1. Where did the idea come for Love on the Edge of Tomorrow come from?
It was a combination of things. One evening, I was out riding my horse home later than usual and the woods got so dark it was spooky and disorienting—thank heavens my horse knew the way home. Another time, I had a dream about riding through those self-same woods and coming home to an unfamiliar house, where my house was supposed to be. When I awakened, I thought it would make a great time-travel scenario and sort of filed it away.
Years later, a Tor-Forge editor was visiting RWA chapters asking romance writers to consider writing novels with a sci-fi or time-travel backdrop; however, a significant political issue or world-at-risk scenario had to be a large part of the plot. I began actively thinking about how I could do something like that.
One day it occurred to me that if humans established a colony on another planet, it might not be anything like the high-tech future usually envisioned. Technology requires an enormous amount of infrastructure to be created and sustained. If you are traveling 10 or 11 light-years through space, you can’t take much with you. Living conditions on the planet would hardly resemble the technological society the colony left behind.
2. What genre does it fall under?
Technically speaking, it’s an upper-end (older teen) young adult time-travel romance, although it’s certainly not limited to teen readers.
3. What is a one sentence synopsis of your book?
A coed discovers she’s the missing crown princess of a planet in the far-flung future, mired in the past.
4. What else about the book might pique a reader’s interest?
The mysterious secret that brought the Cambrian matriarchy into power, and the real reason behind the rebellion against the monarchy.
5. Which actors would you choose to play your main characters?
I’ve always pictured Hugh Jackman in the role of the rebel leader. But I think the role of the heroine or Prince Amatheon and Prince Lorcan could be played by good, but relatively unknown young actors. If any of my readers have a favorite actor they’d like to see play a particular character, I’m open to suggestions.
6. How long did it take you to write the first draft?
It took over two years to complete the book. I revised and polished as I went along. I also entered the early chapters in several contests, and took the judges’ critiques to heart. But I’ve learned since then that it’s better to complete your first draft before trying to polish it.
7. What inspired you to self-publish LET?
My stories don’t fit into neat category boxes. Fewer and fewer publishers are accepting submissions from authors without agents; and fewer and fewer agents want to see more than the just a first chapter and a short synopsis—if that. My stories tend to have complex elements which flow well as the story unfolds, but are difficult to explain adequately in a short synopsis. Thus it’s hard to convey a real sense of the story. However, an Orange County RWA contest judge gave me very high scores, yet still apologized for being picky. She said that, although she didn’t normally read this type of story, she was looking forward to reading the rest of it when it was published. I had impressed someone who was a published author herself, and did not even read this genre. I suffered a serious head injury that year. After that I was determined to see at least one of my books in print, even if I had to publish it myself.
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