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Priscilla Fagan

Over the holiday I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Vanessa Grant, author of 27 romance novels including The Colors of Love (her newest) and Pacific Disturbance. She is also winner of Under the Covers Best Writing Book award 1998 for Writing Romance. A multi-talented and mega-busy lady she can be found not only writing but lecturing and running an electronic publishing company. Now living on the Gulf Islands on the West Coast of Canada with her husband and assorted pets I'm sure you'll enjoy hearing about the busy life of Vanessa Grant as much as I did. You can learn more about Ms.Grant and her upcoming seminars and workshops on her web page (http://www.vgrant.com).

T-zero: Vanessa, you've 27 romance novels to your credit. That's quite impressive. What prompted you to write the how-to book Writing Romance?

Grant: Until I sold my fifth book, I worked as a Business Administration instructor at a community college. I'd always enjoyed teaching, but I had no idea how exciting it could be until 3 years after I left my college job, when I was asked to give a writer's workshop at a retreat in 1990. I discovered that working with developing writers is tremendously energizing and rewarding for me. In addition to the personal satisfaction of helping others develop writing and storytelling skills, my own fiction benefits as I continually re-examine the storytelling process.

Because I love talking about writing so much, I accepted many other seminar requests, and I soon had a filing cabinet full of handouts and lecture notes on everything from plotting to brain sex. Then Self Counsel Press asked me if I would write a book about Romance for their new Writing Series, and I leapt at the chance to take all those lecture notes and put them into one coherent whole, and I really enjoyed the process of working on this book.

T-zero: Tell us a little bit about your lecture circuit and seminars.

Grant: After "Writing Romance" was published, my lecturing activities grew to the point where I was having trouble finding writing time. I've always been a multi-tasking person, so teaching doesn't usually slow down my writing, but I'd become too booked with personal appearances that required time-consuming travel.

Since many of my lectures and workshops are available on audiotape from my website (http://www.vgrant.com) and from Amazon.com, I decided in 1999 to be more selective about personal appearances, and to focus more on Internet seminars. Malaspina University-College asked me to develop an online web based Writing Romance course, which ran in the fall of 1999, and was a great success. It's running again in March 2000 and already has people from England, the US, and Canada on the waitlist. Anyone who wants on the waitlist can see the course outline and registration information at my website (http://www.vgrant.com/wronline.htm).

I taught an e-mail based online course in Myths and Mystery for Coffin in September 1999, focusing on the archetypes and steps of the hero's journey as they appear in mystery, suspense and romantic suspense. I believe the Hero's Journey is one of the best resources a writer can access for storytelling, and loved teaching this course so much that I'm offering an updated version of the course from my own web site in January. The complete course outline and more information is available at my website (http://www.vgrant.com/events.htm).

In addition to the two scheduled Internet courses, I'll be giving a day long writers' workshop at the Surrey Writer's Mini Conference on February 19th, and offering a variety of genre writing courses at locations on Vancouver Island through the winter. Dates and descriptions are posted online (http://www.vgrant.com/events.htm).

I plan to focus more and more on online delivery, as I believe the online format allows for a great deal more interaction between instructor and student, and stimulates exciting discussions. This spring I'm planning to offer more courses and add-ons focusing on the hero's journey in romance and suspense.

T-zero: What is your background? Did you always write romance?

Grant:I grew up as an only child in a construction family. Because we moved frequently, I was usually the new kid at school, and lonely. I became a bookworm and read everything - romance, mystery, science fiction. I fantasized writing novels from my 11th birthday when my parents gave me a portable typewriter, and when I was 12 I tried to write a romance novel. It foundered on page 50, but I never gave up the dream. I got married and my first husband became a lighthouse keeper on the west coast of British Columbia. While I was having babies and baking bread on the lighthouse, I was also writing my first three - unpublished! - novels. After my marriage broke up and I moved off the lighthouses, I tried my hand at freelance writing, and wrote regular commentaries for radio, and articles for regional newspapers and a glossy yachting magazine. But I found free lancing frustrating and changed gears, moving into accounting.

But although I became an accountant and later taught Business courses at a community college, I never forgot the dream of writing, and in 1983 when my second husband Brian was working night shifts, I wrote and sold to Harlequin a romance called Pacific Disturbance. From there I just kept going, and after selling my 5th romance, I quit my day job and Brian and I took a two year sailing trip to Mexico. The Mexican trip was great for research, and we enjoyed it, but we became very homesick and when we returned to the Pacific Northwest in 1989 we bought property and built the home we plan to live in for many years to come.

