Pamela Stone - Newbie Interview

1) How did you make your first sale? I got the call on Friday the thirteenth. How is that for luck? My editor had judged the book in a contest and placed it first. She didn’t initially offer to buy the book but sent me a wonderful rejection letter. I revised the manuscript accordingly and met with her again at National in Dallas. She remembered the book and agreed to look at it again and voila.

2) If you had to pick one word to describe your writing, what would it be? Beachy

3) Tell us a little about your family and where you're from. Born and raised in Texas. Married my high school sweetheart and have two wonderful sons and three amazing grandkids.

4) Tell us about your book. Last Resort: Marriage takes place in Marathon Key Florida. A hotel heiress agrees to marry a down on his luck Scuba guide to save both their businesses only to discover she’d rather lose the business than the guy. Aaron and Charlotte are opposite in every way. She’s got a wall full of diplomas and he earned his degree on the rough streets of Miami. She’s champagne and caviar and he’s beer and peanuts. But watching the fireworks as they mesh and fall in love is fun.

5) If you could be lazy for an entire day what would you do? Let my feet and mind wander up and down a sandy beach.

6) What is your strangest habit? Writing doesn’t count? Think about it. We sit around and invent people (notice I didn’t use the term characters). These people are real. I see them, talk to them, know how they react and why they are the way they are. I like them better than some people I know.

7) What is one thing scientists should invent? A money machine that pays all my bills so I can concentrate on writing. Not asking for unlimited wealth here, just enough to not have to worry about a day job so I could concentrate on writing.

8) What do you like to do when you're not writing? Spend time with my family or take a trip to the beach or best of all, take a trip to the beach with my family.

9) What is your writing routine? It varies. I try to write for an hour each morning after my husband leaves for work and before I have to sign in to my day job computer. Then I try for at least another hour of writing before bed. See question 7 above. Must have money to eat and that day job severely impacts my writing time. At least I write fast once I sit down to the task.

10) If you could wish for anything, what would you wish for? Health and happiness for my family and friends.

11) What was the hardest part of writing your book? Writing it was easy and fun. Figuring out how to market and sell it was the hard part.

12) What inspired you to write your first book? I’ve been making up stories as long as I can remember. I make up episodes or alternate endings to TV shows or movies. I remember reading books and thinking, “If they’d only done this.” Sometimes it’s a single lyric or line of dialogue. Or sometimes it just comes to me out of the blue, like the line, “She gazed at the exquisite specimen of masculinity in her bed. She hadn’t set out to marry Aaron Brody, it just sort of happened.” After making up stories for years, I finally decided to actually put one down in black and white.

13) How long have you been writing? I’ve been making up stories all my life, but didn’t start actually putting them down on paper until I was staying home with my two sons.

14) What did you want to be when you grew up? An architect

15) What would you say is your interesting writing quirk? I see scenes play out in my head and sometimes just close my eyes and type as I watch them unfold.

16) When did you first consider yourself a writer? Whoa. I tried to tell myself I was a writer before I sold, but I didn’t really believe it until I got that call.

17) What got you interested in writing? Great story telling. Always rewriting what I read or watched.

18) What is the one question you wish an interviewer would ask you? I have absolutely no idea. They all make me nervous.

19) What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book? I am hero based. The entire story revolves around my hero. I am more inside the hero’s head than the heroine’s.

20) What's a saying you use a lot? Life’s a beach.

21) What's your favorite dessert? I pretty much drink my desert in the form of Dr. Pepper.

22) If you were stranded on Island for a month and could bring three things along what would they be? Since you didn’t specify a ‘deserted island’ I’m going to assume it has the basic necessities covered and say, sunscreen, flip flops, and a laptop.

23) Why did you target the American Romance Line? I enjoy character based stories. Not that I’m against sexy stories, but I’m just more interested in the characters as people.

24) Do you have any talents readers might find interesting? I sometimes write with my eyes closed. That seems weird to me.

25) What were you doing at midnight last night? Unpacking boxes. We are in the process of moving.

26) Are you a cat or dog person? Both, but currently have a dog. Although he’s a black Pomeranian and about as much like a cat as a dog.

27) Describe your ideal dream date – fresh seafood dinner, long moonlit walk on the beach barefoot just listening to the waves and talking. Or not.

28) If someone gave you a million dollars what would you do with the money? Invest it in an annuity to pay me a salary so I could quit work and write full time and still be able to afford to help my kids a little and take an occasional trip.



I’d also like to comment on all the blogs this month about settings. I’m a native Texan and love the many faces of Texas. South Padre Island and the endless sand dunes. The Texas Hill Country is fantastic and I'm working on a book set in Marble Falls. I have a book set in Galveston and tried to capture the unique flavor and history of the island. Last Resort: Marriage is set in the Florida Keys however, and I could go on and on about my love affair with the Keys. Setting to me is an additional character with its own personality.

Pamela Stone

Last Resort: Marriage

Harlequin American, July 2009