Love and Romance, etc.
A Free Newsletter for romance novel lovers
By Bonnie Williams
LARE Issue #3
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Madeline Baker (a.k.a. Amanda Ashley)
Madeline Baker has won numerous awards for her sensual Native American Romances including Affaire de Coeur's Golden Unicorn Award for Best Time Travel - WHISPER IN THE WIND in 1991. She was Voted Historical Storyteller of the Year by Romantic Times Magazine in 2000.
Ms. Baker has lived in California all her life. She started writing romance just for fun with no intention of ever selling her stories, that is until a friend convinced her to get her stories published - which began six long years of searching. Madeline finally sold her first book RECKLESS HEART. The rest is history. After 14 historicals, she wrote a short story for an anthology THE TOPAZ MAN PRESENTS SECRETS OF THE HEART line called MASQUERADE...and thus Amanda Ashley was born.
Here's LARE's interview with Madeline Baker:
LARE:What made you decide to become a romance writer?
MB: Boredom! When my kids were young, my husband worked nights and after my kids were in bed, there was nothing to do but read or watch tv. One night I sat down and started writing a book of my own. Looking back, I can't even remember what inspired me to do so. That book was Comanche Flame. I lived and breathed the story 24/7 and when I finished it, I put it under the bed and started another, and then another. I never intended to sell them or let anyone else read what I had written.
LARE: Out of all the wonderfully sexy stories you've created - which one is your favorite?
MB: You know that's like asking a mother to choose a favorite child. I suppose, in a way, my first born, Comanche Flame is my favorite, but then I'm really fond of my first published book, Reckless Heart, and my first vampire book, Embrace the Night. Choosing a favorite, it just can't be done!
MB: Ah, I love them all, but only Shadow (from my Reckless series) has inspired me to write two sequels just so I could see him again and again.
LARE: How long had you been writing before your first sale?
MB: Oh my gosh, I think it was something like six years before I sold Reckless Heart, which was rejected 31 times before I found a publisher.
LARE: What do you like the most about being a romance author?
LARE: What made you decide to write paranormal romance? Was is your editor's idea to write under Amanda Ashley?
MB: I was getting burned out writing historical romances. I had read a few vampire romances and decided to give it a try, and I loved it.
LARE: What do you like the least about being a romance author?
MB: DEADLINES!!!
LARE: What story are you working on right now? Can you tell us about it?
MB: At the moment, I'm working on a time travel where my heroine, who is a vice president of a large corporation, is sent back in time where she meets the hero, who is carrying a rather large load of guilt for something that happened in his past.
MB: I've never had a mentor, but there are a lot of authors I admired, too many to list here.
MB: The only time I ever had a problem was when I wanted to write a time travel for Signet books and they said no. That's the only time that's ever happened. I'm no longer writing for Signet, but I am writing that time travel!
MB: I have three - The Rainbow Season (I think the author was Lisa Gregory), Miracles by Mary Kirk, and Phantom by Susan Kay.
Be sure to visit Madeline Baker/Amanda Ashley at her official website: http://www.madelinebaker.net/Amamda Ashley's latest release from Zebra Books: Night's Kiss and Madeline Baker's Every Inch A Cowboy .
NON-FICTION eBOOK FOCUS:
