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Welcome to our New Faces column, where you can meet brand-new romance authors and find out about their books. This time we're visiting with Stacey Kayne, whise first release is Mustang Wild from Harlequin. Let's meet her. Stacey, welcome to TRR! Tell us about yourself. I was born and raised at the base of the Sierras. I grew up mostly in the country which was fantastic--lots of room to wander, explore and daydream. I spent many summers and a few winters camping in the mountains, adventure seeking with my brothers. As a kid, I thought I'd grow up and become a forest ranger, but instead, those daydreams became romance novels--which will hopefully find their way to bookshelves some day. My family and I love to trek through Yosemite Valley, which never fails to inspire. Are you coming to romance writing from another job? Nope. I graduated high school, married my high school sweetheart, took some college courses, then worked as an office manager of a medical clinic for six years--always wishing I could find a way to avoid the constant interruptions of my daydreaming *g*. When I became pregnant with my first son, I quit my job to stay home with my babies-what a gift that was! It was a wonderful and wild five years. When my oldest son started kindergarten and my youngest preschool, I knew it was time to think long-term career. So I bought my first computer and headed back to college while my youngest son was in preschool. In that first semester of American History, my daydreaming kicked in, and for the first time, I tried to turn those mental images into words-and I found my true calling. After nearly a year of trying to balance college, writing and being a full-time mom (soccer coach, room mom, school councils, athletic councils…), I realized I had to make a choice. Teaching or writing. The choice was simple when I signed with an agent in 2002, and then finalled in the Golden Heart. I'd publish or go insane trying…after 4.5 years of trying, the insanity part was a near thing. What led you to write romance? My daydreams. I've always had a very vivid, adventurous imagination. It wasn't until I got my first computer that I attempted to capture my daydreams with words. I was actually sitting in my American History night class when my Stacey-Vision kicked in and I saw this image of a woman in buckskins riding bareback through the windswept grasses of the California foothills-I began asking myself who she was, where she was going, why was she in danger…how was she going to get her man…? I opened my notebook and for the first time, started to write out my thoughts. Than night I sat down at my computer and by the time the sun came up I had a hundred pages. That was the start of my first western historical--I was actually shocked when I realized I was trying to write a romance novel. At this point I figured I'd better start reading them-I called up my mom and said, "Hey, can you bring me a box of those books you read?" It's never too late to become a fan of romance! Tell us about your road to publication. The very first query I ever sent out was to the agent who signed me. I had hoped that was a good sign that my new career choice would move quickly…at I had no idea the bottom would fall out on the western market the same year. Four and a half years passed between our first editor submission and a sale. The first book we sent out, my first completed western, became my second sale. During those 4.5 years I won numerous RWA writing contests, raked in four Golden Heart finals and finished nine manuscripts. The key to getting published---KEEP WRITING. What kind of research was involved for your first book? The two most time-consuming areas of research for Mustang Wild were mapping out their journey from New Mexico to Wyoming, and Skylar's technique for breaking horses, or gentling them, as it were. I love to plot a journey, study the different settings and landscapes and paint them into the book. I have this crazy fetish for almanacs, geographical charts and landscape picture books. For Mustang Wild and Bride of Shadow Canyon I created storyboards with clips of scenery, a clockwise evolution of the story through scenery changes. This way, no matter what area of the story I was writing in, I could glance up at the storyboard and have an instant visual for the terrain. Very useful---looks pretty on the wall too! Writing a lady mustanger was a challenge-I wanted a realistic portrayal of my heroine breaking horses. I visited a few horse ranches in my area, spoke with trainers, watched quite a few horse training videos, and read a mountain of books. After writing the scenes, I asked the experts to read them, and make sure I wasn't having my heroine do something utterly ridiculous--wildly impressive, yes, but then, she's got mad horse skills. Tell us about your debut book. MUSTANG WILD is a western historical romance set the1880 American West. With the deed to her land and kid brother to protect, Mustanger Skylar Daines shouldn't have tangled with the likes of Tucker Morgan. His stolen kiss scatters her senses, and quicker than a whirling dust devil, they're wed! What had started as a joke is now Tucker's worst nightmare. He's keen to fix the marital slip-up--then he tells Skylar the deed she holds belongs to him, and him alone. Perhaps Skylar shouldn't be so fast to have their marriage annulled. She's not about to be swindled out of the one thing she yearns for most--a home. First they'll have to beat her father's murderer to Wyoming. Hearing the killer is after his ranch, Tucker teams up with a woman who has no trouble taking control of his mustangs--or his desire. Who are your influences as a writer? I started reading romance novels six years ago when I realized I was trying to write a love story. When I say I started reading, it was more like cramming for final exams--I read about 300 books in a span of two months, trying to figure out the layout of a romance novel and how to unlock the rhythm between prose and dialogue. Having no preference of authors, I quickly became fans of Dorothy Garlock, Laveryl Spencer, Elizabeth Lowell, LL. Miller, and few sporadic authors. I wondered why I consistently liked their books the best. I wanted to figure out what captivated me about their writing, why they drew me in more than the others. For me, it was the rhythm of their writing, the way they integrated prose and dialogue, so that the story didn't have to slow down for either one, but had a smooth continuous flow. As an unpublished author, I felt I wasn't so much trying to sell a book, but the way *I* told a story. I like to think that early obsessive compulsive reading was influential in developing my own style. My all-time favorite authors are still Garlock, Spencer, Lowell, and Miller. What does your family think of having a published romance author in their midst? My family is extatic! I have been so thankful for all of their enthusiasm and support. I have an incredible hubby, who thankfully doesn't mind doing all the shopping and most of the housework *ggg*. My mom is my biggest fan, my mother-in-law is my proofreader and my step-mom has been adding beaded thongs to tons of bookmarks for me to give away at signings. As for my sons, they're excited about the prospect of FINALLY getting high-speed internet ;-) Tell us about plans for future books. MASTANG WILD (March release) and BRIDE OF SHADOW CANYON (April release) are the first books of two different series. The second book in each series will be out at the end of this year, MAVERICK WILD and BRIDE OF VENGEANCE. A third "Wild" book should be out sometime in 2008. While I have a new western trilogy in mind for 2008 and don't plan to run out of wild west ideas, I also write light romantic suspense (a touch of noir with a good dose of humor). Though production has been stalled due to my western sells, I will be marketing those manuscripts over the next year….and hopefully the craziness will continue. How can readers get in touch with you? Readers can contact me through my website, www.StaceyKayne.com , and on my blog, http://staceykayne.blogspot.com. Stacey, thanks for joining us,and best of luck with your future books! May 7, 2007
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