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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 Tracy MacNish, whose first release is the historical romance Veiled Promises from Zebra Books. Welcome to TRR, Tracy! Tell us about yourself. I live in Pennsylvania, where I spend four of the grayest, nastiest winter months wishing I were in Key West. Other than that, life is good. I'm married since I was seventeen (long story), have one son (short story), and don't really like talking about myself all that much (that's a really long story). Are you coming to romance writing from another job? Not really. My husband and I have our own company, so home is work for both of us. This supports the writing gig pretty well because I'm already accustomed to being self-motivated and being my own boss. As it turns out, though, I'm a pretty ruthless boss who thinks one should eat lunch at their desk. What led you to write romance? I thought it would be fun and interesting to try to write a novel, so I set out to write the kind of book that I wished I could buy. Something heavy on emotion and meaning, with larger than life characters and a story that I didn't feel had been told. it'seemed like it would be cool to write one of the old-school romances, the kind of heavy, sweeping stories that I read and reread until I knew them page by page. Writing, however, is one of those addiction things, like golf or oil painting. It just doesn't look that hard when someone else is doing it, but when you give it a go, it is so damned difficult that it boggles your mind. And then you're hooked. Also like golf and oil painting, writing is a thing that pits you against your own limitations; it is never perfect; you can never stop improving. I love that about this job. Tell us about your road to publication. I didn't make anything easy on myself, that's for sure (one of these days I'll get a therapist). I really should have joined some critique groups and RWA and probably local chapter groups or something. But I'm not much of a joiner (group therapy is clearly out), and because what I was writing was so different, it seemed the only feedback I generally got was, "This is good, but you can't do that." As chance would have it, I met Brent Monahan, a writer who was running a workshop at the Philadelphia Writers' Conference. He read a sample chapter I submitted for critique and offered to mentor me through the process of finishing my novel. What an honor! Also, he didn't know anything about romance, so he wasn't at all put-off by what I was writing. Once the book was done came the super-fun part: Finding an agent. There's a lot of rejection involved in this business, period. This rejection becomes magnified when one takes risks, especially if you have zero writing credentials and nothing previously published, as I didn't. After three years of queries (they are a horror to write), conferences (a nightmare to attend if you're like me and don't like big crowds), and lots and lots of let-downs, I finally captured the interest of my lovely agent. It took her less than three months to find an interested editor and secure a two-book deal. What kind of research was involved for your first book? Books written about, and also in, the Georgian time period. I'm a big fan of writing down phrases and quotes; it helps me get the flavor of how people spoke and thought in that time. Tell us about your debut book. it's a story about Camille Bradburn, the daughter of a powerful duke. From all outside appearances she has everything a woman could aspire to possess: Great beauty, a wealthy family, betrothal to a powerful man. But the reality is that her life is a living hell that no one would envy. She meets Patrick Mullen, a common sea merchant, by chance, and their connection is I'mediate. Patrick sees things in Camille that go beyond the physical, and she'sees that he is anything but common. Together they make a very dangerous mistake: They fall in love. Their happily-ever-after isn't going to be an easy one, but trust that Patrick won't let go of Camille, no matter what separates them. Who are your influences as a writer? The major influence on my decision to write romance is Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. I wrote my first novel as an homage to the way romance used to be, and I would love nothing more than to see the genre return to its roots. What does your family think of having a published romance author in their midst? Well, it's been really nice that my son has stopped calling me an "almost author" now that I have an actual career. And when my husband and friends manage to leave me alone to write, I know it's because they support me. Tell us about plans for future books. I recently completed a novel about Rogan Mullen, Camille and Patrick's adult son. I'm really proud of this book, and fell so totally in love with Rogan that I sank into a depression when I was finished writing his story. Alas, he's not for me alone. In Fall of '06 he'll be up for grabs at your local bookseller. The tentative title for his book is Veiled Desires, and it has strong themes: redemption, forgiveness, and desires that can only be fulfilled if one is strong enough to reach for them. And did I mention Rogan? *sigh* I am so in love with him. The book I'm writing now is called A Bishop For A King, and it's a contemporary romantic suspense about Jill Bishop, whose identity was stolen in ways that go well beyond credit card theft. It involves human trafficking and sexual slavery, a detective who will go to any lengths to break down an organized crime family even as he's falling in love with Jill, and a sub-plot romance between a beautiful Russian prostitute and a paranoid, over-educated punk. I'm so excited about this book; every day it consumes me. I'll keep on writing historical romance, though. I love the genre and I have no desire to abandon it. it's important to me to write big, dark historicals, as I'mentioned before, rich in detail and passion and emotion. it's equally important to me, however, to stretch and grow as a writer, and so I have contemporary stories I need to tell, as well. How can readers get in touch with you? First I'd like to thank them for reading my interview, and I hope everyone who reads Veiled Promises enjoys it as much as I loved writing it. Readers who are interested can visit my website, www.tracymacnish.com and can let me know what they think at tracy@tracymacnish.com. Tracy, thanks for joining us, and best of luck! Readers, we have a review of Veiled Promises in our Historical section.
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