Garage Band

Honeymoon Husband follows the adventures of the recently 100% single Hannah, who won a honeymoon for two in Maui that finally convinces her long-time fiancé to tie the knot. Almost. Halfway to Hawaii, he bails and she ends up embarking on the free honeymoon alone. Hannah doesn’t stay isolated long. There’s an event promoter with terrible timing who hounds Hannah for an interview and photo session, and a handsome astronomer named Jeremy who has stars in his eyes for the sky, and for Hannah. Hannah’s an honest woman who longs to come clean about her situation, but the magic of the island weaves a spell that renders her incapable of untangling her messy, and very often hilarious, love life. Honeymoon Husband is the second romantic comedy Shirley Marks has published for Avalon. Geek to Chic, which I reviewd on this website, is her first. Both contain Shirley’s stregths: warm characters who find themselves in sticky situations and often use sly humor as the escape route of choice.

Cindy: When we met at the Cherry party in Reno, you were still unpubbed, right? We both were part of the throng of hopefuls.

Shirley: Sure . . . start off with a hard question. I had to look up what year the Reno RWA Conference was. . . July 2005. At that time I was still an unpublished RWA PRO member. Little did I know that four short months later I’d get THE CALL!

C: Honeymoon Husband is your second published book. Working on #3?

S: #3, Miss Quinn’s Quandary, an Avalon Historical Romance, is set in England 1810. Its release date is February 24, 2008. I’m very pleased to say that Miss Quinn’s Quandary has been reviewed by Booklist and Publishers Weekly. Avalon has another Regency novel under consideration. We’ll see if it becomes book #4.

C: Where can readers buy your books?

S: Avalon Books mainly publishes for the library market and they are not found on the bookshelves of Borders or Barnes and Noble. However, you can order them from any brick and mortar store or on the internet at: www.Amazon.com or www.BarnesandNoble.com

C: How did you find your publisher?

S: Avalon was looking for Romantic Comedy novels at the end of 2004. That’s what I write! So I sent them Geek to Chic. They asked for revisions, which I made, and I resubmitted. Many months later they called and bought the book!

C: How do you overcome plot obstacles, in particular, how difficult is it for you to think of fresh ways to keep your two fated-to-be-together characters apart?

S: I work hard not to repeat the same scenes, events, or dialogue from book to book. The other thing I think about is how humorous the book or scene is overall since comedy is so subjective. What I strive for is cute. I want to make the reader smile.

C: You do! I also think you do a really good job with twisting and surprising plot points–every time I thought I knew what was going to happen, you switched things up. Made me laugh and I believed how Hannah could have found herself in such a situation. I loved the astronomy stuff. Also, I loved the Maui setting. That’s where I honeymooned. You got the details just right!

S: You are so kind! I’m glad you liked the book. Honeymoon Husband was really fun to write. I’d hope I’d got the Maui details right because I’ve been going to Maui for years. I spend many evenings staring at the stars and know =exactly= which constellations are out during that time of year. This year there was even a comet! I could not have planned that. It was the Holmes comet, not Jeremy’s, but the dh and I checked it out on the clear nights–it was by the constellation Perseus. I have, however, never been to the Keck Observatory.

C: Do you have an agent?

S: I don’t have an agent yet but I am searching for one.

C: What about author websites? How important do you think they are?

S: My website went LIVE at the end of July this year. I finally decided that after selling three books I really should have one. I think that it’s vital that a writer have something available for their readers. It’s fun to learn a little about an author when you enjoy his/her work. AND-I believe you need to make a commitment to change and update the site. I’ve got a reading log where I list the current books I’m reading. I’ve also done a Mini-Maui Blog for the two weeks I spent in Maui. That was a one time thing-at the end of those two weeks it was deleted.

C: How much personal info are you comfortable with having on the website?

S: I try to keep my website focused on books, writer-ly, and reader-ly interests and away from anything personal. I suppose I might be a little paranoid. Perhaps I’ll feel more at ease when I get used to being in cyberspace.

