Welcome to our New Faces column! We're delighted to introduce some of the newest romance authors making their debut at your local bookstore and library. This issue we welcome Nancy Warren, whose first romance is Flashback, a July release from Harlequin Temptation.

Hello, Nancy! Welcome to TRR. Tell us about yourself.

Thanks for having me. I live in Vancouver, Canada and just love the west coast lifestyle. We take the important things in life seriously here. Good coffee, designer bike shorts and of course the rain. I've lived in other places, but I always come back to Vancouver. I was brought up here, went to university here, where I graduated with a degree in English literature. I got married here and am currently raising my two children here. I love to travel, but this will always be home.

Are you coming to romance writing from another job?

I've been so fortunate to make my living as a writer ever since I graduated with that English degree that everyone thought was so impractical. I stared out as a journalist (well, actually I was the one who barked 'Newsroom' into the phone and did all the grunt work). Gradually I moved up the ladder and was a newspaper writer and editor. After a while it was time for a change, and I moved into corporate communications and public relations. I've worked for government and business and even ran my own firm for a while. It was great, but I'd always, always dreamed of writing a novel.

What led you to write romance?

I grew up reading Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer and Mary Stewart and those books gave me an escape from the horror of the teenage years. Who can stress about a pimple or a dateless Friday night when Miss Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy are in the room? As much as I love to read historicals, I soon discovered my voice was contemporary -- and people would laugh when they read my stuff. Sometimes because it was actually funny.

Tell us about your road to publication.

I had moved back to Vancouver when my husband was transferred here. I had left a job I loved, dear friends and as much as I wanted to come home, it was tough to settle in. I chose my time-honored therapy of reading romance (while eating chocolate) to escape my problems. I discovered Jennifer Blake and read everything I could lay my hands on. From Jennifer Blake I moved to LaVyrle Spencer, Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Nora Roberts. I found I loved the Harlequin Temptation line for a fast, fun, sexy read and thought maybe I could do that. It took me another four years of working at writing to sell that first book, but I'm very proud that it is a Temptation.

I joined Romance Writers of America (a must for any aspiring romance author) and through RWA met the best critiquers in the business: Karin Story Dearborn, Susan Lyons, Caro LaFever, Brenda Beagley and Jamie Sobrato are all wonderfully talented writers. We've grown together, and all are doing well in our respective careers. I started entering contests and was amazed at the generosity of writers who take the time to judge and offer helpful suggestions. I also started submitting to editors, and slowly moved from those awful generic photocopied rejection letters to more personal ones. A personal rejection letter from an editor is always a good sign. I won the Molly Contest in the Short Contemporary category in 1999 but my big break came when Harlequin held The 2000 Summer Blaze Contest to help promote the sexy new Blaze line. I was so thrilled when I found out I won that contest, but the best was yet to come. About two weeks later I got 'the call'. Harlequin wanted to buy the two full manuscripts that I had submitted, Flashback, a Temptation, and Shotgun Nanny, a Duets as well as the Blaze I hadn't even written yet. Was that a great day or what?

What kind of research was involved for your first book?

I'm a big fan of home decorating shows and Debbie Travis' The Painted House is my favorite. Part of the story idea came from watching The Painted House. I gave my heroine a job as a decorative painter specializing in historical restoration projects, so I had to research that whole area. Gosh, that was tough. I watched more decorating shows, read magazines and books on the subject -- not that you'd know it if you saw my house. My hero is a carpenter, and since neither my husband nor I can hammer a nail in straight, that involved some research too. I set the book on Whidbey Island in Washington because it's a place I love, then added a fictional town.

Who are your influences as a writer?

In romance writing I have two absolute favorites: Susan Elizabeth Phillips and LaVyrle Spencer for humor, characterization and being able to reach right into my heart and give it a good squeeze. Outside romance my goddess is Jane Austen (and I love what Helen Fielding did with Pride and Prejudice in Bridget Jones' Diary.) I've learned so much from other Temptation and Duets authors. In category you are confined in a pretty small space so every word has to count. These authors showed me it's possible to tell a great story with humor and sensuality in 50,000 or 60,000 words.

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

My husband just wouldn't let me quit no matter how much I whined. He's always believed in me and that helped me believe in myself. My children used to ask if I'd heard from my editor today in that way kids have of thinking that if Mom wrote a book it must be the best book in the universe. My sister is a great critiquer and my parents are very proud (although I've warned my mother she's not allowed to read my Blaze!) Just thinking of Mom reading my sex scenes gives me writer's block!

Tell us about plans for future books.

My next book will be Live a Little, a Harlequin Blaze coming Dec. 01 (You can read it, but my Mom can't). Then I have a Duets coming out in June 2002 called Shotgun Nanny.

How can readers get in touch with you?

I'd love to hear from readers. You can write to me at Nancy Warren, P.O. Box 37035, North Vancouver, B.C. Canada, V7N 4M0. Or come visit me at my website: www.nancywarren.net

Nancy, thanks for joining us, and best of luck! Readers, we have a review of Flashback on our Category page. July 6, 2001