For something different - and special

I’ve never been one to want to get close to authors. I read very few of their blogs and while I love meeting them in person, still for the most part I prefer a bit of a, I don’t know curtain maybe – but that’s still not the right word – between myself and authors.

But every so often the curtain goes down and authors become friends. Such is the case with Pamela Clare. I discovered her writing with her first book – Sweet Release and loved it and I’ve bought all her books since then. When I read the third book in the series – Ride the Fire I was truly blown away. And you know what can happen when something blows me away *g*

I wrote to tell her how much I enjoyed it and she emailed me back. We continued emailing each other occasionally. I remember one day in particular. It was after Ron had been diagnosed but I hadn’t told anyone yet. I was still working, but unable to settle down to work. I was still thinking he would get better, but doubts were beginning to creep in.

I checked my email and there was an email from Pamela. I emailed her back and we emailed each other for most of the day. I know it probably wasn’t a good idea to do it from work – but I wasn’t busy and it kept my mind from going where I wasn’t willing for it to go.

She helped me keep my sanity that day. It turned out we had all kinds of things in common; a love of Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod, the movie Last of the Mohicans and the soundtrack. We both loved the music of Loreena McKennit and Gaelic music in general. She’s *whimpering* met the group Great Big Sea! We talked about other things too, many of which escape me now.

When her first Romantic Suspense, Extreme Exposure came out, I quite enjoyed it but not on quite the same level as Ride the Fire. Her second RS, Hard Evidence was a different story. I LOVED it.

When I found out that we were both going to Dallas last year, I emailed her to see if she had time to meet in person, along with another author I now consider a friend, but more on her at a later time. She very quickly replied that she would love too and took time out of her busy schedule – she was nominated for a RITA for Surrender.

Then she offered to send me a copy of her upcoming release Unlawful Contact and I LOVED it even more. My review is to follow – I had to read it again so it would be fresh*g*.

I love her books and because she is a special person, I decided to do something on a grander scale than I did with Lisa Kleypas, – an author interview. I asked her if she would be interested and she agreed.

Because she was so interesting with her answers – and I kept asking questions, this turned out rather long so it’s going to be a two-parter

So here goes – something I’m new at an interview with an author friend.

Part 1

Pamela: I’m curious as too why after writing three historicals, why you decided to test the waters with Romantic Suspense. Not that I’m not glad you did. I love the way you write in both genres.

I was in the middle of working on Carnal Gift, bit about how things were at the newspaper, as well, and I mentioned that I’d gotten a phone call from a government official warning me that I might be in danger from employees of the company I was investigating at the time. His exact words were: “These guys aren’t going to write you a letter to the editor. They’re going to beat the shit out of you with baseball bats.”

This was far from the first time that I’d been facing possible risks associated with my work as an investigative reporter. I’d had a gun held on me before. I’d had copious death threats, one of which was serious enough that the FBI got involved. I also had a couple of stalkers, one of whom wrote me letters telling me where I’d been and what I’d said. He told me that I deserved to die, that God wanted me to die and that he had an AK-47 at home that he could kill me with. Blah, blah, blah.

So my agent, knowing all of this and hearing about this new investigation, said, “Why don’t you write romantic suspense, because you live it.”

I started putting together some ideas for stories, and I came up with the concept of the I-Team series, which would revolve around the investigations of investigative journalists associated with a fictional Denver newspaper. I drew loosely on the years I’d served as editor for what I called (and still call) the Dream Team, a group of phenomenally talented investigative reporters with whom I had the pleasure of working for a handful of years. Most of us are still in touch and very close. Together we racked up copious national journalism awards, including the National Journalism Award for Public Service, and kicked some serious bad-guy butt.

I’d never read or written romantic suspense, so it was a real shift for me. I loved the freedom of word choice associated with writing contemporaries, and I’ve enjoyed writing these books more than I’d imagined. However, I was really worried that people would find journalism booooring. I kept telling my agent, “Readers are going to fall asleep!” She said that I only felt that way because I do this stuff every day and that it would be new and interesting to readers.

So I guess I should thank those guys who wanted to beat me up for inspiring my agent.

