I was inspired to write AFTER HOURS after watching a very sexy younger man walk across the street. CREATIVE LICENSE (a WIP) was inspired by a song on the radio.
4. Experts say we often build characters to fulfill our fantasies/desires. What characteristics do you desire in your main characters (hero/heroine)? Give examples from some of your stories. LOL. Oddly enough, none of my male characters are my dream man. One of the things that keeps ending up in my books, which I know is because it’s important to me, is that the hero always knows how the heroine likes her coffee. It might be a small thing in the grand scheme of things but he cares enough to pay attention to the details.
5. What do you find most fulfilling about writing? Most challenging? That one is easy. All it takes is one reader to tell me they loved my story. Suddenly every edit, every frustration, every thing is worth it. The most challenging for me…promotion. I don’t have whatever it takes to be a salesperson. I had trouble asking my bf of 30 years if she’d bought FIRST DATE.
6. I’m sure you could write a book about this, but writing is a journey. What advice would you give to those just embarking on the journey? The first advice I would give would be to think about it. Really think about it. If you can not write, then don’t. I know that sounds harsh. I thought it did when I first heard it. Once you’ve been writing for awhile, it begins to make sense. This is not an occupation in which you’ll make a lot of money. It’s not easy. It’s not a job where you can stay in your comfort zone. You’ll be criticized, knocked down, and rejected over and over. You can work for five years and still not ‘make’ it. Which means you’re working for free. Still want to write? Welcome! Now read. Read everything you can get your hands on. Especially the genre in which you intend to write. Find a good critique group or partner and write.
7. What are some of your most cherished resources? My CP and fiancé. He tears my work to shreds and it’s always better because of it.
8. Any helpful hints on balancing self, work, family, and writing? I’m still finding that balance myself. I have dedicated times to write but because I have small children, I have to be flexible. Sometimes I have to tear myself away from the computer to spend time with the kids. Other times I have to tear myself away from the kids to spend time with my characters. Me time? I’ve almost forgotten what that is.
9. What do you do to re-energize, restore, and recover? This is important because if I don’t re-energize, I find my writing is flat and lifeless. So to recover my creativity, I do some of that me-time stuff. That can mean I clean my house (It gets way cluttered when I’m working) As odd as it seems, having a clean house relaxes me. Spending time in the garden also helps. Lately, I’ve had the urge to drive up to the forest and just be quiet. Sorry, I guess that’s not a tried and true thing that would work for everyone.
10. Tell me about your WIPs.
I am totally jealous of those writers who can just start talking about his or her books. Me? As soon as someone asks me, I draw a blank. I am really going to work on that. But for now, I’m using blurbs. : )
I’m getting a paranormal short ready to submit. I wrote this one about four years ago. I stumbled across it a few months ago, read it and realized it had potential. Here’s a blurb:
On assignment in the Oregon wilderness, John encounters a mystical pool, but it’s the pool’s guardian, a Naiad, Alia, who challenges everything John believed about the world around him. In Alia’s arms, John finds the enthusiasm he’s always lacked and a passion he never knew possible.
When a crisis back in Seattle demands his attention, he leaves the pool and Alia. Once in the midst of civilization, John must decide if he will relegate Alia to the world of fantasy and continue living the mediocre life he’d created or give into the dreams that haunt him and return to the Naiad.
My short, AFTER HOURS, is contracted with The Wilder Rose Press but I don’t have a firm release date yet. I’m currently in the editing process with this one. Here is the blurb :
Elle Simpson doesn’t deny that the new intern is sexy as hell but he’s also ten years her junior -- and she doesn’t date men from the office. Of course, dating isn’t what comes to mind when David Nelson enters a room. When Elle’s boss assigns her to work an important account, she’s thrilled—until David volunteers to help. Working one on one with her desirable new assistant is bound to test the limits of her restraint.

Everything about Elle, from her professional savvy to her hot body, turns David on, but first he has to unravel her mixed signals. After a few late nights alone with Elle in the office, David is at the end of his tether. It was hard enough during the day; keeping his hands off her after hours could prove impossible.
I’m also working on a longer story tentatively called “Creative License” but it’s still in its first draft so I’m keeping mum about it.

Comments

Shawna Thomas said…
Thank you so much for interviewing me, Dariel. I enjoyed it.
Great interview, Lynne! ;) Can't wait for After Hours.

Jaime
Shawna Thomas said…
Thank you, Jamie. Me too!
Excellent interview ladies!

Andrea
Shawna Thomas said…
Thanks, Andrea. All the credit goes to Dariel. She's awesome.
Dariel Raye said…
Lynne, You're pretty awesome, yourself! I have Andrea to thank for my updated and upgraded site :)
Crista said…
Great interview. I love the idea of a older women getting sexy, younger men. :)
Shawna Thomas said…
Christa,

I love that idea too, especially now that I'm considered 'older'.