Marsha Altman | The Plight of the Darcy Brothers

My name is Marsha Altman, and I’ve written The Plight of the Darcy Brothers, a sequel to The Darcys and the Bingleys. If you have not read the first book, you can pick up the second, as what happened in the first book is pretty self-explanatory (after the second book, it becomes more difficult).

I’ve been a romance writer for ... well, okay, this is my second book that could loosely be categorized as romance, though I do say that loosely because there are no men with partially-exposed chests on the cover. It will probably hurt sales but it’s a good way to go in historical fiction. Jane Austen, even though she primarily wrote about romantic issues like marriage and ... getting married ..., wrote a lot about marriage is all I’m saying, and it was romantic, but it wasn’t romance. It was contemporary fiction. She was writing about the world she lived in, and now when we write about the world she lived in, we’re writing historical fiction, or historical romance.
Categories in publishing are confusing and mostly about shelf placement. Let’s move on.

The title may appear perplexing to some people upon closer inspection because, as anyone who has read Pride and Prejudice knows, Darcy does not have any brothers. The titular brothers are not Darcy and Bingley, as I like to give Bingley a little more credit than to consider him a Darcy by adjacency. In short, Mr. Darcy Senior, deceased five years before Pride and Prejudice opens, left some skeletons in his closet.

How I came to write this book is a story unto itself: I had finished book one. I was bored. I was either between classes in graduate school or I wasn’t given enough to do. A full day had passed. Then I said, “How about I write some more?” Not the most inspiring story, but it’s the truth. Things you do while sitting in front of a computer generally isn’t that inspiring. Maybe for book 3 I’ll make up a story about being attacked by a moray eel and how that inspired me to write Regency fiction.

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Krista Davis | Everyone Loves A Wedding

Writing about domestic divas, Sophie Winston and her rival, Natasha, is always fun, but for my most recent book, I had the pleasure of planning an entire wedding without having to pay for it. Weddings used to be somewhat uniform. We expected the frou-frou bridesmaids’ dresses that would never be worn again, with dyed to match shoes, no less. The white cake was topped with a plastic bridal couple or flowers, and after a reception or dinner with dancing, the happy couple left for their honeymoon.

Today, brides face a staggering variety of choices. Cakes are topped with rhinestone studded initials, if there is a cake. Cupcake tiers are all the rage as an alternative. And wedding festivities don’t necessarily end with dinner anymore. Some couples arrange for a lounge with dancing and go on to a brunch in their honor before taking off. I was shocked to learn that some brides buy two wedding dresses so they can change between the ceremony and the reception. Of course, a lounge and dancing necessitate a third dress.


In the Domestic Diva Mysteries, Sophie and Natasha write competing lifestyle advice columns. Their tips are included in the books, along with recipes. Sophie keeps things simple but elegant, while Natasha thinks everyone should craft their own wrapping paper, make their own wedding veils, and spend six months cultivating a topiary centerpiece for a luncheon. Their rivalry is a friendly one, though there is that little issue of Natasha taking up housekeeping with Sophie’s ex-husband. Sophie is okay with it, though, since she has a weakness for hunky Detective Wolf Fleishman.

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Kylie Brant | Making a Living

I love being a writer. At least, most of the time. But occasionally there are days like today, when the words won't come and everything I do manage to get on the page sounds like it was produced by an illiterate nine-year-old. Today my love for writing seems very far away. I begin to dream of other occupations. More rewarding ones. I become convinced that there has to be an easier way to make a living.

So that train of thought takes over and distracts me from the cursor blinking so accusingly on the nearly blank page. Mentally I run through a list of possible job prospects. Maybe I can be a grocery store clerk. Nothing to think about except ringing up bananas and milk. Then I consider the fact that they're on their feet all day. I'm stretched out on my chaise lounge with my laptop on my lap and a Diet Coke within reach. Cross grocery store clerk off my list.

