Interview Jane Toombs

by

B. G. McCarthy

1) I see that you write in several romance genres. Which is your favourite romance genre? Which do you feel presents the most challenges to you as a writer?

My favorite romance genre is fantasy or paranormal romance. I believe that historical romance is the hardest to write because of the danger of sounding too contemporary, or having characters think or behave in ways they would not have done in whatever the time period. I always do thorough research before writing anything historical, but no matter how much research one does, the danger of contemporary thought creeping in is a problem.

2) Do you find it hard to switch genres and can you write in each simultaneously?

I don’t write more than one book, short story or novella at time. I guess that’s because I’m totally committed to whatever I’m writing until I finish it. The exception would be stopping to write a synopsis for a different type of story--say, a Harlequin Intrigue--and then returning to the work in progress. I have no problem finishing, for example, a contemporary suspense romance, then writing a paranormal one set in another world or time period.

3) Which phase of writing a book is easiest for you? The most difficult?

The first chapter is the most fun because I’m introducing my main characters and getting to know them--and they often surprise me. In my experience the fourth chapter usually turns out to be the most difficult. I’ve tried to figure this out and I suspect it’s because the action has been fairly fast-paced up until then and this chapter usually turns out to be a transition one, where either the characters move to some other setting or they’re settling in with their problem and either trying to make some sense of it or figuring out what to do about it. So I have to slow down and yet keep reader interest.

4) What’s more enjoyable for you? Creating heroes or villains? Action scenes or your book’s introspective moments? Dialogue or passages of description?

I have to admit villains are often more fun to create than heroes. Mine are almost always non-redeemable bad guys, not your “bad boys” who may possibly be redeemed given different circumstances. I prefer to read and write action books more than introspective ones, which isn’t to say I don’t like introspection in my reading or writing.

My books almost always contain more dialogue than description. I feel necessary description is needed because the reader needs to feel the setting and know where the characters are interacting, but when I read, I tend to skip through long detailed descriptive passages.

5) How would you describe the hero in this book? How would you describe your heroine? How do they compare with your past creations? Are you ready to let them go?

My hero in Night Of The Owl is an essentially decent guy who has undergone enough trauma to temporarily derail him. He has to learn through his interactions with other characters, especially the heroine, that to save himself and those dear to him, he has to, in effect, straighten up and fly right. The heroine is struggling with her own trauma while worrying she may become a victim of a serial killer who targets redheads. She has to find a way to trust again. The villain is this book is totally non-redeemable in anyone’s eyes, even after you get to know what drove him to his particular kind of nastiness.

My heroes tend not to be much alike except for having to undergo changes in their psyche as the story progresses. When I finish a book, I’m finished with the main characters in that book. Even in trilogies, if the characters do show up again, it’s in walk-on parts. I can’t wait to see what my new characters in the next book are going to be up to.

6) Do your own hobbies and passions ever sneak in and become those of your character? (For example, I have a strange obsession with Martha Stewart, and somehow she has poked her bossy head into each of my books.)

I spent much of my life working as an RN and have been involved with cats all my life, so medical scenes and cats tend to sneak into many of my stories.

7) What are you at work on now? Do you ever see retirement in sight, or do you expect to be found at a hundred keeled over at your P.C.?

Right now I’m working on the third book in my Temple Of Time series: Forlorn, a fantasy romance set in the strange worlds of the Temple of Time. When I finish that I have three short stories to write for anthologies with some paranormal elements in each.

Then I have a second book in a trilogy to write. I’ve often said I’ll stop writing only when they pry my cold, dead fingers off the keyboard.

8) Who are your favourite writers? Who are your favourite characters in literature?

E.A. Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Charlotte Bronte, Michael Connolly, Nevada Barr, Dana Stabenow, Tony Hillerman among a bunch of others. Rochester in Jane Eyre is a great character and so are Tony Hillerman’s Navajo cops, Michael Connolly’s Hieronymous Bosch, Dana Stabenow’s continuing Alaskan heroine and Nevada’s Barr’s continuing National Park Ranger. I do have to confess that I own and treasure a green plush Cthulhu--Lovecraft’s indescribably horrible monster from a time before.

9) If you could spend time with any one of your own characters who would it be and why?

While I thoroughly enjoy my characters while I’m spending time with them writing the book they’re driving the action along in, I have no desire to meet any of them out of the book. Why? Because I prefer to find new characters to spend my time with in the next book I write. So, no, I have no desire to interface with any character of mine if one could become real.