Witty
and often hysterically funny,
Sabrina Jeffries
has entertained her readers with more than 20 books over the last ten
years. A New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, Sabrina’s books are fun, sexy reads
with rakes that are positively yummy and heroines strong enough to tame
those deliciously wicked men.
I first had the pleasure of meeting Sabrina in
October 2003 at a writing workshop in North Carolina, where she lives with
her husband and son. Gracious and charming, I found the woman herself to
be as intriguing, fun and delightful as the books she writes. A veteran
writer, Sabrina has written books under three different pseudonyms for
seven different publishers. This multi-award winner author recently
granted me the privilege and honor of interviewing her. The interview is
quite like the Sabrina you’d meet in person. Funny, straightforward and
honest. So read on and enjoy this fabulous author’s comments and when
you're done, check out her book,
In The Prince’s Bed!
Monica: What a wonderful
year 2004 has been for you! Bestseller lists galore! That’s got to feel
great, having so many readers loving your book. Tell us a little about it.
How did you find out, where were you when you heard, how did you
celebrate?
Sabrina: I’d been on the USA
Today list for three previous books, so I keep up with that list myself,
since it’s online. I knew about that one before anybody told me (yes, I’m
a bit obsessive *G*) but Avon had to tell me about the New York Times
Extended list. My editor called while I was out and left a message to call
her back. The fact that she didn’t tell me why and that it was Thursday
morning (or Wednesday evening, I forget which) was a bit of a clue, since
the publishers are notified about the NYT list on Wednesday before the
Saturday the lists appear in the paper or online. I’d just seen that
Married to the
Viscount was #51 on the USA Today list, which is the highest
one of my books has ever been, so I wasn’t entirely surprised when I
called back, only to have her tell me that it was #24 on the Extended
List.
What surprised me was the
number. I was praying to squeak on at #35, so #24 was beyond my wildest
expectations. I floated on a cloud all day. But I was in the midst of
trying to finish a book, my husband and I were preparing our house for
sale, and to be honest, we didn’t have time to celebrate. We still
haven’t actually celebrated. And now a celebration seems a bit silly. But
next time (keeping fingers crossed that there is a next
time) I’ll have a really big blow-out!
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Monica: In
The
Prince’s Bed is such a fabulous cover. The heroine looks like she has
some meat on her in a deliciously sexy way. Were you able to persuade
Pocket to go with a heroine that isn’t a skinny ninny, or is the industry
finally realizing that “Big” women are in fashion? Or is all of this just
my own fantasy?
Sabrina: Hmm. Since I’m a very
large woman, I wouldn’t call her big in any respect, but I’m glad she’s
not skin and bones. And I suspect it was just pure chance. I would be
seriously surprised if my publisher actually chose her for any reason
other than that she was available to model for the cover. *G* Yes, I’m
cynical about covers. Just go look at my
Cover Secrets page on my site, and you’ll see that! Besides,
ironically enough, this heroine was probably the only heroine I’ve
ever had that I described as skinny. So this would have been the right
cover for a “skinny ninny.” They just chose another model.
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Monica: You’ve got a new
book come out soon. Tell us a little more about it.
Sabrina: It’s Draker’s book (the
half-brother of the hero of
The Prince’s Bed). It’s entitled To Pleasure a Prince, about a
very beefy curmudgeon (Draker) who agrees to let a duke court his
half-sister if the duke’s sister will let him court her. The duke’s sister
is considered the crème de la crème of society, so they have quite a time
of it when this guy who’s been an outcast for years is suddenly thrust
into society with her on his arm. I think it’s the best book I ever wrote,
and I don’t say that often. Of course, the last time I thought that about
a book, it bombed, so maybe I’m not the best judge. *G*
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Monica: Ok, now for the
proverbial questions…You’ve experienced a great deal over your short life
span. Living with your missionary parents in Thailand (I still can’t get
over you telling me about the snakes there you saw regularly, eewwhh!) is
one example. Do you feel your life experiences have played into your
writing a little or a lot?
