Rachel Bo

Hi Rachel, we look forward to getting to know you.

1. How long have you been writing? Have you always wanted to write?
Yes, I’ve always wanted to write, and I’ve been writing since before I even started school. I had a very active imagination, and from the beginning my mother encouraged me to write it all down. I also made up bedtime stories for my younger brothers, and then for my own children. I wrote for the love of writing, and didn’t actually get serious about being published until about five years ago.

2. Do you have a special place in your home where you write? Or do you need to go somewhere else to get your creative juices flowing?
I can write ANYWHERE! If a scene hits me while I’m driving down the road, I’m scrambling to get it on paper before I lose it. I don’t just visualize the scene-the written words run through my head. Some of my best writing occurs when I just stop whatever I’m doing when the scene comes and capture it while it’s flowing, so I’ve learned to listen when that muse speaks. However, my favorite place to write currently is my new nook in our master bedroom, with a comfy overstuffed chair, a small table and floor lamp, and a hookup for my laptop.

3. What's your writing schedule?
Right now it varies greatly - we’re in the process of moving into a new house and fixing up the old house to sell, one daughter has a broken thumb on her dominant hand and needs frequent assistance, my other daughter is graduating from nursing school in a few weeks AND planning a wedding (which mean’s I’M planning a wedding, LOL), plus I still work outside the home as well, so there are a lot of demands on my time. Hopefully, once my older daughter graduates and school is back in session for my younger daughter, and the move is completed, I will be able to get back to writing at least six hours a day.

4. Where do you get your ideas?
Anywhere and everywhere. An unusual painting or photo might spark an idea for a story, an overheard exchange between people in a mall or grocery store might give me an idea, even a dream, or commercials on television sometimes birth a story. One of my blessings is that I have never had trouble coming up with ideas. It’s also a bit of a curse, because every time I have a new idea, I want to work on it right away, and you just can’t work on twenty books at the same time - you never finish one! But, on the plus side again, I now have an ‘Idea’ file that’s about 6 inches thick, so if I ever have writer’s block, I’ll pull one from there and voila - back in business!

5. Who are your favorite authors? And what are your favorite books?
Too many to name, really, but some are: Greg Bear, David Brin, Robin McKinley, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, Stephen R. Donaldson, John Marco, Trudi Canavan, Sean Russell, Carole Nelson Douglas, Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Marilyn Lee, Lorie O’Clare, Barbara Karmazin, Kate Douglas, Marilyn Alt, Mary Janice Davidson, and on and on. I love science fiction, fantasy, paranormal romance, gothic romance, mystery - my tastes are really eclectic. Some of my all-time favorites are the Melanie Rawn Dragon Star trilogy, and I’m also very much anticipating the release (finally!) of the final book in the Exiles series coming in 2009. Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series, J. R. R. Tolkiens’ LOTR, of course. Sean Russell’s Swan’s War trilogy and Cecilia Dart Thornton’s Bitterbynde trilogy. The Seventh Column by Robert Heinlein, Greg Bear’s Dinosaur Summer, David Brin’s Uplift series, Carole Nelson Douglas’ Irene Adler mysteries (I also loved the first two books in her Taliswoman fantasy series, and am making offerings to the publishing gods on the third book’s behalf, hoping it will come soon…), Stephen King’s The Stand, and many, MANY more!

6. What are your hobbies?
I love to listen to music - almost everything, including contemporary and classic rock, classical with favorites being Beethoven, Schubert, and Vivaldi, opera, folk, alternative, and a teensy-tinesy bit of country. READING, of course, every single day. Spending lots of time with my kids. Gardening and contemplating my fish pond, practicing Celtic tunes on my Clarke penny whistle and ceramic ocarina, and trying to learn to play my guitar.

7. Any advice for writers interested in getting into the romantica genre?
Write the book that you can’t stop thinking about, the one that gets in your head and won’t go away. As a new writer, don’t worry about trying to cash in on a particular market trend - it is far easier to sell a book that is wonderfully written and flows beautifully because it’s the one that’s been living in you all this time than to sell a book in a popular genre that is only mediocre because it wasn’t really the book you wanted to write! (AFTER you’re published and have had a little practice, then it will be much easier to mold your ideas to fit a better selling genre.) Edit it well - get help if necessary. Do everything in your power to make sure the manuscript is technically and grammatically correct. Then, SUBMIT! My other writer friends and I sat around moaning for years about how we never sold anything, but we never submitted anything! As soon as I started submitting, I started selling. I got my fair share of rejections, yes, but there were acceptances, too, and now I receive very few rejections, and those are in other genres that I haven’t quite been able to break into yet. But I WILL, which brings me to the final bit of advice - BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. If you don’t, why should anyone else? Never stop KNOWING that you will find a home for your novel!

8. How can readers contact you? Do you have a website?
I’m always eager to hear from readers! I can be reached by e-mail at rachbo03@yahoo.com. My web site address is http://webpages.charter.net/rachelbo and I also have a newsletter at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/passion_in_print/. I’m behind on the newsletter this year, because life keeps interfering, but I WILL be catching up on it soon!

9. Is there anything else you’d like your readers to know?
Yes! I keep forgetting to tell people I’m now on MySpace. Please visit me at http://www.myspace.com/rachel_bo. I’ve posted the first in a series of blogs for aspiring writers, so check it out and “friend” me if you like. Hope to see you there!

Thanks for your time Rachel!
Interviewed July 2008