|
Welcome to our New Faces column, where we are pleased to introduce debut romance author to our readers. This time we welcoem Pauline Trent, whose first book is Falling in Love, a February 2009 release from Kensington Books. Pauline, welcome to TRR! Tell us about yourself. I grew up in Texas and Virginia but have lived all over the country and consider Boston, Massachusetts home. I went to college there and fell in love with the city after about three weeks. It's been home ever since. Whenever I don't live there, it's a temporary condition. I'm definitely a city girl, which is odd because my mother and sister are quite happy surrounded by nature. My whole family was avid readers growing up - my parents literally had a entire walls of books and more in their offices and full bookshelves throughout the house - but there is nothing in my background that would indicate I would be an author. My college degree is in criminal justice with a concentration in international human rights law and a minor in political science. I wanted to become a Constitutional lawyer or work for an international legal organization. Instead, I write romance novels. I'm still not 100% sure how it happened. Are you coming to romance writing from another job? I spent years working in the human services industry, specifically in the domestic violence field, counseling victims and educating people in general about the issue. It's still an issue that is very important to me. However, I also did a lot of work with human services in general: resource referrals; trainings; case management. It was draining work, but fulfilling, too. What led you to write romance? You want the truth? When I first fell in love with romance stories, it wasn't even because of a romance novel. No one I knew read romance novels; for all I knew, it wasn't even a genre. My family has some of the greatest, real-life love stories you could ever imagine, though. Some of these, I couldn't write because no one would believe them. One of my dearest friends, Christine, (I consider her a sister, actually) was very romantic, however, and read romance novels. At some point, we decided to try our hand at writing a love story. She read them; I knew them from my life. We figured we could do this. That was my first. We were fifteen and it was God-awful. But I really enjoyed writing it. Then, in college, Mitchell, the woman who would become my best friend, introduced me to the genre of romance. I would read and write them when I got stressed or needed a distraction. So, when my father died, it was natural that someone recommend I write a romance novel to help me work through the grief. That ended up being the first book I sold (although it's not the first one to publication). Tell us about your road to publication. My road to publication was pretty odd, honestly. Since I wasn't writing for publication, it wasn't a case of sitting down and writing a book I expected anyone to ever read. It was for me and my friends and nothing more. I did, however, discover I had lots of other stories in my head and would write on those as well. It took years from the first word to submission. Once I decided I actually wanted to do this, it got more straight-forward, though. I lived in Boston at the time, working a very stressful job in human services. Mitchell lived a short plane ride away. So, I would head down to her house every 6 or 8 weeks and take over her basement. Her husband, Ed, and the rest of her family understood I was there to work and they left me alone. They have some great stories about me completely ignoring them for hours at a time, lurking out of the basement only long enough to refill my coffee mug. Seriously, they were so patient and understanding about it all. Some days, the call would come down the stairs that lunch was ready and it would be another hour before I came up. But my plate was always put aside and my meal still warm. The other person I couldn't have done it without was my friend, Shanna. She read everything I wrote at first. While she loves me, she is also able to be objective and critique honestly. If something didn't work, she told me. If something could be better, she told me. She also knows the publishing industry pretty well (she's an editor for non-fiction) so helped with my query letters, proposals and even, eventually, my first contract. To this day, Mitchell and Shanna are the first friends I tell about any good news and the first shoulders I cry on with any bad news. What kind of research was involved for your first book? On my first book, the one I finished in Mitchell and Ed's basement, the research was mostly about some technical stuff. One of my most important scenes takes place on a construction site. I know nothing about construction. Luckily, Ed does. We spent an entire weekend talking about construction sites. The scene itself is about a page and a half but it took the whole weekend to get that page and a half right. For FALLING IN LOVE, the first book that's being published, I had to do a lot of research on Civil War battles. My heroine's ancestor was a Southern Civil War colonel and they talk about him throughout the story but he's entirely fictional. So I had to find battles that were big enough for people not to be thinking "But the only Southern leader of that battle was…" but, at the same time, not so big that every move has been recorded and taught in our history classes. I learned far more than I needed for this book but it's okay because I'm using it in the next one. Also, I had to figure out exactly where Lambert Falls, NC is ~ again, it's entirely fictitious ~ in the state and in relation to the Virginia border, the beach, the larger towns. I spent a lot of time with Google maps. Tell us about your debut book. FALLING IN LOVE is about what we as individuals need to make us happy, as much as it is about the characters of Angie Kane and Chris Montgomery. When we first meet them, Angie is settled but complacent. Chris is looking for a place to settle down but isn't really ready to, yet, in spite of believing he is. Their relationship challenges each of them to look beyond their comfort zones and find more in their lives, themselves and, ultimately, each other. That sounds really high-handed. Mostly, it's just a great romance between a small-town girl and a former Green Beret. And who doesn't love a Green Beret as a hero? Who are your influences as a writer? Andrew Greeley is one of my all-time favorites. I think his Father Blackie Ryan books, especially, are wonderful story-telling. Nora Roberts and Barbara Delinsky are two of the best - if not the best - romance novelists out there. Phillipa Gregory manages to capture Henry VIII's England in a way that is gripping, entertaining, and reasonably historically accurate. And Dr. Seuss, who first made me fall in love with the written word. The man was brilliant. My goal is to have his entire collection. What does your family think of having a published romance author in their midst? My husband is my biggest fan. He reads everything, he listens to everything, he puts up with everything - all with great patience and love. It's amazing. He came into my life after I already had a contract and has really only known me as an author but has always accepted the good, the bad, and the ugly that comes with being a writer. His/our kid is a teenage boy so he is mostly just confused and, I think, a little embarrassed. I mean, his dad and I aren't supposed to think in terms of romance and sex, right? Still, no one gets as excited as my husband does. Sometimes, I think he even gets more excited than I do. That's not to say that the rest of my family, both biological and extended, isn't thrilled. As I mentioned, it looked for a while as if I might become an attorney. My mother would have been pleased with that, and at the same time, I think she is even happier that I have chosen a more creative field. My sister has been a fan of mine for years so this is just another thing she's proud of me for, which is really nice. Then there are the three women I've already mentioned, Christine, Mitchell and Shanna, and their families (who might as well be mine). They are the ones who saw me from the beginning to now. I really think they take every single step of this with me. They certainly put up with all the crazy and keep smiling and cheering me on. When I've felt like giving up on it myself, they are the ones who wouldn't let me. Tell us about plans for future books. I was about a third of the way through FALLING IN LOVE when I realized it was a trilogy. The heroine in it has an uncle and a sister whose stories really need to be told so I'm working on those now. Right now, this is a single title but I'm hoping it expands so I have a chance to write the other two. I don't want to say too much because we're still working out the details but that is what's on my computer right now. After that…well, I've got an entire folder on my desktop labeled "outlines and ideas." How can readers get in touch with you? I love to hear from my readers! My website is www.paulinetrent.com Every Monday, I post a new blog so that's a good time to stop by. I have also just recently joined Facebook (I know; I'm late to this party) so feel free to send me a friend request. Let me know what you think of FALLING IN LOVE. I want to hear, truly and really.
Pauline, thanks for joining us, and best of luck with your future books! Readers, we have a review of Falling in Love here at TRR.
March 29, 2009 |
