Welcome to our New Faces column, where you'll have the chance to meet debut romance authors. Our guest this time is Nicole Burnham, whose first book is Going to the Castle, a Silhouette Romance release.

Nicole, welcome to TRR! Tell us about yourself.

I'm an Army brat, which means I grew up on the move. I've lived in eight US states and spent nearly six years in Germany. That upbringing gave me a permanent travel bug, so my husband and I are always going somewhere new. However, I'm originally from Colorado, just south of Denver. My family has lived in Colorado for five generations--my ancestors were there when mining towns boomed and Doc Holliday came up from Tombstone to relieve his tuberculosis.

Of course, I now live near Boston, since that's where my husband was working when we got engaged (I moved for love, what can I say?!?) But I would like to get back to Colorado at some point so I can be near my family. Plus, I miss the mountains. Just have to convince my husband to that trading in our Red Sox season tickets for Rockies tickets isn't the end of the world.

Are you coming to romance writing from another job?

I grew up thinking that if you loved to read, could write well, and could see two sides to every story, you should be a lawyer. (Wrong, wrong, wrong...) That misconception meant I spent FAR too much time in school. I graduated from Colorado State with a BA in political science, then got both my MA in political science and my law degree from the University of Michigan. I practiced law for only one year before I knew I couldn't spend a lifetime at it--it wasn't that bad, it just didn't capture my interest the way a career should. So, naturally, I went back to school! I took a graduate-level course at NYU designed for publishing house professionals--a crash program in how to be an editor. I worked briefly for Boston Magazine and for Inc. magazine, and soon built up enough clips to do freelance writing full time from home. Partially because I had a story idea in my head, and partially because I needed a break from non-fiction, I started writing fiction. I found that I loved it, and here I am!

So...to make a long story short, I fell into it. I still write for magazines, and the variety of doing both fiction and non-fiction projects keeps me quite happy.

What led you to write romance? Were you a longtime reader in the genre?

I didn't read my first romance until my second year of law school. I was going on my first-ever spring break trip and desperately needed some light reading. Wish I could tell you the title of that first book, but I accidentally left it on the plane--I'd finished reading it just on the flight from Michigan to Cancun. I enjoyed it so much that I bought and read several more. When I decided I wanted to write fiction, a romance storyline was the first thing that popped into my head.

Tell us about your road to publication.

I started my first book in late 1995 or early 1996, a romantic suspense. By the summer of 1996, I only had a proposal done, since I was still working, but I decided to join the Romance Writers of America so I could attend their annual conference in Dallas. I met some wonderful people there--including my critique partner, Tracy Cozzens. I learned a lot, and when I got home I finished that first book and a second pretty quickly. They both did well in contests--the first finalling in the Golden Heart and the Maggie Awards, the second in the Emily--and I was already at work on a third book when rejection letters started to arrive for the first two books. Luckily, they were quite detailed letters, and helped me focus my wirting. I set the third book aside and decided to start from scratch with a new book, heeding the advice I got in those rejection letters. The new book, GOING TO THE CASTLE, made the Golden Heart finals. It sold in late 2000, only six weeks after I submitted it.

I haven't completely abandoned those first three books, though. They'll be resurrected at some point!

What kind of research was involved for your first book?

GOING TO THE CASTLE is set in a fictional country, San Rimini, which is at the northern end of the Adriatic, wedged between Italy and the Balkans. You'd think there wouldn't be much research with a made-up setting, but I ended up doing a lot of research to make the country seem real. I've been to northern Italy, so I had a good fix on the terrain/topography of the country. But I wanted to create an entire workable system of government. Give its leaders real economic challenges, real political problems that would exist for countries in that region. And I wanted its royal family to be true-to-life personally--I spent quite a bit of time reading about the royal families of Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, and other small European countries. How much of their personal lives are made public? What kind of upbringing do royal family members have? I want readers to feel like they could hop on a plane to visit San Rimini and its people and know just what to expect.

What unexpected challenges did you face when delving into your writing career?

Luckily, I haven't faced anything totally unexpected yet. Joining the Romance Writers of America was a terrific move. The authors I've met through RWA have all been kind enough to warn me of the challenges and long odds of starting and sustaining a romance writing career. At the same time, they've been incredibly supportive. I can't say enough about the organization.

Who are your influences as a writer?

I grew up reading a lot of suspense and mystery. I started out with Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and Trixie Belden. Eventually I graduated to Agatha Christie, Jack Higgins and Alistair MacLean. I really like a fast-paced story, one where you never know what's going to happen next, and those books delivered that. Now that I'm older and life itself is a bit too fast-paced, I often look to read something more relaxing. Isak Dinesen's books are great for that--very lyrical and beautiful without being sappy. I'm also a big fan of John Steinbeck. He conveys a lot of emotion and tells a great story in very few words.

What does your family think of having a romance author in their midst?

They love it! When I first started to write, I showed my youngest brother--who was in college at the time--a shelf of Silhouette books while we were out shopping together. He ended up buying a couple and reading them just so he'd understand what I wanted to write. My other brother and his wife have given me lots of feedback on my website. And my husband says that having a romance novelist wife makes him the envy of every guy in his office. So yep, I'd say they're all pretty supportive!

Tell us about plans for future books.

I'm currently working on a new San Rimini story, this time about Prince Stefano diTalora. I don't have a release date yet, but the info will be on my website, www.nicoleburnham.com, as soon as it's set.

How can readers get in touch with you?

The easiest way is through my website, www.nicoleburnham.com. I have monthly contests for great prizes and a newsletter to let readers know about my upcoming releases. My e-mail address is nic@nicoleburnham.com. Snail mail is also good. Write to: Nicole Burnham, P.O. Box 229, Hopkinton, MA 01748-0229.

Nicole, thanks for joining us and best of luck! Readers, we have a review of Going to the Castle on our Category page.

January 13, 2002