Welcome Ms. Kelleher to Love Romances. I want to first say, I love your Shadowland Series for the Luna line at Harlequin Books. It is truly a work of art as the reader is literally transported to the Shadowland and the fight to save the Sidhe and the mortals is breathtaking. Silver’s Edge introduces three very strong women: Nessa, a blacksmith’s daughter and a mortal, Delphinea, a lady of the Sidhe court and Cecily, a queen fighting for her country. Encroaching evil is coming to the mortal and Sidhe worlds. Secrets will be revealed as plots thicken around them. They have to find the strength within to withstand the goblin hordes that are coming after them all, as no mortal or Sidhe are safe once they are let loose. Silver’s Bane continues where Silver’s Edge leaves off and the reader will be left waiting as the war between both worlds comes and these three women have to work together and fight the hardest fight themselves.  

Welcome Anne and please tell us a little about yourself? What you do for relaxation when not creating worlds to get lost in?

I spend a lot of time in my gardens growing herbs in the spring and summer. I also like to refinish furniture. I am always on the lookout for pieces to refinish and I really like giving pieces to people as gifts, because this way I can keep doing my hobby and not run out of room in my house! I also read a lot (of course!) and I love to play with my two dogs, Sam the beagle and mister buddy love.

How long have you been writing? What inspired you to write fantasy romance?

I started to writing from the time that I could read. Growing up my favorite books were all fantasies, or romances, so I guess it was natural to blend the two together!

What influenced you to be published? How long did it take for your first book to be sold?

I took a writing break for around eleven years when I was in my 20's and early thirties. then one day my muse woke up or came back from wherever she'd been hiding out while all the kids were little, and I got this idea for a story that wouldn’t' let me go. I started carrying around a little notebook and on Labor Day weekend, 1990, i started writing the first draft of my first manuscript by hand at the beach.  I sold the novel that grew out of that manuscript two and a half years later, almost to the day in March of 1993. 

Silvers Edge is the first in your Shadowland series. You created a world where silver were the protection, the power and the peril. What inspired this series? How did this story take root in you and clamor to be told?

I got the idea for this story in graduate school in 1996 when I was rereading Spenser’s faerie queen. 

You write such strong female characters that it blew me away as a reader and then as a reviewer. Silvers Edge and Silvers Bane are truly a work of art to be read repeatedly. What makes your characters the most strong yet vulnerable? Have you ever patterned a character after someone you know? What character has been the most like you?

All my villains are patterned after people I don’t like.  And in some way, all my characters, even my villains, are all like me. 

What inspires you in writing and in life to make you happy? What is the biggest challenge to you in writing (plot, characters, and story)?

I think my biggest challenge in writing is keeping a deadline.  (Nervous laugh.)   I am not sure what inspires me as much as I feel compelled to write.  The characters show up and start eating their way out of my head.  The only way to make them stop is to write :). 

What is your goal within the next year or so with your writing career? 

My writing goal for this year is to finish Silver’s lure by Wednesday at 9 AM.  My other goal is to finish the first book of my new trilogy in a timely enough fashion that my editor won’t order me shot on sight.  

How do you define the type of writer you are? Do you outline or go with the flow? Do you follow a routine when writing (candles, music, and no noise)? 

The trouble is, I’m both.  I write from a synopsis but that doesn’t mean that the story is going to be the same.   I keep running lists of scenes and projected outlines so that I can move things around and keep track of things.  I like legal pads and sharp pencils and I do a lot of editing in hardcopy which means many trees have died in the cause of my books.  I have a lot of routines, but mostly I use a timer (thank you Flylady - if you want to know who Flylady is, check out www.flylady.net - it could change your life - it changed mine.)  I take time throughout the day to pay attention to myself and to recharge my batteries periodically, whether it’s eating something healthy or taking a walk.  I like to listen to music when I write but it can’t have words.   I also tend to give characters songs of their own and play them when I am writing one of their scenes. 

How many WIP’s (work in progress) can you concentrate on at a time? Can you give us a glimpse into what WIP’s (work in progress) you have ready to be finished?

Just one... I am finishing silvers lure... the last in the silver series...and next I will write the first book in my new trilogy which is set in a different country in the same world and involves a character from silvers bane ( who turned out to be far too intriguing and sexy not to give a book or three to). 

The Shadowland series delves deep into Sidhe lore. How much research did you do for these books? 

 My academic background is in medieval history and literature and in grad school, I was concentrating on Arthurian literature.  It isn’t too far of a hop from Arthur to Celtic myth.  I did do a lot of research in retrospect, but it’s the stuff I like to read anyway. 

The editing process is an important aspect of an author’s life. How do you find the editing process? Do you have a routine you follow there as well? 

A good editor is a book’s best friend.  I cherish adore and worship my editor (all of my editors and at any moment am prepared to offer up my first born child.... not that any of them seem to want her.)  In terms of my own editing, I am a slave to my internal editor. 

Do you ever have moments of insecurity? If so, how do you overcome them? 

Yes.  I don’t know that I have.  :)

What do you feel is the most important aspect for brand new authors to remember when writing their own books? Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?  

Don’t quit. 

What authors/genres do you enjoy reading? Have they influenced your writing style?

I like women writers over men, mostly, and tend to read just about anything I can get my hands on.  What I don’t read enough of is fantasy or romance because I find I can’t read what I write when I write it. 

Can you give us a glimpse into what the third Shadowland book, Silvers Lure, is about and maybe a teaser?  

Silvers Lure is the story of how the Caul came to be made in the first place.   It concerns the legendary Bran Brownbeard, the beautiful Queen Gloriana, and Timias, her trusted confidante and councilor. 

Where can readers reach you about comments on your books? 

I can be reached at anniekelleher@aol.com.   

Thank you, Anne, for being here and talking to us about your exceptional series, Shadowlands, released through Harlequin’s Luna line. Please add anything else you want to mention to the readers.
The Shadowland series is one that will captivate you from the first page and once the last page is read, the reader is left wanting more. Silver’s Edge is book 1; Silver’s Bane is Book 2 and coming in September 2006, Silver’s Lure. This is truly a series that will keep you wildly entertained as well as on the edge of the seat from all the twists and turns.