Meet Rebecca Boschee

I'm back again - interviewing another terrific Avalon writer, Rebecca Boschee. Publisher's Weekly called Rebecca's first novel, MULLIGAN GIRL, "a snappy, hole-in-one romantic comedy".

QUESTION: What prompted you to become a writer?

Honestly, I think I was born a writer and just finally decided to come out
of the closet. I've been writing stories for fun since the third grade. Like
reading, writing makes me feel good. It's hard work but very rewarding to
have a story come together - especially when you can make someone laugh or
fall in love between your pages.

Q: What part of writing do you find most satisfying?

Getting to define myself on my own terms. No matter what ups and downs the
economy brings, writing is cheap (cheaper than therapy, some of my
colleagues might say) and fulfilling. I only lose my dream if I'm the one
who decides to let it go.

Q: What part do you find most difficult?

Forging past the 30,000 word 'high'. It's easy for me to think of story
ideas I love, and those first 30,000 words just rush from my fingertips. I'm
the master of the half-started novel. But when it comes to plowing through
the rest to get a solid first draft to work with, that's tough. It requires
conscious focus and self-discipline (glue-my-rear-in-the-chair-and-don't-leave-until-I-type-at-least-1,000-words-stuff) for me to finish. Once I make it, I do a happy dance though, because to me the revision stage is a lot more fun.

Q: Tell us about your upcoming Avalon release.

MULLIGAN GIRL is a romantic comedy about a young woman who has a job as a
Customer Experience assessor--which basically means she gets to spend
company cash to buy fancy stuff then evaluate the beginning to end service
experience. As part of her job she has to pretend she's married. That's all
fine and dandy until she stages a customer dispute over the phone with the
golf pro manager of a local upscale resort, then later discovers he's a
super sexy hunk. She falls for him, but he thinks she's married. With the
help of her BFF, she comes up with a ruse to get know him better without
revealing her secret. There are (I hope) some pretty humorous results. The
'official' write up and an excerpt from the novel can be found on my website
for anyone who might want to check it out. The book releases on February 24,
2010.

Q: Do you have other projects in the works?

Just those dozen or so half-started novels I mention above! I do have other
completed works though: one other romance, a young adult paranormal, and an
urban fantasy that is undergoing edits. Everything I write has romance at
the center. I'm crazy about that feeling of falling in love.

Q: What other authors do you especially admire?

This is a very tricky question because I admire them all. I admire anyone
who works toward a dream guaranteed to produce at least some painful
rejection, yet not guaranteed to produce any reward.

Q: What do you do when you're not writing?

When I'm not writing or at my day job, I read like a fiend. Aside from that,
I try to spend time with my family doing things like bike riding, watching
movies, playing games. My 2010 resolution is to find better work-life
balance overall.

Q: Do you have a set schedule for writing or do you squeeze it in whenever
you can?

Both. I try to write before and after dinner every day, then at least five
or six hours on the weekends. I make sure I write at least 20 hours a week -
like I would a part time job. Most weeks it's a lot more than that though,
because I do try to squeeze it in when I can.

Q: What refreshes you creatively?

First and foremost: Reading. It's like a trip to the spa and I only have to
make it to the couch (and it's a lot cheaper!). Chocolate helps too. And
Coke zero. Cheetos sometimes.

Thanks, Rebecca, for sharing your thoughts with us and good luck with MULLIGAN GIRL.