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Mary Jo Putney - Interview for Romance catalogue
July 18, 2001
1. How did you became a writer?
I'd always loved to read and sometimes dreamed of being a writer, but it
seemed so impossible that it never occurred to me to think of writing as an
achievable goal. Simply getting the words down in a clean, readable fashion
was beyond me. Then I got a computer to use in my graphic design business,
and it occurred to me that once you fix the words, they stay fixed. No more
typos to worry about. So….I started to write a traditional Regency romance,
I was lucky enough to find an agent, and three months after I started
writing, I sold my first book. It still amazes me!
2. Your books are deeply social and very close to real life in telling about
social problems - such as alcoholism or domestic abuse, as it was in 'The
Rake', for example. Is it difficult to write on such topics?
Writing is always difficult, but these topics interest me, so they come
naturally. I'm intrigued by stories of redemption, about people who heal and
learn to make themselves stronger and happier. I research by reading and
talking to experts and those who have suffered these problems, of course,
because I want my work to be accurate as well as hopeful. As to alcoholism
in particular-well, I knew an alcoholic. Doesn't everybody?
3. In your book 'The Wild Child' the heroine initially behaves and thinks as
if she is mad. The transformation by the end of the book is dramatic...
I thought of her as a sensitive child who had suffered terrible trauma, and
only survived by creating a private world where she was emotionally safe.
That helped her survive, but when she was returned to a normal life, she
didn't know how to escape from that private world. Plus, because she was an
heiress, she was given considerable latitude to live as she wanted to, so
there wasn't much incentive to change since that would mean forcing herself
into scary, unpleasant situations. People thought she was mad, and it was
easy to go along with that. The hero, Dominic, was the first to observe her
closely and realize that though she was unusual, she wasn't mad.
Dominic also helped her recognize how fragile her private world was-she
was at the mercy of her guardians, and could easily end up in a horrible
mental hospital. That recognition, plus her love for Dominic, finally gave
Meriel the incentive to change even though change was painful and
frightening. Luckily, she has a natural resilience that made it possible for
her reconnect with the world around her. Plus, she had the advantage of
having learned to read and write before her captivity, and she'd always had a
wise, gentle Indian protector who understood her well.
4. How do you think out plots? (From Tatyana)
The process is rather like an oyster creating a pearl. Usually I start with
a character who was minor in another book, or the germ of a story idea, such
as "a sneaky man meets a sneakier woman." I spend a lot of time thinking
about it, off and on, and gradually layers build up around that original
idea. For example:
Why is he sneaky? Because he is an intelligence gatherer during the
Napoleonic wars.
Why is she sneaky? She has to have a terribly compelling reason to justify
all the lies she's telling, so the life of someone she loves must be
threatened.
Who would she love that much? How about a twin sister, whose identity she
takes on so she can learn more? That would be fun.
Piece by piece, the basic structure of a plot takes shape.
5. How much time do you spend for writing and what is your daily working
schedule?
I'm not very creative or focused in the morning, so I run errands and read
e-mail and things like that. In the afternoon, probably I'll start editing
work I've already written. Most new pages are written between seven and
eleven at night. I do a book about every nine months, and would never finish
anything without a deadline!
6. I have an impression (having read several books), that the number of plots
is limited (by classic ones, like Shakespeare), and there is a big number of
various decorations, backgrounds, and the author, in accordance with his
preferences, may vary the endings (for example, in Romeo and Juilet - people
don't like the death of heroes - and here's a happy end for you). What is
your opinion about it? (From Tatyana)
It's certainly one way to look at stories. Since this is a rather academic
approach, I tend not to think about it one way or the other. What makes
stories compelling is not the ways in which they are the same, but what is
unique about them.
For example, thousands of "marriage of convenience" plots exist in
romance-I've written several myself-but each is different because the
characters, setting, plot, conflict, and research are all different. (Or
should be.)
When an author writes for a particular market, such as romance, she needs to
fulfill the expectations of her readers. In romance, that means a story
built around a developing romantic relationship, and a happy ending. (At
least, that's true in the kind of romance I do.) Within that basic
structure, it's the writer's job to make the story fresh and appealing. If
the story is well done, the reader probably won't care that it's still
another "marriage of convenience" story.
