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Karina, welcome to TRR! Tell us about yourself. I'm a Kiwi, (New Zealander) and a journalist which seems to be the career path of a lot of writers. I live with my partner and 11 year old son north of Auckland within walking distance of a great beach. I've always done a lot of travelling - being at the bottom of the world, young Kiwis tend to do what's called the big OE (overseas experience). During my twenties I lived in London for five years, where I also did a post graduate degree in journalism. Back in NZ, I got a fantastic job for a trade magazine which went to the NZ travel industry so got to travel at someone else's expense (ie: SO much more comfortably!). It took a significant birthday to make me realize I had to stop talking about writing romance and DO it! So I got serious (um, then really serious) and after five years, sold my third manuscript to Superromance. Are you coming to romance writing from another job? I was working part-time (and being a mum) for most of my writing apprenticeship. With the encouragement of my partner, Trevor, I took a year off work to try and increase the output (Anyone else doing affirmations for speed AND quality?) Sadly, my dad died early in that year but he left me some money which allowed me to stretch that twelve months to twenty-four. I really owe him (and Trevor) this success. Now I've sold, I'd like to make this my fulltime job - depends how the affirmations turn out. What led you to write romance? I'm sure every writer is also a voracious reader. I've always enjoyed reading romance and it's very much a 'can do' career if you have talent, perserverence and grit (not necessarily in that order!). When I was a kid I was very sure I'd be a writer, but then I grew up and got sensible and life (necessarily, I think) took precedence for a while. But the nagging reminder was always in the back of my head. One day I'll try my luck. Well it took a lot more than that, but I got here eventually. Tell us about your road to publication. I was a pretend member of Romance Writers of NZ for at least five years. By that I mean I toodled along to conference, absorbed everything the speakers told me, stared at the 'real' writers and then went home and wrote a paragrah until the next year's conference. It was too scary to take myself seriously. What if I was hopeless? What if I failed? Eventually I got tired of being a wimp and enrolled in a fantastic course - the Kara School of Writing in Northland run by Harlequin writers Daphne Clair and Robyn Donald who have more than seventy books published EACH. It was the scariest thing I've ever done, showing someone else my writing. They were encouraging, so I gritted my teeth and finished a manuscript which won the Clendon Award, a NZ competition for unpubbs run by the incomparable Barbara and Peter Clendon. It's an incredible competition which is initially judged by readers of the Clendon's romance specialist bookshop, Barbara's Books. Finalling manuscripts then go to New York for final judging by a Harlequin editor. It 'nearly' sold but frankly I still had a lot to learn and that learning process took another four years of encouraging and not-so-encouraging rejections. During that time, my critique partners - Abby Gaines, Tessa Radley and Sandra Hyde, (collectively known as the Writegals) were an amazing support system. Three of us got the Call within six weeks of each other and we're expecting the fourth to hatch any time. Another highlight of the unpubbed years was being the first Australasian to win a Golden Heart (2005, Venus Rising, short contemporary). What kind of research was involved for your first book? HA! Setting's hugely important to me...I'm a flower-sniffing, vista-gazer from way back. The book takes place on the Hauraki Plains, a farming region an hour south of Auckland. I know the area well because my mother grew up there with her seven brothers and sisters and we spent many school holidays staying on my grandmother's farm. I love the isolation, and the fact that the sky is twice as big. But initially I thought a NZ setting wouldn't sell so I did some research and found Michigan's 'thumb' had similar dairy-farming communities and landscape and set the book there. When Super bought it, the editor casually mentioned she was open to NZ settings so.... I asked if I could change it back. In answer to the question, I did a lot of research, none of which was necessary. But I would like to visit Michigan! Tell us about your debut book. It takes a funeral to drag bad boy Christian Kelly back to his rural New Zealand hometown. He'd do just about anything to blow out of town for the last time. And never see Kezia Rose again. His first love. And the only woman who'd ever dumped him. But when they find out Kezia's going to lose her family's century-old hotel, Christian genuinely wants to help. Except Kezia won't let him. And neither will her grandmother-according to the last will and testament and a long-forgotten IOU he'd given the dear, exasperating old woman. So, what next? If the will says he can't buy out the hotel, he'll just have to turn it around by the end of the month. And maybe by then Kezia will understand why he left.and why being near her is breaking his heart all over again. Who are your influences as a writer? I'm a magpie with fiction and I have favourite books rather than favourite authors. But I'll read anything by: Helen Kirkman, Georgette Heyer, Linda Howard, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Larry McMurtry, Frances Housden, Daphne Clair, Robyn Donald, Abby Gaines, Tessa Radley, Anne Gracie...actually I could go on for ever. My treasured books include: Destiny by Helen Kirkman, Blade's Lady by Fiona Brand, Ransom by Julie Garwood, The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald, Prisoner of My Desire by Joanna Lindsay, Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale Neverness by David Zindell, With No One as Witness by Elizabeth George...okay I'll stop there. I'm also working my way through Super authors and enjoying Brenda Novak, Roxanne Rusted, Terry McLaughlin, Joan Kilby, Amy Knapp...again the list is ever growing. What does your family think of having a published romance author in their midst? The good thing about my family is that we never set limits, so it's not being treated as unusual. Mum is very proud...aren't Mums great! I'm a little nervous of my in-laws reading the love scenes. Tell us about plans for future books. The hero in Mr Imperfect has two friends and business partners - Luke Carter and Jordan King who provided a lot of the humour. I'm waiting to hear on proposals for their stories. I'm also finishing a single title, Cover Me, which is a chick lit action adventure with a paranormal twist. How can readers get in touch with you? Through my website www.karinabliss.com or via email: karinabliss@karinabliss.com Many thanks to The Romance Reader for this opportunity to talk to you!
Karina, thanks for joining us and best of luck!
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