Claire Cross is the talented author of numerous novels, both straight historical romances and a growing number of magical romances.

Writing under the names of Cross and Delacroix it is a pleasure to welcome her to the Magical Romance Reading Website and I would like to thank her for agreeing to be one of the first authors interviewed for these pages.
 
 

LB    First of all could you tell us a little about yourself as an introduction to the visitors to my site.

CC    Well, I've been writing romance since about 1990, and sold my first book in 1992 (which was published a year later). All in all, I wrote eleven medievals for Harlequin Historicals and by the end
of this year will have four books and a novella in print with Jove
(w/a Claire Cross) and three medievals from Dell.

I live in Canada with my husband, and we both love to travel as often (and as far) as possible. I write full time, spend a lot of time in libraries and do needlework in my spare time. I'm also a pretty avid gardener - in the winter, there are seed catalogues everywhere!
 

LB    What current projects are you working on?
What can we expect to see on the shelves of the stores in the coming months?

CC    Right now, I'm finishing THE HEIRESS, the third and final book in my Bride Quest trilogy. It's the story of the youngest Fitzgavin brother, Rowan, who challenges everyone's preconceptions - he's keeping me hopping with this book, too. Always off doing something unpredictable!

It's a lot of fun and I'm enjoying it too much to rush. <g>

This year is another busy year for releases for me.

First of all, the second Bride Quest book THE DAMSEL, is coming from Dell in March. This is the story of Burke de Montvieux, a knight in shining armor if ever there was one. Unfortunately the damsel in distress he intends to rescue isn't sure she wants to be saved - at least not by him.

Next will be LOVE POTION #9, a Claire Cross book coming from Jove in July (on sale in June, actually.) This is a contemporary, set in Toronto - the heroine is an immortal tarot-card toting fortuneteller, the hero is an investigative journalist who doesn't believe in the Unseen.  Unfortunately for him, she thinks he's her destined lover finally returned. This book was very challenging to write - each chapter is named after a tarot card (from the major arcana) and what happens in the chapter is something that falls under the realm of that card. And yes, I took them in order!

After that will be THE MOONSTONE, a Claire Cross timetravel, coming from Jove in October (again, it will be on sale the month before). In this one, the heroine is innocent of the charge of witchcraft brought against her but sentenced to die anyway. The tough knight escorting her to the executioner gives her a chance to wish upon her pendant, never imagining anything will come of it. He's wrong - she disappears right before his eyes! - and as a man concerned with right and wrong, he takes on the task of bringing this witch back to face her sentence. It's a bit tougher than he expects.

And December 1999 will mark the release of THE HEIRESS. That would be the Bride Quest book I'm still racing to finish!
 

LB    You write under two different names (Cross and Delacroix).  Could you tell us a little about each pseudonym?  ie.  the differences in writing styles and why you chose to write under more than one name.

CC    Claire Delacroix writes medievals and has written medievals for a while.  Maybe one of these days I'll write in another historical period, but I am fascinated by the middle ages and have found plenty to play with there. <g>

I also am really interested in fiction with fantasy elements and did
write three historical fantasy romances for Harlequin - THE SORCERESS, THE MAGICIAN'S QUEST and ENCHANTED. I found these stories really challenging - because there are fewer "rules" although somehow the author has to make these fantastic elements seem plausible. On the marketing side, fantasy romance is harder to sell, apparently because readers either love it or hate it. And it's a smaller market than the "straight" romances. So, when Jove began investing in the fantasy romance market, it seemed sensible to move my fantasy romances there, and separate them from the medievals. The first book they bought (THE LAST HIGHLANDER, although it was printed second) was a contemporary, so I chose to use Claire Cross on these contemporary fantasy romances - - to distinguish them from the historical, "straight" Delacroix work. The names are close enough that people seem to make the connection, yet still separate my work into two categories pretty easily.

This wasn't my idea, btw. I looked in bookstores and saw that authors like Jayne Ann Krentz and Nora Roberts were using
separate names to separate their work. It seemed like a good idea!
 

LB    Where do you find the inspiration for your novels and what do you like to read yourself?