7. Do you read other authors of your genre, and who are they?
These days I'm more likely to read outside romance for pleasure, because I
get enough romance on the job! I tend to like science fiction and fantasy
novels that have romantic subplots, for example. I grew up reading the
romantic novels of Mary Stewart, Dorothy Dunnett, and Georgette Heyer, and
love a happy ending.
8. Your favorite hero and heroine of your book are...
Impossible to say! I love all my characters, or I couldn't spend months
writing about them, fighting with them, having them cry on my shoulder, and
so forth.
9. The heroine of your book - 'Veils of Silk' - Laura Stephenson is Russian
by nationality. Why did you choose Russian? (probably, what features of
Russian character attracted you, or was it by chance? Do you think on writing
a book with another Russian heroine or hero? - G.P.)
The origin of her nationality was the "Great Game," which was the struggle
between the Russian and British empires. This was a kind of cold war that
continued for a long, long time, but was at its height in the 19th century.
Both countries wanted control of Central Asia, with the British wanting to
defend and expand their authority in India, and Russia wanting to conquer as
much of Asia as they could. Fascinating things happened in Central Asia! So
it made sense for Ian, a British army officer, to end up imprisoned with a
Russian army officer in Bokhara.
I liked the idea of Ian and Pyotr Andreyovich becoming friends even
though their nations were hostile. Given that situation, I needed to make
the connection between Ian and the heroine. As Pyotr Andreyovich's niece, it
makes sense she would be Russian. An English stepfather provided a reason
for her to be in India, which had been Ian's home for many years. As I said
above, it's a matter of building a story step by step, creating a solid chain
of logic.
I also liked the idea of having her Russian because Westerners tend to
think of Russians as intense and passionate. Having seen the disastrous,
obsessive relationship between her parents, it made sense that Laura would
fear passion. Her fears, plus Ian's depression and conviction that he was no
longer capable of sexual intimacy, provided the basis for a marriage of
convenience based on friendship. Of course, that's not how it turned out.
<g> But I wanted it to make sense to the characters as they lived their
lives.
10. Why increasingly more writers of romance genre started to write suspense
or even futuristic-mystery books? The reader feels deceived. (I may also add
that Russian editors do not distinguish romances or suspenses and if they
written by the same author, they are often published in the same series with
romances, and the problem gets even more sharp - G.P.) (From Anonymous)
There are different reasons. Often a writer who has done many romances
feels the need for a change, before she goes stale or burns out. (This is
the reason I started writing contemporaries, though I don't intend to do
suspense.)
Also, many writers really enjoy the suspense and want to do it, and
commercially, successful romantic suspense can sell very well because men as
well as women will buy it, while romance is read almost exclusively by women,
at least in the US.
Perhaps you can encourage your friends, and others through your website, to
write your Russian publishers and ask them to mark the books as either
romance or romantic suspense, so readers will know what they're getting.
This works in the US. (There are also many romance readers here who do not
love it when their favorite authors turns to writing grisly suspense novels.)
11. Tell us some words about your new book - 'The Bartered Bride' (I am also
very curious why 'bartered'? - G.P.)
The hero of The Bartered Bride is Gavin Elliott, a trader who first
appeared in the China Bride. He's Scottish by birth but has been raised in
the United States and considers himself American. He's lived many years in
the East, and is on his way to London to set up a new trading office when he
accidentally finds a English woman who has been enslaved in the East Indies.
He can't bear to leave a countrywoman in slavery, so he has to "barter" for
her freedom. (Actually, he has to win her, but bartered sounds good.)
The heroine, Alexandra, is a widow on the way home from Australia with her
daughter when she's captured. Lots of things happen. <g> (Alexandra is her
middle name-under her Christian name, Amy, she was daughter of the heroine in
Shattered Rainbows. Lots of people wanted to see a story about her.)
12. 'The Bartered Bride' is finished. What's next?
A Christmas novella with a contemporary setting, than another contemporary
romance, my third. The second, The Spiral Path, will be out in the US in
January 2002. After that, another historical romance.
13. Thank you very much!
You're welcome! I hope people enjoy this.
Best.
Mary Jo Putney
© Galina Phedonina, 2001
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