Ask the Author: Caro Carson
Answered Questions (6)
Caro Carson
Answer: The plot twists are not realistic.
I mean, this book is about this girl who wants to be a ballerina, so she goes to West Point and becomes a US Army Military Police officer. Makes no sense, right? Then she gets out of the army and starts selling drugs! (Okay, legally, for Pfizer, but still...cop becomes a drug dealer.) While she's doing that, she has a kid with a mystery illness that's stealing the child's hearing. She spends soooo much time trying to solve the medical mystery herself because the doctors are stumped--and she does solve it, just in time to save the child's hearing in one ear. Unrealistic. THEN, she has a SECOND child with a totally unrelated medical mystery, too? I mean, come on. That's just drama for the sake of adding drama. And guess what this army officer and medical sales professional starts doing next? She writes romance novels! Ha. As if that had anything to do with anything else so far. Her 3rd book gets nominated for some big national award, and her 5th book wins it. But wait--she conveniently has one of her novels chosen by a movie producer from a catalog of 250 titles, so she gets to see her work translated to the screen. Again--the odds are ridiculous. But I'm going to keep reading, because who knows what rabbit will get pulled out of the hat next?
I mean, this book is about this girl who wants to be a ballerina, so she goes to West Point and becomes a US Army Military Police officer. Makes no sense, right? Then she gets out of the army and starts selling drugs! (Okay, legally, for Pfizer, but still...cop becomes a drug dealer.) While she's doing that, she has a kid with a mystery illness that's stealing the child's hearing. She spends soooo much time trying to solve the medical mystery herself because the doctors are stumped--and she does solve it, just in time to save the child's hearing in one ear. Unrealistic. THEN, she has a SECOND child with a totally unrelated medical mystery, too? I mean, come on. That's just drama for the sake of adding drama. And guess what this army officer and medical sales professional starts doing next? She writes romance novels! Ha. As if that had anything to do with anything else so far. Her 3rd book gets nominated for some big national award, and her 5th book wins it. But wait--she conveniently has one of her novels chosen by a movie producer from a catalog of 250 titles, so she gets to see her work translated to the screen. Again--the odds are ridiculous. But I'm going to keep reading, because who knows what rabbit will get pulled out of the hat next?
Caro Carson
I've got two new books out today! (December 1, 2020)
FOR THIS CHRISTMAS ONLY--a full-length holiday romance, in which a business icon who has become a recluse runs into one of his biggest fans while he lurks in the shadows of a Yule log lighting at a town park. His book had inspired the heroine to change her life. Can she use his own philosophy to inspire him to change his life...and find love?
This is book #3 in the Masterson, Texas series. You definitely don't need to read the first two to enjoy this one. They are all set in the same college town, but this hero and heroine are new and the book ends with their happily-ever-after.
So what am I currently working on? Book #4 in the Masterson, Texas, series. :)
Today is also the premiere of my new sweet and short rom-com novella, "Gingerbread & Jingle Bells," which is one of 11 bite-size romances by 11 authors in the all-new CHRISTMAS ACTUALLY collection. We authors had such a good time creating the collection, we're going to do it again.
So, that is the second thing I'm currently working on: another sweet novella. <3
I hope you are having a good start to your holidays, dear reader! And if you are reading this long answer some time in the future, perhaps in the heat of summer, I hope you are having a good time as well! Cheers!
FOR THIS CHRISTMAS ONLY--a full-length holiday romance, in which a business icon who has become a recluse runs into one of his biggest fans while he lurks in the shadows of a Yule log lighting at a town park. His book had inspired the heroine to change her life. Can she use his own philosophy to inspire him to change his life...and find love?
This is book #3 in the Masterson, Texas series. You definitely don't need to read the first two to enjoy this one. They are all set in the same college town, but this hero and heroine are new and the book ends with their happily-ever-after.
So what am I currently working on? Book #4 in the Masterson, Texas, series. :)
Today is also the premiere of my new sweet and short rom-com novella, "Gingerbread & Jingle Bells," which is one of 11 bite-size romances by 11 authors in the all-new CHRISTMAS ACTUALLY collection. We authors had such a good time creating the collection, we're going to do it again.
So, that is the second thing I'm currently working on: another sweet novella. <3
I hope you are having a good start to your holidays, dear reader! And if you are reading this long answer some time in the future, perhaps in the heat of summer, I hope you are having a good time as well! Cheers!
Caro Carson
Yes! I'm so glad The Lieutenants is a favorite. The next book is the next rank higher: The Captains' Vegas Vows. It opens with the heroine waking up married in Vegas. She remembers nothing; the hero remembers everything. (How alarming would it be to have a total stranger madly in love with you and wearing a wedding ring!) It takes place at the same time as The Lieutenants. The hero is the company commander of the LTs' company, so you'll get to see the LTs again. The paperback will be in stores and online around September 15th. The ebook will be on sale October 1st.
