Interview with Nancy Warren for #LLC2015

Hi, we are Aurian and Freya, and today we have Nancy Warren visiting us here in Utrecht, Holland.



Of course you want to know, what is LLC 2015? It is short for LoveLetter Convention 2015, and it takes place in Berlin, Germany, on May 2 and 3, 2015. There are lots of German authors attending, but there are also some really nice (and famous!) authors from America, Canada, England and Australia.

We had a blast in the previous 3 years, and to add to the advance fun of the event, we have decided to do some interviews with the authors we will be meeting. Some of them are attending for the first time; others had a great time in a previous year and are coming again! So if you have the opportunity to visit Berlin for some sightseeing, why not attend the convention as well? Or let your family do the sightseeing, and you do the convention. If you want to check it out, here is a link to the website:
http://www.loveletterconvention.com/en/

Nancy Warren is one of the Canadian romance authors attending. She attended last year for the first time, and enjoyed herself so much, she is visiting again this year. And we love to see her again as we was a lot of fun to hang out with!

Nancy is the author of fun contemporary romance, steamier romance, some mysteries and woman’s fiction. We have read a few of her books now and really enjoy her writing style and sense of humor.

Aurian: Welcome to Utrecht, Nancy. Would you like something hot to drink in this cold weather? Hot chocolate with whipped cream, tea or coffee? And of course some Dutch cookies.

Nancy: I would love some hot chocolate with whipped cream and can I have some of those delicious cookies you put in my goodie bag last year? They were sensational! Half the fun of the LoveLetter convention last year was meeting both of you and your lovely friends. I’m so looking forward to seeing you again soon!

Aurian:Of course we will bring you some “stroopwafels” again Nancy!


Freya:: Can you tell our readers who might not yet know you or your books, a little about yourself? Something that is not in your official bio (which is at the bottom of this post).

Nancy: I’m not sure if you know this, but I am a Jane Austen fan. I dressed in Regency costume and attended the Jane Austen Society of North America’s conference when it was in Vancouver. There was a ball and we danced, so I felt like an extra in the Pride and Prejudice movie and expected Colin Firth to ask me to dance! Once, when I was working in corporate communications I was sent to a big city ( I won’t say which one as I don’t want to get anyone in trouble) to interview the police chief. On my way out of the building I got chatting with a couple of cops who invited me to a murder scene. I am not kidding! The body was gone, but the um, blood and chaos were still there. They were going to check on the fingerprint results, I think. Anyway, I wasn’t a novelist then, but later, when I began to write mystery, that scene came in handy.

LLC questions

Aurian: You have been to the convention last year, in 2014 and it was really nice to meet you in person. What are some of your impressions?

Nancy: I was impressed at the friendliness of everyone at the conference. I wish I spoke German! It was great fun to have conversations going on in two languages. I loved the fun events as much as the panels and workshops. I can’t tell you how many people said, ‘oh, you have to meet the Dutch bloggers’. Now I know why.

Aurian:blushes!

Freya:: Are there big differences between the more well-known American conventions and this LoveLetter Convention? We both would love to visit America one day and attend the Romantic Times Convention or Readers after Dark, but for now that is a distant dream so we are very happy that the Love Letter Convention is so close to home.

Nancy: I think every conference has its own personality. Love Letter has a wonderful inclusive feel to it. Considering it was my first time last year, I was impressed at how welcome I felt immediately. I hope you do come to North America one day. We’d love to have you!!

Aurian: Did you do some sightseeing in Berlin last year? If so, what did you admire the most?

Nancy: I noticed right away that it’s an artsy city full of young people. I loved strolling the streets and enjoying the vibe of the outdoor cafes and restaurants, the culture. I went to three of the five museums (is it five?) on Museum Island and probably was the most dazzled by Nefertiti. As famous as she is, you still can’t believe how amazing she is up close. I got shivers down the back of my neck.

Freya:: If a person visiting Berlin for the convention could only see one monument/famous building/historical place, what would you recommend?

Nancy: I wish I’d seen more. I certainly enjoyed museum island. I found some great boutiques for clothing. I wanted to see the Brandenburg gate and got lost. I am going to take a couple of extra days this time and try to see more.