Sabrina: They did, although not
directly. Because we lived out in the middle of the boonies and because I
had little to do but read, I probably read many more books than I would
have if we’d been in the U.S. Plus, I spent a lot of time daydreaming that
I might not have otherwise. But so far, I haven’t really tapped into my
actual experiences very much. My first book was set in 19th-century
Thailand (which was then called Siam), but I have no desire to revisit it
in future books. Or at least not anytime soon.
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Monica: I know from your
bio that you started writing at twelve and selling your stories. Did you
ever dream that business foray would result into a bestselling author
empire by the name Sabrina Jeffries?
Sabrina: No, no, I didn’t start
selling at 12. I guess I better go check that bio, huh? At 12, I
dreamed up the stories and I told myself that one day I’d write them down
and sell them. But no, I wasn’t a selling writer at 12—that would have
been amazing. And I certainly never dreamed I’d be a big success. I
fantasized about it, but that’s not the same thing. Actually, I wouldn’t
call myself an author empire . . . yet. I’d love to be there one day,
however.
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Monica: Can you tell us
what getting The Call was like for you? How many rejections did you get
before you sold your first book? How many books did you write before your
first sale?
Sabrina: Since I sold my second
book to Leisure after ten rejections (on that book—and six already on my
third book), “the call” was sort of a relief. I was beginning to think I
couldn’t do the whole publishing thing. I had sent queries on my first
book to agents and was roundly rejected (I had a whole slew of those).
After bad contest scores on that book as well, I put it aside to
concentrate on my second book. But really, I was very lucky. My first sale
came at the end of the boom in historical romance, when publishers were
buying a wide variety of books and weren’t as picky as they are now. I can
assure you that these days no one would publish a romance set in Siam,
especially one as . . . ahem . . . badly written as that book.
Essentially, I got to learn to be a writer while I was already published.
These days, the bar has been set so high that you can’t really learn on
the job any more.
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Monica: From my research,
you’ve been writing some time now. Compared to what you do now, did you do
anything different in the promotion of your first book. What sort of
promotional tools did you use? What worked well for you, what didn’t?
Sabrina: You have to remember
that when I started writing, there was no internet (or it was in its
infancy—I didn’t go online until I was writing my first Sabrina Jeffries
book). So our promo efforts were limited to things like ads in RT,
speaking engagements, and mailings. I still do all those things
(fortunately, my publisher pays for the ads in RT), but I focus more on my
website and my mailings. It’s hard for me to travel because of my autistic
son. He has to have constant supervision, so juggling my husband’s work
schedule, my schedule, and my son’s caregiver’s schedule can be tricky.
I’ve found that ARC mailings to bookstores and fan mailing lists can be
very effective, but ONLY if you’re writing the best book you can write. I
know we get tired of hearing that, but the best promo in the world isn’t
going to sell a bad or even a mediocre book. There has to be some spark
that appeals to readers, even if it’s just a trend they like.
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Monica: I know from
research that you generally write two books a year. But name 1-5 things
you did (learned to do) or discovered as an unpublished writer that helped
you get over the hump from unpublished to published.
Sabrina: That’s a bit tricky. My
early books are very unpolished, and since I sold the second one (and they
were different types of books, the first being a category romance and the
second a historical), I didn’t have time to learn all that much to get me
over the hump. It was later, when the market tightened, that I had to
learn more.
So a better question for
me would be, what did I learn that helped me get published as Sabrina
Jeffries? At the point when I sold to Avon, I’d been dropped by two
publishers and was realizing that I had to get better fast as a writer in
order to compete in a stiffer market. I was already doing some of it in
the romantic suspense books I wrote as Deborah Nicholas, but not in my
historicals. Here’s what I feel I learned:
§
Voice is everything. Working on refining (or even finding)
your voice is the most effective thing you can do.
§
Character motivation is crucial to a good book. When I
started learning how to be less plot-driven and more character-driven, it
helped my work.
§
Deep POV lets your reader feel closer to the characters.
It’s essential to learn how to do deep POV in today’s reading climate.
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Monica: What do you feel
has been your biggest career achievement to date?
Sabrina: Landing on the New
York Times Extended List. Absolutely.
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Monica: Which one of your
books is your favorite and why?
Sabrina: I
hate this question, because I never know how to answer. That’s like asking
a parent of four which of her children is her favorite. *G* I like
different books for different things, and I’m always most fond of my most
recent book, which means that changes with each book. Right now, my
favorite is Draker’s book.
