Susan, what first inspired you to start writing?

Susan Mallery Hi, Margarita. Thanks for the question. :)

From the time I was a little girl, I loved reading, but it wasn't until I was in college studying to be an accountant that I discovered writing. I was taking a full course load of classes toward my degree, but I kept seeing this flyer for an evening adult ed class called "How to write a romance novel." I felt it pulling at me for months. Finally, I told myself, the teacher isn't going to teach that class forever. If you want to do it, you need to do it now, even though you're way too busy with "real" classes.

So I signed up for the class. And I thought, if I'm going to take a class about how to write a novel, I'd better start writing one. I was so proud of myself, going in that first day with a few chapters already written, and then this smart aleck in front of me pulls out a 900-page completed manuscript! (That was Teresa Southwick, and we're still close friends.)

By week six of the class, I knew this was what I wanted to do. I used to think writers had to be exotic and live in France and wear turtlenecks, so when I realized this was something I could do, and that I could make a career of it, I was thrilled.

I had to talk to my recruiter to tell him thank you for the job offer (with benefits!), but I'm going to be a romance writer. Much to my surprise, he didn't mock me. He told me that he wrote fantasy but had never had the courage to do anything with it. He said if I didn't sell anything within two years, I could come back to him, and he'd give me a job. That was May of 1990. By August, after many rejections, I sold my first book. In January, I sold my second. They both came out in January of 1992.

One of the best things I've ever done was to sign up for that class, to take a chance on myself. :) It changed the trajectory of my life.

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