Interview with Rebecca J Clark

Hello again, blogosprites. Are you ready for another interview? I can't hear you. Oh wait, I don't have my speakers turned on. In any case, I've got a great interview for you with an awesome author. Please welcome Rebecca J. Clark, author of BORROWED STILETTOS.

Welcome, Rebecca. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I live in the Pacific NW with my husband of 23 years and two teenagers. My day job is personal fitness trainer and group exercise instructor. I teach Zumba, Turbokick, Pilates and yoga. Thank goodness for a job where I get paid to work out -- supports my Cheetos and chocolate habit. :) My job now is a far cry from my bachelor's degree in graphic design, eh?

I'd say you're rather diverse. You had me at chocolate, lol. How long have you been writing?

I've wanted to be a novelist since I was 11 years old and read my first Harlequin romance. But I didn't start writing for publication until after my daughter was born. She's 18 now. When you realize I just got my first sale in 2008, you'll know it took me a LONG TIME to sell. Okay, so I wasn't writing full-time and raised two kids and moved several times over those years, but still. It took me a long time. I made so many mistakes along the way, I really should write a book called, "Everything You Need to Know to Sabotage Your Writing Career and Take Forever to Sell."

You really should! I'd buy it. Tell us about BORROWED STILETTOS.

Just thinking about this book makes me grin. This was one of those stories I just had to write and had a blast doing it. It's about identical twins who switch places in order for one to break up with the other's fiance. One twin is flamboyant and outgoing and very popular. The other twin has always been quieter and shy and more conservative. I got the idea from my own childhood. I'm not a twin, but I always lived in the shadow of my more beautiful, more popular sister. On more than one occasion, boys would use me to get to her. When I told a writer friend that, she said, "You have to put that in a book." So I did. I'm still living in my sister's shadow, by the way. Her name's Laurie London and her first book comes out next year with HQN. :)

I'll keep an eye out. What was the most challenging aspect of your publishing journey?

Everything's been a challenge, to be honest. But the hardest thing, at least for me, was to get "so close" (in my case, making it all the way through the senior editor with one big publisher) only to be rejected at aquisitions. You're so close you can almost taste it, then BOOM. The rug is pulled out from under you. It takes a while to recover from that, let me tell you. You start to question if you'll ever sell, if you're good enough, is all the hard work worth it, etc. This industry will kill you if you let it. I've almost let it a few times.

Any tips you've learned about writing you want to share?

I heard this once somewhere: "If you want to sell quicker, write to the market. If you want to enjoy what you're doing, write what you love." Right now, dark paranormals are hot, as are urban fantasy and steampunk. For writers who love those genres, their chances of selling soon are probably a bit better than someone like me who writes straight contemporary and romantic suspense. Unfortunately for me, the markets I love to read and write aren't hot right now. I've toyed with the idea of trying my hand at one of those genres, but if I don't enjoy reading them, that would probably come across in my writing.

Let’s get to know you on a deeper level. What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

I must have my notebook nearby, for any ideas or notes I might want to jot down. I must have coffee, unfortunately, or at the very least a hot cup of tea. I would have Cheetos if they weren't so messy. What I can't have around is my husband--he's worse than the kids at interrupting me. :) Oh, and my thesaurus--the real thing, not the online version.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

Wow, I've honestly never thought about this before LOL. Let's see, in my best dreams at night (at least the ones that aren't TMI), I can run like the wind, and it's an amazing feeling. So, I'll go with that. Boring, I know, but imagine how cool that would be.

Not boring at all. In fact, if I could run like the wind and not get sweaty - even better!

Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: gown, race, and quarantine.

Oh, great. You're making me think. I'm really not a writer but a REwriter. Sigh. Okay, here goes:

Struggling not to trip over the long train of her gown, Matilda raced out of the church before the cops could quarantine the wedding party.

Awesome. Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

Obviously, I thank my family for putting up with a messy house and the only occasional sit-down dinner. It must be incredibly difficult living with a writer. If the writing is going well, I'm in a great mood but all I want to do is write. If it's not going well, I'm in a pissie mood and all I want to do is write. :) There are really too many other individual people to thank, so I'll do a quick shout out to my Golden Heart sisters, the Pixie Chicks; my local chapter, GSRWA; and my plotting group, the Cherry Plotters (as in Cherry Adair).

And finally, where can people find you online?

My website: www.rebeccajclark.com
My blog: www.shywriters.blogspot.com
My group blog: www.blameitonthemuse.com
Facebook: Rebecca J. Clark
Twitter: @rebeccajclark

Rebecca, thank you so much for letting me interview you. It was a lot of fun. I wish you continued success!

Thanks so much for having me here, Dorothy. You're the best!