Sandra Hill

by Wendy Keel
 

For a look at our previous interview please use the following link:
http://www.theromancereadersconnection.com/aotm/authorofthemonthhillsandra.html. Note that in previous interview, the website has changed to: http://www.sandrahill.net

Wendy Keel: Welcome back Ms. Hill to TRRC. It’s been a few years since you were here last and many more books have passed through readers hands. What has been the biggest change in your life since you were here in 2003?

Sandra: So many changes! More than a dozen new books, including the Jinx treasure hunting
series which continued the saga of the wacky Cajun LeDeux family. Two new grandchildren, to add to our first precious Jaden. A warm adieu to my longtime publisher, Dorchester. And while I continue to write contemporary humor for Grand Central Publishing (formerly Warner Books) and time travels for Berkley, I am excited to be returning to straight historical romance with Avon.

WK: Sandra for those readers new to you, what would you most want them to know about you and your work? (age, married or not, kids, pets, etc.)

Sandra: I am the mother of four sons, and still married (like forever) to the same man, Robert, a stock broker. We have a German Shephard the size of a small horse. While we live in a college town in Pennsylvania, we spend most of our time at our cottage on a world class trout stream...a paradise of sorts.

WK: Sandra lets start easy, what are your hobbies outside the world of writing, publishing and promoting your work?

Sandra: I love to read...have been an avid reader from a young age when I glommed everything in my small town library which was located in a Victorian mansion on the Suquehanna River. Who wouldn't be induced to read in that kind of setting? My husband and I love to go to estate auctions which flourish in our region, and we still can't resist more Roseville pottery, antique oil paintings, or vintage jewelry, even though our house overflowth.

WK: Now I’d like to take a few minutes and talk about your beginning. Please tell us when you got “the call” and your reaction to it. Did you do anything you never thought you’d do? Who actually called you, an agent, the publisher? How long did it take from the time you wrote your first story until publication?

Sandra: The call came on October 22, 1994 (my mother's birthday). I was at my mother's house where she was holding a yard sale when the call came from my agent. Only another writer can understand the joy of that first call. I had been writing off and on for several years, but about three years before that, I took the plunge and told my husband I really thought I might be able to write and sell a book, but that I needed a computer system. We spent what seemed like a lot of money at that time... about $2,500. With that kind of expenditure, I had to write every day or feel guilty for the expenditure. Not that my husband ever would have complained!

WK: You have quite a few books in publication, is there any one that was especially difficult to write? One that was almost too easy? One that is closer to your heart?

Sandra: The book I am currently writing feels like the hardest I've ever written, and I'm not sure why. Untitled, this will be Angel and Grace's story...another Cajun novel. The book has so many underlying themes...post-Katrina trauma, a secret in the past of Grace (an ex-nun), a Make-a-Wish type foundation, some orphans who need to be rescued, the overpowering love of Angel for a woman who does not love him back, and always the outrageous Tante Lulu and her antics. The problem is that I have to keep reminding myself that this is a romance. Romantic humor, to be sure. But at heart a romance.

The easiest book to write was probably THE LAST VIKING, my first contemporary time travel. The Viking ship builder who fell in love with Home Depot and the Home Improvement show on TV was humor just waiting to be written.

Closest to my heart? Probably Etienne from SWEETER SAVAGE LOVE. Although he had been tortured in prison doing the war, Etienne still managed to regain his wild sense of humor. I also loved Caleb, the ex-Amish Navy SEAL in PEARL JINX.

WK: Ms. Hill would you be willing to walk us through a typical writing day?

Sandra: When my sons were still in high school, I had the best possible work day. Everyone, including my husband, would have left by 7:30. If I worked from 8-noon, I could accomplish so much. I am still a morning person. By evening, my creative juices go sluggish. But without the structure of a disciplined work day, I find myself scattered at time, which is not helped by the fact that I am convinced I have Adult ADD. However, thank God for the blessing of deadlines! I am forced to sit myself down and write, which I love.

WK: Sandra your latest release, VIKING UNCHAINED, is a time travel. Can you tell us what motivated you to write this book and this series?

Sandra: I love a tortured hero with a sense of humor. I love Vikings, and I love Navy SEALs. Put those together and you have a Viking man grieving for his lost son and a modern woman grieving for her dead Navy SEAL husband. While still romantic humor, this book is different from any of my previous books because of the huge dose of poignancy. And I must admit the opening scene is the sexiest I have ever written. As for the Viking Navy SEAL series, it's interesting to me how many similarities there are between these Norse warriors and Navy SEALs. They both love water (i.e. longboats and sailors). They have buff bodies (Vikings were notoriously good looking, as evidenced by women of many nations wanting to mate with them, and SEALs are forced to endure grueling physical training.) Both groups are noted fighting men, working for the good of others (forget that raping and pillaging nonsense which was progaganda created by biased monk scholars). They both have a great sense of humor; the sagas are full of the ability these fierce warriors had to laugh at themselves).

