I started stalking Susan Kay Law website the second I saw in the coming soon section there would be a new book and yes, it was historical. And that was it, other than stay tuned. Like a good fan I joined her newsletter and crossed my fingers hoping it was a western. And waited. And waited.
Later there was BIG NEWS, things had changed and the next book would be a new direction for her, a new publisher and not historical. I posted, pouted and hoped for anything but Women’s Fiction, which is of course what it turned out to be. I decided not to read it cuz I am not a fan of women’s fiction, wanted a western, and was busy pouting.
Of course, I changed my mind, read the book a few months ago and Susan Kay Law was delightful enough to take time before her trip to answer some questions for us. Check out the end of the interview for Susan’s addition to a kickin’ summer.
When you sat down to write Just Sex, did you have any clear idea of where you were going? Do you feel you achieved your goals and wrote the book you wanted to? Is there anything you would do differently now or feel you could have done better?
I never have a clear idea when I sit down to write.
Though I did know a bit about what I wanted to explore. I wanted to play with the idea of whether sex can be just sex, or if it’s always something more, or whether we always want it to be. Also, I was working off the idea of this woman who thought she’d done everything right, who’d made all the right choices and worked really hard, and her life got all messed up anyway. What next? How do you go on, find new dreams, and find enough in you to keep going?
I’m pretty pleased with the book. I wouldn’t have minded a few more pages at the end; I think the last thirty pages or so might have been better expanded to forty or fifty.
Any chance of seeing these characters again because your ending is cruel. No really, you are a cruel, cruel woman and the only thing that saves it is the fact it fits the book perfectly (but ten or more pages would have fit it too *g*). Your writing is flat out wonderful and trust me I didn’t want to like this book. I would have been happy to pout and say back to westerns with you, which I will do anyway.
No current plans. Maybe I’ll write one of those “after the book” things for the website.
It just seemed like the right ending. Especially since one of the things that Ellen had to learn was that she can’t plan everything out and expect it to go according to plan.
This is your first contemporary novel or at least the first one you have published. What did you find different about the process? Do you think Just Sex was harder (pun intended 😉 ) to write than your American Historicals?
Oh, yeah, it was harder. Mostly because it was like: “yippee! I have no limits. I can write whatever I want.” And then “Crap! I have no limits.”
Mostly, it’s just that in romance, I know where I’m going. What to include is obvious: whatever moves forward the relationship between these two people. In Just Sex, it was harder to decide what was important to keep and what I could leave out.
Did you pick the title? Are you happy with it? And what about that tag… “Ellen just got handed the dream of half of the wives in America-her husband told her to have an affair. ”
Yeah, it was my title. It comes from the first line. It fits the book. Though I have to say I didn’t think it through all that much. I was at my publisher’s party at RWA, and met a young editor, and we were having a nice chat. After a couple of minutes, she stopped in mid-sentence, her jaw dropped, and she said – quite loudly – “You’re the just sex woman!”
There’s no way I can live up to that.
I have to tell you, if you haven’t already seen the post, I find that thought just so down right depressing. Is that really what every married woman wants?
When people read the book they’ll discover it’s not the heroine who says that, it’s her unattached and sexually adventurous best friend.
The heroine disagrees with her.
As to why they pulled out that line . . . I think just because it’s catchy. And because it sparks discussion, which is always a good thing.
Now that you have written the book, edited, edited, edited and all that you authors do to get to “The End”… how do you feel about the term “Just Sex“?
My own personal opinion?
Yes, I think it can be “just sex” for some people. Probably not for me, though, and I really wouldn’t want it to. I like that it matters.
You have completely jazzed up your site and cover photo to reflect a bolder, more contemporary Susan Kay Law. Is that something you meant to do? How do you feel about ‘branding’.
Yes, that was intentional. I loved my old website, and it fit those books; it was warm and cozy and very Americana. But the new books are contemporary and a little more sophisticated and urban. I wanted the website to reflect that. I didn’t want anybody to pick up the new book with the expectation that it was just like the old ones. I love those books, don’t get me wrong, but I think expectations are important. It can be a great book, but if it’s not what you’re in the mood for, it’s not going to hit the spot.
That’s the tricky thing about branding. You want to set up reader expectations, so they’ll pick you up when they’re looking for a certain experience. But as a writer you want to leave yourself some room to be creative and to try different things. Not to mention I don’t think most of us are very good at judging our own work, at figuring out what it is that readers respond to and sets us apart from everyone else.
Can you tell us about The Paper Marriage. I am assuming this is another contemporary novel.
Can we have a hint?
