This is the last group of questions and answers from Suzanne Brockmann’s March 15 message board. Questions or comments are italicized.

How do you respond to people who think your hardcovers have less sizzle? (I would read your grocery list.)

Thanks, Ann.

Pasta
Canned tomatoes
Frozen peas (tiny)
Crazy glue (don’t ask…)

Okay the question was about sizzle.

Here’s what I think. I think that there are people who don’t want anything to change — ever. I think they DO want me to write OVER THE EDGE again and again and again. And I think they’re going to continue to be disappointed and there’s nothing I can do about that.

You know, there’s a Hollywoodism that I wish more people would adopt. It’s adding the phrase “for me,” to the end of criticisms. Your books don’t have enough sizzle FOR ME. Okay, I’m cool with that.

They happen to have enough sizzle for me, and since I’m the author, I get to write ‘em the way I want to! Of course, I pay attention to what readers like, but there’s no way I can make everyone happy all the time — that’s just not possible. My solution? Write the book that makes ME happy.
But the truth is, there’s not some secret sizzle police out there, with big firehoses, ready to cool off all those romance authors who suddenly go hardcover!!! And there’s also not some Hardcover Rule Book. (Page 17, paragraph fifteen: 25% sizzle reduction required…)

– Suz

Any plans for a book tour in Canada?

Hi, Sheri and Carol!

Nothing planned for this trip! Since we’re going to be spending a significant amount of time out west, we’re driving across, express!

– Suz

Do you think of yourself as Suz Brockmann or Anne Brock?

Actually, Missy, I’m not Anne Brock.

I mean, yes, that was a pen name I used for one book, but if I’d had a choice, I would have published the book under my own name!

Which is Suz Brockmann!

– Suz

Was your inspiration for Letters to Kelly from your own experience as a writer?

Thanks, Melodie!

That was a book that it took me ten years to get published — because all of the publishers thought it was too “odd.”

Apparently, it’s won some awards over in Japan, which is really cool.

(I want to go to Japan some day, too, but the documentary idea won’t work for that trip! LOL!)

Yes, my characters talk to me — but I rarely talk back to them! LOL!

– Suz

When is the release date for Breaking Point?

Hi, Louise!

Breaking Point will be out on July 12th — no change to the date.

I’m just not going to do any booksignings on July 16th or 17th — Harry Potter weekend!

– Suz

Are you a West Wing fan? And does scrolling through these messages make you feel like Josh when he found a Josh website?

Melissa,

LOL!

Nope, it doesn’t. I believe in the goodness of the internet! ggg.

I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting quite a number of the BB regulars — I no longer just THINK they’re nuts, I know it! LOL! (Just kidding!) It really does make a difference when you can put a face to a name.

– Suz

Are you coming to Phoenix on the tour?

But I really like the idea of making a documentary, wherever we go.

That’s the beauty of digital video…

Laura, my apologies. SuzieB, what can I say?

Can’t we persuade you to come to Reno??? I thought it was close enough. We’re coming in via the northern route. On a trip that is going to clock thousands of miles in the minivan, every hundred miles truly adds up…

Or… how about meeting us Vegas, baby? (It’s a law, that when ever you call it Vegas, baby, you have to say “baby,” too.) (At least that’s what Eric tells me…)

– Suz

When will you be in Las Vegas?

Laura,

The tentative date I have for Vegas, baby, is July 22nd!

– Suz

Will we see more Sam and Alyssa?

Jerilynne!

Thanks for posting! What kind words!

It might just be me, but it seems that the short stories I’ve written are leading somewhere… Somewhere more substantial. (Good word for it!)

And yeah, I know what you mean — after I finished writing GONE TOO FAR, I had a “now what?” moment!

– Suz

Do you dream about your characters? If so, what does Sam look like?

Hi, Lora!

Actually, I don’t dream about my characters. At least not recently….

I’m glad you like Sam — he was so much fun to write for so many books…

– Suz

Now that you’re writing hardcovers, will you write paperbacks like Letters to Kelly?

Hey, Sandy and Lora,

Letters to Kelly was a book I wrote a looong time ago — quite early in my career actually.
I was so glad it was finally published — it was kind of like being pregnant for ten years! LOL!

I’ve got a coupla others that have never seen the light of day. It might be fun to dust them off, see what happens.

LETTERS TO KELLY is one of my mom’s favorites — but she also liked another book that never got published, called GALLAGHER’S CLAIM. Nobody knew how to market it. It was a contemporary (took place on a movie set of a western), yet there was a subplot that was told by diary entries, AND one of the subplot characters (the hero’s great-grandfather) was a ghost.

