Patricia Rosemoor

PATRICIA ROSEMOOR GETS LOST IN A TRILOGY

I've read Patricia Rosemoor books for years, loving the paranormal element that ran through a lot of her stories. She's written over 65 books for Harlequin and just celebrated her 50th book with Intrigue this past spring. Just after Thanksgiving I visited with her at her almost 100 year old home. I noticed a love for cats, horses, stained glass, Tucson, and books. Then there's the office...Two bookcases of her books, on a bright yellow wall. In the window hangs a stained-glass picture of cats playing (it's her favorite).

Patricia Rosemoor has written over eighty-six books, fifty (yes, that’s 50) which are Harlequin Intrigues. Today we’re going to get lost in three stories from the beginning of her career. The McKenna series are being re-released in e-format this month. A rare treat that shouldn’t be missed. So let’s hope in that time machine to the past and find out a little more about Patricia and THE McKENNAS.

ANGI: HOW DID YOU GET LOST IN THIS SERIES?

PATRICIA: Two members of my family decided to do a family tree at the same time–a second cousin and an uncle by marriage. A large part of those family trees were McKennas. My maternal grandmother and her siblings were all McKennas. I’d always loved the name. My very first book, Silhouette Young Love, was A CHANGE OF HEART by RoseAnne McKenna–RoseAnne being my middle name. At any rate, I was looking for inspiration for a new series and those family trees provided that for me.

In my original The McKenna Legacy trilogy – SEE ME IN YOUR DREAMS, TELL ME NO LIES, TOUCH ME IN THE DARK, all newly re-released digitally at Amazon and other outlets via Smashwords – I used some family names for various characters, but, more importantly, I used family traits and stories as an homage to my McKenna relatives.

Originally, I also created nine characters–three sets of three siblings, all with very different backgrounds to keep things interesting. But to my surprise, after the first three, my editor asked me to write something else. Then the numbers came in and they thought maybe I should write another McKenna. Then I did another series and surprise, I was asked to write two more McKennas. Eventually, I was asked to concentrate on McKennas–including a new branch with a different legacy--because readers were so invested in the characters.

ANGI: Which McKenna book is your favorite?

PATRICIA: I don’t have a favorite, but I have several books that mean more to me than others. I loved the first in the series, SEE ME IN YOUR DREAMS, because it was new and different and I got to put a bit of the old sod (Ireland) in it. I loved TOUCH ME IN THE DARK and MYSERIOUS STRANGER because they were truly horse stories, and I love animals. NEVER CRY WOLF and WOLF MOON, same reason, but they were wolf stories. And the upcoming BRAZEN (Feb 2011) because again, it’s a horse story, but maybe more importantly because it’s the most romantic book I’ve every written.

ANGI: Have you ever thought about writing more about the historical McKennas? or time travels involving the family?

PATRICIA: I wouldn’t be able to write either for Intrigue. I did one time travel when they were letting us experiment, and I was never able to write the partner book.

ANGI: What question are you never asked in interviews, but wish you were?

PATRICIA: Interesting, but I’m never asked why I do this crazy thing. Writing isn’t crazy. Being determined to make a living from writing is. And I have. Readers and friends and family often think if you write one book, you’re set for life. Very few authors are set for a year. More like a few months. Staying in the business was a bigger struggle than most people know. And now when I hear younger authors talking about doing the same thing I did years ago, I want to tell them: Don’t forget to have a life away from writing. It consumes you if you let it.

ANGI: Is their a favorite McKenna tradition that you passed through the stories or came from your own family?

PATRICIA: The McKenna tradition is to curse my lovely heroines and stalwart heroes with a curse they must overcome to be together. There is no love without danger. I certainly hope no one in my family has suffered from that curse.

ANGI: Which of the McKenna characters would you most/least to invite to dinner, and why?

PATRICIA: I would love to have them all for Christmas dinner. Don’t know where I would put them all in a city apartment, but I’d figure out something...

ANGI’S GOTTA ASK:

I was fortunate to visit with you and you gave me a tour of some of the “real” Chicago. Is there something about your city that you’d like to share?

PATRICIA’S GOTTA ANSWER: That Chicago isn’t second to anyplace, IMO, but then I’m very prejudiced in favor of my city. The food is fabulous–both ethnic and upscale–the theater is alive and well, and the museums are top shelf. What’s really special about the city is the amount of parkland we have. Most of the lakefront is park. And we have a chain of very large parks more than a hundred years old connected by boulevards. I recently took a tour of four of those parks and saw things I didn’t even know existed in my own city, like an old horse stable now a small museum in one, a waterfall in another.

GOT A QUESTION YOU’D LIKE TO ASK YOUR FANS?

I’m always curious about what readers would like to see in Intrigues. Lately we’ve had a lot of horse operas – books set in the west, mine included. Are you happy with that or are you looking for more variety, and if you are, what would you like to see?

WILL YOU HAVE A DRAWING FROM THOSE LEAVING COMMENTS?

Sure. I’ll offer my 50^th Intrigue – SAVING GRACE.

You can find and ‘friend’ Patricia:

http://PatriciaRosemoor.com

http://www.facebook.com

DON’T FORGET to friend the Get Lost Crew on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and to leave a comment today for Patricia’s drawing. Stop by tomorrow and get lost with guest CJ Lyons. THANK YOU for joining us today, Patricia. Can’t wait for you to come back in January for your newest Intrigue release, Brazen.

Til next week,

~~Angi