It’s about a woman whose husband has been in a coma for twelve years. She’s essentially been in stasis that whole time, unable to move forward or back, and then a guy and his troubled teenage daughter move in next door and it jolts her out of her narrow little space.
That makes it sound much more serious than it is, though. Serious theme, but not a particularly serious approach. Her mother and mother-in-law are both around, too, and you could not find two more different people.
That’s the one thing I really love about doing this kind of book: the freedom to truly explore other important relationship in the protagonist’s life.
When are you going to turn in a western to Berkley? You know they print those there… Do we have any hope of seeing you again in American historical form? Don’t just toy with us! Really it doesn’t HAVE to be Berkley, we are open to any publisher. No, really we are.
Sigh. I’d love to write another western, In the best of all possible worlds I’d do both, though I honestly don’t know if I write fast enough.
But the bald truth is that, right now, publishers don’t see any room for growth in American historicals. It’s a vicious circle; they’ll publish them, but they won’t sell them in with enthusiasm, or put much promotion behind them, making a purely business decision to use their resources on the type of books they believe have an upside.
But of course, when published without support, it’s no surprise that the books don’t show sales growth.
It’s awfully frustrating for a writer. Imagine liking your job, and being told you can continue to do it, but don’t ever expect a raise or promotion. So I chose to write something where I could get some publisher support. And I’ve always kept a file of ideas that don’t fit into historical romance. It’s fun to finally be able to write those books.
Susan will try and pop in to answer some questions, if she misses you, I will email them and post a follow up later. And she is giving away a copy of Just Sex! And not to give anything away, I was happy with the end, and think most romance readers would be as well. Try it! You just might be surprised how much you like it.
The winner will be picked from the comments in the post and will close Saturday June 9 @ midnight CST. I will email the winner (so leave an addy if you want to enter and don’t leave one if you don’t want to enter). If you already have the book or women’s fiction isn’t your bag, you are more than welcome to ‘gift’ the prize, in other words historical fans are welcome to comment and ask questions *g*. I forgot to ask if this is US only, so for now assume it is and I will follow up with Susan.
You can find an excerpt for Just Sex here or in the June Redbook as a Red Hot Read. Very nifty!
Thanks again to Susan for being so nice and willing to answer questions at the last minute!
From western to Women’s fiction is an interesting change. Honestly, the sentiment “just sex” isn’t one for me personally, either. But your book sounds like an interesting read.
This book sounds like a good read. I have read several of your historicals and loved them. Good to see you try a different genre.
So . . . would you all rather I pretend I’m not here, so you can say whatever you want without worrying about it, or should I stay, so I can answer questions?
Susie
feel free to answer away…
We are happy to talk about you while you are here *g*.
Well I’m fine with “just sex,” but then I’m a deviant.
Even as my heart whimpers a little with another western romance author moving on, it’s always exciting to see romance authors branch out to different audiences. Hey, romance readers are great – but it really says something when an author is able to “cross over.” More sales, more money, and more of a “presence” – for lack of a better descriptor.
Berkley has been a very good house for westerns of late. They have the Maureen McKade trilogy (which I hope is selling oodles!) and they’re about to release their 3rd (maybe 4th?) book from Ruth Ryan Langan this next month. So maybe there’s hope? A small glimmer of one?
“But the bald truth is that, right now, publishers don’t see any room for growth in American historicals. It’s a vicious circle; they’ll publish them, but they won’t sell them in with enthusiasm, or put much promotion behind them, making a purely business decision to use their resources on the type of books they believe have an upside.
But of course, when published without support, it’s no surprise that the books don’t show sales growth.”
As Sybil so eloquently puts it – Le Sigh! It’s very frustrating for us Western fans too that publishers don’t seem to market Westerns the way we feel they should. Some of my best reads are Westerns! And I love yours.
I don’t mind when an author moves in another direction for the most part. I know I wouldn’t want to be kept in a particular box, but when an author still WANTS to write in a particular genre in addition to others and isn’t encouraged too – it’s frustrating for both readers and authors alike!
I know. I remember how very, very sad I was when Pamela Morsi left historicals. I’m still sad about, in fact. Not that I don’t enjoy her new stuff – I do – but there’s nobody else doing what she was doing.
But I do understand it. Boy, do I understand it.
I just think romance in general would be served by a little more variety. Yeah, some of those books wouldn’t do very well. But some might really take off, and you keep readers interested by offering them choices.
Right now it’s a restaurant with a very narrow menu. The stuff that’s there is very good, but you know not to go there when you’re in the mood for certain things that aren’t on the menu.
