Interview with Guest Author, Virginia Crane

This is an exciting blog for me because I am hosting my first author.  Virginia Crane was gracious enough to be my first guest.  I am sure you will all enjoy getting to know this lovely lady, and published author.

                                         

Virginia Crane grew up in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. She and her husband moved to the Southwest Coast of Florida to experience a slower-paced lifestyle and pursue my love of reading which eventually evolved into writing.

Virginia is a member of Romance Writers of America, and Tampa Area Romance Authors. She and has participated in writer’s workshops, seminars and classes. She has served as a judge in their First Impressions Contest for several years.

Tell me Virginia, What Genre do you write?

I have two books published, Emeralds on Wednesday, (ISBN 978-1-923695-92-2) and Gently Generous, (ISBN 978-1-936127-15-3). My third book, The Snow Concerto is due for publication this summer by Treble Heart Books.

I write romance but I also write about relationships and their survival. Although we think of a relationship as only being between the two people involved with each other, they are much more than that. I look on relationships being like a spider web with the two main people at the core but with many other factors surrounding them. Some may be a trap, some may get us enmeshed in other problems that we have to work our way out of.  All in all, I find people fascinating and I love to study them, wonder why they do the things they do.

Can you tell us a little more about your books?

Emeralds on Wednesday is a light hearted romance that involves a small town carpenter and a big city efficiency expert. She moves to a small Pennsylvania town and buys and older home and hires him to remodel it for her. That’s when the fun begins.

Gently Generous is also a romance but not light hearted. It deals with a woman and her comatose husband. He was not a very nice fella and they were on the verge of divorce when he had his accident. The question the story addresses is what

happens when you were on the verge of divorce, he was injured, you end up taking care of him and then you meet someone else? The someone else also happens to be his worst enemy. Of course, being a romantic soul I give it a happy ending.

Can you tell us about your experience of finding a publisher?

It was difficult to find a publisher. Trust me, being a writer and submitting to publishers is not for sissies. It can be very discouraging but then one day you get “the call” or in my case the e-mail. I tell you it is a feeling that words can’t fully describe. It’s like falling in love for the first time—it’s wonderful. 

To say I had been turned down by many publishers was an understatement. I tell folks that I had been turned down more than the sheets at the Holiday Inn. My dear friend, Gwyn Ramsey, encouraged me to submit to Treble Heart Books. I did and I received the wonderful news that Lee Emory accepted by book on my birthday. It was one of the best birthday presents I have ever received.

When did you begin writing?

I guess you could say I was a late bloomer. I started writing in 1999 but didn’t get published until 2009.  I got the idea for the first book I wrote, Gently Generous while driving home for lunch one day. Garth Brooks happened to come on the radio. The song was Beaches of Cheyenne and I started asking myself what if questions. What if he didn’t die? What if she didn’t commit suicide? What if she ended up taking care of him because she felt guilty? What if....

Maybe, you could tell us why, and when you write.

I write because music is my muse. I started my 10^th book on New Year's Day.  I will be listening to a song, especially country music, and bang, a story starts to form and I have to start writing.  It would be phrase in the lyrics that would get me started.  

Being retired is a misnomer. I have never “retired”, I have merely changed careers. I do not write all day. If I did I would be bored out of my head. However, I do write for several hours and not always at one stretch. I do research on my current work in process and I read, read, read.  Now I read differently from the way I did before I started writing.  Now I read for style, pacing, content as well as enjoyment.

Finally, what advice would you give someone wanting to write, or just beginning to write?

My advice to someone who wants to write is—DO IT!  You may not ever be published but you are being creative and who knows what the future will bring if you become brave enough to start submitting.  So get your fanny in the chair and your fingers on the keyboard.  You can change a written page, but you can’t change a blank page.  I got that one from Nora Roberts.

Thank you for letting me join you on your blog today.  It’s been a pleasure.