Book questions

Aurian: The first book I read was “Kiss a girl in the rain” which you gave me in Berlin last year. I enjoyed it a lot, a man searching for his lost dreams. Are you going to write a story about all his many (foster/adopted)siblings?

Nancy: Clearly, I need to bring you more books when I come back! Yes, I’ve already got the next two published. Iris in Bloom and Blueprint for a Kiss. The fourth Take a Chance book, Every Rose should be out in a couple of weeks. It’s so much fun to write about a big family because you have the opportunity to really get into the characters and check back in with the earlier couples in later books. I’m having a great time writing these books.

Freya:: I have read your Last Bachelor Standing books, and really enjoyed them. Especially how the men are interacting together. The banter and the friendly insults, but they are still having each other’s backs. Do you have male friends or relatives you model this after?

Nancy: I do have male friends who are like this. I hike a lot and you get to see the same people when they are challenged, but also having fun, so I enjoy watching the interaction of guys when they’re together. Some are very competitive, some joke around all the time, but there’s an unspoken rule that everybody watches out for everyone else.

Aurian: I recently read your Bad Boys Down Under trilogy, and that was a lot of fun. You told me the rights have reverted back to you, and you have re-published them. Do book rights always come back to the author after a certain amount of time? Or does the publisher “keep them” as long as the books are profitable?

Nancy: That depends on the publisher and the contract. Ten years ago, no one knew that ebooks would be so popular or that getting rights back would be such a big deal. I was very pleased that Kensington books were so reasonable to deal with. Most of the books have now reverted to me and I have the opportunity to update them so they are contemporary again. It’s amazing how quickly fashions change and books get dated. Terms like Palm Pilot and Myspace really don’t work in 2015. Bad Boys Downunder is now The Crane Series, with Sun Kissed, Sea Kissed and Star Kissed as the titles and contemporary new covers. I loved being able to update those novellas. I even laughed a few times at funny lines I’d forgotten I wrote. That was kind of cool.

Freya:: You write category romance for Harlequin, and “normal” romance. Is there a difference in the way you are writing the books? Do you have more or less freedom in how you write them?

Nancy: Hmm, that’s an interesting question. What’s wonderful about writing for Harlequin is having a fantastic editor who works with me to make the book the best it can be. Harlequin also takes care of the cover, the distribution and a lot of the marketing. I really appreciate having a team behind me. However, of course, my self-published books do give me more freedom. You can tell a story in whatever way seems right to you. There are no rules. I am seeing some really terrific stuff coming out in Indie.

Aurian: Do you get to choose your own titles and covers, or even make your own covers, when you re-publish your own books?

Nancy: Yes. When I re-publish the books or when I write books specifically for my own series, then I am the publisher. I choose everything, from hiring the cover designer to the editors to doing the marketing. It’s fantastic to have all that freedom and control but it’s a lot of work! Somedays I work all day and realize I haven’t written a single word! It’s all been marketing or making changes suggested by my editor or proofreader or learning how to use a new program or tool. But it’s all worth it. Especially when I get to travel to Europe and hang out with European readers, authors and bloggers. I love my job!!

Thanks for the interview Nancy! We do look forward to meeting you in Berlin again.
Thank you, Aurian and Freya! I can’t wait to see you both again. I will bring you some books ;)

- Author picture -


Where to find Nancy Warren?
website: http://www.nancywarren.net/
twitter: https://twitter.com/NancyWarren1 or @NancyWarren1
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/nancy.warren.9655?fref=ts

- bio -
Nancy Warren is the USA Today bestselling author of more than fifty novels. She’s known for writing funny, sexy and suspenseful tales.

She calls Vancouver, Canada home though she tends to wander. She’s an avid hiker, animal lover, wine drinker and chocolate fiend.

Favorite moments in her career include being featured on the front page of the New York Times when she launched Harlequin’s NASCAR series with Speed Dating. She was also the answer to a crossword puzzle clue in Canada’s National Post newspaper. She’s been a double finalist in the Rita Awards and has won the Reviewer’s Choice Award from Romantic Times magazine.

© 2015 Reviews by Aurian