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Writer to Writer Guest Interview
 Spotlight: Suzanne Brockmann
In order to give my first impression to working with Suzanne Brockmann, I have to admit an embarrassing fact. I had never heard of her until last year. I mean, I had a friend who said there was this really cool writer who had worn black cowboy boots to the Rita Awards and who wrote kick-butt action books, but I had never bought one. I wasn't even sure of her name.
And then I was, in my car, listening to a cassette tape I had I picked up at the National Conference in Denver. It was an educational writing tape of a panel of authors where Brockmann appeared. I drove more than five miles listening to the mere introductions of the speakers without getting anywhere near the actual lecture. And then the moderator introduced Brockmann. “Suzanne has asked me to say that she is Suzanne Brockmann and she writes Navy Seal books.
”That was it. No list of accomplishments. No awards. Appearances. Recognitions. Just a name, rank and serial number, so to speak.
I thought, ‘Wow. This chick is cool.’ Humble. Confident. And not one to waste words.
When I asked her to let me interview her, her e-mail response was back in my mailbox within an hour. “What a terrific idea! I'd love to participate,” she said.
So I started where most beginning writers need the most help. With the envelope that arrives in the mailbox.
“I never let rejection letters get me down,” says Suzanne. “Right from the start, whenever I got a rejection, I told myself, ‘You're in the business.’ Sure, you don't lose if you don't play, but by the same token, you don't win if you don't play! Instead of being something devastating, I turned all the rejection letters into an affirmation -- I was doing something that I loved
to do. I used it to renew my determination to succeed.
“And I took action that same day -- I sent the rejected manuscript to another editor. So much of this business is waiting for the publisher to get back to you -- I was determined never to waste a moment on my end!”
Walk into Barnes and Nobel, Borders or any other retail or private bookstore and you will find Brockmann's books lined up. New ones and re-releases. Was it always like this?
“I've been writing romance since June of 1992. I remember this date very clearly! Before that, I spent some time writing TV scripts and screenplays -- and getting absolutely nowhere in terms of seeing anything produced.
“I was quite frustrated, especially when I got a call from a Hollywood agent who was interested in representing me -- provided I moved to LA. Well, with two children in diapers and a husband who worked (at the time!) in Queens, NY, I had to tell the man that I wasn't heading to California any time soon. And he told me that I was a good writer, but there were ten screenwriters who lived down the street from him in LA, who were just as good as me, and frankly, he wasn't willing to represent anyone who wasn't there in LA, doing the legwork.
“Yeah, I was pretty frustrated by that. A friend of mine talked me into doing a goal setting workshop, and I finally gave in. Boy, was that the smartest thing I ever did! I learned how to focus and to break my long-term goals down into smaller, more manageable steps -- things that could be done right now, today, to move myself forward.
“At that point, I decided to get published. I thought that being a published author would set me apart from the ten other screen writers who were living down the street from that agent in LA! Talk about a motivating factor! I let my frustration fuel my desire to succeed!
“I knew, at that point, that writing “the great American novel” would be as difficult a task as selling a screenplay, so I focused on mass market, genre fiction. It made twice as much sense to write genre fiction, because really, that was what I loved to read. I'm a fan of mystery and SF as well as romance, and as I narrowed my focus with this new goal of getting published, I researched all three genres. Well, it didn't take me long to realize that I should concentrate on writing romance -- there were over 150 new romance titles released each month! I thought there was a real good chance that there would be room for me!
“I quickly narrowed my focus to contemporary romances, then to contemporary series romances.
“As part of my research, I read somewhere between 200 - 300 series romances and quickly chose the Silhouette Intimate Moments line as a target. I loved the IMs that I'd read and I wanted to write for that line. I also really liked Bantam Loveswepts, and targeted them, as well.”
In other words, she went in prepared. She just didn't decided to write, she took months to study the market before hitting her computer. And I'm sorry ... I forget how many Rita's she's won to date. But I think maybe she might have had a good plan.
