Interview with Robert Olsen Major

by Allison Knight

Roberta, tell us a little about yourself and why you decided to write historicals.

I don't know that I ever made a conscious decision to write historicals. There was never a moment when I thought, "Gee, today I'm going to write something set in the past!" There were some family stories that intrigued me, as well as some things I read that sparked some ideas--but the historical settings have always been dictated more by the characters and plot ideas than by any deep-rooted desire to trot out and show off historical research.

I am especially interested in the people who settled in Texas when there was nothing but wide open spaces to recommend it. The fictional area I write about--first in BOUND, now in TIES, and coming up for release in early 2003 in PIECRUST PROMISES--is vastly different today than the area on which it is loosely based. But just under the veneer of "civilization" there's a hum and a hint of what it must have been like. Just enough whispers of the past to wake up the something in me that gives birth to the characters who walk the unpaved paths of my mind.

How do you work family demands into your writing schedule?

Family comes first. Writing always ALWAYS comes after (or before--as in, very early in the morning!) my kids--though they don't always see it that way!

Now that summer is here and my children are not in school, my writing time is seriously curtailed--but that just means I'll be ready and hungry to get back to it come fall.

Do you have a writing schedule?

Not in the summer! A few minutes here and there. But during the school year I am a very early riser and I get a good hour or two in before the regular days starts.

From where do you get your ideas for your novels?

TIES started off as a question in my mind about a mail-order bride--and diverged from there.

BOUND was sparked by a family story my mom told me a number of years ago.

Many of my ideas come as an outgrowth of things I've read, places I've visited, people I've met.

I jot things down all the time.

I used to worry that I would run out of ideas, but I've found as I age that one idea generally leads to five or six more.

What part of writing do you find most difficult and how do you approach it?

The hardest thing for me is to step back and see what's really working and what isn't. I have to ask for help. Reading aloud what I've written is helpful, too, because I often find passages I thought were brilliant, which turn out to be cumbersome and problematic.

Is there anything you learned from your first novel "Bound" that you've incorporated into your writing now?

Don't stop and revise along the way! I used to think every word had to be perfect before I could go on. I finished very few stories in those days! With BOUND, I just got it all down and then had a field day with rewrites.

The research I did for BOUND was also a good starting point for me as I began thinking about TIES.

Is there anything you did with your original attempts that you've found to be a complete waste of time?

See the answer to Question #6! Revising as you go is, for me, the absolute worst of bad writing practices.

Outlining is also pretty useless for me. My characters are so opinionated that they get the story to where it needs to be without my having to think it all through and scratch it down on paper beforehand.

How much research do you feel you must do before you can begin to write, or do you research as you write?

Research can sometimes be very stimulating! I went to the county library before I began writing TIES to look up a few things about the railroad coming to southwest Texas. Took a lot of notes about that, then got sidetracked and found a great anecdote about a twice-married settler that was the seed that grew into Jeremiah Standard, the patriarch of the Standard clan in TIES.

As I write, things sometimes come up that need further research, but I like to steep myself in old documents, maps, books and places before I begin writing.

There are a couple of areas in my part of Texas that have done a great job of restoring old homesteads. I've visited them and taken LOTS of pictures!

I visited several old forts over Spring Break this year;  the abandoned buildings and ruins were so full of atmosphere and detail that I had a hard time sleeping at night.

I like visuals--and can see past what IS to what once might have been.

Do your family and friends ever ask you to write about them?

Nope! Though I am sure there are echoes of everyone I've ever loved--or met!--in the characters I create.

What do you say to someone who says to you, "I have a great story to tell."

I say, "Tell it!" There are never enough great stories being told.