Frequently Asked Questions

When is the next book coming out?
What book are you working on now?
Where do you get your ideas?
How long does it take you to write a book?
Who comes up with the titles for your books?
How are the books connected?
Will you ever write another medieval?
How long did it take you to get published?
How did you start writing romance?
Do you have any writing tips?
When you're not writing, what do you do?
So what pets do you have?

If you have any other questions, just let me know!

When is the next book coming out?

The next book is the third in my new Victorian trilogy "Sons of Scandal," and the title is Never Marry a Stranger. It's being published in September 2009. The trilogy is about three cousins, descendants of scandalous parents, and the ways they try to avoid--or jump into--their own scandals. The third book in the trilogy is about Matthew, long thought dead, who returns from the army to find a woman pretending to be his widow.  You can also read the medievals I'm writing under the name Julia Latham. Secrets of the Knight hit the shelves in September 2008.

What book are you working on now?

I'm beginning to plot my newest trilogy, "Daughters of Scandal," about the three female cousins featured in "Sons of Scandal." As Julia Latham, I'm writing my fifth medieval, called Pursued and Pleasured.

Where do you get your ideas?

From everywhere.  Sometimes an interesting piece of historical research just makes me think, "Aha!" like when I wrote my second trilogy set during the Spanish Armada (His Betrothed, His Scandal, His Bride).  I imagined a Spanish sailor washing up on English shores when the Armada broke up, then I decided to make him a double agent, so he's really British not Spanish...and it went from there.  I came up with the trilogy idea for "The Sisters of Willow Pond" (The Lord Next Door, The Duke In Disguise, The Viscount In Her Bedroom) because I really wanted to write a governess story and a lady's companion story.  Of course, there has to be a reason that our heroines would have to work these jobs, so...they're penniless.  Then I ask why, and the questions just start coming.  Then they had to have a third sister, because I love to write trilogies.  I didn't want the third heroine to work, so she's the one who has to find a husband, fast.

How long does it take you to write a book?

Three to five months--depending on how fast my publisher wants it! And now that I write as two people, I have 2-3 books out a year.

Me or my publisher--or my husband!  I'm eight out of fifteen at this point.  I came up with The Darkest Knight, My Lady's Guardian, His Scandal, His Bride, A Woman's Innocence, The Lord Next Door, The Duke In Disguise, and Never Dare a Duke.  My editors came up with A Knight's Vow, His Betrothed, No Ordinary Groom,  The Beauty and the Spy, and Never Trust a Scoundrel. We'll have to split the credit for a couple titles. I was going to call it The Baron in Her Bedroom, and my editor liked The Viscount in Her Bedroom. She thought it sounded sexier! You just have to find what sells, and often the publishers know best! Also Never Marry a Stranger was discovered brainstorming with my editor AND my agent.

I wrote a special page on this.  Click here.

Gayle will continue writing Victorians, but my pseudonym, Julia Latham, is writing medievals. Sometimes she feels like another person! The third Julia Latham,  Secrets of the Knight, was published in September 2008. Check out the gorgeous cover on the other website.

Thirteen years! Yes, I know, it's a long time.  My third complete book, The Darkest Knight, was the one that sold.  The first two books will stay in their boxes.  I learned so much about writing from them!  Most of us have to practice before we sell.  And I wasn't writing full time through these thirteen years.  When something wasn't working, I just used to put it aside for weeks or months at a time.  Now I only have the luxury of a day or two to angst, then I darn well better figure out the problem!

Because I loved to read them, of course!  In high school, a friend brought Kathleen Woodiwiss's Shanna to a slumber party, and while the rest of the girls slept, I read all night long.  Before that, I read science fiction, but once I found historical romance, I never looked back.  Since I'd been writing science fiction stories about teenagers for a few years by then, it was just natural for me to start trying my hand at historical romance.  But it wasn't until I was married, with babies who napped, that I decided that if I really wanted to be published, it was time to start.  When I was in the middle of my second manuscript, I found Romance Writers of America and our local chapter The Central NY Romance Writers.  I never would have been published without the advice and support of my fellow writers.

If you want to write, find a writers' group to join.  I found The Central NY Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America, both of which taught me so much!  Through these groups, I took classes, attended conferences, had individual appointments with editors and agents.  I met my agent at a conference that my own chapter put on.  But the most important thing you must do is write.  Don't wait for that "perfect" moment, or for when you're done with your research (I did that for a YEAR before a friend finally said, "Shouldn't you just start to write?").  Putting your butt in the chair every day keeps you in the world of your story, and makes your ideas flow.  Even if you can only sneak in one hour a day to write one page, that's an entire first draft by the time a year is done.  You can do it!

Everything I like to do is listed on my Fun Stuff page.  I've also rediscovered my love of crocheting, when those fuzzy scarves became big a couple years ago. Since then, I've crocheted several blankets, and a table runner.  Right now I'm working on a mantel runner to match the table runner.  My husband has decided we're going to start training in a two-person canoe so we can race. God forbid we do anything just for recreation! But racing will be fun. I'd like to travel more and read more some day. I have two kids to visit in NYC, and my youngest child is in college. 

When my son still lived at home, our house used to be a menagerie.  We had gerbils (and lots of babies!!), tiger salamanders, geckos, and poison dart frogs--I'm sure I'm forgetting something.  But now we only have Apollo, our first dog, whom we've had for five years.  He's a lab/boxer mix, who's the joy of our household.  He keeps me healthy because God forbid it be one o'clock and we haven't walked yet.  He follows me around the house pathetically, giving me that wide-eyed alert look as if to say, "Don't you get it?  We're supposed to WALK!"  He loves to lay around on the furniture, all 80 pounds of him.  He props his head on pillows where ever he can find them.   

Apollo giving the "questioning" look.



To the left is Uma, our son's dog, who often spends time with us. You wouldn't
know it from this photo, but she's half the size of Apollo.
They get along so well together, and we love having her.

Apollo and his favorite playmate Higgins--Higgins wants to rest, but Apollo wants to keep playing!