“The first book I sold was the fourth I wrote. But I wrote ten books that first year. Writing my first romance was amazing -- I remember running upstairs to find my husband after I sat down to write that first book and saying, ‘I've finally found the perfect format for my writing voice!!!!’ It was such a ‘Eureka!’ moment! Before I started writing romance, I was something of a creative ping-pong ball – bouncing from one project to the next. When I finally learned to focus, it was total creative lift-off time.”
What was her biggest obstacle? “You know what's funny? Right up until 9/11, I would have told you that the biggest obstacle to writing is getting good news. A piece of good news can completely blow an entire day of writing. But after 9/11... Man, it took me three solid months to get back to a place where I could even THINK about writing again. I'm pretty sure the fact that I write about terrorists and counterterrorists had a lot to do with it, but I know many other writers who had trouble focusing in the days immediately following the attacks, too.
“I found that I turned into a CNN junkie. In the year and a little more since 9/11, I found myself checking in to make sure the world was still there 25, 30 times a day. That's kind of disruptive. It wasn't until after I saw a movie called Bowling for Columbine that I realized that the presentation of American news is designed to create fear. It's so sensational. So I cut myself off from TV news. I went cold turkey. Just like that. I now get my news once a day via email from the BBC.”
Let's jump back up a little bit to a fact that I am still trying to figure out. “... I wrote ten books that first year ...” Mother. Wife. Writing ten books?
“I think it really helps to sit a certain way when I write. I've paid a lot of attention to what I do -- how I sit and even breathe -- when I'm having a high output day. I try to recreate that, to put myself into a place where I'll start cranking creatively! If I sit back, legs out, relaxed, like I'm on the sofa, watching a DVD, well, geez, of course I'm not going to get a lot of pages written. But if I sit forward, on the edge of my seat, leaning toward the computer screen ....|
“Yeah, I follow the same rules. I have a daily deadline that MUST be met -- or I'll sit at the computer until 3, 4 a.m. until it gets done. No exceptions. (Which can make getting up and starting all over again the next day a real bitch! LOL!)
“But you need to do what works for you. When I first started out, both my kids were in diapers. An office with a door simply wasn't a possibility. So I put the computer in the dining room, and surrounded myself with a little portable baby fence to keep little fingers from the delete key. LOL! *I* was in the playpen! I learned how to write in five minute bits -- it's certainly possible to do it that way.
“You may not have an office with a door, but at relatively small expense you can buy yourself a special office chair that you ONLY use when you are writing your manuscripts. You need to make yourself switch chairs if you stop writing the book. By doing this, you can train yourself to instantly get into the mind set of writing the book when you DO sit in that chair. Your butt hits the chair, you have to start writing the book. Do it enough times, and simply the act of sitting in the chair will trigger the need to write. A lot like Pavlov's dogs. Hit the bell, salivate. See how it works? And it does work. I'm proof of that!”
“After I was married and had kids, I was a stay-at-home mom -- and don't ever let anyone tell you that THAT isn't a job! I did some avocational stuff at that time -- I was on the board of directors for a community chorus, and handled the group's publicity. That was some education. I learned all about marketing and publicity and writing press releases. That was probably the job that taught me the stuff that's most valuable in terms of my current writing career, and I never got paid a cent!
 “I also love watching movies -- I'm a big movie buff. I'd also encourage them [writers] to pay attention to every piece of fiction they encounter. Movies, TV, books... If it's something you love, figure out what the writer did that worked to draw you in. If you only liked it, try to figure out why you didn't love it. Make note of any emotional reactions you have as a reader or a viewer, and then watch or read a second time and try to see what the writer did to make you feel what you felt!”
And the absolutely best thing this super cool woman had to say? “Don't quit. The only difference between someone who's published and someone who never got published is that the published author didn't quit!”
You can contact Suzanne at: www.suzannebrockmann.com
Past Guest Writers
» Suzanne Brockmann
» Stella Cameron
» Denise Domning
» Christine Janssen
» Pauline Jones
» Donna Kauffman
» Kay LeGrand
Body Count Productions and Jacqui Jacoby share many opinions with our guest writers, however all of the opinions found in the interview are not necessarily those of the company or Ms. Jacoby herself.
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