On Writing
 I've
written for nearly as long as I've been able to read. I love words,
the sounds they make and the stores they tell. I love romance
because of the sexual tension and the happy ending - I love all
sub-genres of romance. I read general fiction too, but I always
wish the love story had a bigger part.
On the Writing Process
Writing process...hmmm. I'm pretty much a pantser, but I do try
to have a few turning points and the dark moment in mind before
I start. Then, I'm always amazed by the ideas I get as I'm writing.
Things I never would or could have thought of ahead of time, so
that's why I never plot in too much detail.
My ideas come from everywhere - really. I usually come up with
characters and a conflict first, but I've started with a title
before and had a story spring up from that. So, I guess I'm open
to all sorts of avenues of inspiration.
The hardest part of writing is finding the time when I'm not
already tired. I have a full-time day job, so by the time I'm
able to sit down and write in the evening, I'm often writing with
tired eyes and brain.
On Writing Schedule
As I mentioned above, I work a full-time day job, so I write
as I can in the evenings and on weekends. When I'm writing new
pages, I try to have a set number of words to write each day.
On Writer's Block
Usually if I'm blocked, I discover there's something wrong with
the story. I go back and hopefully find something in the past
few pages that took a wrong turn. Sometimes I just have to let
it sit for a little bit and hope my subconscious will come up
with the answer before too long. And you know, it always has.
On Conferences and Contests
 I've
attended a few conferences, but aside from meeting new people
and going to some interesting workshops, I don't feel they had
a direct role in my path to publication.
I feel contests, however, have definitely helped me. My first
sale (THE RIDE OF HER LIFE which was released by Samhain Publishing
in Nov 07) was the winning entry in our Golden Gateway contest
a few years ago. Although the request for the full didn't result
in a sale to that editor, the win gave me confidence. A final
in last year's Wallflower contest resulted in the sale of my novella,
UP TO NO GOOD, to the judging editor at Red Sage for their Secrets
anthology (it will be coming out in July 08-Vol 24). So I have
a fondness for contests.
On Getting "The Call"
In my case it was "the e-mail", but I can assure you,
it was no less exciting. Any writer who has submitted electronically
knows that those e-mails can pop up in your inbox at any time.
One night (Sept 29, 2006) I was having trouble sleeping because
of an earache. I got up and took an aspirin and decided to check
e-mails while waiting for it to kick in. So I read the acceptance
from Samhain for the story that would become THE RIDE OF HER LIFE
in the dark at 1 o'clock in the morning. I lived in an apartment
building at the time, so I didn't scream at the top of my lungs,
but I did jump up and down in my chair. I woke up my husband and
told him the news and I never went back to sleep that night, I
was too excited.
On Being a Published Author
The best thing about being a published author is knowing that
readers will be able to enjoy my character's stories. I don't
know about a worst thing, except the time it takes to do promotion
when I'd rather be writing.
The biggest challenge I think is to keep improving. To keep stretching
and growing as a writer.
Best Advice Received
Keep writing, don't give up.
Worst Advice Received
Now this isn't the worst advice for everyone, it just happened
to be for me. I was targeting one of the category lines and I
was told to keep focusing on that one line. Well, after a number
of requests followed by rejections I decided to try some new directions.
I changed the focus on some stories I'd written, sent five different
projects out to five different publishers and I ended up selling
to three of them. If I'd kept writing only for that one line,
I doubt I'd have made a sale yet.
On Promotion
Self-promotion, unfortunately, is very important. Like most writers
I know, I'd rather stay in my little corner and write my stories
and let the sales take care of themselves, but realistically,
in the very competitive marketplace, writers have to take an active
role in promoting their books, and even more importantly, promoting
themselves. Becoming active in a few online groups is one way
to promote yourself, but don't go crazy to the point where you
don't have any time to write. Writing a good book is still the
best promotional tool there is.
On Publishers
It's unbelievable to think that I'm writing for three publishers
right now. I write contemporary romance for Samhain, a relatively
new small press who publishes e-books, but puts into print any
of their books that are long enough (approx 50K or longer.) Samhain
publishes all kinds of books, not just romance.
I write erotic romance for Ellora's Cave and Red Sage. Ellora's
Cave is a big name in erotic romance, coining the term "Romantica."
They have a huge e-book readership and also put some of their
book in print. Red Sage is a long-standing erotic romance small
press, well-known for their Secrets anthologies. They have recently
begun an e-book site also, eRed Sage.
I love my editors from all three companies and have had nothing
but good experiences with these publishers so far.
On Agents
I think agents are necessary for authors who are targeting single
title publishers. At this point, I haven't needed an agent. I
hope eventually to write a single-title length manuscript and
at that time I'll query agents.
On the Future: What are you working on now?
I've just completed a novella for Ellora's Cave and am now completing
another for Red Sage. When I'm done with that one, I'll have a
hard time deciding which project to start next. Too many ideas,
too little time...
Advice for Aspiring Writers
Keep writing. Keep learning. Keep submitting. And don't get so
caught up in the craft end of writing that you forget to enjoy
the process. If we don't enjoy it, what's the point?
The Last Word: Any parting words for our readers?
Don't give up.
You can visit Natasha on the web at http://www.natashamoore.com
(Interviewed December, 2007)
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