I was fortunate in garnering interviews with four award-winning authors: Susan Kearney, Sandra Hill, Lori Handeland, and Susan Sizemore. Each of these ladies has published multiple books and experienced great success in the literary world. You can purchase their books at the Missing Volume Science and Fantasy Bookseller at www.themissingvolume.com.

Daily Dragon (DD): First off, thank you so much for your time. I really do appreciate you taking the time to speak with me.

Susan Kearney (SK): Thanks for being here.

Lori Handeland (LH): Thank you.

Susan Sizemore (SS): Glad to do it.

Susan Kearney

DD: You have had so much success with your books. Do you find writing your next novel easier or harder compared to your first one?

SK: Every book is difficult. None of them are easy. I think the more that you learn, the harder it becomes, because you know more, and so you have to fix more. In the beginning, you just wrote. I didn’t know how to write when I first started. So, in the beginning, I just thought that everything was perfect. I didn’t know. I mean, the first book I wrote, I didn’t have any commas in it. I didn’t have chapters. I knew nothing, and I thought it was fine. And so, as you write, you keep learning, and it becomes harder and harder because your standards keep going up.

DD: Do you have a daily routine you go through? Things that you do as you prepare to write?

SK: No. I write six pages a day, every day. Sometimes I write them first thing in the morning, and sometimes I take all day, and sometimes I write them at night. Whatever it is, I write pretty much every day six pages a day, six days a week.

DD: Do you find trends in the past that affect how you currently write?

SK: Yes. When I started writing, I wanted to write science fiction romance novels. And Joanna Lindsey had written one called Warrior’s Woman, and I wanted to be like her. I thought I could just write them and sell them. Well, I didn’t know that she was the only one that was allowed to write them at the time. My first science fiction novel that I wrote was my 38th book published. I had to wait ten years before I could sell that book.

DD: Why so long?

SK: Because it was a paranormal, science fiction romance novel, and no one knew what to do with it.

DD: I know this is not your first Dragon*Con. Are you enjoying this year’s?

SK: Oh yeah. I will be back next year. I love the people. They’re very open-minded, and even if what I am doing is not their thing, they respect what I’m doing. As crowded as this con is, people are nice to each other for the most part.

Lori Handeland

DD: Do you find writing your next novel easier or harder compared to your first one?

LH: Much harder. I know so much more now. When I first started writing, it was just for fun. It was all for me. Going along, having fun. I just know so much more now. My books have gotten more complicated and intertwined. It’s more fun, but it is harder.

DD: When you write, do you have a daily routine or ritual that you are adamant about sticking to?

LH: Yes, I do. All the dishes have to be out of the way. I have to have my certain coffee cup. I have to have all my email done. Then I can just sit down and write. Everyone has to be out of the house, except the dog. The dog will come to my door, and I will tell him to go away. He leaves and goes into the other room.

DD: Do you have an average amount you like to produce per day?

LH: I try to do ten pages a day. It’s funny, because some days it’s like pulling hair out, and other days I am done with all ten by 11AM. Then you think, ok, I’m done with ten. I can do something fun. But then when I get ten done by then, I think “Wow. I am cooking. I can do twenty.”

DD: Do you find that trends in the past affect how you currently write?

LH: Yes and no. I always wanted to write paranormal fiction. I started out in historical, which I also write, but I always wanted to write paranormal. When I started writing paranormal fiction 15 years ago, it was with the surge at that time, and I was writing both. Now it’s come back. Yes, it affects what I write, because if I can’t sell it, I can’t sell it. But I also don’t want to write to a trend. I used to write Westerns. They died and still aren’t popular. So I am writing what I am writing now.

DD: Is this your first con?

LH: Yes. I think it’s so cool. All the stuff. There are so many different things to see and do here. You can be here for days. There is just so much neat stuff to do and people to see. Everybody’s so friendly.

Sandra Hill

DD: Tell me about your new book.

Sandra Hill (SH): I write romantic humor. Many of the books I write involve time travel. Most recently, I’m writing [about a] time-traveling Viking Navy Seal. So, I have an interesting story to tell today. One of the first books in that series I based on Kevin Sorbo. I wanted a Viking that looked like when he was playing Hercules. The first thing the woman in the book says when this Viking lands in her backyard using her swimming pool is, “Oh my God. It’s Kevin Sorbo.” At the time the book came out, there was a lot of buzz on the Internet, because Kevin Sorbo has fan sites all over the place. So, today I went and made my way over to where he is. He was the neatest person to talk to. And he signed the book for me that said “This isn’t me on the cover of this book, but it sure should have been.” He also signed some other things, too.

DD: That was so sweet of him. He is such a sweet guy. Do you find writing your next novel easier or harder compared to your first one?

SH: I don’t think I find the next book harder. I write in several genres: contemporary, historical, and time travel. The common element in all of them is humor. Some books I [look] forward to write more than others. I just got done with a Cajun contemporary. But the whole time, I’m thinking about the one I’m going to write next, which is a Viking time travel, followed by what I call Dixie Chicks in Medieval Times. The Dixie Chicks had a song called “Where’s Earl?” In that song, they are sisters. One of them is married to an abusive man, and they decide to kill him. They dump him in a lake or something. The theme of the whole song is where’s Earl. I have this medieval model where there are sisters, and one is married to an abusive man. They kill him and they dump the body in the bottom of a privy. Throughout the book, everyone is asking where’s Earl. I have fun when I can do it like that.

