Ask the Author: Susan Meier
Answered Questions (15)
Susan Meier
You can find me on Facebook, Susan Meier's Books, or visit my website susanmeier.com.
Susan Meier
I have duplicated names because there are some names I simply love. One is Michael. That's my husband's name. When I first began writing, I named every hero Michael...because my husband was my hero. :)
I love heroes named Nick and Jake. Heroines named Kate and Sabina.
But now that books stay alive forever thanks to technology and ebooks, I'm not repeating. To get more interesting names, I listen to names of characters on television or names new moms are giving to their babies. I also have a baby name book. That helps a lot.
Names are the most important part of characterization, so I take a long time and work to find just the right name for each character!
Thanks for asking. <3
I love heroes named Nick and Jake. Heroines named Kate and Sabina.
But now that books stay alive forever thanks to technology and ebooks, I'm not repeating. To get more interesting names, I listen to names of characters on television or names new moms are giving to their babies. I also have a baby name book. That helps a lot.
Names are the most important part of characterization, so I take a long time and work to find just the right name for each character!
Thanks for asking. <3
Susan Meier
I love THE TYCOON'S SECRET DAUGHTER. I loved the characters and felt very at home with them. Plus, they had a very real problem that didn't merely bring out their human side it was something they handled one step at a time.
It didn't hurt that he was wealthy and she was gorgeous. LOL I love living in a fairy tale world and that world was nearly perfect. Books give us the opportunity to see how the other half lives and spend time in cities and restaurants and mansions we might otherwise never even see.
Right now, I'm working on a series for Harlequin called MANHATTAN BABIES. The McCallan family is so wealthy they never think about money. But what attracts me to the books is the world they live in. The gorgeous penthouses, limos, balls...cocktail parties at art museums. When I'm reading (or writing) I put myself into those places, walking by the Seine in France, looking for a penthouse in the Upper East Side in Manhattan, building a mansion in the woods of Northeast Pennsylvania. When the sky's the limit and money's no object, my imagination can run wild. The first book, CARRYING THE BILLIONAIRE'S BABY comes out in August and I can't wait!
I know I'll be reading these books over and over again!
It didn't hurt that he was wealthy and she was gorgeous. LOL I love living in a fairy tale world and that world was nearly perfect. Books give us the opportunity to see how the other half lives and spend time in cities and restaurants and mansions we might otherwise never even see.
Right now, I'm working on a series for Harlequin called MANHATTAN BABIES. The McCallan family is so wealthy they never think about money. But what attracts me to the books is the world they live in. The gorgeous penthouses, limos, balls...cocktail parties at art museums. When I'm reading (or writing) I put myself into those places, walking by the Seine in France, looking for a penthouse in the Upper East Side in Manhattan, building a mansion in the woods of Northeast Pennsylvania. When the sky's the limit and money's no object, my imagination can run wild. The first book, CARRYING THE BILLIONAIRE'S BABY comes out in August and I can't wait!
I know I'll be reading these books over and over again!
Susan Meier
It's funny you should mention this. I was just talking about this very thing with some friends, discussing new year's resolutions. The easy answer is to focus on your book, your story.
The not-so-easy answer is to not care about publishing and/or selling your book, but caring deeply, passionately about your story. The best books are the ones that beg to be written. They haunt our souls.
You can get an idea like that by watching the world around you (my friend and I came up with a story idea this morning from a non-writer's Instagram post...LOL), from reading other people's books (that's a great way to jumpstart ideas) or from your imagination....just start saying what if?
Art wasn't meant to be about money or recognition. It's more about a need inside you. When you let go of the idea of publishing and just listen to the stories inside you that want to be told, the ideas will come. And if you work, eventually the sales will come, too.
But first you have to let it all go and just fall in love with a story.
susan
The not-so-easy answer is to not care about publishing and/or selling your book, but caring deeply, passionately about your story. The best books are the ones that beg to be written. They haunt our souls.
You can get an idea like that by watching the world around you (my friend and I came up with a story idea this morning from a non-writer's Instagram post...LOL), from reading other people's books (that's a great way to jumpstart ideas) or from your imagination....just start saying what if?
Art wasn't meant to be about money or recognition. It's more about a need inside you. When you let go of the idea of publishing and just listen to the stories inside you that want to be told, the ideas will come. And if you work, eventually the sales will come, too.
But first you have to let it all go and just fall in love with a story.
susan
Susan Meier
Pure curiosity tempts me to say I'd love to live in the world of the Hunger Games and meet Katniss Everdeen. LOL But, seriously, their political climate and the difficult lives they live are kind of scary.
So my top two choices come from my own books. I've created vineyards in both Italy and Spain...Italy for the Vineyards of Calanetti mini series and Ochoa Vineyards for two books set in Spain. I would love living in either of those worlds. The towns are quaint. The weather is wonderful. The heroes are to die for. LOL
susan meier
So my top two choices come from my own books. I've created vineyards in both Italy and Spain...Italy for the Vineyards of Calanetti mini series and Ochoa Vineyards for two books set in Spain. I would love living in either of those worlds. The towns are quaint. The weather is wonderful. The heroes are to die for. LOL
susan meier
Susan Meier
Lots of suspense including Danielle Stewart's Chasing Justice, She can Scream by Melinda Leigh, and Linda Howard's Dying to Please. Add to that Donna Alward's new Darling, Vermont series Someone to Love, Someone like You and Somebody's Baby. I like to mix it up. :)
Thanks for your question!
susan meier
Thanks for your question!
susan meier
Susan Meier
I don't have a mystery but I have lots of stuff in my life that would make good Women's Fiction. Especially since I have a weird sense of humor. LOL
I've also always thought my grandparents would be great subjects for stories. My maternal grandparents came over from Ireland. My grandmother died young. 40ish. My grandfather saw ghosts and wrote song lyrics. On my dad's side, my grandparents were in an arranged marriage.