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Monica: You’ve written
under different names, and we’ve created a link here for readers to peruse
them. Do you feel your work has improved with each book? Is there
something you do internally/externally to keep each successive book fresh
and as original as possible? Do you think it’s the characters who help you
achieve a different feel with each book.
Sabrina: Oh, my work has
definitely improved over the years. And no, I don’t do anything in
particular to keep things fresh. I just try to come up with something
different. More and more, I believe that the uniqueness has to be in the
characters and in the playing out of the story, rather than the plot.
Readers get satisfaction from classic plots. What makes the books
memorable is their take on that classic plot. If we tried to invent plots
no one has ever used, we’d have increasingly weirder and more unsatisfying
books. I personally think that’s where literary fiction has gone astray.
It’s the originality of the characters and their dialogue and actions that
make the books different and fresh.
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Monica: What sort of goals
do you have at this point in your career?
Sabrina: To hit the top 15 of
the New York Times list, and the top 50 of the USA Today list. To
reach a level of sales where I no longer have to worry about having enough
money for retirement (that one’s going to be way off in the distant
future). To write a book that wows all the critics. I’m beginning to
think that’s impossible, though. Oh, and I wouldn’t mind appearing on the
Today show. *G*
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Monica: Agents — When did
you decide you needed one? On book one or later on down the road? Do you
still have the same agent you started out with? It’s been said that
agent/author relationships need to be kept on a firm business footing. Do
you agree with the statement?
Sabrina: I realized right away
that I needed one, because I knew I hated all the business end (writing
query letters, etc.). I’ve never been good at selling, and that’s what an
agent does. My very first sale was agented. I was fortunate enough to join
a chapter that had as a member an agent just starting out in her career.
We really clicked. I’m still with Pam Ahearn of The Ahearn Agency after 15
years. I think agent/author relationships should be kept on a
business footing, but I wasn’t able to manage that, because Pam was in my
chapter and we socialized. So I consider her a friend as well as an agent.
Our sons were born a year apart and went to each other’s birthday parties;
we’ve roomed together at conferences. I think she’s been a great agent,
and I like that we’ve managed to be friends, too, but I think that’s
tricky for most people. I guess I just lucked out.
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Monica: How difficult did
you find it to get on the bestseller list? Does it really all boil down to
the public, or does marketing have anything to do with it as well?
Sabrina: It’s very difficult to
get on the lists, although it’s more difficult at some publishers than at
others. My sixteenth book (my fifth as Sabrina Jeffries) was the first one
that hit the USA Today list, although, to be fair, there wasn’t such a
thing when I started. I think hitting lists is a mix of both marketing and
public interest. And writing a book that really resonates with readers for
whatever reason.
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Monica: Editors – Ok, so
how stressful is it working with an editor? Isn’t an editor really like a
critique partner who’s there to help you fine-tune the product and ensure
its marketability?
Sabrina: I’ve worked with eleven
different editors in my career, and in very few instances did I have any
complaints. But then, I happened to spend a few years working as a
technical editor myself, so I appreciate how much an editor can improve a
book. My present editor, Micki Nuding, is fabulous. She can put her finger
on what’s wrong with a scene without blinking, and she’s a wonderful line
editor. I always value my editor—I’m not foolish enough to think that my
prose is perfect just the way I wrote it. I marvel at authors who say they
don’t need editing. Maybe they don’t, but I sure do, even if it’s just to
tighten my writing.
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Monica: Speaking of
critique partners, you have one (Rexanne Becnel). How critical do you
believe a critique partner is?
Sabrina: For me, my critique
partner is invaluable (I actually have two, since my agent also critiques
my work at the same stages as Rexanne). I consider myself very lucky to
have two complementary critique partners. Rexanne is a character-driven
writer (unlike me—I’m plot-driven), so she always hones in on character
problems. Pam is very aware of plot, so she finds any inconsistencies or
illogical things there. Together, they’re perfect.
Monica: What
advantages/disadvantages do you see in a critique partner vs. a critique
group?
