© 2007 Lucy Monroe

General Questions

Where do you get your ideas?  Everywhere.  All of life experience, everything I read, see or hear about is fodder for my imagination.  I ask questions all the time about everything.  My family puts up with me, but I know sometimes my inquisitive nature can be embarrassing.

     Where do you get your ideas for characters?
           Amazon Plog Answer
     Where do you get your ideas for sex?
           Amazon Plog Answer
     Where do you get your ideas for settings?
           Amazon Plog Answer

Who or what inspired you to become a writer?  This is sort of like asking what inspired me to breathe.  I need to write.  Full stop period.  But there was a conversation in the bathtub with God at one point...

How long did it take to get published?  I wrote for over four years before getting what I call serious and then it took another almost five years to publish.  So, about 9 years.

Do you plot your books ahead of time or do you write by the seat of your pants?  By the seat of my pants.  I start with a story idea, get my characters talking to me and go for it.

Does your husband have any input in your books, i.e. do you talk to him, ask his opinion, have him read any parts of it, or is he strictly hands off?  I used to have him read all of my books for male point of view.  He still reads most of my books, but sometimes not until they are published.  He's a great resource for technical info and I'll still ask him about guy type motivations when I'm having trouble understanding why my hero does something. :)

Who are your favorite authors?  Lori Foster, Jayne Ann Krentz (in all her guises), Emma Darcy, Helen Bianchin, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Therese Madeiros, Christine Feehan, Michelle Reid, Linda Howard, JJ Massa, Lora Leigh, Mindy Neff, Dianne Castell, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Susan Andersen

How long does it take you to write a book?  Depends on the book.  Seriously.  All I can say is that I work more than full time on my writing.

What do you tell other people who want to be writers?  To write.  Nothing teaches like doing.  To read.  Feed the well.  Never give up.

Do you get to pick your own book covers, and if not, do the couples on the cover look anything how you imagine them when you write the story?  I have some input into my Brava book covers, less for Berkley and none for Harlequin.  Some covers look like my characters to me, some do not...but since I look at covers for the artistic composition, I can love a cover even if it doesn't represent the perfect physical rendition of a character if it has the feel of the book.

How do you stay disciplined and on deadline?  This is a personal thing.  I am motivated to write my stories.  Therefore I write.  Sometimes, I have to make myself write when I don't want to.  Sometimes, I have to write when other people wish I would be doing something else, but there are no tricks I know of to make this part easy.  You simply have to be willing to do it.

Do you develop a character's image solely from imagination or do you picture someone you know, a celebrity, etc. to aid character development?  Are your characters based on real people?  Characters always have bits of people in them, just like we have bits of each other in all of us.  Sometimes I find it helpful to search out an image of a person who looks like the character in my head, sometimes I don't, but I never start writing a character with a conscious decision to pattern their physical or personality type after someone real.  To me, my characters are real...or as real as can be inside my head.  They are themselves always...not patterncards of someone else.

Do you ever see yourself "retiring" from writing?  Nope. :)

Why do you write "issues" books? Aren't you afraid of being labeled an "issues writer"? Answered on my blog.

Are you the type of person who sees the cup half full or half empty? Definitely half full. Have a look at this blog entry.

About Brava

Are any of your Bravas connected?  Yes.  See the single title connected books page.

Are Ready, Willing & And Able connected to any other stories?  Yes.  See the single title connected books page.

Will you be writing another series like Ready, Willing & And Able for Brava?  Yes.  Satisfaction Guaranteed is the first in a several book series about the agents working for The Goddard Project.  And I am starting a new series (The Atrati) for Brava, introduced in Close Quarters (my 50th book - Sept 2010).

Will Jillian from The Real Deal get her own story?  Yes.  You'll find her story (as well as Alan's) in DEAL WITH THIS.

Will you be writing any more novellas?  Yes!  I have a new novella coming out in Bodyguards in Bed (Jun 2011) - it is the youngest Chernichenko sister's story. :)

About Harlequin Presents

Are any of your Presents connected?  Yes.  See the Harlequin Presents connected books page.

Will you be writing any more Royal Brides?  Yes.  New releases in my personal mini-series happen every other year amidst my other Presents releases.

Why do your Harlequin Presents come out in England first and sometimes so far ahead of their release in the US?  They don't any longer - they are released simultaneously in both markets now. :)

Will you be writing Zahir's  story?  Yes. It will be a Royal Brides Book. Look for it in late Spring 2011.

Now that you are publishing in single title, will you stop writing Presents?  No.  I love the stories I get to do for Presents and have no desire to stop writing them.

About the Historicals

Will you be writing any more historicals?  Yes, but for right now, all historicals that I have planned are part of the Children of the Moon series.

Will you write anymore Selwyn books, like their children's stories?  I don't know.  It could happen. :)

About the Werewolf Stories

Is your novella in UNLEASHED connected to MOON AWAKENING?  They are both from the same werewolf world, but the novella is a contemporary story about the descendants of the werewolves in Moon Awakening.

Will you be writing Duke's story?  I hope to.  It's a novella and the publisher hasn't found a spot for it yet.  I won't be writing it until they do.

Will you be writing more stories connected to Moon Awakening & Moon Craving?  Yes.  Moon Burning will be released Feb 2011.

For more information on these stories visit my Children of the Moon website. 

If the questions hasn't been asked and you want the answer, email Lucy and she'll try to answer it for you.  If it's a question that comes up frequently, the answer will be added to this page.