WK: What would you most like readers to take away from your stories?

Sandra: They are love stories, first and foremost. But the most mail I get from fans mentions the humor. I had no idea when I first started writing that humor could have such an impact on people's lives. I thought you had to write serious literary novels involving important social issues to affect readers in that way. But believe me when I say that I now know how important humor is, not just in life and death situations, like a dying child, but in everyday life where stress is the norm with most families requiring both partners to work.

WK: Do you have a different routine or plan when writing your different series, the Jinx Inc, or Viking series or any of your work?

Sandra: No specific plan, except that, unlike some writers, I cannot work on more than one book at a time. I get into the voice of a contemporary or historical characters and cannot just switch it off at will. Some of the research is easier now as I build on Viking and Cajun and Navy SEAL backgrounds which I already know. But with each new book, there is always something new that needs research and I love it because I often get my best ideas while searching in libraries or on the Internet.

WK: Sandra you have a wonderful website (www.sandrahill.net) with loads of information, from jokes to genealogy charts. Do you spend a lot of time doing this or do you have someone who handles your website?

Sandra: I am a computer klutz. I would like to say that I do it myself, but no way! Karen Fox at NovelTalk maintains my website. Romance Designs does the genealogy charts. And this past year I have been working with Shannon Aviles, a multi-media expert who specializes in brand marketing, on various campaigns. Still, promotion efforts take too much of my time.

WK: How important do you think maintaining a website is to the world of published authors today?

Sandra: Crucial, and I am guilty of not doing the best I could. The problem is, even when you have someone else designing and maintaining for you, it requires constant input from you. And it is never-ending.

WK: Let’s go back a second to your earlier writings, do you have any unpublished works or “practice” manuscripts that you’ll never try to get published?

Sandra: I don't. Well, maybe way back, but they were so bad, and only a few chapters written, that I would never attempt to salvage them. Not because of content but just not well written.

WK: Do you find it easier now to write than when you were unpublished? Or harder? Why?

Sandra: Mostly, it is easier. So many things are instinctive now. I am most aware of this when I critique friends' work. I can see immediately if they started in the wrong place, have POV problems, lack sexual tension, lose opportunities for humor or sizzle, that kind of thing. But in other ways it is harder, too. I used to be way more organized, operating almost in an outline format, chapter by chapter. Today, I write by the seat of my pants. I know what is going to happen by the end, but I am always surprised by some of the things that happen along the way. One writer friend described it as riding in a car. You know your destination, but you can only see as far as the headlights shine. Scary, huh?

WK: Sandra you write stories that are fun and full of lively characters, do you pull any part of them from real life people you know?

SH: Not so much people as incidents or ideas. Like my sons used to say, when they did something particularly embarrassing, "Oh, no! Don't put that in your book!" I feel as if my mind is always acting as a filter for my work in progress. Things happening around me, what I see and hear on TV and the radio, what I read in the newspaper and magazines...there is a constant mechanism in my brain
that asks if this could be the kernel of something that could be worked into one of my books. For example, the incident in THE BLUE VIKING, where the inept witch keep saying "Arise, arise!" to a dead pig in the middle of the great hall in Scotland, and the pig doesn't rise but something else does, as every man in the room gets a goofy grin on his face. Do you get my meaning? Anyhow, that came from something that happened on a TV sitcom.

WK: You write not only contemporary romance, but also time-travel romances and historicals. Is there one genre that appeals to you more than others?

SH: My first love in reading was historicals. I started reading Jude Devereaux, Kathleen Woodiwiss and Rosemary Rogers. So those are closest to my heart. But, really, I love them all. Depends on my mood.

WK: Let’s move back to VIKING UNCHAINED for a while, this story follows the romance of Thorfinn and Lydia . Lydia is grieving her fallen soldier and Thorfinn his lost son. What if any resources did you draw from to create these characters and this story?

SH: Many of my books, including VIKING UNCHAINED, involve second chances. Don't we all wish we could have do-overs for parts of our lives? Family is also an important element in my books, and I can say shamelessly that Thorfinn's grief over his lost son is heart-rending. Then, too, there is the war in Iraq. Every time I see a dead soldier's body coming back in a body bag...every time I see a soldier reunited with a loved one...every time I witness the heroism of these brave men and women (and that includes their spouses), my heart aches. Look at the short video for VIKING UNCHAINED on my website, www.sandrahill.net, look at the burial scene at Arlington Cemetery, then look at the rose on the flag-draped casket. Who wouldn't be touched by that?

WK: Sandra, your VIKING series II deals with Navy SEALS, can you tell us what you use to research for this storyline? Why did you chose SEALs instead of Rangers or another special forces group?

SH: I'm not sure why SEALs. Really, it could have just as easily been Rangers, or Delta Force, marines, Air Force, whatever...I admire them all tremendously. I have done and continue to do a lot of research. There are some wonderful non-fiction books out there written by former SEALs.

