Access Romance - Interviews

Interviews Index > Sarah McCarty (January 04)

AccessRomance interviews author Sarah McCarty.

AR: Your first book came out in March 2004. How long had you been writing before you sold?

Sarah: I had been writing for 20 years before I sold to Ellora's. The first ten were definitely spent learning the craft and finding my voice. Unlike many authors who are just naturally gifted and fall into the craft painlessly, I had to work hard to get to the skill level I wanted. I was very fortunate in that many successful authors took me under their wing and stuck out my learning curve with me. To give you an idea of what I am talking about, I once rewrote an entire manuscript 13 times from start to finish in a six month period before I learned to keep the book "live." I might have given up if the author who was helping me had just once flinched when I sent her yet another close but not there effort. She didn't, and the thirteenth time the email came back. "You've got it!" After I learned to keep it live, life got a lot easier. Editors started asking for fulls and critiquing what I did send. Then my voice kicked in and after that. I could get anything read anywhere, but I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong manuscript. I will tell you right now, that is the most disheartening phase of the road to publication.

I took two years off from writing when my father became terminally ill to care for him, and after his death when I came back, my primary goal was to write for a house where I could have fun and write the cutting edge storylines that let me do the deep characterization I like best. After researching, Ellora's seemed to be a likely house. Four books later, I can safely say that writing for Ellora's is fun, challenging and about as perfect a working environment as I could hope to find.

AR: Have you always been writing erotic romance? What drew you towards the genre?

Sarah: I have always written hot. Always had to tone it down. When I submitted to EC, my book was still in its scaled back version. My editor bought the book on my voice but gently asked me if I could turn up the heat. I rewrote over 4 days adding about 20K of heat throughout. I was a little worried it was too much. Later that evening she sent me an email saying she'd just finished the first love scene, it was fabulous, she was going to take a long cold shower, and did I mind if she got back to me later in regard to the rest? It was such a cool reaction to get from someone who was used to editing a whole roster of phenomenal authors.

AR: Tell us about your PROMISE series and your newest book, PROMISES PREVAIL.

Sarah: The PROMISE series has won multiple Reviewer Awards including two CataRomance Reviewers Choice awards and a JERR Gold Star. It is a seven book series featuring Old West Bad Boys who find their match in the unexpected women they meet in unexpected places. These are not your traditional Western Historicals, but they are wonderful books filled with love, passion, and characters you'll remember long after you close the cover.

The third book in the series, PROMISES PREVAIL, is scheduled for release at the end of January or the beginning of February. It's a very emotional story, probably the most intense I've written to date. (I love stories that make you laugh and cry and experience all the emotions up and down the scale.) I love the hero, Clint. He's such a powerful, outwardly hard, yet caring man. In our day he'd be a crusading vet whose house is overrun with critters. He'd be a savior, a healer. In his time the career opportunity open to him was marshal, where he ended up taking more lives than saving them. Actually, I have to confess there are moments in this book that have made me cry, and I don't usually react that way. I just love these two and how they are together. Clint is so strong and yet so desperately needs the softness Jenna brings him. Clint is probably the one man in the world who can see Jenna for who she is beneath the trained submissiveness, cherish her natural gentleness while teaching her to stand on her own two feet and then laugh when she begins to figuratively kick butt. Including his.

AR: You had three releases in 2004. How long does it take you to write a book? Can we expect to continue seeing that many new books a year?

Sarah: I’m on a book every three months schedule. As long as I can maintain the quality of the books, I'll keep that schedule. To me the quality of the read is the most important thing. I write big books. 125,000 words computer count, so I doubt I'll be writing any faster, and if my computer eats another manuscript while backing it up, there will be less. <G> But pretty much, it takes me a month to write and two months to edit. I love to edit. I regard the initial writing as a purge, but in the editing, ah, that's where the art comes in. I could edit for ever, adding layer upon layer, perfecting every word, every nuance. I love to watch the raw book come to life as I add that depth and color. This year I am releasing Promises Prevail, Conception (launch book of my Paranormal series THE OTHERS in March), Book 2 of the contemporary series, Unchained (Zach's story, June) Promises Redeem (September) and Deception (Book 2 of THE OTHERS, December).

AR: As an e-published author, do you feel that it's more important for you to establish an online presence (i.e. joining communities, posting on message boards, participating in chats, and updating your website frequently) than you would if you were published primarily in print?

Sarah: There are two big obstacles to an e-published author. The first is the generalized perception that e-books are somehow not as good as print books. The reality is that just like with print books, there are some books that are phenomenal and others that aren't as good. Fortunately, since the same sites that review print books review e-books there are ways for readers to judge ahead. If there's an ebook with multiple reviewer awards listed beside it, the reader is pretty assured of a great read.

