Interview Christy Cameron

by

Kelly McDonough

1. What do you have out there that is already published and what are the stories about?

Who's Watching the Kids is actually my first novel. I've been freelancing for about eight years, though, and I've published a lot of articles. For a while, my big thing was doing how-to pieces for craft magazines. My specialty, believe it or not, was bridal veil designs.

2. What is your newest story?

My August release is a sweet, contemporary romantic comedy about a nanny who gets her head stuck in her potential employer's fence on her way to a job interview. The rowdy twins she is supposed to take care of try to help her out, but after failing, they run off and leave her to face her too-handsome-for-his-own-good boss all on her own.

3. What do you have planned for the future? Any ideas?

Ideas? I've go more of those than I know what to do with. I've got starts on probably twenty books in my ideas file. But I've only got two full, rough drafts. One is a romantic suspense and the other is a Christmas-themed time travel. I'm working on polishing up the latter now.

4. What did you want to do when you grew up?

I always wanted to teach English and to write. Due to some bad advice, I spent my first couple years of college chasing majors with a more lucrative future. But I finally came back to what I love, and now that's exactly what I do.

5. Who are your favorite heroes and heroines?

Oh, the classics! Darcy and Elizabeth, Jane and Rochester… I could go on and on.

6. Who is your favorite author and why?

Jane Austen--and my favorite book is Persuasion. I'm a sucker for anything with a "lovers reunited" theme. And Austen is simply the best. Her books are full of fantastic examples of vivid characterization, sharp dialogue, and surprising plot twists. It takes a rare talent to produce stories with such universal appeal that they can still touch readers two centuries later.

7. What is your writing space like? Help us visualize where you work to make up incredible stories.

I don't really have a defined space. I use a laptop and work wherever is convenient at the moment--at the kitchen table, on the bed, in the living room chair. Sometimes I sit in a lawn chair outside and write while the kids play. We live on a farm, so it's a wonderfully relaxing environment--very conducive to creativity.

8. What is the best thing about being an author?

Going to work in my pajamas.

9. What is the worst?

The time involved. I'm a slow writer, and with two small children it's hard to find enough hours in the day. Sometimes, I envy people who don't write because they seem to have so much time for other things! But for me, it's a compulsion. If I'm not writing, I'm not happy.

10. Do ideas just come to you in a flash or do you have to flesh them out over a period of time?

I think most ideas come in flashes. Hanging in there for the fleshing out is what makes us writers. My ideas tend to make themselves known in dreams--or in the shower. I'm just yearning for the day somebody invents a waterproof laptop!

11. Do you have any one person who really encouraged you to write even when the going was tough?

Yes, my husband. He even went with me to a few romance writer's conferences! That's about as supportive as a guy can get.

12. Okay, now some fun questions. Do you tan or do you stay out of the sun?

Neither. Thanks to some Native American ancestry, I have a year-round tan and hardly ever burn.

13. Are you an ice cream in a cup or cone kind of girl?

Cup, definitely.

14. What's your favorite recipe?

Snickerdoodles, from the classic Betty Crocker Cooky Book.

Thanks, Christy for being such a good sport and answering all our questions. I only wish you a zillion in book sales!