Anne Calhoun is the author of sharply written, sexy contemporary romance novels that have won contests and sold to multiple publishers. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and son. When she’s not writing she reads, sews, knits and sweeps up sand from the sandbox.
Q. So, what’s the scoop?
A. I’m Anne Calhoun and I’ve been writing romance for about 3 years. I’ve sold two works, Liberating Lacey, available now from Ellora’s Cave, and two Spice Briefs. The first, entitled The Color of Clarity will be out in summer 2010. The second, entitled What She Needs, will be out in January, 2011. I’m working on my next single title-length book now.
Q. Why romance?
A: Why not romance? What’s more universally appealing than a story about two people falling in love? The earliest myths known to humanity relate to love, romance, and triumph over seemingly insurmountably obstacles. I’m just following in that tradition. More practically, because I’ve wanted to write romance since I was in junior high. I spent alot of years ducking my path, and now that I’m on it, I couldn’t be happier.
Q. Family?
A. Yes. A husband who’s completely supportive and a son who’s completely adorable.
Q. Where do you get your ideas?
A. Everywhere. Snippets of conversation, books I’ve read and thought “hmmmm…how would I do that?”, the newspaper, TV, magazine articles. I find things go in a get masticated in my brain, then come out again on paper in completely different forms. Usually several different ideas come together to form a book.
Q. Any advice for aspiring writers?
A. Write. Write as much as you can. Use your research time judiciously and spend the bulk of your available time putting words on page. It’s hard. It’s painful. It’s easy to get tempted by the latest book on how to write a book, or your favorite author’s magic, but you will not grow as a writer unless you’re putting words on the page most days of the week. Stephanie Tyler wrote on her blog that new authors shouldn’t even read a how-to book until they’ve gotten their first book on paper, down to The End. I totally agree. You need that experience, that book, to apply the advice. Otherwise, you don’t really get POV or pacing or plotting like you need to get it to improve. So write. Forget about the first book wonders and remember Anna Campbell, who wrote for 25 years before selling and was a double RITA nominee. WRITE!
Q: Hunter’s absolutely yummy. Is he based on a real person and can I meet him?
I’m glad you like him! He’s entirely fictional. In fact, when I first wrote Liberating Lacey, I didn’t know any cops. I’d been pulled over for speeding once when I was sixteen and hadn’t spoken to a cop since. I met several very kind, helpful members of my local police department around the time I began revising Liberating Lacey. They helped with research into details; for example, where I live, cops “bid” for “shifts” on “crews” every six months. The process and terminology may be different where you live. I got the details for “what’s on your belt” scene from a book called Police Procedure and Investigation by Lee Lofland. Who knew reading could be so much fun?
Q: How do you decide if what you’re writing is a short (like a Spice Brief) or a full-length book?
I’ve had a couple of books I intended to be short get away from me in a big hurry. Generally, I think of the shorts as scenes, vignettes, nothing more. The Color of Clarity describes one night in a couple’s life; there’s very little drama, no big question to be answered, no heroine (or hero) to rescue. The same goes for What She Needs - one night, one incident, very big decision to be made, but we all know how these are going to turn out, right? 
So if you start out to write a short and end up with a big steaming pile of backstory and a huge conflict, you’ve probably got a book. And while the two shorter works I’ve sold stayed neatly within the 15K word limit, the last two I’ve tried to write have driven me BESERK with their nefarious, teeth-gnashing efforts to twist and turn and grow into something longer. I ultimately won, but that’s why I’m back at work on a novel, not a novella or shorter. The books inside me feel very big, very emotional, very book-ish right now.
Keep watching for upcoming news from Anne Calhoun!
