I take every Sunday off (except when I'm on deadline), and this year I'm actually going to go on vacation (more than once!). At this point I'm trying to slow down a little before I kill my arms and wrists. You can do a lot when you're in that mode, LOL. Lauren: I went without a lot of sleep for many years, so I was insane. How is this even possible when you have small children? Pamela: Between then and now you've written or co-written 60 additional novels and novellas across six subgenres. Once you can embrace your voice, you can learn so very much just from paying attention. Other authors can teach you about technique, pacing, deep POV, whatever. William Gibson can create an incredibly rich world with the most to-the-bone, tight writing in genre fiction. Nora Roberts is a master class on creating characters. You can read Stephen King and be utterly bowled over by the realistic dialogue, or his-is-more horror technique. Each time you write one, each time you read one, there are lessons. I've been writing for Angela James since 2006, and I truly hold her responsible for a great deal of what I've learned over the years (along with Leis Pederson and Anne Scott).Įach book teaches you something. I've been fortunate to have worked with some amazing editors who've really pushed me to write the best books I can write. I'm sort of glad I hadn't studied, though, because at the time I broke a lot of rules and had no idea so it wasn't that it felt bold or bad to do so. Lauren: I didn't! And I'll tell you a secret, when I subbed Triad I got an R&R back because my dialogue tags were atrocious! It was because someone gave me a chance that I was able to really buckle down and do it right. Did you study the craft of writing at all prior to writing your first book? Your first book was published, and you've been going strong ever since. Pamela: That's fabulous! It takes talent to get where you are, not just a laptop. He's still a big ol' alpha male, bossy and all, but he's very much my biggest fan and supporter. He just saw it as something he should have done, so he did. He doesn't really mention that stuff because he's so inherently good and supportive. Lauren: I have a pretty awesome husband, I can't lie. Your husband must think that bringing you that laptop was one of the best moves he's ever made. Pamela: That first book, Triad, sold to Ellora's Cave and was published in 2005, launching a career that has landed you on all the big best-seller lists.

Going Under by Lauren Dane