Getting reviewed can be a problem, too. Because the series I started with is an Erotic Western Historical, I was a little hamstrung because it was an ebook and an ebook in an "orphaned" genre. Reviewers wouldn't touch it, and readers didn't know what to think. I begged and pleaded, and reviewers gradually put me on their list. By the time my second book came out three months later, reviewers were grabbing my book in advance. I still get emails from people who finally try my first book and email me in shock and ask "How was I supposed to know it was so good?" They don't mean to be insulting, but they had a preconceived notion of what a Western Historical would be, and PROMISES LINGER wasn't that. They had no idea what an erotic Western Historical would be and were a little afraid, but as I write a 95,000 word story and weave in 30,000 words of love scenes, they ended up being very satisfied. However, the difficulty ebook authors in non-paranormal genres can experience getting reviewed leads to the second thing that's harder for an e-published author: name recognition.

An average print run is huge compared to an epub and the avenues of introduction for a new author more familiar and acceptable to the majority of readers. My books go into print and on the shelves of Borders and Amazon.com six months after their electronic release, but I still think it's as vital for an e-pubbed author to host on a good website like AccessRomance that reflects their genre as it is to write a great book. There's no substitute for a well maintained, well placed website to help with name recognition. As for the rest, my personal favorite is chatting. I'm naturally talkative, so I love to chat with readers. I have no idea if it effects sales, but it's fun and interesting, and for me, one of my favorite things to do. I'm always on my Yahoo group and my BB along with the BB board here. I'm also known for throwing spontaneous chats just for the heck of it. Chatting helps me stay clear of writers' block and is a great place for me to find a new book to read. I'm a voracious reader and love to talk with other readers about everything.

Website updating happens more frequently for an e-pubbed author as books are usually published more frequently, thereby demanding more updates for reviews, etc.

AR: Ellora's Cave was the first e-book publisher to be recognized by Romance Writers of America. What do you think are the biggest advantages of e-book publishing for writers?

Sarah: NO WORD COUNT.<Laughing> Seriously, I couldn't write the stories I write with a print word count. I'd have to cut 6 chapters from books that are already called tight, fast-paced reads. Having the luxury of longer word count allows me to go deep into the characterization, which along with dialogue is my favorite thing to write. There's also the advantage of not being limited to a certain number of slots for publication. For a prolific writer, being limited to one or two books a year is torture. Last but not least, e-publishers tend to have a lighter hand on what's permissible, so plot lines in e-books can be edgier. Riskier. For a writer, that can mean a whole lot of fun.

AR: And the advantages for readers?

Sarah: Readers get more out-of-the-box books. More books from favorite authors faster. Immediate availability to the authors back list, and everything is just a download away. No need to hit the stores or wait on inventory. E-books are also usually much cheaper. My books in ebook form are $7.99 (these are books bigger than most hard cover, so to compare, a reader would have to look at a large hardcover and use that price as a comparison). Because of the high cost of print, they are $16.99 in trade paperback. That always makes me feel guilty, but EC does everything it can to keep that cost down with smaller font, etc., but 125K is a lot of words. Almost all of my readers have bought my first book in print for their keeper shelves. When they get their print copy, I inevitably get the email commenting on how BIG the print book is. I was a bit surprised with how heavy it was myself even though I knew the word count.

AR: Your first book, PROMISES LINGER, is available in print. Will your other books be released in print as well? What makes an e-book publisher decide to offer printed copies of their authors' releases?

Sarah: I'm working on the print galley corrections for PROMISES KEEP right now. It's already listed on Amazon, and it should be in print by the end of next month (barring complications). MAC'S LAW should be out in print in March/April. EC works to get the books out on the shelves six months after e-pub date. They've done very well meeting this schedule with mine.

AR: What are your plans for the future? Do you continue writing exclusively for Ellora's Cave or do you intend to pursue other avenues as well?

Sarah: I am extremely happy writing at EC. Absolutely love writing here, but it is always in an author's best interest to diversify. Because of that, I may try marketing a series to the New York houses.

AR: Finally, could you tell us a little bit about your extensive travels and how they affect the stories you write?

Sarah: I spent many years as an exchange student and then post high school and college living in different cultures. Usually in more primitive conditions, which was a wonderful opportunity to study human nature and the consistencies that pervade all social strata. My hobby of studying human nature helps me tremendously in my writing because, though I write hot books, what readers and reviewers fall in love with are my characters. I love to take amalgamations of the people I've known and weave them into works in progress.

AR: We look forward to seeing what you have in store for us in 2005. Thank you for talking with us!

Sarah: Thank you so much for inviting me.

Interviews Index > Sarah McCarty (January 04)