Spotlight on Anne Carter

October 2003

Ayden: Anne, thanks for joining me. Let's get started with something simple. When did you know you wanted to be a writer? Did you actually start writing then or did you wait a few years?

Anne: I actually got hooked in junior high school ('middle school' to some) when I took a creative writing class with a girlfriend. My teacher was very encouraging and started me on a lifelong love of the written word. In high school, I majored in literature and continued to write. I was also into drama and directing stage plays. My writing "career" took a backseat to life for several years, but as with most deep-seated passions, the urge to create fiction resurfaced after a while and in 1990 I started submitting short stories to small presses and gained my first publishing credits.

Combining my love of story weaving and my obsession with film, I started writing about an actress performing her first bit part in a major motion picture. What began as a short story quickly soared by novella stage and became a full-length, mainstream novel. I naively shopped NY pubs looking for a contract, not realizing that Hollywood stories were taboo, as were long books. So I shelved it for ten years. In 1999, I read an immensely popular mainstream romance written by a newcomer, a man. It broke all the rules and was not very well written--in my opinion. I decided I should get my manuscript out and dust it off.

Ayden: Would you mind telling us a bit about your career as an author and what a typical day is for you?

Anne: I am not a full time writer, although I could easily manage that if given the opportunity. When I'm working on a book, I can go non-stop for hours if uninterrupted. I can honestly say I've never had the dreaded "block" and my muse is always sitting nearby, ready to be awakened when I have a moment. I've written with and without an outline, with and without knowing my ending. The outline helps but the book never ends up the same in any case. I own and operate a small bookkeeping company, I have two grown sons and a grade-school daughter, so I'm pretty busy most of the time. Still, I'll schedule a day off here and there to write and I get a tremendous amount done.

Ayden: You have three novels currently available. Would you tell us a bit about them?

Anne: Starcrossed Hearts is the result of my movie star daydream, discussed above. What woman wouldn't want not one, but two handsome celebrities vying for her love? Tougher still, the men reluctantly become friends. Or do they? A Hero's Promise is the sequel and picks up four years later, and the race is still on. Things get tricky, however, when one of the heroes dies. Can the other make things right again for the heroine? Especially when he's been implicated in her husband's murder?

In Too Deep is not a part of the Starcrossed series, but is an unusual twist on an old theme. Running into your old high school crush just when your marriage is starting to unravel can be challenging at best. But a third party is watching the heroine, and her new hero must help her find out who and why. A comfortable farmhouse in the south of France becomes the scene for a most startling showdown.

Ayden: A Hero's Promise is the second book to feature your hero Dane Pierce. Are you planning to write any more novels involving Dane?

Anne: The Gypsy in Me is the third and final novel in the Starcrossed series. And yes, Dane returns but the spotlight is on now-grown, now-gorgeous, now-named "Ashley Marie" Pierce: daughter Zoe has matured and is following in Dad's footsteps, stealing the heart of a man already dating another girl. And not just any girl...Megan MacKendall is the daughter of Dane's ex-rival... you get the picture. Gypsy is in process and should be out late Summer or Fall 2004.

Ayden: Oooh, sounds very intriguing. I'm definitely going to be getting The Gypsy in Me when it's released. What was the biggest difference, writing & plot-wise, between A Hero's Promise and your previous novels?

Anne: I'd have to say I was a lot more organized while writing A Hero's Promise. I knew where it was going and pretty much how it would get there. I was gobs and gobs more experienced, had been through rigorous editing on the first books and was able to turn in a much cleaner manuscript. While writing Starcrossed Hearts, I was rambling and I knew it. It took months to clean it up and make it cohesive.

Ayden: I know most readers get turned off when the heroines have children or when the children are mentioned often throughout the book. How did you make that work in A Hero's Promise? After reading the book, I realized how much would be lost leaving them out. Were you worried the children's presence would alienate your readers?

Anne: It never occurred to me to have it any other way. I pay little attention to worrying about reader taboos. My characters are so real to me, and how they interact with their children is part of what makes them who they are. Real people, celebrities or not, have real children. Without them their lives would ring false to me. It must have been okay since Romantic Times gave A Hero's Promise a fabulous review and 4 Stars! (November, 2003) And anyway...those children gave me plenty of fodder for the third book...LOL.

Ayden: What does the upcoming year hold for you?

Anne: Being published with small press presents its own unique challenges. While immensely grateful for the opportunities I've had, I'd still like to seek a NY contract for my next book. Point Surrender is a mainstream romantic mystery, taking place in and around a fictional California lighthouse. I'm into the third draft of this novel and hoping to have it submitted this fall. I also write young adult fiction and will be diving into my second teen mystery in the coming year. And today marks the release of my first "download only" novella! Echelon Press offers quality short fiction for only a dollar and I'm excited to see how this works. Starfire is a quirky little story, written in first-person, about a very ordinary woman falling into an extraordinary affair with a married man. (Check it out at www.echelonpress.com/dollar/index.htm)

Ayden: There's another story I have to read. *gg* Sometimes family isn't very supportive of our chosen careers. How does your family feel about having an author in the house?

Anne: They have all been great. My husband is extremely supportive and excited for every great review I read to him. My daughter (now 7) is wild about my book cover art and talks it up everywhere she goes. I'm not sure what my 17 and 21 year old sons think about romance novels, but they are 100% behind their mom, always.

Ayden: What do you feel has had the biggest impact on your writing career?

Anne: Meeting my editor, Lorraine Stephens, just when I thought I was ready to quit. Her encouragement and enthusiasm (and professional editing skills) pulled me from the trenches and gave me the courage to aspire. I'll always be indebted to her.

Ayden: Do you have any advice you'd like to share with aspiring authors?

Anne: At the risk of sounding trite, I'd have to say...never give up. Write as much as you possibly can, swallow your fears and get friends and other authors to read your work. Sift through the advice to see what works for you. Don't compromise your ideals and know that discouragement is part of the process. Take time to network, take risks, move forward. Challenge yourself to try something new. And keep raising the bar.

Ayden: Anne, thanks again for talking me. I enjoyed it immensely.

To learn more about Anne Carter's works, please visit her website: www.BeaconStreetBooks.com.

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