~ The Ideas Come Spinning ~

Awesome romance author Patricia Bond got into writing romance by starting backwards. And you won’t believe all the ideas she has for stories!

Meet Patricia…

Is there an event that affected you as a writer?

You know, I’d wanted to write for as long as I could remember, I just never knew what. I tried writing a mystery, but I couldn’t plot my way out of a paper bag, much less figure out whodunit. Then my mom had to have surgery that did not go well. She wound up in intensive care for over six weeks and the hospital asked us to keep someone there 24/7 because things were so precarious. My sister gave me a Shirlee Busbee book to read to pass the time. Then I found Jennifer Blake.  I was hooked.  Romance novels helped me through the grieving process when mom passed, and after I’d read a few dozen of them I thought “I can do this.”

But, it was a workshop sponsored by a local department store that really lit the fire. At the end of it, they announced a contest. Write one page of a romance novel where the hero and heroine meet for the first time, the only condition was it had to be set in Buffalo.  I wrote four entries, one of which won! It was the best possible thing to happen at the worst possible time in my career.

Why do you say that?

Because I knew NOTHING!  I didn’t have a finished novel. I didn’t even have a finished chapter or outline.  Only these one page meetings and a desire to write. I had won a lunch with the senior editor of Warner Books! The Senior Editor!! In New York City!  I was totally unprepared.  She was gracious, albeit extremely disappointed I’m guessing, and verbally patted me on the head, told me to go home and find a chapter of Romance Writers of America and learn.

Thankfully, at that department store workshop, someone from the brand-spanking-new Western New York Romance Writers chapter was there and I had (thank you, God) picked up her brochure. I joined, learned, wrote, critiqued, wrote some more, revised, and wrote.  And here I am.  It was a very long road for me – life kept getting in my way. But I never really stopped. Just sometimes slowed down.  A lot. But never truly stopped. And I had the faith of my family and friends, who never gave up on me, even when the going was rough and slow. My best friend didn’t live to see my book go into print, but she ALWAYS told me she was sure I would be published.

Where do you get your ideas?

Oh, gosh…  ideas come from everywhere.  To me, it’s more a mindset than anything else.  Anything can start my mind spinning, and start a giant game of “what if”.  I spoke once to a book club, and of course, someone asked this very question. The lady was sitting in front of a free-standing set of glass shelves.  My answer starting spinning a story on the spot. “What if a woman was sitting in front of glass shelves. And what if a little boy came running through and knocked into them. And what if they fell over and hit the woman, knocking her out. And what if the boy’s father took her to the emergency room, where the staff mistook him for her husband…”  We had a good time spinning out more of that story, but they could see how something so simple could be turned into a story, if only you’re willing to look at it a certain way and play “What if.”

Do travels influence your writing?

Absolutely!  Travel is an addiction for me. I love to visit new places, especially new countries, try to get to know the people a little bit, and explore, go off the tourist path. Getting lost is a favorite pastime for me, much to my husband’s chagrin.  But I’ve had some of the best adventures, seen the prettiest places, met the most interesting people when I’ve been lost. Some of those things have made it into my stories. I just finished writing a very different book (for me). It’s a contemporary that I set in the south of France in Cassis on the Mediterranean Sea that I visited for a day and fell in love with. One day in that setting was enough to make me want to use it somehow.  By happy coincidence, we went to tour Gettysburg on re-enactment weekend one year when the kids were young. We thought they should get a dose of their country’s history (yeah, we’re those parents) and bribed them with a stop at Hershey Park afterward. I spent quite some time talking to the actors, getting information from them. It was fascinating and I made a lot of notes (what author doesn’t walk around with a notebook in her purse?). The experience was filed away in my brain for years, until I got the idea to write about a Civil War soldier with Civil War PTSD, and my novella Building a Christmas was born.  That same trip, I commandeered a visit to Harper’s Ferry, some of which made it into By Love’s Honor Bound. It was a long time between travels and books, but I tend to gather information and experiences like birds gather twigs for a nest. A little here, a little there….  Eventually, I have something to work with.

What other genres of novel would you love to write?

Well, you know already I branched out from straight historical romance with my story set in France.   I’d like to try my hand at romantic suspense – contemporary or historical, or even straight mystery – assuming I could plot that well.  I love to read – anything!  I cross genres in my reading, because I tend to get bored with the same thing all the time, and I guess that’s why I would like to write multiple genres as well.  I’m hoping readers like to get into different types of stories, also, and that together we can explore.

Can you tell us about any other upcoming books, series, or writing plans?

Ok – you already know about my France story. I’m hoping to find a home for From My Balcony because I think it’s a good story and deserves to be out there.  But I will go back to historical before doing anything else, since historicals were and are my first love.  I started working on a related story to By Love’s Honor Bound, in which Livvy’s brother Bobby is the hero.  It’s set in Reconstruction-era Carolina, and I hope to have The Rainmaker’s Daughter finished by the end of the year.  But I can’t let From My Balcony be an orphan, either, and Christmas in Provence has been dancing around in my head for a couple of weeks now.  I really have to work to rein in renegade characters and ideas that live in my head.  Other writers will understand when I say I’m never lonely!  And if I started telling you about all the story and series ideas that are in my head, we’d be here for months!

What do you do when you’re not writing?

You mean besides spending time with my husband, children and grandchildren?  The grandkids are two and a half and four and a half, and to watch them discover the world is a feeling that words cannot describe.

Otherwise, a whole bunch of stuff, sadly.   I love to knit, embroider – most any kind of fiber work except quilting – never quite got into that – and crocheting. Had to give that up when carpal tunnel starting being a problem.  I play with photography and have some really nice flowers, landscapes, and sunsets (‘cause I’m NOT a morning person, and the only way I’d get a sunrise is if I was STILL up, not getting up).  I’m lucky enough to live in Western New York, so both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are close enough that I can go to either shore and relax and snap away, no matter the season. One of my sunset photos took first place at a small art show in town, which was really cool.  You can see it on my website when you go there.  I would love to learn to paint something other than my kitchen wall, though my drawing abilities are pretty minimal.  Who am I kidding?  I can’t draw squat. I keep trying.  I tried drawing our lighthouse once.  It looked more like the Leaning Tower of Pisa than a stately lighthouse.  And there’s a story in that lighthouse. I know there is.  I just haven’t teased it out, yet.

I have one story out that’s set in a lighthouse. I love to sit by the water and just watch – waves, the setting sun, people, birds.  I plop myself down on my rock at the city marina (not really mine – but I like to think it is), plug in my iPod with Il Volo or The Boston Pops and lose myself. In front of me is the lake, behind me the city lights of downtown.  It’s amazing.

And if all else fails when I’m looking for something to do, I try to cook the books and see if I can come up the money to indulge my travel addiction and take another trip.

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By Love’s Honor Bound

by Patricia Bond

Someone is killing Conductors on the Underground Railroad one by one. With a cellar full of runaway slaves, Olivia June Mathieson must decide – is the handsome Fenton Pierce-Smythe savior or traitor?

Both Fenton Pierce-Smythe’s fiancee and grandfather were killed when runaway slaves spooked their horses. Determined no one else will face that pain, he hunts runaways to return them safely to their owners. But can he remain unmoved by their plight? And unaffected by the beautiful woman who risks her life to lead them to freedom?

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Buy Links

By Love’s Honor Bound  | Building a Christmas  | Arms of an Angel

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Learn more about Patricia Bond

WEBSITE http://www.patricia-bond.com/ 

FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/patricia.bond.author

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