TERRI BRISBIN
Affaire de Coeur's December, 2009 Author of the Month

AdC: At what age did you decide you wanted to be a writer? Was it early in life?
TB: Well, I remember writing in high school – I wrote short stories and poetry for the creative arts magazine, but never dreamed I could actually write a whole book! Then I entered the dental hygiene profession and wrote some articles for journals and newsletters, but still never considered myself as a writer. It wasn’t until much later, after hitting the big 4-0 that I decided to take a chance and see how the ideas I had would play out if I could write a whole book. That was 22 romance novels, novellas and short stories and almost 14 years ago!

AdC: Why do you want to write?
TB: I write because there are stories swirling around in my head that must be shared. I write because characters tell me about themselves and demand that I write their stories. But mostly I write because I can’t NOT write.

AdC: It’s easy to garner the support when you are a best seller as you are, but did you have the support of your family and friends when you struck out on your writing career?
TB: Actually, it was my husband who gave me the nudge to try to write a whole novel and it’s been my husband who has made it possible for me to focus on my writing career. My sons have followed his example over the years and I know they support me in this. And when I hit a rocky place on the publishing/career road, they and some close writing friends are the ones who talk me through it.

AdC: I know you from writing historical romance. You have added paranormal romance to your repertoire. What happened? Was it the demand of the market? How did you get involved in that genre? Which would you rather write?
TB: I began my career with Berkley Jove’s Time Passages line writing time travels with additional paranormal elements, so this new trilogy from Kensington Brava is really a return to my beginnings. And though I’ve been writing ‘straight’ historical romances for Harlequin, I’ve always wanted to write those paranormal elements into stories, so this gives me the chance to do that. I enjoy writing both—so now I have the best of both worlds!

AdC: What is the difference between writing about a historical hero/heroine and a paranormal hero/ heroine? When doing historicals, you have to do research. Are you relieved of that task when doing paranormals because you can make up anything?
TB: There is just as much research needed to write paranormal romances as historical romances because there are so many differing mythologies to study to choose how to build the world where the story is set. In writing this new trilogy, I’ve been researching everything Fae or ‘otherworldly’ in order to create the rules of my universe and how the ‘gift’ works with each of the heroes. Yes, I get to make things up, but I still have to know the historical setting or ‘otherworldly’ myths that present my stories.
I don’t find much difference in writing historical or paranormal heroes and heroines—whatever paranormal elements there are must be integral to the characters’ goals, motivations and conflict and must be believable, or…

AdC: Some say writers are anti-social, loners. Does this description fit you?
TB: Oh gosh, no! I am definitely a socializer—being around people, attending conventions and conferences and meeting new people, energizes me. Lucky for me, my ‘day job’ is much more social—I’m a dental hygienist in a busy dental practice, so there are lots of people for me to talk to!

AdC: Tell us about yourself. Where are you from?
TB: I am from a little town in southern NJ, not far from Philadelphia and now live in another small town in southern NJ (also near Philly).

AdC: Are you married?
TB: Yeppers! Hubby and I just celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary this past summer.

AdC: Do you have children and/or pets?
TB: I absolutely do not have the pet gene; so no, no pets for me. Children I do have – three sons, ranging in age from 18 to almost 29, and a daughter-in-law, too.

AdC: What is your idea of a perfect day?
TB: I think I just had one of these!! Sitting on a warm beach, next to the warm, turquoise ocean, with a cold, refreshing fruit drink in one hand and a long-awaited book in the other.... for hours and hours... LOL! Hubby and I just went on a Caribbean cruise and I decided I needed more days like that one... oh, and more sunscreen! Or the alternative perfect day – is one spent in the Highlands of Scotland, driving through the mist to discover another castle I haven’t visited yet!

AdC: What authors do you admire both within and outside the paranormal realm?
TB: Well, some of the authors with books on my ‘keeper’ or ‘reread’ shelves are Jo Beverley, Madeline Hunter, Gail Link, Laura Kinsale, Teresa Medeiros and newer authors Monica McCarty, Karin Tabke (especially her medieval series) and Anna Campbell. In the paranormal subgenre, I am really enjoying Lara Adrian’s Midnight Breed series, Kerrelyn Sparks’ Love at Stake series, Deborah Cooke’s Dragon series, all the new Christina Dodd shapeshifter books, Melissa Mayhue’s and Veronica Wolff’s time traveling Scottish stories and, in spite of my resistance to not-romance stories told in first-person, Karen Marie Moning’s Fae series.

AdC: What is the worst thing about being an author? The best thing?
TB: The worst thing is facing an empty page – the challenge of creating a story and putting it into words that make sense. The best thing is also facing an empty page, yet feeling the excitement and anticipation of creating something out of the chaos of characters, plots and emotions swirling around in my mind waiting to be organized into a story that makes sense! The other best thing about being an author is meeting people who have read my work and liked it. It is such a thrill when someone says ‘I’ve read you!’ and tells you something about your story or characters that meant something to them and stayed with them after they finished the book.

AdC: What do you expect to be doing 10 years from now?
TB: Well, I hope to still be writing. Every time I finish a story, I worry that I have no more ideas, but then something sparks and ideas flood in. I hope to still be sharing those with readers in 10 years.

AdC: What have you wanted to write about that you haven’t? How high are your aspirations? Do you see anything you write being put on a screen?
TB: I do have an idea for a historical fiction series that I will work on when I have time in between my current commitments.... but other than that, I am writing what I want to write now! I tend to write emotional, character-driven stories that don’t necessarily translate well onto the big (or little) screen, but I do think a couple of my earlier time travels, with their action/adventure slant, would make great Sci-Fi (or SyFy as it’s called now) tv movies.

AdC: What is your next project?
TB: My projects-in-the-works are the middle books for my two new trilogies—I’ve turned in book 2 of my ‘Knights of Brittany’ series for Harlequin Historicals, a novella connected to my ‘Storm’ series and am now working on book 2 of my ‘Storm’ series for Kensington Brava.
My upcoming publication schedule includes the print edition of my short story A Night for Her Pleasure in the collection Pleasurably Undone from Harlequin Historicals in April 2010 and then the novella A storm of Love in the May 2010 Brava anthology Undone. A Storm of Pleasure is scheduled for release in October 2010 from Brava. And there will be a Harlequin Historicals book in there, too, sometime, so it will be a busy year for me!! Wooohooo!

AdC: Pass on some words of wisdom, please, to aspiring authors.
TB: Write...and write...and write some more. Never stop learning your craft or about the market/industry. Be ready to take advantage of opportunities that come your way by always writing! Read across the genre to know what’s going on. Write some more!
Thanks to Affaire de Coeur for this opportunity!