T-zero: Is writing romance still your first love or do you enjoy lecturing more?

Grant: My writing and teaching are so intertwined. If forced to choose, I'd say that I enjoy writing more, although not specifically writing romance. I recently spent 3 years working on two dark thrillers which were not romances, and found that extremely rewarding. I love writing about people and the relationship tangles they get into as they work to achieve their dreams. However, as I write and read, I often find myself analyzing the writing and storytelling process, and I have a need to share my thoughts and theories - I guess that's where the seminars come in, because the only thing as exciting as a writing a great scene, is talking about what makes stories work and seeing someone else get excited about their own ideas as a result.

T-zero: What's the best advice you've ever received about writing?

Grant: When I was in grade 9, my English teacher had a quote from Browning's Andrea del Sarto above the blackboard: "A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" I don't think it was any accident that it was while I was in his class that I started my first, unfinished novel, or won my first creative writing award. Those words have become my guide, both as a writer and a person, and I am happiest with myself when I'm trying to do more, to do better, to find a way to go beyond where I've gone before.

T-zero: Is this the advice you'd give to new writers or do you have some other words of wisdom?

Grant: I'd translate Brownings words to: "A writer's reach should exceed her grasp, or what's a heaven for?" (or his, of course, if the writer is a man.) I'd also say this to new writers:

There are two essential components to wonderful writing - storytelling, and the craft of writing. Both are essential, and unless you're one of those rare writers who's first unrevised work becomes an immediate bestseller, you'll need to study both storytelling and the craft of writing. To study storytelling, begin by looking at the books you love best, and examine what it is about these stories that appeals to you, what you feel passionately about. You'll do your best writing when you write about those things you feel most passionately about. If your own writing lacks any of the excitement of the books you love, then find out why. Take courses, read fiction and books about writing, study psychology to understand your subject - people - better, learn to analyze your own work. Always be looking for a way to make your own work better, even after you're published, but no matter what any "expert" tells you, never change a word in your novel unless you yourself believe the change belongs in your work.

T-zero: As I mentioned you've written 27 romance novels, do you have a favorite?

Grant: My favorite tends to change from month to month. I'm very fond of my new book, "The Colors of Love", which will be released by Zebra in February 2000. It's the story of a heroine who has just achieved success as an artist after leaving a career as an accountant, and a hero who likes his women rational, sensible, and not too tempting. I really enjoyed the relationship between hero and heroine in The Colors of Love, and the story was tremendous fun to write. Of my older titles, I'm particularly fond of "One Secret Too Many", a romance I wrote for Harlequin about 10 years ago, about the emotional journey of a very sheltered young woman with an overactive fantasy life who becomes pregnant, and the father of her child, a man who believes he should never have a family.

T-zero: What do you like to do in your time-off? You mentioned sailing for two years in Mexico.

Grant: We lived on our sailboat for 10 years, including 2 years sailing in Mexico. After returning from Mexico, Brian and I both felt we'd satisfied our urge to go sailing off into the sunset, and we sold the boat. Since then we've become involved in so many different activities that our time off is very limited. In addition to writing, I've become involved in lecturing and running an electronic publishing company. I enjoy all these activities, but I'm often exhausted when I get time off, so love to read a good book - usually a romance or mystery - and take my dogs for a long walk. When we manage time off together (difficult as Brian runs a busy computer store), we spend quiet time in our rural home, or travel, exploring Canada and the US by car or motorhome.

T-zero: Now a little fun the James Lipton way......

1. What is your favorite word? Passion
2. What is your least favorite word? Mud
3. What turns you on or is your favorite thing? Stories
4. What turns you off? Red tape and paperwork
5. What sound or noise do you love? Guitar
6. What sound or noise to you hate? Vacuum cleaner
7. What profession other than writing would you like to attempt? Artist/painter
8. What profession would you never attempt? Owning a retail store
9. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive? Good work

Vanessa Grant will be the Guest at the WVU Guest Chat.
Please watch the WVU Calendar for the date, time and place. Also remember that subscribing to T-zero does NOT confer WVU membership. For membership information please go to the WVU membership information page.