It might be interesting to run a dress shop, I muse, trying to avoid looking at that cursor. Is it possible for it to look smug? I could work with pretty clothes all day, and those employee discounts would certainly be nice. Forgetting for the moment that I hate to shop, i give real consideration to the idea. Maybe I could find one that's only open 9-5 and no weekends.

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Christie Craig | Questions I Generally Get Asked

Where do you get your ideas?

I sometimes tell people I go to the idea store and rummage through the clearance racks to find a jewel I can make my own. Something a little different. Maybe even a bit like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree, something no one else would think about taking home. But I just know if I add the right elements to this discarded idea, I can make it sparkle.

Another way I answer this question is to explain that the idea fairy flew by and accidentally dropped something and I found the treasure stuck to the bottom of my tennis shoe like a piece of gum. You know that ABC gum that is so hard to get off? Well, sometimes it’s as if some fallen idea gets stuck in my head, and my first reaction is, “Oh, hell, no way! Get outta here. There’s a reason the idea fairy dropped your butt. You are a complete reject!” But the idea hangs on and on, until I begin to see the value in it.

Now, neither of those answers are lies. Because heaven knows that sometimes it feels just like that. But I suppose the answer closest to the truth would be that my ideas stem from a collage of experiences, events, and moments that make up my own life. Yes, my life really is that crazy.

2) Most writers will admit that while they write fiction there are some basic truths about themselves in each book. What part of your latest release, GOTCHA! is based on truth?

Well, I really did work at a pizza place. As a matter of fact I wrote about how one very bad day at the pizza place is probably the catalyst for my writing humorous romantic suspense. Let’s just say in one shift, I was accused of robbing the store, had about six Los Angeles police officers pointing weapons at me, had a crazy man pull out a knife large enough to skin Bambi and insist I return the credit card that he stole from someone else, and then had a mean-looking dude in a trench coat pull out another big gun and tell me to get behind the counter. You can read the whole story about that bad day at Dorchester.

3) Do you ever get writer’s block or have days when your muse isn’t with you?

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Susan Andersen | Wearing My Heart On My Sleeve

Susan wants to know: Do you wear your heart on your sleeve?

Or is it just me? I confess. I’m an emotional slob. Don’t get me wrong, I’m nobody’s pushover. But every darn time I try to express how proud I am of someone I love, tears invariably well in my eyes. And wouldn’t it be grand just once to have a disagreement where I make my argument in a calm, logical manner? But, no. Right when I want to look my strongest, I usually end up crying and looking weak and girly instead—a particularly annoying habit when my argument is rock solid. But, hey, if someone puts me down I always have the perfect comeback .

Tough luck if it’s an hour, a day, or a week too late.

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Sandi Shilhanek | Daydreaming...If I Were An Author I'd Have the Perfect Office!

This week while I was driving and trying to entertain myself I decided that if I were to be a writer I’d want to have a wonderful place to write in. What would it look like? I know it certainly wouldn’t be an old-fashioned typewriter setting atop a doghouse ala Snoopy in the Peanuts cartoons. It would probably have a nice state of the art computer that I could never learn to fully use, and lots of shelves to hold all the research books, whose soul purpose would be to sit there and make me look scholarly and to collect dust.

Of course I’d have to have a nice polished desk, and plenty of office supplies; reams of paper, highlighters in all colors, pens, pencils, and a rainbow of sticky notes in all shapes and sizes!

Now, I’d be officially a writer wouldn’t I? What, you mean in order to be a writer I have to have a story idea and the talent to extend it into several hundred pages that are written coherently and would attract the attention of some great literary agent or publisher and actually get my story to you my overeager fans.

So now you know what my writer’s office might look like. Have you ever dreamt about yours? Tell us? Do you really want to be a writer? We want to hear it all!

Until next week happy page turning, and hope your writing dreams if you have them come true soon.


Sandi Shilhanek

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NOTE FROM SARA: Cool stuff collected at RWA signings. Someone will win a few if they comment on this or yesterday's blog! So, spill it! And be sure to follow us on Twitter as we'll be tweeting all about our adventures! As always, we hope you'll enjoy our ramblings and add some of your own.