Interview

Hi Alice and welcome. I am so glad you could join us here at RomanceJunkies. To start, will you please tell us a little bit about your current projects?

 

I just finished a full-length Victorian romance about an American spinster who’s suddenly become insanely wealthy and decides to sleep her way across Europe.  She’s distracted, seduced, and ultimately loved by a British rake who wants to keep her all to himself.

 

Now, I’m working on a full-length Victorian erotic romance about an American widow who actually does sleep her way across Europe.  She has a mystery lover who’s been writing her dirty letters, but he won’t let her come to him until she’s had at least five lovers.  He’s determined to be the sixth and the last she’ll ever have.

I guess I’m into sleeping my way across Europe these days.  Lol.

 

When beginning a new book, do you plot and plan or are you a “seat of the pants” kind of writer?

 

I’m definitely a pantser.  But, the very first thing I think up is the premise of the story.  I got into that habit by starting in erotic romance (SECRETS, VOLUME 1), where you always need a sexy premise.  These days, I don’t start anything without coming up with a hook.  Some examples I’ve used are motorcycle-shapeshifter (the MANNHOF series), modern remake of Lysistrata (THE WICKED WIFE and THE HOT-BLOODED HUSBAND), two hunks, one woman, and a long, dark train tunnel (MENAGE ON A TRAIN).

 

Then, I think of two (or more) characters and start writing.  Pretty soon, I figure out what their conflict will be and how they’ll resolve it for the Happy Ending.  Once I’m writing, I obsess about the story, so I do most of my planning in the back of my mind while I’m doing other things.

 

What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve received; the one tidbit you always make sure to pass on because it is so perfect?

 

Nike:  “Just do it.”  The late basketball coach, Jim Valvano:  “Don’t give up.  Don’t ever give up.”

 

Once you finish a book, do you find it easy or hard to put those characters aside for new ones?

 

Usually what happens is that during the last third of a book, another one occurs to me that I really, really want to write.  I’ve trained myself not to put the first book down until it’s done.  But usually, once I’m finished, I’m happy to move on.  In fact, once a book is done, I don’t want to bother with it anymore.  I just want the editor to say “Fantastic” and publish it exactly the way I wrote it.  That’s only happened a few times.  I’m not all THAT good.

 

If you could change one thing about the way you write a book, what would it be?

 

I wish I could write faster. I know people who can write a chapter a day.  I can’t even type that fast.  I write 7,500 words per week, which is a lot, but I wish I could do more.

 

You just found out you can go anywhere without having to worry about planning.  Where will you go?

 

New Zealand, and I hope to someplace where the government could never find me so I wouldn’t have to come back.

 

I always wanted to go to Africa, too.  Probably Kenya, but I’d need to research that before I figured out exactly where I’d like to visit.

 

What do you like to do in your spare time?  Any special hobbies or collections?

 

Hahahaha.  Spare time?  I still have my day job.

 

Before I started writing I was very active in trying to grow orchids.  I still have probably 100 plants because they refuse to die.  We think of orchids as delicate, but in reality, they’re tough little buggers.  Mine have suffered years of abuse, and they occasionally bloom.  There’s no flower more beautiful than a cattleya orchid.

 

I still cook quite a bit.  I have to eat, so I might as well try to make good food.  I’m one of America’s Test Kitchen’s e-mail recipe testers.  I try to do as many of the recipes as I can, and some of them have been wonderful.  It’s great to be on the cutting edge of the best cooking magazine out there.

 

A bit scared to ask… but what exactly is a corn snake, and how did come about having two of them?

 

Corn snakes (elaphe guttata) are small constrictors native to the Southeastern United States.  They’re non-venomous and adapt to living in human environments.  In fact, they got their name from living in corn cribs where they hunted rodents.  They’re extremely beneficial to humans in that regard.

 

I actually only have one snake now, as my darling Sheikh Yerbouti died last year.  Corn snakes come in many patterns and colors, so most people who get one snake end up getting many more.  I stopped at two because I didn’t have the time to care for more than that.  I may get another one as soon as I get the second cage moved to a safer location for earthquake country.  In the meantime, I still have my baby boy snakey, Casper.

 

What are the traits that make up a “real life” hero?

 

In romance, we love alpha or bad boy heroes.  No way do I want one of them in real life.  What I want is the beta guy:  gentle and affectionate.  A real life hero is a man you can depend on, who’ll support you in everything you try and put you on a pedestal.

 

What is the best way to spend a quiet evening at home?

 

A good meal and great opera or a good movie on the television.

 

How do you describe Alice Gaines?  How do Alice Gaines’s family and friends describe her?

 

I’m a dirty, old lady.  Actually, I’m kind of an aging hippie.  I came up in the days of “make love, not war.”  I sewed my wild oats but good before I settled down and got married at 30.  Now, I’m a widow, and all that delicious stuff is a memory…and fodder for stories.

 

I think people would say I’m nice.  I know they’d say I’m funny.  They’d probably think I should dress better and get out more.  I say, only if someone else pays for it.

 

MORE FUN…

 

Who is the person who has had the biggest influence on your life?  Whom will you pass this “influence” on to?

 

Yikes.  I can’t really say either way.  My mother died when I was 13.  I had lots of great teachers, but I can’t single out one.  I’m not sure my husband influenced me, although we were happy for 25 years.  I like to take my life philosophy from the movie Harvey.  “In this life, you must be oh, so clever or oh so pleasant.  I tried clever.  I recommend pleasant.”  I guess that means I was most influenced by Elwood P. Dowd, a fictional character.  That’s kind of weird.

 

I got a letter from a fan one day that blew me away.  She said she’d been involved in an abusive affair and reading one of my nice guy heroes convinced her there were good men in the world.  If I influenced her to select good men to become involved with, that’s major.  It’ll affect her children, too.

 

What is your culinary specialty?  What is the one that no matter how many times you try it, it always manages to fail you?

 

Specialty:  Hard to say.  I cook a lot.  I guess spaghetti sauce.  I make two kinds – long-cooked sugo with meat and red wine and a simpler marinara.  I love to make homemade pasta, too.

 

One that fails:  I have not figured out gnocchi.  Part of the problem is I’ve only had it cooked for me once.  I think the problem is I don’t know how to gauge how much flour goes into the dough.  I’m going to keep trying, though.

 

Name the best appliance known to man.  What about the one that should’ve stayed on the drawing table?

 

Best:  The flush toilet.  Is that an appliance?

 

Should have stayed on the drawing table:  Work telephones with multiple lines that ring all at once.

 

 

And lastly, no interview of a writer would be complete without this question:  what is your favorite comfort food?

 

Homegrown tomatoes.  Either with mayo on white bread or just from my hand.  Juicy, sweet, homegrown tomatoes.  My absolute favorite food in the whole, wide world.

 

Yes, there is nothing quite like a “real” tomato… and sadly, mine are not doing so well this year!  Thank you, Alice, for spending time with us at RJ.  Continued success with your writing!

By brooke Wills

Romance Junkies Publishing Editor

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