CC    I don't know where inspiration comes from. It just shows up and starts talking! Ideas really do seem to "come out of the blue". It's always been that way for me and I think it's that way for most writers - at least, writers of fiction. Storytellers think in stories.

I read just about everything - have been known to read the dictionary!

My favorite authors change constantly - one of the things I particularly enjoy as a reader is to be surprised. Because I write fiction and read a lot of books about structure and storytelling, I'm
always trying to guess what will happen next (and am lousy company at the movies, as a result!) Maybe that's why authors who weave in fantasy elements are among my favorites - Angela Carter, Robertson Davies, Salman Rushdie, J.R.R. Tolkien, Sharon Shinn. etc etc. There's an element of unpredictability in their work that I find appealing.

I also enjoy the work of authors who have too much fun with words - people like Tom Robbins. Maybe because my mother always said you should learn a new word from every book you read - and authors like this have enormous vocabularies. Okay, and he makes me laugh, too! :-D
 

LB    Which novel did you enjoy writing the most and why?

CC    Well, here's a little secret - I don't surrender any book to my
publisher until I'm convinced it's the best thing I've ever done. For a
brief shining moment, each one of them is my favorite - - until the next one is completed!
 

LB    Do you have any tips for all those would be writers of romance fiction?

CC : -

• Read a lot, and don't just read romance. A broader view of the fiction market will give your work more scope and open your thinking to other possibilities.

• Learn to write well. The market is very tough and not forgiving of a lack of technical skill, particularly among new authors.

• Research the market, the publishers, the agents etc before you submit.

 
In a competitive environment, those who have done their homework stand out.
 
 
• Find your voice and hone it.

• Don't be afraid to take chances. "Fresh" is what'sselling, not the tried and true.

LB    What do you picture yourself as doing if you were not writing romance novels?

CC    Digging in my garden (although there's not much income in that!) Writing something else. Fantasy, maybe, or mystery. Delving
further into creative needlework - designing sweaters or making
art quilts. Something creative!
 

LB    I have to say that I think your website is by far the best author site I have visited.  It is very inventive and stands out above the rest as a beautiful and interesting site which a lot of work has obviously gone into.  Where did you come up with the idea, how did you go about putting it together and what sort of a reaction have you had from the visitors to your pages?

CC    Thank you! (Hey, maybe I could become a webmistress....! <g>)

Several things happened at once - first, I wanted a website because it seemed like a good way to reach readers (better than mailings and print ads). Second, I went to a conference in the midst of musing about this and heard Jennifer Crusie talk about setting up an author website. One thing she said really stuck --"if we're such creative people, why do we have such boring websites?" Hmm.

That in mind, I surfed around looking at sites, then had the idea for the chateau. I wasn't certain it could be done, so played with the software myself. The original plan was to hire a webmaster but soon I was ordering a scanner!  It's addictive work. <g> People really seem to like the site - they cruise around and they come back, which is the whole point.
 

LB    Of all the sub-genres of romance you have written for, which do you find the most challenging by way of research,
and do you have any interesting research experiences you can share with us?

CC    I love research, so don't ever find it challenging.  It's a fascinating part of the process of creating a book. Probably the
best experience for me was after writing HONEYED LIES - the hero and heroine were Jews (the book is set in Islamic Spain right at the time of the Reconquista) and I was very worried about getting religious details right. When the advance reading copies went out, the reviewer for Romantic Times called me up to ask whether I was Jewish or not. Turned out that she's Jewish and everything was perfect in the book, so she wondered whether I was too.  We had a good laugh about it - - and I was VERY relieved! :-)
 

LB    Do you have a message for all the romance readers out there?

CC    Maybe just a big WAVE!  :-D

Oh, and drop by the Chateau for some mead when you have a moment.
 

Waving back from the gates I would like to once again thank Claire for this great interview and will be happy to stop by for some mead and gossip in the kitchens of the Chateau.
 

Links to  Online Stores

Books by Claire Cross:  The Last Highlander, Love Potion #9 and Once Upon a Kiss.

Visit  Claire Cross's Grotto