Romance Author Christiane France on Why She Writes

WHY DO I WRITE?


Because I can? Because it’s the safest way of doing things I’d never have the guts to do otherwise? Because I want to show off my writing skills? Because I need to do something with my hands other than umm…err…well, you know, doing whatever there is to relieve the boredom of endless TV?  Or is it because I’m hoping for fame, fortune, instant recognition, and maybe having my books made into movies?

Actually, it’s none of the above. I write because I have a continuing and compulsive need to create something, anything, be it a new recipe, a new story idea, a new knitting pattern, or crochet design. So long as it starts off with a tiny grain of inspiration and ends up as a full blown successful whatever, I’m happy.

I also love to write (and that’s a crazy, mad, love it to death emotion not just a lukewarm  like) because I’ve discovered being a pantser rather than a plotter is way more fun. I take a couple of characters, give them names and occupations, set them down somewhere in the world, and then I wind them up and watch them go. Like all infants, they need momma’s guiding hand for the first few steps, but once they realize they can walk, talk and do just about anything up to and including the ever so slightly illegal, they turn the tables and start telling me what to do. And that’s probably the part I like the best—when a character digs in his/her heels and says, no way, no how am I doing that, so there! Which, of course, is my cue to say, “Okay, sweet pea, and how would you like to do it?”


Of course there are times when none of us are sure whether to turn left, right or continue straight on. That’s when I have to start digging around for even more ideas. I just finished a story where I was having the worst problem trying to figure out the ending. I wanted something that said forever in a very special way. The two guys couldn’t come up with anything and neither could I, so I took the evening off and went to the movies. And, of course, you guessed it, something happened toward the end of the show that gave me a shot of pure inspiration.

I can hear you saying, what was it? What happened? Well, first you have to watch the movie Valentine’s Day, and then read my book The Cop and the Drifter when it comes out later this year (I’ve just heard it will be the weekend of May 30, 2010), I hope you get the connection because it was such a perfect moment in the movie and, I hope, the perfect one for my story. 


Christiane France truly believes that love makes the world go round, so she likes stories with both happy and bittersweet endings. Christiane has been writing romance for the past twenty years and lives near Niagara Falls with her husband and The Boys—two black and white Persian cats. Visit her on the web. Buy Christiane's latest, Independence Day, here.


Independence Day Synopsis
The perfect plan for success, or a guaranteed recipe for disaster?

It sounded like such a simple, mutually beneficial arrangement when the idea was hatched over drinks in a bar late one night. A little short-term pain for long-term gain, or so Nick’s ambitious boyfriend, Al, believed. If Nick would take a back seat while Al played the doting husband to Missy, daughter of the town’s leading lawyer for a couple of months, Al’s lifelong dream of a partnership with Hilldale & Partners would finally be achieved. In return, Missy would be out from under her daddy’s thumb, free to follow her own alternative lifestyle. And then, after a short interval, Nick and Al could pick up where they left off, and everyone would live happily ever after.
As far as spur-of-the-moment plans went, this one sounded perfect.

What could possibly go wrong?

NOTE: Don't miss the sequel, Independence Day II, available April 2010!