And then....The Majors' Holiday Hideaway will be on sale in paperback October 15, ebook on November 1st.
And then....The Colonels' Texas Promise will be in stores January 15, 2019, with the ebook available February 1st.
Whew! That's it so far for military romances with the heroines as well as the heroes on active duty. Thank you so much for asking, and again, thank you for telling me The Lieutenants' Online Love is a favorite!
And then....The Majors' Holiday Hideaway will be on sale in paperback October 15, ebook on November 1st.
And then....The Colonels' Texas Promise will be in stores January 15, 2019, with the ebook available February 1st.
Whew! That's it so far for military romances with the heroines as well as the heroes on active duty. Thank you so much for asking, and again, thank you for telling me The Lieutenants' Online Love is a favorite!
Caro Carson
My next book, THE LIEUTENANT'S ONLINE LOVE, had two inspirations. First, the story is about two young US Army officers, both military police, both stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. The heroine is a West Point graduate (the hero is a Duke ROTC grad). Given my personal history, it's easy to see the inspiration: I am a West Point grad, I became a military police officer after graduation, and I served as a lieutenant at Fort Hood, Texas.
The second inspiration, however, came from my trying to think of a way that two lieutenants could be in the same military unit and still have a "legal" romance. Fraternization regulations make that pretty much impossible. You cannot date someone in your own unit, period. So...I went to sleep one night thinking I couldn't write a romance with two officers in the same company, but I woke up with the movie "You've Got Mail" in my head. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are professional rivals, each falling in love with their anonymous pen pal...who turns out to be their professional rival. Perfect! The two lieutenants could fall in love with each other online, without having any idea that their rival platoon leader is actually their pen pal. That basic plot began as a Hungarian play, "Parfumerie," written in 1937 by Miklós László. This became the great Jimmy Stewart/Margaret Sullavan 1940 movie, "The Shop Around the Corner." That became a 1949 musical starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson, "In the Good Old Summertime." Then THAT became "You've Got Mail," released in 1998. Well! It's a plot that works in a lot of settings. I hope you'll read THE LIEUTENANT'S ONLINE LOVE to see how it works between platoon leaders in the US Army.
The second inspiration, however, came from my trying to think of a way that two lieutenants could be in the same military unit and still have a "legal" romance. Fraternization regulations make that pretty much impossible. You cannot date someone in your own unit, period. So...I went to sleep one night thinking I couldn't write a romance with two officers in the same company, but I woke up with the movie "You've Got Mail" in my head. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are professional rivals, each falling in love with their anonymous pen pal...who turns out to be their professional rival. Perfect! The two lieutenants could fall in love with each other online, without having any idea that their rival platoon leader is actually their pen pal. That basic plot began as a Hungarian play, "Parfumerie," written in 1937 by Miklós László. This became the great Jimmy Stewart/Margaret Sullavan 1940 movie, "The Shop Around the Corner." That became a 1949 musical starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson, "In the Good Old Summertime." Then THAT became "You've Got Mail," released in 1998. Well! It's a plot that works in a lot of settings. I hope you'll read THE LIEUTENANT'S ONLINE LOVE to see how it works between platoon leaders in the US Army.
Caro Carson
I start with Chapter One and write in order, but Chapter One is pretty much as perfect as I can make it before I move on to Chapter Two. Unfortunately, that means when I get stuck, I’m really stuck. I can’t write Chapter Fourteen until Chapter Thirteen is perfect, so if thirteen is not cooperating, my word count stalls out and my panic ratchets up. Getting some sleep or nutritious food helps! So does going for a walk, although this requires changing out of pajamas and putting on actual shoes. It’s really shocking how much of a hermit I’ve become as an author. I once traveled the world as a US Army officer and later presented pharmaceutical data from podiums, yet now I feel accomplished when I put on sneakers and hit the sidewalk. It’s comforting to hear that most of my fellow authors hide in their writing caves, too. I’m normal . . . for an author. Right?
Caro Carson
My advice to writers is this: the answer is yes.
Yes, invest your time. Give your writing the good hours, not the scraps of the day.
Yes, invest your energy. Rearrange the furniture, wash the window over your desk, improve your writing space.
Yes, invest your funds. Get the better keyboard or the pen that fits your hand just right.
Yes. Invest. Your writing is worth it, and so are you.
Yes, invest your time. Give your writing the good hours, not the scraps of the day.
Yes, invest your energy. Rearrange the furniture, wash the window over your desk, improve your writing space.
Yes, invest your funds. Get the better keyboard or the pen that fits your hand just right.
Yes. Invest. Your writing is worth it, and so are you.
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