Sabrina: The more people you
have, the more likely you are to be tugged in a million directions trying
to assimilate what they’re saying. I use my two critique partners as
sounding boards—I don’t always make the changes they suggest, but I always
pay attention to them. I don’t think books should be written by committee,
but one or two trustworthy critique partners can save you from making
horrible mistakes in a book.
Monica: It’s been said that
ideas are not copyright protected, and with the market as tight as it is,
a really innovative twist on an old theme can make or break a sale.
Sabrina: I just don’t believe
that. The idea is never going to make the sale if the execution is
bad or the voice isn’t appealing. It’s hard to be innovative all the
time—you have to have characters that loom larger than life off the page
and a voice that sings to the editor.
Monica: Have you heard of
critique partners taking one partner’s idea brainstormed with other
writers and meld it into their own manuscript? It’s not really stealing,
but it can affect the relationships/dynamics of a group. Does it depend on
the partner or the group? How would you handle such a situation?
Sabrina: Actually, Rexanne and I
often find ourselves doing variations on the same theme (sort of like two
good friends who find themselves on the same menstrual cycle). It has
never resulted in books that we thought (or anyone else thought) were
any way similar. I did recently decide to use an element that was similar
to one Rexanne was using and I asked her how she felt about it. We talked
about ways to make it different enough for it not to be a problem. But I
think if five people brainstormed an idea and all decided to write it, the
books they came up with would be very different.
With that said, I knew
that my ideas for
The Pirate Lord and later on, The Royal Brotherhood, were high
concept, so I was careful about whom I shared them with before the books
were well into production. I suppose I would have been annoyed if someone
had taken my idea and run with it, but I would have gotten over it.
I’d like to think that
most authors are ethical about such matters. I remember a quote I heard
years ago (and I don’t remember it exactly, so forgive me for
paraphrasing), but it essentially asked the question, who is to be pitied
more—the person stolen from or the person whose life is so bereft that
he/she has to steal? And that is how I look at things—if a writer has so
few ideas that he or she has to steal mine, then I pity them, and I
suspect that their career will be short-lived. You can only steal for so
long, after all, before someone finds out.
This does not,
however, mean I would condone plagiarism. That makes me hot
under the collar. Stealing the execution of an idea is unpardonable (and
illegal).
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Monica: I know many
writers have special interests they sponsor on their sites. I do Bipolar
disorders because of my personal situation. Autism is your special
interest because of Nick. I’ve created a link
here to your page outlining what it’s like living with an autistic
child. Many readers are parents themselves, tell us more about Nick, and
share your thoughts on this difficult, frustrating, heart wrenching
disorder and the effect it’s had on you as a parent.
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Sabrina: Nick is a doll. We went
through a trial by fire with him (puberty is awful for everyone, but
especially for autistic children), and I feel we came out stronger. The
one thing it has really done for me is to change my whole outlook on
disability and eccentricity in general. I’m much more tolerant these days,
and I truly don’t understand why we can’t just accept the great diversity
of people out there and enjoy them for what they are. Nick is such a
sweetheart sometimes and he takes joy from the smallest things (me singing
“Puff, the Magic Dragon,” for example). He can’t talk and he has a million
little obsessions and eccentricities, but when he’s smiling, all of that
goes away. It’s humbling, and it reminds me daily to stop and smell the
flowers.
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In
closing, I'd like to thank Sabrina for her time in answering these
questions. In spite of her busy schedule of galley reviews, writing and
other author responsibilities, she graciously agreed to do this
interview for me. I'm delighted to have had the opportunity to probe
into her psyche and become better acquainted with her. As a result, I
discovered we have similar tastes in music, movies and even books.
And just
because you've read this far, I'm treating you to these added
tidbits...when it comes to music Sabrina happens to like, among others,
Loreena McKennitt, Queen and Alanis Morissette. For her reading
enjoyment, she's been known to read James Joyce, Judith McNaught, Susan
Elizabeth Phillips and Amanda Quick. Additionally, she adores Kenneth
Branagh. No wonder I liked her the first time we met in person,
and it's not surprising that I'm eagerly racing to the Barnes and Noble
website to buy her latest book. Again, my thanks to Sabrina for a
great interview and the opportunity to enjoy her wonderful books.