WK: How did you come up with the idea for the beginning of this series?

SH: There had already been three books in the contemporary time travel series I refer to as Viking Series II (THE LAST VIKING, TRULY MADLY VIKING and THE VERY VIRILE VIKING), mostly involving the Ericsson and Magnusson families. It was a logical progression to have one of these Vikings land in Navy SEAL training because of the similarities mentioned above. Just as I think it would be hilarious for one of them some day to land in the middle of a Minnesota Vikings football game. I can just see someone asking this clueless guy who he is and him saying "a Viking," and them thinking...well, you get the drift.

WK: Ms. Hill what does the future hold for this series and these characters?

SH: One way or another, there will be more Viking Navy SEALs. Too many fans want stories for those remaining guys in the teams. The next one up, though, will be an historical time-travel, with a female SEAL (or WEALS, as the female SEALs are called in my series) going back to Viking times where she is the captive of a gorgeous berserker. This untitled book is like VIKING UNCHAINED in that there will be another tortured hero with a sense of humor.

WK: Is there anything about this book, VIKING UNCHAINED that was especially hard for you to write? Why?

SH: This book wanted to be sexier than I usually write, and, hey, I write sexy books, but I felt as if I had to rein myself in sometimes. Not go too far. In fact, I fear I have already set a threshold that will be hard to shrink back from in future books. To be honest, my editor made me take out the scenes where the Viking has the woman chained to a bed.

WK: What authors do you read? Which are auto-buys?

SH: Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Mary Balogh, Janet Evanovich, Beverly Lewis, to name just a few.

WK: VIKING UNCHAINED as well as all of your books have humor in them. And you have jokes on your website. How important do you thing humor is to readers and to life?

SH: Critical. If we can't smile at the hardships life throws our way, it is not worth living. And I have always said there is nothing sexier than a man who can make a woman smile in bed.

WK: Ms. Hill how long did it take you to write VIKING UNCHAINED? How long does it generally take to write any of your books?

SH: I usually allow myself six months to write a book. But whether I had a year, or two years, or longer, I would still be doing most of the writing in the last two months. I write best under pressure.

WK: Can you walk our readers through a general timeline from your deadline to publication and what all is entailed within the process?

SH: In my case, once I meet one deadline, I give myself a two-week respite, then move on to the next book. I currently have seven contracted books to write over the next 2-3 years, two contemporaries, two time travels and three historicals. It is hard, but a blessing. In midst of all this is cover consultation, back cover blurbs, publicity campaigns, etc.

WK: What advice would you offer for aspiring writers?

SH: Read avidly in the genre you want to write, and read as a writer, observing what you like and don't like. Join a writers' group and a critique group. Go to regional and national conferences, at first for craft workshops and later to meet agents and editors. Enter contests where you get feedback.

WK: Is there any program or book you feel every writer should have on their bookshelf or desk?

SH: Thesaurus, whether in book form or on your computer.

WK: If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 items would you most like to have with you? Why?

SH: A companion (husband, lover, whatever). A book, probably the Bible because as a Catholic I've never read it thoroughly, and because it's a book that can be read over and over. And I don't mean it in a religious sense. The Bible is a book that can be enjoyed as any other book. Some source of fire for cooking, whether it be fish or wild life, or maybe that should be a knife or axe for creating shelter.

WK: If you had to pick the 3 best romance books ever written what would they be and why?

SH: THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER, Beverly Lewis' ABRAM'S DAUGHTERS series (although they are not strictly romance), anything by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, including NATURAL BORN CHARMER, Pamela Morsi's COURTING MISS HATTIE, Mary Balogh's book about the prostitute, Maggie Osborne's westerns, Francine Rivers' original version of REDEEMING LOVE, GONE WITH THE WIND. That's just a start. There are so many. WK: If you could have written any romance hero, which one would you have most liked to have written and why? Heroine?

SH: Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara. They are quintessential the hero and heroine. Flawed but intriguing.

WK: Ms. Hill do you have anything you would like our readers to know before we end this interview? Any tips for writers or hints on future books?

SH: The market for books is hard these days, but good books will always be published. If you really, really want it, you need to persevere. Develop a thick skin, keep on writing even when you get rejections.

As for future books, I'm excited about the first book I will be writing for Avon, a historical romance, which I describe as a medieval version of the Dixie Chicks song "Where's Earl?" Five sisters kill the abusive husband of one of them, bury him at the bottom of a privy, and then are on the run. I think I've got a wonderful hero in Caedmon with his rundown castle overrun with grubby children, and plenty of opportunities for wild sex and laugh-out-loud humor. There is no firm title yet, but my editor likes TEN NIGHTS WITH A KNIGHT.

I thank you for taking the time to answer my questions and for writing such wonderful books. If you would like more information on Sandra Hill’s writing or just want to laugh be sure to check out her website at http://www.sandrahill.net.
 

(Click for a review of VIKING UNCHAINED)