Saturday, March 16, 2013

Rue inspired by Chaucer and Dante

Welcome to Rue Allyn. Thank you Rue for joining me today. Please get comfortable and tell us about your adventure.

Thank you so very much Jean for inviting me to visit your blog and readers. Since I’m still a relatively unknown author, I opted to answer your interview questions. It wasn’t easy. You asked some really tough and insightful questions. Nonetheless, I gave it my best shot. I hope everyone will leave a comment. Hearing from readers is this author’s greatest reward.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I don’t remember. I have always ‘written.’ Even before I learned how to form letters, I told stories. If you mean when did I begin to think of myself as a professional author, the answer is 1995.

What inspired you to write your first book?

I’ll re-interpret the question, if I may. I was inspired to write my first commercially viable romance when I completed my doctoral work in English Literature. Partly, I was inspired by the first ‘modern’ romances I read—Victoria Holt, Georgette Heyer, Kathleen Woodiwiss, et al. However, the tipping point that caused me to actually try my hand at writing commercial fiction was my doctoral dissertation. I had produced a very dry (and in my eyes pretty boring) 300-plus page tome on Middle English dream vision stories.  After years in pursuit of this degree, I was somewhat dis-enchanted with the study of literature. I liked reading stories much more than I liked writing about them. Every author is the first reader of his or her story. So I figured if I could write a dry as dust dissertation (because the conventions of that form tend to produce that kind of writing), I could write something much more fun and interesting. The logic isn’t very strong, but it turned out I was right.

What books have most influenced your life most?

Authors influence me more than specific books, and most of those wrote prior to 1500 AD. Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dante, Petrarch. . . . I could go on, but I’d rather answer another question.

What book are you reading now?

I’m about to start the third book of my Wildfire Love series, ONE DAY’S LOVING. So I’m reading a bunch of research books about Boston in 1870.

Do you see writing as a career?

Yes. Do I recommend it for everyone? No. You need a skin of steel not to break under the constant rejection of your work. You need to be independently wealthy unless your name is Nora Roberts. You need an education in the publishing and commercial writing business that is rarely offered at colleges and universities.

In which genre do you prefer to write and why?

I think you can tell from the list of authors who have inspired me that I prefer historical. One of the appeals of historical romance is that in certain periods and locations (medieval British Isles, and the American west from about 1865 to 1880) cultural rules and conventions were much more fluid. Another reason that I love historicals is that I read and write escapist fiction. I don’t want to spend my time with the things I see and hear about every day.

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

I said earlier that I have always written. I cannot see my life without writing. However, when I was six, my grandfather (from whom I learned storytelling) introduced me to opera and music in general. For about a year, I desperately wanted to be a diva, specifically a coloratura soprano. Sadly, I did not then or any time since have the voice for such an ambition.

Have you ever travelled to a place and come away with a story unexpectedly?

Unexpected story? The concept is completely alien to me. I expect stories, ideas, concepts to occur everywhere and everywhen.

Do you have any advice for new writers beginning their adventure?

Work hard (very hard) and be persistent or don’t bother.

Have you ever cried during a movie?

Oh yes, absolutely. You mean there are people who don’t cry at movies? There are so many films that moved me to tears. The two that come to mind immediately are Casablanca, An Affair to Remember, and ET. Oh darn, that’s three. Sigh! There is a very good reason I did not go into accounting as a profession.

Share three fun facts about you that most people don’t know.

I’m a gleek. I’m more interested in similarities than I am in differences. If I could take only one more trip outside the continental US it would be to the land down under: Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania with a short stop in the Hawaiian Islands.

My next book and first western historical, ONE MOMENT’S PLEASURE ~ Wildfire Love # 1 is due out March 18, 2013. Today Yippee!!! You may pre-order today at Amazon.com.

Now, here’s the blurb for ONE MOMENT’S PLEASURE for you to enjoy.

BLURB: ONE MOMENT’S PLEASURE will become a lifetime’s passion when spinster, Edith Alden, embarks on a search for her missing sister.  Pretending to be a rich bored woman looking for an interlude with an anonymous male Edith enters the San Francisco bordello where her sister was last seen. She escapes the bordello almost too easily, but she can’t escape the passion ignited by a stranger’s kiss. 

Born and raised in the brothels of the California gold rush, Dutch Trahern worked for years to erase a childhood spent committing petty crimes and worse in order to survive. That past comes back to haunt him in the form of a woman he rescues from prostitution. Now his hard won respectability is threatened by an irresistible desire for a woman he shouldn’t want.

Learn more about Rue at http://RueAllyn.com


6 comments:

  1. Very nice interview Sue! I love it, a Diva! If it helps, I wanted to be a Truck Driver in my early years. Always have and probably always will love the Big Rigs! *ponders...eyes brighten...* Maybe I should include one in a story...hmmmm!

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  2. Lovely intereview and blurb. I tweeted.

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    1. Thanks Ella. I love it when interviews are different. Jean asked some fun questions.

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  3. You absolutely should write a trucker story. I've never wanted to drive a big rig (too scary for me), but I have a story idea for a heroine who is a trucker. I'm very fond of role reversals, and there aren't that many female truckers around. Thanks for stopping by.

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  4. Rue, I found your answers interesting and insightful. I look forward to reading your novel. Happy (almost) release day!

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  5. Thanks for stopping by Deborah. Can't wait to read what you think about the book after you've read it.

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