Kristan Higgins on Romantic Angst, Breaking In, and more!

ROBERTA: if I had the nerve to completely swerve away from the structure of writing a mystery, I would love to write the kind of books that today's guest, Kristan Higgins, writes. Since 2006, she's had four romantic comedies published, with the fifth due next February. And CATCH OF THE DAY won the coveted Rita award for best Single Title Contemporary in 2008. Welcome Kristan, we're delighted to have you today!

KRISTAN: Thanks, Roberta! It's a pleasure.

ROBERTA: Coming from a background of writing series where the main characters carry over from book to book, I'm in awe of the way you're able to manufacture an entirely new cast of characters and in fact a new world for each book. How do you manage?

KRISTAN: Sweating seems to be a big part of the process...a little bleeding, some flagellation. The truth is, I've only written single titles, so I don't really know another way. I admit that it's a big job to create everything from scratch...setting, family, career, friends, coworkers. Sometimes those things just leap to life; other times it's a bit more of a deliberate approach (I greatly preferred the "leap to life" variation, just for the record). I like to visit a setting to get a feel for the people and mood of an area, which definitely jumpstarts some of those elements. No matter what, I find that I have to really immerse myself into the characters...their personalities, their families, their neuroses, even their pets. Once I get there, the book really starts clicking along.

ROBERTA: We're interested in the deep dark secrets of your writing process. How much of the story do you know when you sit down to write a book? Do you work on a schedule? How do you keep yourself motivated?

KRISTAN: Well, I write full time, so it's my job. I'm motivated to write a really good book, and that means showing up, first and foremost. So I write almost every day...I try to throw in a day off here and there so I stay at least a little sane. I work when my kids are in school, and rather than having a set amount of hours a day, I give myself a page count. I start each day off by reading what I wrote the day before, fix that up, then get to work cranking out the pages. Once my first draft is done, I let it sit for a week or three, then rip and tear it to shreds. Because I'm a masochist, I don't mind revising...that's when my book starts to really spark.

I'm an outliner...don't believe in pantsing (for myself, that is. If it works for other writers, God bless). I like to know as much as possible before I start the first draft. I believe in outlines...it's so much easier to change a few sentences than rip out an entire chapter. That being said, something always surprises me during the actual writing. Usually something pretty good, too!

ROBERTA: What was it like to break into the world of romance? And how about that Rita?? Who are your role models? what do you like to read?

KRISTAN: Well, it was relatively easy for me to break in for a couple of reasons. First, I was a copywriter for 12 years before I tried fiction, so my writing muscles were quite buff (the actual human body muscles...not so lucky). Secondly, I began my fiction writing journey with a cold and calculating viewpoint...I wanted to sell a book. The whole "write the book of your heart" works if you're writing for the love of the activity, but it might not work so well when it comes time to sell. I wanted to do both: write the kind of book I loved and sell it fast. I'm very hard on my own work, and honestly, that helps a lot in terms of getting out the best product I can. At any rate, the gods must've been smiling, the timing was right, and voila! I got a fabulous agent (Maria Carvainis), HQN took a chance on a new author, and my first book came out about two years after I sent out that fateful query letter.

Winning the Rita was just amazing. I was operating under the model of "it's an honor just to be nominated." When my name was called, I practically spit out my teeth, I was so shocked. It truly was one of the happiest nights of my life. Plus, I got to wear a gown!

Role models? Hmm. Michelle Obama is a great role model, I think. She's well educated, well spoken, happily married and seems like a great mom. I like the fact that she compartmentalizes her days so that she's not always trying to be in every one of her roles...she's doing her mommy thing in the morning, then she sits down in her office, works till the girls come home, and tries to give them as much time as she can, the same way I do. We also both like cardigans. Honestly, I think Michelle and I are best friends waiting to happen. I can't believe she hasn't called me to the White House for drinks.

I read a wide variety of genres...I love historical fiction (just read a mystery called Silent In the Grave by Deanna Raybourn and can't recommend it enough). I read a lot of literary fiction, and of course, I love humor...Merrill Markoe, Elinor Lipman, Monica McInerney and Carl Hiassen are some of my favorites in that genre. And I love mystery, especially when the protagonists are people I can relate to. When it's someone who's a Jason Bourne type, I don't feel the connection quite so much, as I'm not a trilingual-black-belt-stunt-driver-assassin type (though Matt Damon is extremely cute).

ROBERTA: We know you're happily married so the romantic angst can't all come from real life. Where do you get the ideas for all those broken hearts?

KRISTAN: Well, I'm happily married NOW! You didn't have to screen the other guys!

In all seriousness, I try to find a universal feeling to base my books around. For example, in Catch of the Day, the heroine has a huge crush on the local priest. I think most women have fallen for someone completely inappropriate and have been trapped in some kind of helpless, impossible love. And heck, we writers are all thieves, aren't we? We just open the front door and look around, and it seems that everyone has a story.

ROBERTA: With mysteries, there is a structure: crime, detective, clues, suspects, red herrings. Does something like that exist for your genre?

KRISTAN: Sure, there's structure in a romance novel. It may be more of an emotional hero's journey rather than a plot that needs to be solved, but the structure is there. And just as you can pretty much expect a mystery to be solved by the end of that type of book, you can expect that the hero and heroine are going to end up better off when the sun finally sets on a romance novel. Better off for having loved each other, that is. I think that's pretty dang nice.

ROBERTA: And finally, tell us a little about the book that came out this summer. And what's up next?
KRISTAN: TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE is the story of a woman who makes up a boyfriend when her ex-fiance starts dating her younger sister. As I said, I try to tap into something universal when I write, and I'd bet the farm that most women have faked a boyfriend or three. (Yes, yes, of course I have!) I thought it would be fun to see how far Grace, my heroine, could take this while exploring the reasons why the fake boyfriend was more satisfying than a real flesh-and-blood guy.

THE NEXT BEST THING will come out in February. It's about a young widow trying to find another husband...but this time, she's going for someone she doesn't love quite so much, since her first husband's death just about broke her. She comes from a long line of widows, and she's definitely bucking tradition by trying again. This subject is near and dear to my heart, as I myself am from a long line of young widows. And my hubby's a firefighter. Taking out a hefty life insurance policy was one of the first things on my list, let me tell you! But the book is also about putting the past to rest and taking chances, even when the worst has already happened to you.

ROBERTA: Thank you Kristan for visiting Jungle Red! She is standing by for your questions and comments...