Interview with Susan Mallery for #LLC2015

Hi, we are Aurian and Freya, and today we have Susan Mallery 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.

Susan Mallery is one of the American authors attending. 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/

Our guest today is Susan Mallery, author of many, many romance novels, and perhaps most famous for her Fools Gold series, a series neither of us have read yet. Freya has started with some Sheik stories, and I started with the Bakery sisters.

Aurian: Welcome to Utrecht, Susan. 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.

Susan: I never say no to hot chocolate and cookies!

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).

Susan: I’ve published more than 100 romance and women’s fiction novels, and my characters become so real to me that I speak about them like they’re old friends. When I’m talking to my husband at dinner, he sometimes has to ask, “Is that person real?”

LLC questions

Aurian: Could you tell us why you are attending a convention in Europe? Have you been in Berlin before? Or other places/countries in Europe? Were you surprised at being invited to a convention this far away?

Susan: I was very honoured to be invited to the Love Letter Convention. I hear from my European fans a lot on my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/susanmallery, and I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to meet some of them face to face. This will be my first time in Europe, and I’m really looking forward to it.

Freya: Berlin is a beautiful city. Are you planning to do some sightseeing before or after the convention, or touring the country? Or is this convention part of a larger booktour through Europe?

Susan: Yes, I can’t miss this wonderful opportunity to see a little bit of Europe while I’m there! I will be doing some sightseeing and a couple of quick business trips before the convention. Then it will be back home to write again!

Aurian: If you could see only one monument/famous building/historical place in Berlin while you are there, what place would you absolutely have to see?

Susan: I’m sure my answer is the same as the other American authors’… I look forward to seeing the Berlin wall. Other than that, I’m looking forward to visiting some of your amazing museums.

Freya: Have you been to Europe before? Perhaps even visited Holland? If not, would you like to?

Susan: I’d love to visit Holland some day! Pictures of Holland are what inspired the Tulip Festival in Fool’s Gold.

Aurian: I'll have to read that one Susan!

Book questions

Aurian: I have recently read (and really enjoyed) Sweet Talk, and I will certainly read the next book soon. At first I thought it would be light and fluffy, but you really surprised me with the dept of emotion in this story. Claire’s tenacity, how determined she was to connect with her sisters again. But I was the most surprised by Amy, Wyatt’s daughter, and the fact that she is deaf. Amy wants surgery so she can hear Claire play. Do you have someone like Amy in your own family, so you are familiar with her situation and her (medical) options, or did you have to do a lot of research?

Susan: Thank you! I really do try to write emotional stories with a lot of heart, and that will surprise you into laughter. Much like life. I do have a family member who is deaf, and I tried to honor him when I created Amy.

Freya: I’ve recently re-discovered Sheikh romances, and I have read “The Sheikh and the Virgin Secretary”. I am thrilled that there is a whole series waiting for me to discover, what made you write Sheikh romances? It is a very distinct sub-genre in romance.

Susan: My editor at the time asked if I would consider writing a sheikh romance, which were rising in popularity. I loved the idea. My books are not political at all. They’re wildly romantic and very, very funny stories of hard-headed men falling in love with women who refuse to be subservient.

Aurian: You have written a lot of contemporary romance books, do you ever see yourself writing another genre?

Susan: I also write women’s fiction novels, such as The Girls of Mischief Bay, which give me the opportunity to explore many of the other, non-romantic relationships that are so important to women.

Freya: Some of your books are part of multi author series. Have you ever wanted to write a story about a certain character, used as a secondary character in your book, and was disappointed that another author got that assignment?

Susan: No, I always knew from the start which characters would be “mine,” and which would be written by other authors, so I never got too attached to secondary characters.

Thanks for the interview Susan! We do look forward to meeting you in Berlin.

Thank you! I look forward to meeting you, too.

- Author picture -


Where to find Susan Mallery?
website: http://www.susanmallery.com/
twitter: https://twitter.com/susanmallery
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusanMallery

- bio -
New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery has won the hearts of millions of readers around the world with books described as “immensely entertaining, intensely emotional” (RT Book Reviews), “hilarious” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram), and “heartwarming” (Publishers Weekly). One major retailer recently described her as “the queen of romantic fiction.” While she deeply appreciates the accolades of critics and booksellers, Susan Mallery is even more honored by the enthusiasm of her readers and the word-of-mouth that catapults her toward the top of the bestsellers lists time and again.
Susan Mallery lives in not-so-sunny Seattle with her husband, plus a toy poodle and two ragdoll cats who are not at all impressed by her growing fame.

© 2015 Reviews by Aurian