Author Interview: LIZ TALLEY

Happy weekend, booklovers! Our guest today is contemporary romance author Liz Talley, here to talk to us about her debut novel Vegas Two Step (coming this June from Harlequin Superromance!). Welcome, Liz! (Applause!)

What inspired you to write your current release?

Funny story on this book. At the time I conceived the idea for Vegas Two Step, writing contemporaries wasn’t even on my radar. I was at RWA’s 2007 conference. It was my first and I made myself dizzy going to workshops. I’d met Joanne Rock over dinner and decided to hit her workshop given by the Blaze Sr. editor, Joanne, and Tawny Weber. It was on queries.

I had no clue, but obviously Brenda Chin (editor) allowed attendees to pass up a one line pitch on a piece of paper. Everyone started digging out their pre-typed neat pitches and passing them forward. Now there is one thing about me that’s just….well, part of me. I’m competitive. No way I let opportunity pass me by just because I had no pitch and didn’t even write anything remotely similar to Blaze.

So what to do? Well, I’d watched my roommate slip some knee-high hosiery on that morning and had the thought, “Why the hell is she wearing those with sandals?” Her prerogative, of course, but it was Dallas-hot that day. So I made up something about a librarian caught wearing knee-high hose with her sandals going to Vegas, getting a makeover and falling in love with a cosmopolitan club owner. It was a horrible pitch, scratched onto a torn piece of paper…and not worded particularly well.

Still the idea niggled at me. That night while my knee-high clad roomie went to dance it up at the Harlequin party, I wrote the first chapter of the book. And I LOVED it! Vegas Two Step was born.

How important is the setting/world in your books?

The world I’ve created in my books is a fictional town in East Texas. The town is, for all purposes, a character itself. One of my characters describes it as “bucolic Texas countryside framing ten square miles of hypocrites and busybodies all wrapped up in a Norman Rockwell-style package tied with a gingham bow.” But, of course, she doesn’t much care for the stifling nature of a small Southern town – one founded by my heroine’s great, great grandfather.

The novel starts in Oak Stand, Texas, and ends there as well. With rolling hills, pine trees and very interesting characters, it’s a town I wouldn’t mind living in even with a member of the Oak Stand Baptist Church peeking over my fence.

What was your path to publication?

It was a pretty straight-forward path. I pitched this book to my editor when she came to my local chapter’s conference. At that time, I’d nearly completed the book, but didn’t feel like it was absolutely ready to query. But Wanda Ottewell had a pitch cancel and my friends working the editor/agent desk shoved me her way. So let me stop here and say this: my editor is wonderful. And I sincerely mean it. She was so easy to pitch to. She requested a partial and I had that ready and polished because I’d started entering it in contests. I mailed it off in April of 2008. Nearly seven months later, I received a letter from her. Basically, it was my first revision letter. She wanted it sexier (for Blaze) and said if I could make those changes to send her the full. I’m no dummy, so I made the book sexier and sent it her way in January of 2009.

On Good Friday, I received an email from her. It basically said, “Good job with the changes, BUT she’d like to see it pursued as a Superromance. So she wanted it revised again in order to become in tune with her line. So again, no dummy. I bought up every Superromance I could find and starting reading. At the same time, I axed a lot of my sex scenes (not all) and focused on making the story more emotional. I delivered that manuscript in June. On September 19th, I arrived home to see “Harlequin Enterprises” on my caller ID. I tried to play it cool, but my fingers trembled when I dialed the number. Needless to say, it was a fantastic day for me. She gave me the news that they wanted to acquire it, and I hung up and started crying. My whole family celebrated that night with cake and champagne. It was awesome.

If one of your characters came knocking on your door, how would you react?

If Jack came knocking, well, let’s just say I’d want to look my best (unlike Nellie when she first meets him). He’s a good looking guy – grew up on a dairy, played baseball and worked himself up to owning hot night clubs in Vegas and LA. I’d probably let him mix the drinks ‘cause he’s a cosmopolitan kinda guy, then we’d talk about why his favorite team (St. Louis Cardinals) is stinking it up this year.

If Nellie came, I’d probably get her advice on some of the flowers I just planted. She’s a homebody who loves to garden, can, crochet, and birdwatch. She’s like your grandmother, without the wrinkles…and with a kickass body. She’d know all the latest gossip, but probably wouldn’t tell me. Because that would be crass. And Nellie is never crass. Well, almost never.

Thank you, Liz, for sharing the inside scoop on Vegas Two-Step! Today, one lucky commenter will win a $15 Borders Gift Card. Enjoy the spring weekend, booklovers!