DD: That does sound like fun. Do you have a daily routine that you do when you are writing?

SH: I tell you. I have four sons. The last just graduated from college. I had a really good routine when they were home because I am most creative in the morning. So, from 8AM to 11AM, if that was the only time I wrote, I was very productive. I try to do the same now, but in a different way. It’s not that I’m not doing writing stuff all day, because I am. But I try to do the writing in the morning. Nora Roberts has a famous saying. Everyone quotes it. That is “You can always fix a bad page, but you can’t fix a blank page.” The bottom line is that you got to sit your butt down and write. Some days are harder than others. Especially if you have contracts. I have contracts for seven more books with three publishers.

DD: Congratulations.

SH: You know, it’s a blessing to be published today, because it’s really hard out there. I appreciate that I am lucky. But, I have deadlines [and] I got to sit down and write. I love doing it. I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t love it.

DD: Do you find that trends in the past affect how you write now?

SH: I will tell you this. I don’t know if it is true of the entire publishing industry or just romance, but they’re like sheep. If Sherrilyn Kenyon can sell a vampire book, and they are popular, then everyone wants to write and sell a vampire book. So, I went through a period where they didn’t want historicals. So, I had to write contemporaries. Then they didn’t want time travel. I can write to a market. I don’t mind when an editor tells me, “This time, don’t give me an historical, give me a contemporary.” I will tell you one thing, I don’t know if I have the cards for me to show you. [Digs around looking for promo cards] This is the last of my Viking Navy Seal, my most recent. This is how they started. These kind of covers. The reason is the first four books in the series are entirely different. Historicals were out of vogue then. These are all time travels. I was told to make them contemporary time travel so we can slap a contemporary cover on them. It’s not like they are purposely trying to mislead somebody, because they do read contemporary. But this was totally driven by the market. Now historicals are back in vogue, so we can have a cover that fit.

DD: Is this your first Dragon*Con?

SH: Yes. I like it, except that it’s overwhelming because of the logistics. To get from here to there, it involves getting up and down escalators and from hotel to hotel. The walking is never “I’m here, and I am going over there.” It’s a nightmare getting from one place to another. It’s fun to watch. It’s fun to be on the panels. I wish I had more time to attend the panels. Some of them look absolutely fascinating.

Susan Sizemore

DD: Do you find writing your next novel easier or harder compared to your first one?

SS: Harder. Because I’ve got to do it again. Also, I have so many genres that I want to work in, my head goes off on tangents. Until I settle down into what I’m writing-because I try to write them one at a time-but until I settle down into one, my brain is all over the place. So, just starting the next book is always the hard part. Once I’m into it, that’s my world, and that’s where I am. Starting, I’m a butterfly. I also reach a point when I am writing about a quarter of the way into the book of, “I can’t write a book. What makes me think I can write a book?” And then I get through it, and I write the book. But I will have a panic attack, usually about a third of the way through.

DD: Do you have a daily routine?

SS: It’s changed over the years. It used to be I would get up, walk the dog, have coffee, call my friend Connie, and go to work. These days, I get up, I walk the dog, I knit for a while, I fool around online, and by around seven in the evening, I can work. I used to be a day writer, but now I’m a night writer. I think it’s all the vampires I write. There is a routine. You have to have something. I work at home. It’s so easy to say “I’ll just put a movie in.” I can’t do that. I have to remind myself [that] this is a workweek. I have to work. It can be really hard sometimes, especially if I have a really good book that I am reading. It’s like, “I really need to read this. This is research. You’ve got to read other people’s stuff.” [Starts laughing].

DD: Do you find that trends in the past affect how you currently write?

SS: Yes and no. Trends from the past is where I got my start. I sold my first book in 1991, and it was published in 1992. It’s like I am an old timer now, which always freaks me. I’ve had people come up to me and tell me, “Oh. You are the reason I wanted to write.” Some of the best books are old. I am a big Jane Austen fan. That’s not a book from the past, as far as I’m concerned, it’s a book from the present. You can’t get better than Jane Austen. So, I’m not sure [about] trends from the past. It influences, yeah; business is always evolving. What are people reading now? What do you think they are going to be reading six months from now? It doesn’t really matter. You have to write the book that is in your head. Write the book you want to read. So, it can be hard balancing the business aspect and the “I need to write this book” aspect. If you get something stuck in your head, write the thing. You won’t be able to get anything else done until you do.

DD: I know this is not your first Dragon*Con. Are you having a good time?

SS: I grew up in fandom. I’ve been a part of fandom since the 70s. I love the con. I love everything about it. I love the fact that it’s so huge. I love the multimedia aspect, because I am into a lot of different things. I get to meet my friends here. I’m really good friends with a lot of people that go to more cons than I do. I don’t get to as many cons like I used to; it gives me a chance to catch up with them. Some I may not have seen in ten years. I used to be in the SCA. I was very much a part of fandom. I wrote fanfic. That was my world. I don’t do as may cons because I work all the time. Dragon*Con is for me. It’s my con.

DD: Thank you all for your time. I really do appreciate it.