C: Are you still in RWA? How long member? How has it helped you?

S: I’ve been in Romance Writers’ of America since 1992, please don’t make me do the math. They have been an invaluable source-and I would recommend them to ANY writer. They educate their members about the writing craft, structure, and industry. Writing is such a solitary endeavor. Attending the local chapter monthly meetings and talking to other writers is about the only way I feel I’m not alone in my little writing world.

C: How do you like publishing for the library market? Do you know the J.K. Rowling story? The first Harry Potter was printed in a small number for the library market-making those first editions quite rare.

S: I didn’t know that Harry Potter was printed for the library market . . . I’d LOVE to follow in J.K. Rowling’s footsteps. I’m a BIG Harry Potter fan. There was a woman at one of my book talks who wasn’t impressed that I had published a novel. She was amazed that I had a book shelved in the library. “Not all books go in the library,” she said. Until that moment I hadn’t really thought about that. It’s daunting to think that my books might be there for years to come!

C: Does your writing keep improving with each book? Does it get easier?

S: I’d like to believe my writing is getting better. I really don’t think of myself as a writer as much as a storyteller. I come up with an idea then populate that world with characters that will tell that story.

C: How much help are Avalon editors? Do you always agree on changes? If you don’t, who wins?

S: First off . . . I LOVE my editor-Faith Black. Second . . . my favorite part of the idea-to-book process is the editor revision process. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? I get a letter from my editor who has read the whole book and gives her line-by-line critique. It’s up to me to change what doesn’t work for her. I think it’s the energy of the collaboration that excites me. I have to admit that every suggestion the editor makes has been right. It is my story but I always trust that she knows what’s best. And thirdly, did I mention that I LOVE my editor?

C: The Avalon romances I’ve read don’t have sex scenes. I love sweet romances and don’t care if I never read another sex scene. They are so difficult to write well. Have you ever been tempted to write one?

S: I’ve never wanted to write one. However . . . there were times I’ve considered having one in a book. The sex scene would need to be in the book for plot purposes. I’ve always managed to work around it.

C: Do you work on other types of writing besides romance novels?

S: I also write mysteries. I’ve written a humorous, paranormal mystery where a chef is followed around by three ghosts. I also have a female construction worker series. I’m getting ready to start book two after I finish my current serial killer Romantic Suspense book. The mysteries usually have a romance element in them but they’re too long and probably a bit too graphic for Avalon. I’ll need to find another publisher for them.

C: Do you belong to a writing group?

S: I attend a critique group once a week. The members who’ve been there the longest, not our oldest members, have been together for almost 10 years. What I like about our members is that we all have different strengths. One picks up on writing logistics, another on motivations, another who hears word and idea repetitions, and we definitely have one who’s the Grammar Police. I’ve heard the warnings about critique groups, especially if they’ve been together for a long time. Mine is more a “reality check” than anything else.

C: Who is your first reader?

S: My critique group sees the first drafts in chunks. When the book is complete I send it over to my dh. He’s murder on commas.

C: How long have you been writing?

S:I started writing right after I had kids. They just started college this year, by the way. During the day when I supervised them as they played, my mind would go off and start spinning tales. It didn’t matter what the subject, I’d make up all sorts of scenarios, about anything-conversations I’d overheard on the playground, to news items, to gossip from my dh’s coworkers and our friends. No one around me was/is safe!

C: How long does it take you to write an Avalon romance?

S: Avalon publishes 50,000-60,000 word books. It takes about 6 months to write one. I do have my longer length mysteries to keep me busy the rest of the time.

C: What’s your wildest writing dream?

S: My wildest dream would be that everyone loves my stories as much as I do. I don’t really want to be as popular as Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. I would like some moderate success. That would be really cool! I’d love to hear my readers say, “Shirley’s books always have a good story!”

C: Thanks, Shirley. And by the way, your books always tell a great story!