It deals with themes of truth vs. legend — perceptions, things are not as they seem.
Parts of it are freakin’ stupid, (sorry, mom!) but parts of it are really worth salvaging.

Some day…

– Suz

Will Molly and Jones have their own book after Breaking Point?

Hey, Debbie!

You’re going to have to wait to read BREAKING POINT for the answer to that one!
Sorry about that! (I don’t want to reveal too much!)

– Suz

What’s your personal love story?

Hey, Sandra.

Ed was the former college roommate of the guitar player in my rock band. I met him in… sheesh, it must’ve been 1979 or 80.

It’s the way I met Brice (our mutual friend) that’s really amazing. I had this plan to form a rock band, so I put a bunch of “Seeking musicians” ads in the Boston Phoenix (alternative newspaper), as well as posting flyers at some of the local Boston colleges — including Berklee School of Music.

Turns out Brice saw my flyer, and he was the first person to call me about any of the ads. Which is amazing for many reason — I got hundreds of calls. But really, Brice is, um, a procrastinator. GGG.

Some months later, we’d found a bass player and a drummer, and a rehearsal space, and Ed came to the Space to hear us play.

I’d heard about him from Brice — Brice called him “the Ed-Bank.” Because Ed actually had a job. So if you wanted to borrow some money, he was the guy to see. LOL!

I remember the day I met Ed, I had just come from a meeting. I was working part time for the Ostomy Association of Massachusetts (at the American Cancer Society building in Back Bay), and I was wearing totally non-rock and roll clothes. A nice dress. And I had on my glasses, too, for some reason. (I think I was sick…) (I usually wore contacts, ripped jeans, tank tops…) (I was really into The Ramones…)

He used to come to all our gigs.

We were friends before we hooked up. We’re still really great friends. (And we’re still friends with Brice, too!)

– Suz

You’ve inspired me.

Marie-Anne!

Congrats on finishing your novel! That is such a HUGE accomplishment. And I’m honored that my books inspired you!

Rock on,
Suz

Will you be visiting Louisiana?

Hey, Julia!

I certainly do remember you! We had such a great time visit New Orleans — I’m certain we’ll be back someday. (Wouldn’t NOLA make a great location for a readers’ weekend???)

I certainly will say hi to Eric and Jace for you!

– Suz

What music do you listen to while you write?

Chris,

Actually, I don’t listen to any music when I’m writing. I listen (mostly to drown out everything else!!) when I take breaks.

Like, if I go into the kitchen to get lunch, and I want to make sure no one will talk to me because I’ve got a scene in my head, I’ll put a CD on and play it REALLY LOUDLY! LOL!

But I’m too much of a musician to listen while I’m actually writing. It would interfere. (I don’t put music on as background. I put it on to listen to it!)

For BREAKING POINT, I’ve listened to a lot of Jimi Hendrix. (Max really likes him!)
Not every book has a sound track. For FLASHPOINT, I read to drown out the noise. I glommed books about the 101st Airborne during WWII — Band of Brothers, Easy Company.

OUT OF CONTROL had a theme song — or rather, Kenny, the hero, did. It was Two Princes by the Spin Doctors.

– Suz

Why do you think your books wouldn’t make a good 2-hour movie? Because of the introspection?

Trace,

You hit it right on the head. It’s tough to translate introspection to a movie — unless you use voice over. Which might work for some of it.

But it’s really the time issue — fitting all those subplots into two hours. I just don’t see it happening. Not happily, anyway. Cuz what do you cut out? The WWII subplot?
That would make me crazy. It’s part of the story.

You should see me when it’s time to approve the abridgement script for the audio book. Brilliance Audio (which does a WONDERFUL job with the audio books) produced both an unabridged version (which I love) and an abridged version. (Not so much with the love…)

Part of our deal is that I need to approve the abridged version before it’s recorded.
Much screaming and ranting. “If I wanted to cut most of the book out of the book, I would have written a novella!!!!” LOLOL!

–suz

Thank you for writing great books and for being accessible to your readers.

Thanks, Jules.

I appreciate it very much.

You know, I recently reached a point where I got so much email that, were I to respond to it all, I wouldn’t have time to write any books! LOL! That’s a problem you want — I mean, it’s great, I’m thrilled, but it was also sort of sad.

I’ve really loved having contact with readers — it’s really important to me to be accessible.

Yet, I’ve got to have the time to write.

What to do, what to do?

We really thought long and hard about it, and I came up with this idea — to spend one day (and it’s turned out to be one solid day, which is fine) every few months or so, here on the BB — answering everyone’s questions. Every gets to read all the responses — it’s way more efficient. And I still feel as if I’m accessible.

