I love Writer Wednesday, but the darn day only comes once a week, and sometimes I’ve got authors to share with y’all, and I just can’t wait! That’s the case with today’s special – time with fellow Virginia Romance Writer Meg Adams, who just released her contemporary, In From the Cold.
Meg graciously sat down with me (virtually speaking, I guess) to share some insider info. So grab that hot cocoa, turn on the Christmas lights, and settle in for a great, quick intro to Meg and her work!
Everyone always asks, where do you get your ideas, but I’m gonna ask it anyway: What’s the story behind the story in In From The Cold?
Oh, jeez. This story began with the place first, and then I peopled it with characters … and then the plot formed. I have relatives in Jackson, Wyoming, so I’ve been out there several times and in all kinds of weather. We once had the pleasure of staying in a spiffy guesthouse like the one in the book–totally different from my daily existence–and I got to thinking, what if…? Definitely a fun fantasy.
How long have you been writing romance?
I wrote my first novel about fifteen years ago, a young adult novel based on Beowulf, but with a female protagonist who falls in love with one of Beowulf’s men. I intended it to be a young adult novel, but my agent kept at me to go ahead and make it a romance. I was resistant then and never published it, but I’ve been thinking lately I might go blow the dust off that file and see what I have. I know so much more about the genre now, and my agent was probably right. My sister has also pointed out that I’ve always read a lot of romance, even when I thought–silly me–I was just reading classics. Go figure. So the unofficial answer is a long time. Officially, about three years.
What draws you to the genre? Would you consider writing in other subgenres, such as historical or paranormal?
I love romance because it’s so hopeful. I’m not a naturally positive person, although I’ve noticed in my friendships that I’m drawn to those who are. Life is tough for lots of us, and no matter how poor, or sick, or beset by troubles our lives may be, love gives some respite from that. I need the hope romance offers, and a little dose of magic, to help offset the realities of daily life.
I do write in other subgenres, too. I’ve self-published an historical mystery set on the eve of the Civil War called The Edge of War, which contains a strong romantic thread. I’ve also completed the rough draft of a “Hen-lit” contemporary romance, working title Flat Tires and Shifting Gears–Again, and I’m currently writing a young adult romance, Unforgettable. I have a whole series planned for a Victorian romance series, but until I have more time for the research, that will stay on my back burner. Alas.
Who are your favorite romance authors to read, and why?
Tough, tough question. I love so many. I love the humor in Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, and Lisa Kleypas, the styles of Barbara O’Neal and Jennifer Crusie. Grace Burrowes and Meredith Duran are fabulous Regency romance writers, and Simone Elkeles, Gayle Forman, and John Green rock in young adult. And if I’m feeling in the mood for something a little racier, my buddy, Mari Carr, is my go to. What an imagination!
You’re a member of the Virginia Romance Writers; how has that helped you in your writing career?
First and foremost, it’s given me a great education in the genre and the business of writing. The publishing world has always been a mystery to me, but now, with so many choices and more author marketing expectations, it’s downright complicated. Meeting so many people struggling with the same issues gives me a wonderful support group, and I’ve met some fabulous people and contacts through the organization.
What’s next from you, and when can we expect it?
As I mentioned above, Flat Tires and Shifting Gears-Again is about ready to go to my editor, so I don’t have a timeline per se. Hopefully within the year. Unforgettable is still a work in progress,and my current publisher doesn’t want Young Adult, so I need to find this one a different home. After that, I have several partially completed manuscripts that I need to finish. I’ll have to see what inspires me, or what I’m asked for at that point. I save my summers for research-intensive writing, just because the rest of my year is so intense.
Name two things most people don’t know about you.
Oh that’s a fun one. I found out a couple of years ago that I have some Cherokee blood, which you wouldn’t know by looking at me.You would though if you saw my father and brother. And learning to sail is on my bucket list.
What’s one piece of advice you wished you’d had when you first started writing?
That writing is a process. It wasn’t until I got out of college and started teaching that I started learning myself how to truly revise. Breaking writing into stages had never occurred to me, and I couldn’t understand why writing seemed so much less stressful for my fellow English majors. Now I know they already knew the secret. Allowing myself a crappy first draft has helped me enormously, letting my creativity flow and pushing me through potential roadblocks over and over again. That process gets better the more I practice it, too.
So yes, I wish someone had told me earlier that novels don’t emerge fully formed from an author’s head. Zeus, we are not.
Finally, peanut butter + chocolate = God’s gift to man, or heinous corruption of two otherwise divine substances?
My husband would definitely agree with the first assertion. Moi? Change it to almonds, pecans , or macadamia nuts–and I’m your girl!
Perfect families don’t always start with perfect ingredients.
Professional nanny Claire Iverson has wiped enough noses, butts and spills to qualify for a PhD in raising kids. She knows a toddler with a potty crisis when she sees one, and it’s clear this child’s impossibly handsome father doesn’t, since he’s sound asleep on the flight to Jackson, Wyoming.
Getting burned by her ex-boyfriend left her gun-shy around men, but when it comes to this beautiful little girl, she has to speak up. Just her luck, it turns out the man she just dressed down is her new boss.
Between his roles as full-time CEO and full-time father, Drake Driscoll is exhausted. If he can seal the next deal at his upcoming holiday house party, he’ll have room to breathe. He never expected for his daughter’s new nanny to take his breath away.
Claire hesitates to accept the warmth that beckons in Drake’s arms. But soon their attraction ignites, pulling them in deeper than either of them expected. Into passion that could weld them forever—or burn them to cinders.
Warning: Hot chocolate, cozy fires, snowball fights and sizzling ski hut sex = one very merry holiday!
Meg Adams, author of In From the Cold, is a true blue “Valley Girl”—the Shenandoah Valley, that is. She lives with her family—both two-legged and four-legged— in an old farmhouse, her other work-in-progress, and when she’s not herding kids or cats, she’s reading or writing. Whether cheering on bicyclists as they crest the hill or writing another romance, she encourages everyone to find their own happy endings.
The Virginia Romance Writers‘ second annual awards luncheon kicked off in festive spirits (and with lots of hats) as we celebrated our members’ and contest winners’ accomplishments in tea-party style.
A Man of Character – Best First Book certificate of merit