Susie
Hi, Susan! I’m a big fan of your historicals, and I’m looking forward to giving JUST SEX a try!
I can’t be the only person who does this and I know authors hate to hear it but when I got Just Sex I read the last page first. Then read the last chapter… at this point I turned to page one and read the book.
I have alway thought of this as a ‘pulse check’ to make sure people I will come to care about all have a pulse at the end of the book.
And I have to say The Paper Marriage has me wondering. Pretty much what reading about Just Sex had me wondering. What kind of ending could this story have? I don’t suppose you wanna say if the husband has a pulse at the end of the story?
🙂
And speaking of endings, often an author misses hers. The book goes on and misses the point it should have stopped. And with a romance novel it is so much easier to see because you are working TOWARD the HEA. How did you decide where your ending was with Just Sex?
The thing is – how do you know when a particular author or genre will take off? Who’du thunk for example, that JR Ward would have such an impact with a bunch of urban talking/leather wearing vamps with very odd “h” filled names? I think any kind of book can take off. So to me, it makes more sense to offer variety and hope to catch that ‘first wave’ then to be riding the middle or tail end of one. If I were Queen of the Publishing World – I’d rather be in front of the pack leading the way than an also ran just hoping to place
(and boy did I mix my metaphors there!)
Kristie, I think you’ve got it exactly. I hereby annoit you queen!
Sybil, my good friend Connie Brockway does the exact same thing. Not looking for a pulse, but she says a lot of authors can START a book well, but fewer can bring it home. And so she checks before she commits.
Karen, thanks! Hope you like it!
Just sex isn’t for me personally either, but I do know people it works for. I’m intrigued enough to try this from what I’ve read so far. I’m not so much of a western fan, yet I’ve liked your books and writing, Susie – that encourages me to try an author when they switch genres. Getting older myself, some women’s fiction and stories older heroines appeals to me now.
BTW, I do like that Belafonte song, Skin to Skin. Interesting how the idea for the story came to you.
Sybil, re: the ending . . . I don’t know how I knew. Not much help, am I? But it seemed to me the story for her was about learning to let go of what she couldn’t control, about finding new dreams and being ready to go after them. Once she did, that was the end.
That’s an interesting question, actually. I wonder if I’ll have trouble with that in future books.
RE: the end of THE PAPER MARRIAGE. No, I’m not telling. But I will say that was the part that worried my editor the most, and she was ultimately very happy with it.
Pam, thank you! I hope you enjoy it. It’s not for everyone, and I knew that going in. However, I was very pleased with how the book came out, and I hope others will like it, too.
I had never heard that song before that night. It really struck me at the time.
Susie
Susie
“But it seemed to me the story for her was about learning to let go of what she couldn’t control, about finding new dreams and being ready to go after them. Once she did, that was the end.”
That’s so true for many women today, so in a women’s fiction contemp like this I’m more liable to expect, and accept, that type of HEA. Nice to hear you went for it anyway, not expecting all to go for it.
Hi Sybil,
Can you recommend some westerns. I picked up The Wanted Man by Susan Kay Law and I’m not sure who else to try. I like them hot but it does have to have a good story (sarah mccarthy). I’ve been thinking of trying Diane Whiteside, but I noticed her books have not gotten good reviews. Appreciate any recs, love your website !!
sandra
But of course… I have an older post with a run down of all Susan Kay Law’s books I have read here. A steamy yet good western read I would recommend Beth Williamson, should have many links on the blog. She is an Samhain author with an excellent western series out. And if you don’t like ebooks I know at least the first few are in print. Start with The Bounty. There should be a link here to my review on AAR.
As well as Shannon Stacey has an ebook debuting today at Samhain, I got it a few days ago and haven’t read it yet as I am reading HH! So if you get to it first let me know, it is just in eform right now.
Lorraine Heath has an amazing out of print series Texas Glory, Destiny and Splendor ( I think those are out of order). Maureen McKade has some great books her most recent A Reason To Live came out last Aug and her next comes out this Aug, A Reason To Believe. ARTL is a heavy read that deals with the aftermath of the civil war and two people trying to get on with their lives.
I have a migraine and am in a rush so please excuse lack of links and there are prolly mispelled names up there. I will check back later and fix *g*.
As well as we have three western HH authors on blog! Cheryl St. John, Elizabeth Lane and Pam Crooks. Each have excellent stories but I would say more on the sweet to mid-steam level. I can’t really think of any HOT HH. Although I want to say one just got a Hot rating at AAR but I read it and didn’t notice it. I am thinking it was Kate Bridges last book or could have been Jenna. Again I will have to check. That should get you started though!