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It is my great pleasure to introduce you this
month to Teresa Medeiros, a TRRC August 2008 Author of
the Month. Teresa's latest historical romance, SOME LIKE
IT WICKED, is reviewed on the TRRC website. Teresa is
the talented and prolific author of many wonderful
historical and paranormal novels. In addition to being
an excellent author, she is just plain nice as a person.
Please join me in welcoming Teresa!
JERI: As I prepared for this AOTM interview I spent some
time at your website. How did you decide what to put on
the site and how much work is it to maintain? How
important do you think this is to your fans?
T.M. My website is like my own little private coloring
book—a way to enjoy being creative that doesn't
involve writing! Some people think I'm crazy to maintain
it myself (you'll notice the design credit is
Control Freak Designs) but I love being able to update
and change it whenever I want. For me, it's not about
bells and whistles but about getting information into
the hands of my readers. There's lots of fun stuff like
FAQ's and Recommended Reads but the most important pages
are the ones that connect to each book I've written with
a cover graphic, synopsis of the book and an excerpt.
That gives readers a way to "sample" my work before they
buy. I usually update it monthly or every other month
and it takes a couple of hours each time I do it. The
biggest update will be the upcoming one where I'll post
pics from this year's Romance Writers of America
conference in San Francisco. Of course my personal
favorite is the Pet Gallery with pics of my adorable
cats!
Jeri: Of the 17 books you have published, which one
ranks up there as your favorite and why?
T.M. No! Don't ask! It's too cruel! It's like asking
someone to pick their favorite child. They might know
but they don't want to say it in public. It reminds me
of an episode of ROSEANNE where Roseanne was going into
each child's room at bedtime, giving them a hug and
telling them, "You know Mommy has always loved you
best." I love some of them my books more because I was
SO in love with their heroes when I was writing them and
I love some because they were easier to write and I love
some because they were nearly impossible to write but I
wrote them anyway. I was definitely smitten with Simon
Wescott in my new book SOME LIKE IT WICKED. I never
could resist those bad boys in love
of the need of a good woman!
Jeri: Do you ever wish you had written a book
differently? Is there one book that you wish you
could have changed after it was published?
T.M. I've never regretted any of those choices because I
feel like each book reflects who I was as a writer and a
woman when I wrote it. I'm not one of those writers who
beg you not to read their earlier books. I wrote my
first book, LADY OF CONQUEST, when I was twenty-one.
Some of my literary skills may not have been sharpened
yet but I poured all of the passion and yearning of my
young heart into that book so I wouldn't change a word.
I might just tell a reader, "It was my first time. Be
gentle with me!"
Jeri: Can you tell us about a character that you have
disliked?
T. M. Well, I'm supposed to dislike my villains, right?
I can't tell you who the villain of my new book is
because that would give away the surprise ;) I try to
make my villains three-dimensional so that you sort of
understand how they became who they are. Valentine in
THE VAMPIRE WHO LOVED ME was a cold-blooded killer who
tried to steal Julian from my heroine but when you hear
about how she became a vampire and how she lost her
little girl in the process, you can't help but feel a
twinge of sympathy for her.
Jeri: You note on your website that you use music as
your muse. Which music has fit most closely to which
books?
T.M. Sweeping soundtracks work best for some books like
"The Man from Snowy River" for ONCE AN ANGEL and
"Jurassic Park" for THIEF OF HEARTS (Hey, it works for
dinosaurs and pirates!) I also love the well-done power
ballad. Guns 'N' Roses "November Rain" made the perfect
theme for Morgan and Sabrina in A WHISPER OF ROSES while
"Don't Cry" by the same band was playing
the first time Justin and Emily made love in ONCE AN
ANGEL. For THE VAMPIRE WHO LOVED ME, it was Buffy and
Angel's love theme from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" along
with "My Immortal" by Evanescence and "If I Close My
Eyes Forever" by Lita Ford and Ozzy Osborne. The Moody
Blues have provided the "soundtracks" to several of my
stories including the perfect "I Know You're Out There
Somewhere" for YOURS UNTIL DAWN. And in SOME LIKE IT
WICKED, I finally got to set a brawl to Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping"
which I've always wanted to do! I really need to post a
playlist of all of these songs on my website!
Jeri: You note that your husband reads your books after
they are published. Are there others that you rely on
for support while you are in the middle of a book?
T.M. As far as actually reading the work in progress,
not a soul! I've always been a very private writer. The
first person to read my first book was the editor who
bought it. I tend to be a perfectionist so I'm pretty
good at catching my own mistakes.
But I couldn't live without the day-to-day support of my
agent, my editor and especially my writer friends. Me
and my pals trade reams of e-mails about the fun and
foibles of the writing life and without them to hold my
hand, this would be a very lonely journey indeed. Since
most of us work at home alone, it's almost as if we
create our own "office" and "water cooler" where we can
go each day to laugh and cry and whine and share war
stories about our careers and our work.
Jeri: Have you ever found yourself using your past
profession as a nurse in writing your novels?
T. M. The only "nurse" I've written about so far was
Samantha Wickersham in YOURS UNTIL DAWN and I definitely
brought my own "no-nonsense" nursing style to her care
of Gabriel Fairchild. Unfortunately, none of my patients
ever looked (or behaved) like the delectable Gabriel!
Jeri: What does the future bring in terms of writing and
future books?
T.M. I've always said that this is the best job in the
world because I get to fall in love with a wonderful
new man every year and my husband doesn't mind! I've
already turned in SOME LIKE IT WILD, the sequel to SOME
LIKE IT WICKED, and Avon has scheduled it for April
2009. Bantam is also going to be reprinting special
$4.99 editions of FAIREST OF THEM ALL and THIEF OF
HEARTS in September. As soon as I return from the RWA
conference in San Francisco, I'll start brainstorming a
new idea and falling in love all over again :).
Again, many thanks to Teresa for this enlightening
interview!
(Click for a review of
SOME LIKE
IT WICKED) |
