MR. FAMILY

MR. FAMILY was my first experience with writing a sequel. Mail-order bride stories give an author a fairy-tale world within to work, but there were also strong melodramatic elements. Erika, the sister of the hero from THE THIRD CHRISTMAS, had physical and emotional challenges and doubts; Kal, the hero, had lost his beloved first wife. I think this is my most sexually explicit book, but I don't find it to be the sexiest. Initially, the heroine really didn't believe herself to be sexy. I had lovely reader letters from men who had lived in Hawaii and found the representation of the islands authentic.

WAITING FOR YOU

My third book received mixed reactions from readers, in part because of snakes and leeches, in part for other reasons, but it remains one of my favorites. This quest story was a back-burner project for years before I sold it to Harlequin Superromance for their 9 Months Later subseries. What I loved in writing this story was following the hero's journey. I particularly liked that this hero suffered grave consequences for his first refusal of the call. Also, I was able to incorporate places I knew with a true otherworld.

THE KEEPER

People do talk about second book syndrome. The basic idea for THE KEEPER--the reunion story of a couple who became estranged when she came to the conclusion that he married her for a green card--is not new. What was different was the development of mental health problems in the hero. When I pitched the idea to Paula, she said, "I'd have to see it."

I remember writing and rewriting and rewriting again just to complete the first draft, struggling to make each sentence perfect the first time through. (I have never not had to rewrite a book for Harlequin, and I'm thankful for this. Rewrites ALWAYS improve the book, usually drastically.) I work differently now, doing more to perfect the book after the first version I send to an editor. This is because I love to rewrite; for me, the first draft is the most difficult to produce.

The research for this book involved obtaining knowledge of river trips on the Colorado and of mental health problems. I had worked for a river outfit, so the first was not difficult. For the second, I read extensively and paid for a consultation with a psychiatrist to discuss what I hoped to portray and how to make it realistic.

THE KEEPER was well-received and a finalist for the then Janet Dailey Award for romances addressing social issues.

THE THIRD CHRISTMAS

My first sale was THE THIRD CHRISTMAS, which Paula Eykelhof bought for Harlequin Superromance in February of 1994. It was released that November/December, which is very fast. While searching for an image of the cover online, I reflected that if I couldn't find one I would just look for a photo of the Uncompahgre River. That would symbolize my first experience with rewrites, my first affirmation that a rewrite ALWAYS improves the book, that two heads are better than one.

Paula wanted to get rid of things I felt were essential (but which weren't). In order to accomplish the rewrite, I had to physically throw the manuscript into the Uncompahgre River, immediately pulling it out again, so as not to litter. Then I did what I'd been asked to do, learning in the process that, "This doesn't work," doesn't mean there are only one or two ways to do something. There are so many options for change when something in the first draft doesn't work; it needn't be this way or that. How about door number 3 or 4? Also, I found in retrospect that what I might think is genius at one minute might make me blush in another; this is where editors save us.

THE THIRD CHRISTMAS won a regional romance award and was a finalist for a RITA Award for Best First Book.