Hello, Inglath! Thanks so much for taking the time to ‘talk’ with us here at Love Romances! I thoroughly enjoyed A Gift of Grace, your June 2006 Harlequin Superromance.

First off, can you tell us a little about how you got started in the business? Did you always want to be a writer? Or did you travel down a different path before you realized that writing was where you wanted to be? 

I have always loved books.  I wrote my first story at age 9 about a pony named Sunny.  I used my mama’s old manual typewriter, and I remember that wonderful feeling of completing a story I wanted to tell.  That feeling has never changed.  I went through a period of wanting to be a veterinarian, but soon discovered my heart couldn’t handle some of the things required in that profession.  I do have the utmost admiration for some of the wonderful vets I know and have known, though.  It’s something I’d like to be able to do. 

How long did it take you to get published? 

I started working on a manuscript my junior year in college.  I sold my first book when I was twenty-nine, and I think that was either my fifth or sixth completed manuscript.  Sorry for not being more exact, but the memory is a little dusty. 

Can you tell us a little bit about the kind of stories Harlequin Superromance publishes and what drew you to this particular line? 

Harlequin Superromance has given me a wonderful opportunity to tell the kind of character-driven stories I want to write.  I believe Superromance encompasses a broad range of storytelling ability and style. 

Many of your books seem to deal with difficult issues. Take A Year and a Day for example, which deals with abuse or A Gift of Grace, which deals with a tough adoption situation. Do you find it difficult to go through this process with your characters as you write their story? 

I would have to say yes.  If the story takes me through a range of emotions, then it’s my hope that it will do the same for readers.  This is one of my gauges for a good story.  As a reader, I want to feel something, the deeper the better.  I consider it a high honor to receive a letter from a reader who says my story made them feel something. 

One of the things that has really drawn me into your books is your characters. You write very real characters, ones that make mistakes, and struggle, and have very connected and rich relationships. How do you ensure that your characters stay three-dimensional and never fall into that flat caricature rut that some books possess? 

Thank you.  I try very hard to make my characters real people.  I think that is the only way, we as readers, can identify with them.  When a person who is in some way flawed struggles to reach a better place, strives to become a better version of themselves, I think we naturally want to get behind them and see them succeed. 

Do you have a favorite character from one of your books? 

Hm.  A favorite character.  That’s like asking a mother to name her favorite child.  J  Right now, I guess I would have to say Sophie Owens from A Gift of Grace and Rachel Foster from On Angel’s Wings, a story I did for an anthology called From Here to Maternity.  Both stories deal with the theme of adoption, which has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. 

Many authors are also avid readers. Do you have any favorite authors? And, if so, do you feel any of them have influenced your writing? 

I really believe everything I’ve ever read has in some way influenced my writing.  With each story we read, I think we writers absorb something of what made it work or not work.  I love Jodi Picoult’s stories for their complexity and the very real struggles of her characters.  Other favorites are Luanne Rice, Nicholas Evans, Harlan Coben and Lisa Tucker.  

What is your favorite thing about the writing process? How about the least favorite? 

I love that for me it is constant.  I usually have a few stories going at once.  If I get stuck on one, I go to another until the solution to the previous one bubbles to the surface.  Stories never come to me in complete ready-to-write form.  They start with a single thought, character or event and evolve from there over a significant period of time.  I also like how it works for my life.  I’m a mother of young children, and because I can write pretty much anywhere, I’m still able to work consistently. 

A Gift of Grace tells more than Sophie and Caleb’s story. It also touches on Caleb’s parents, Jeb and Catherine, and the difficulties they are dealing with in their marriage. This really helps create a sense of community in your books. However, do you find it difficult to write a book that focuses on the broader community scope rather than on just the hero and heroine? 

Actually, I now find it difficult not to.  I’m intrigued by how a single event can take place in one person’s life, and yet its effect is never confined to that one person.  The ripple effect of tragedy can be seen in the way others are shaped and changed as well. 

It seems to me that a writer never stops learning, and that each new book brings something new to a writer’s arsenal. Do you feel your writing has evolved over the course of your writing career? If so, in what way? 

I absolutely agree that a writer never stops learning.  I try with each book to do something that in some way forces me to reach beyond what I’ve done before.  I think as I’ve grown as a writer I’ve become more and more aware of how a good story is crafted and can be enriched with each revision. 

What does your office look like? Are you a very organized writer or a messy muse kind of writer?

I write on a laptop, and it goes everywhere I go.  I write literally wherever I am, whether it’s the dentist office, the gym on an Elliptical or at Starbucks.  I actually never write in my office as it tends to get buried under stacks of to do items.  I don’t do well with clutter, but I think everyone has at least one place that suffers from it. 

Are you working on anything right now? Can you give us a little teaser?

I have a book coming out in November 2006 called A Woman With Secrets.  Kate Winthrop is bent on paying back an ex-husband who basically took her to the cleaners financially.  When she hides out on a ten-day boat trip through the Caribbean, she meets up with a group of people who force her to take a look at herself and what she’s done with her life to date.  The picture’s not so pretty, but Kate begins to realize that change starts from within, and even though we can’t rewrite history, we can chart a new course for the future. 

Thank you, Inglath! We sincerely appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule for this interview. Best of luck with your newest release, A Gift of Grace!

A GIFT OF GRACE