Today was an experiment — and I think it was very successful. I really love getting the chance to hear from readers and respond personally — and this gives me the chance to do that.

(I can’t tell you how much I’ve been stressing about not answering reader email. It was really a problem for me. But this seems to be an excellent solution, so now I can relax a little!)

– Suz

Have you caught up on Buffy and Angel?

Actually, Ann, we just started watching the final season of Angel. We’re only a couple episodes in.
We watch with our friends Bill and Jodie, and I’ve been trying to stick to my deadline, which means telling “You can’t come over tonight!” ARGH!

(I just want to point out that the reason I’m not off watching that soul-sucking show, American Idol right now, is because Jace is at rehearsal. He made me promise to wait, so we could watch it together. We’re tivo-ing it.)

But I absolutely LOVED the end of Buffy. Joss Whedon is brilliant.

After we finish watching Angel, we’re going to watch Buffy again, with the commentaries. We skipped all the interviews on the DVDs, too, because some of them have spoilers!!!

– Suz

Thanks for doing this Q&A.

Hey, Sue!

It is SO my pleasure!

(I was worried about you and Melissa T when I heard about the shooting in Atlanta.)

– Suz

Does Meg wear your boots?

Erika,

Yes! Meg has my boots, complete with boot bracelets!

Back when one didn’t have to take off footware to board a plane, my boots used to set off the metal detector. In a very major way. That’s what gave me the idea for TDH — how Meg gets the gun into the embassy. They’re so used to her setting off the alarm, they just wave her through. (This was pre 9/11, remember!)

– Suz

Is there a chance a couple could divorce because of the pressure of being married to a SEAL?

Oh, Kristy,

I couldn’t do that to my characters. Not ones who’ve earned their happy endings. (I torture them so much…)

What I could see doing is having a SEAL start out married, and then get divorced.

You’re right, though, divorce rates are extremely high among SEALs.

– Suz

How can we be a reviewer and get ARCs?

Leelah,

You should try reviewing for some of the on-line romance websites.

Or start your own review website.

Then you have to contact publishers and talking ‘em into sending you an ARC! LOL!

They get a lot of requests, though.

Thanks for your kind words,

Suz

Are you driving through NJ on the way to Reno?

Actually, Ann, the route to Reno from Boston goes across New York State to Buffalo.
Which means we also don’t get to stop at Rein’s Deli, outside of Hartford, which is a terrible, terrible tragedy. GGG.

– Suz

Thanks for answering our questions.

You’re welcome, Beki!

Hey, will you remember to post links to your pictures from Target Tampa on the BB again, at the end of April???

(I betcha I can name just about everybody who came to Tampa!!!! If you’re looking to ID anyone, let me know!)

Say hi to Jim for me!

– Suz

Do you have writing advice?

Nikki,

The first thing you need to do is visit the website of the Romance Writers of America — a truly fabulous writing organization.

www.rwanational.org

Surf their site — and take note of the section that will tell you if there are any local RWA chapters in your home state.

If there are, make contact — and visit one of their monthly meetings as a guest. (I think you can visit twice before you have to join RWA)

RWA offers many, many local chapter conferences –great places to learn both about writing and the business of writing.

Next, think about what type of book you want to write — and visit a bookstore to see which publishers are publishing those types of books. Research them — find out what they’re looking for, find out if there’s anything they’re NOT looking for. Talk to other writers. Join on line writing communities and loops. (Available through RWA and other sites like writerspace.com)

But most of all, you need to sit down and write. Put your butt in the chair, in front of the computer and work it. If you write just a few pages a day, you’ll finish a book within a year. Let your imagination take off!

Good luck with it — it’s a career that’s been both fun, frustrating, envigorating and rewarding!

– Suz

How are your dogs?

Julia (and hi, E. Nancy — I, too, am glad to hear about your husband!),

The dogs are great! They just turned 9 years old! And we’re rapidly approaching our one year anniversary with them! They are so lovely and funny and sweet.

As for the CDs — it’s been a while since I’ve done any singing. I want to try to find a community chorus. I’ve had a hankering lately to sing some Mozart. (Dude knew how to write a melody!)

– Suz

Do you sing alto or soprano?

Alto! Like, seriously second alto!

– Suz

In conclusion.

I really enjoyed this!

Let’s do it again! (Maybe to kick off the countdown in June???)
Thank you to our intrepid archivists! PS, will you repost the link to the archived Q&As? Or, I know — email the link to Ed or Tina so it can get put into an admin post at the top of the board for a week or so!

(Max is less than pleased with me and I need to go shower, but I had a great day!!!)

– Suz