Trivia: The Denver Independent is a name incorporated by myself and two members of the Dream Team. We never had the money to start the paper, but we did file incorporation papers in 2001. Those two Dream Team reporters are with me on Facebook on the I-Team Facebook page I started (and haven’t done much with yet).


A number of authors who write in different genres use different names for each Nora Roberts/JD Robb, Elizabeth Hoyt/Julia Harper first come to mind. Did you think of writing under different names?

Yes, I did. But that would mean managing two websites and two blogs and signing books with two names. I don’t have that much RAM in my head. I would have been perpetually confused about who I was at the moment. I don’t think it has caused problems for me or for my readers to write under the same name.


Do you write both genres at the same time or do you finish one and then switch to the other? Is it hard to make that leap across time?

It is easier to switch from historical to contemp than the other way around. I can only write one at a time, but I can only focus on one writing project at a time as it is. A RAM problem again. I get very focused on my characters and it’s hard to switch at all until a story is done.

*g* I don’t find your romantic suspense boring at all. It seems in the RS genre, you put a lot of your own experiences into the writing. Do you find that this makes it any easier to write in the genre you know more about?

I think it does make it easier. I don’t have to do a lot of research because the heroine’s side of things is already researched along with the central action of the book. I’ve had to do research for the hero’s professions and what they bring to the mix, but that’s not overwhelming. Also, I never have to wonder, “Hmmm, I wonder what a reporter does first thing in the morning?” I just sit and write those scenes. When I wrote EXTREME EXPOSURE, I was giggling while I was writing them (did I tell you this already?) because it was just so bizarre to be typing newsroom scenes.


It sounds like you’ve had some harrowing experiences with your reporting. Do you have any plans to give up your job as an investigative reporter and concentrate on writing novels?

Yes, absolutely. As soon as the novels pay 100 percent of the bills, I’m going to leave journalism. People who know me as a journalist say they have a hard time imagining that, but they’re on the outside of me, not on the inside. They don’t know how much I love writing fiction or how weary I’ve become of some aspects of journalism. At the same time, I have to say that giving my life over to journalism for a time has enriched me immeasurably not only in expanding my understanding of human beings, but also in inspiring me and bringing me together with wonderful people, both journalists and people I’ve interviewed. For every scary experience, I’ve had 100 sublime moments of thinking, “I am so blessed to do this for a living!” I’ve met people I consider to be saints. I’ve met people whose courage staggered me. I’ve left interviews and had to cry in the car because I was so moved by what I’d heard. If you have to have a day job, journalism is perfect. No two days are ever the same. And because I love to experience so many different things, it’s been perfect for me. I am ready to move on, however.


How do you manage to find the time to write in such diverse arenas? I wouldn’t think a journalist would be a regular nine to five kind of job.

It isn’t, and it encroaches on my writing career. Kind of a double-edged sword there. On the one hand, the I-Team series is all about journalism and has been inspired by my own experiences. On the other hand, it’s hard to get the time you need when you’re putting to bed an 80-page paper and reporting on something that kept you up till 3 AM. Also, just the act of writing CONSTANTLY is exhausting. Sometimes I wonder why my brain doesn’t just run out of words. I write at work. I write at home.

As an aside, a reporter from another paper one time called to set up photographs. He said they wanted to get a picture of what I do at work and what I do at home. Of course, they’re very much the same thing: sit at a desk writing and editing. So I thought I’d have some fun with that. I wore my normal work attire, did the editor thang. Then at home I filled my home office with roses, put on a floor-length velvet gown and put my hair up. And they took those photos and put them in the paper. It was so hysterically absurd that they didn’t understand that I was poking fun at their assumption that writing romance would somehow be different photographically from writing news articles.

I know you are planning another book in the I-Team series. Do you have any more in mind after the next one? See here I am asking about more when the next one isn’t even done yet heh heh.

Yes, at least one more I-Team book. It will tell Katherine James’ story — Kat we call her in the story. She’s a mixed-blood Navajo living in Denver and her story will focus on contemporary urban Indian issues. I’m very excited about that — another one of my focuses as a journalist. Then after that hopefully Natalie’s story and then HOLLY! I can’t wait to write Holly’s. I adore her. She’ll be last. So if reader interest stays high, there might be other books before Holly’s.

And here's her trailer for Unlawful Contact



Stay Tuned for Part II