Author Q&A: Michelle Place
Author: Mary Varble
Original Publication Date in Love Notes: April 2005

MV: As half of the mother-daughter writing team, Nicole Byrd, I understand you've made a one-eighty when it comes to your writing career. Please tell us how it's going.

MP: A one-eighty? More like a series of three-sixties----which would explain the dizziness! Leaving the partnership---and a somewhat steady paycheck---was tough but necessary. Mother and I had worked together for six years and they had been good ones. But it was getting harder and harder to blend my voice with hers. Good, because that meant I was growing and developing as a writer but bad, because if the reader could be pulled out of our story by voice variations then we weren't doing our job well. So, it was time to go. Also, I had stories and characters that I really wanted to explore. Stories that wouldn't have suited our historical audience. I still really love the Regency historical and may visit again. But for now, my characters are enjoying electricity, waltzing without permission from Almack's, and freedom from chamber pots.

MV: Is your work process any different now that you're working on a contemporary novel?

MP: Yes and no. I still adore research and can spend far too much time on it. I think it's a big misconception to think that a contemporary setting requires little to no research. Any book, in any time period or setting, requires research to give it richness and depth.

The most difficult adjustment for me involved my voice. It was a hell of a shock and caused no little panic on my part! Writing without an assured voice is like driving without brakes and a steering wheel; there's no way you're coming out alive. I'd become so accustomed to writing with the Regency historical voice that when I sat down to write my contemporary, it came off like a time travel. Sort of Lord and Lady Winthrop visit L.A. and try on-line dating. Not good.

MV: What publisher are you targeting?

MP: The one that really wants my book and loves my writing. But isn't that what we all want? I've been around this business long enough to know that there are no "good" or "bad" publishers. Except the oily guy with the printing press in his basement; avoid him.

MV: Is it easier or more difficult to write without a definite deadline?

MP: Harder! I'm beginning to suspect that I'll just tinker with the darn thing until kingdom come. In the past, Mother has threatened to rip manuscripts out of my grasping, clinging hands and mail it herself. It's that feeling of always thinking I can make it better. But I fully recognize that this is a classic beginner's characteristic. I've been assured that with each manuscript it will get easier to let go. But I'm not so sure; ask me again in a few years.

MV: Do you have your own web site yet? And what kind of promotion are you prepared to do to get your new name out there?

MP: I've reserved michelleplace.com but haven't begun construction of my site yet. I have some amazing ideas but whether I'll actually be able to execute them. . .we'll see. Ah, promotion. We're all searching for an effective, inexpensive way to get our name and book some attention.

I do have one neat idea but I'm guarding it like a 49er with a gold nugget. In other words, I'm not telling!

MV: Thank you, Michelle for taking the time out of your busy schedule for this interview.

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