Welcome to our New Faces column, where you can meet brand-new romance authors and find out about their work. This time we're visiting with Diane Tyrrel whose debut book is On the Edge of the Woods, A Gothic Novel, published by Berkley.

Diane, welcome to TRR! Tell us about yourself.

I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and I moved to California at an early age, growing up in coastal town of Santa Barbara. I've attended several colleges, including the University of California, Santa Cruz, where I was turned down for the creative writing program on the basis of my writing samples. So I guess we can't blame them for anything I've written! I eventually earned a degree in Interior Design and a certification in residential design.

Are you coming to romance writing from another career?

Early in our marriage, my husband, a builder, complained about the designer on a job, saying she had little knowledge of how things were built, and so her designs were not practical. I was going to college at the time but not sure what my major should be--art history? Painting and drawing? Graphic design? I had already been turned down for the creative writing major. So I decided to check out interior design, thinking I might combine my interest in art with my exposure to building practices. I was surprised to find the training was quite technical. Besides learning to coordinate colors and pick out furniture, I studied the history of architecture and the chemistry of textiles, and I learned drafting and space planning, as well as construction standards. I did my internship at Kneedler Faucher at the Galleria and Showplace Square Design Center in San Francisco, an eye-opening educational experience in more ways than one--lots of ideas for characters, there! After I got my degree, my husband and I started our own construction business. My scant experience as an actual "interior designer" didn't thrill me, but I loved learning about fabric and furniture and architecture, and I use that education all the time in my writing.

What led you to write romance?

I was still in elementary school when I read my first Gothic romance. At that time I was still focused primarily on horse stories and other animal adventures, like Lad, A Dog, and My Friend Flicka, but I was intrigued by the combination of suspense and romance I found in Gothics. Victoria Holt's Mistress of Mellyn was, for me, the prototype. Fast paced, romantic, suspenseful! On the Edge of the Woods comes out of that tradition. I wrote what I wanted to read.

Tell us about your road to publication.

The road to publication was a long and winding one! You might say I got used to rejection, except that I haven't. I've been writing stories since I can remember, with encouragement from family and friends, but if you put your work out there, you will encounter criticism and rejection. Ouch. My first official rejection was a poem that was not accepted for my junior high school literary journal. It went on from there! A story for a women's magazine--"Sorry. Not for us." The aforementioned denial of a spot in a college creative writing program. Early attempts at selling a novel--reject, reject, reject! Rejections are hurtful and discouraging, especially to us "sensitive artists," but for some reason, I kept trying. When I got the idea for On the Edge of the Woods, I just had the feeling, this is it. This is the one. I really believed in the book. Well, guess what? The book was rejected. A number of times. But each time, after recovering from the blow (which takes some doing) I dusted it off, edited it, and sent it out again. They say you can tell when you're getting close; the rejections become more personal and they might even give you some advice on how to make your work better. It's true. I took that advice, when it made sense to me; each time the manuscript got a little more polished, and finally I found someone who loved the book too--my agent, Paige Wheeler of Creative Media Agency. After a few MORE rejections, the book found a home with another believer, Cindy Hwang at Berkley.

What kind of research was involved for your book?

Research, which sounded like such a dirty word in school, has become for me one of the joys of being a novelist. I could never decide what to be when I grew up--too many interesting options--but as a writer I could learn about and "be" (in my imagination) anything I wanted to be, any profession. (Not to mention any age, sex, race, height, weight. . .) Pretty cool! For On the Edge of the Woods, I got to use my armchair experience in Mountaineering, inspired by Arlene Blum's book Annapurna, a Woman's Place, and other mountaineering literature. But a lot of what went into my novel was based on actual experience. Like my heroine, my husband and I had bought an old house in the Sierra Mountains and were fixing it up, and I found a cache of old letters in the house, years of correspondence which told a rather creepy story, and that was the inspiration for Stacy's experience.

Tell us about your debut novel.

Iis a contemporary Gothic romance in the tradition of Victoria Holt'sI. A young woman begins a new life in a beautiful but spooky old house; she meets the man of her dreams but begins to wonder if he is the source of her nightmares.

Who are some of the authors and works that have influenced your writing

Some of my favorite books include Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin, Tony Hillerman's Listening Woman, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, George Elliot's Middlemarch, Nora Roberts' Private Scandals, the Angelique series by Sergeanne Golon, Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. . . Other influences would have to include movies and music. Sometimes a single line from a song can evoke a whole world of meaning for me, and that ends up in my work.

What does your family think of having a published romance author in the house?

My family and friends seem to be thrilled and proud and perhaps a bit astounded, that I (finally) got published. Many of them have actually read the book and they seemed to like it! Some of them seem surprised they liked it, especially the guys. My daughter says it's fun to brag about at school.

Tell us about plans for future books.

I have a second novel coming out for Berkley in April 2005 called On Winding Hill Road. Like On the Edge of the Woods, it is a contemporary romantic suspense story. A young woman takes a job for a handsome, broody widower as a companion to his daughter whose mother has died under suspicious circumstances. . .

How can readers contact you?

Write me at DTyrrel@sbcglobal.net or visit my website at DianeTyrrel.com I love hearing from readers. Thank you!

Diane, thank you for joining us! Readers, you can find a review of On the Edge of the Woods here at The Romance Reader.