Lots of fodder for great stories from the grandparents!
Thanks for the question!
susan meier
I've also always thought my grandparents would be great subjects for stories. My maternal grandparents came over from Ireland. My grandmother died young. 40ish. My grandfather saw ghosts and wrote song lyrics. On my dad's side, my grandparents were in an arranged marriage.
Lots of fodder for great stories from the grandparents!
Thanks for the question!
susan meier
Susan Meier
My favorite couple from someone else's book...Shelby Campbell and Alan MacGregor from Nora Roberts' ALL THE POSSIBILITIES. They didn't merely belong together; they were funny together.
My favorite couple from my own books would be harder to choose because I love them all. I can't write a book unless I adore the two people involved. But, forced to choose, LOL, I'd pick Ellie McDermott and Finn Donovan from HER SUMMER WITH THE MARINE. They also obviously belonged together and they were also extremely funny to me...but they were also broken. Both of them. Finding each other and committing to each other allowed them to voice things they'd never told another soul. That's real intimacy. :)
Thanks for your question...
susan meier
My favorite couple from my own books would be harder to choose because I love them all. I can't write a book unless I adore the two people involved. But, forced to choose, LOL, I'd pick Ellie McDermott and Finn Donovan from HER SUMMER WITH THE MARINE. They also obviously belonged together and they were also extremely funny to me...but they were also broken. Both of them. Finding each other and committing to each other allowed them to voice things they'd never told another soul. That's real intimacy. :)
Thanks for your question...
susan meier
Susan Meier
Yes. But first I do a synopsis. Having a broad and general overview of the story itself helps you to break it down into the three acts and from there it's much easier to write an outline. Especially when you consider that you want the story to be balanced! You don't want to waste all your precious pages on the opening act or the middle. You want to be sure you have sufficient words left to good the story a strong ending!
Susan Meier
There are two ways to deal with writer's block. The first one is to rest your brain. Sometimes, I find I've written so much or for so long that my brain simply needs a break.
Other times, I find that reading what I have and pushing through to find the next steps in the hero and heroine's journeys is the best way to banish the block.
Usually, we get stuck in a book because we've painted ourselves into a corner or missed something obvious. Going back and reading what we've already written helps to figure out what's wrong, so we can fix it and keep pushing forward!
susan meier
Other times, I find that reading what I have and pushing through to find the next steps in the hero and heroine's journeys is the best way to banish the block.
Usually, we get stuck in a book because we've painted ourselves into a corner or missed something obvious. Going back and reading what we've already written helps to figure out what's wrong, so we can fix it and keep pushing forward!
susan meier
Susan Meier
I'm working on story two for a three-book series for Entangled and I'm about to start a continuity for Harlequin Romance. :)
Susan Meier
My best advice is study craft. I've taught writing classes and seen that some of the best stories are hatched by people with wonderful imaginations. Those stories become excellent books if the author has the chops to bring the story to life.
I've also seen some writers sad and disappointed because they believed they could bring their idea to life and didn't have the crafting ability. So taking a few classes will save you a lot of disappointment. :)
I've also seen some writers sad and disappointed because they believed they could bring their idea to life and didn't have the crafting ability. So taking a few classes will save you a lot of disappointment. :)
Susan Meier
The absolute best thing about being a writer is the chance to really explore life. Every time I create my characters, I'm entering a world I've never experienced before. It's like getting to live several different lives. :)
Plus, I work in pajamas! LOL
Plus, I work in pajamas! LOL
Susan Meier
I love stories. :) I see them all around me. But also, I'm frequently inspired by questions or themes. What would it be like to have been abused as a child? How would that change my view of the world? What would it be like to have grown up rich, or poor, or in another country? Those kinds of questions have inspired my books. :)
Susan Meier
This is a great question because it has a funny answer. I was on the phone with a friend and we said, What's something NO ONE has ever written about in a romance novel. It took a half hour or so but we realized no one had ever written about a heroine who has to come home and run the family business...a funeral home. LOL
Though it sounds odd, the research was fun. Creating characters to fit the story was equally fun.
I realized after the book was out that a funeral home setting wasn't something that interested readers...lots were turned off by the funeral home aspect and the book didn't sell...but I'm still glad I wrote it. I'm glad to have met Finn and Ellie...they were/are great characters. The small town of Harmony Hills was a hoot.
The book makes you laugh and cry. I think if readers would give it a chance they would love it.
Though it sounds odd, the research was fun. Creating characters to fit the story was equally fun.
I realized after the book was out that a funeral home setting wasn't something that interested readers...lots were turned off by the funeral home aspect and the book didn't sell...but I'm still glad I wrote it. I'm glad to have met Finn and Ellie...they were/are great characters. The small town of Harmony Hills was a hoot.
The book makes you laugh and cry. I think if readers would give it a chance they would love it.
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