The progeny of a slightly mad (NASA) scientist and a tea-drinking bibliophile who turned the family dining room into a library, Theresa Meyers learned early the value of a questioning mind, books and a good china teapot.
A former journalist and public relations officer, she found far more enjoyment using her writing skills to pen paranormal novels in the turret office of her Victorian home.
She’s spent nearly a quarter of a century with the boy who took her to the Prom, drinks tea with milk and sugar, is an adamant fan of the television show Supernatural, and has an indecent love of hats.
Actually, a little bit of both. I plan out what I need to know of the story in order to sell it to my editor (the beginning, the major plot points, the middle and the end) but I don’t always know how the story is going to unfold between those points. Sometimes it takes some interesting turns I hadn’t anticipated.
Do your characters ever want to take over the story?
On occasions, yes, they can become very outspoken. And, through years of trial and error, I’ve found it’s best to let them take over when they want to. They tell a much better story than if I try to orchestrate everything.
What is your favourite food?
Chocolate. That’s a food, right?
Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Definitely a morning person. I have this apparently annoying habit of being able to roll out of bed, brush my teeth, shove my hair in a ponytail and be ready to go which often causes other members of the family to grumble. I might be the only morning person in my household. I’m the kind of individual more likely to watch the sun rise than stay up until midnight.
I’d love to travel back to England again. Last time I was there I was able to visit Hampton Court and the Victoria and Albert Museum and loved it, but I’d really love to be able to share all that with my teenagers. I want share Europe with them, including the family we have in Italy still because I want them to see that there’s a whole other way of life besides what they are fed by American media. I also can’t wait to see my son’s eyes when he gets to walk through a real castle for the first time. He’s a complete medieval history buff.
Do distant places feature in your books?
Occasionally they do. I’ve had books set partially in Italy, in England and France, and in Mexico. It completely depends upon the story and the characters.
Do you listen to music while writing?
Yes! I usually create a soundtrack for each book and usually the first song in the soundtrack is something that resonates with me for that book. For The Chosen the first song in the soundtrack was Cowboy Casanova by Carrie Underwood. It just summed up China’s initial opinion of Remington perfectly. “He’s the devil in disguise, a snake with blue eyes and he only comes out at night. Give you feelings that you don’t want to fight, you better run for your life.”
It’s the third fast-paced steampunk paranormal action-adventure romance in my Legend Chronicles series. I’ve had a lot of romance readers tell me they’d never tried steampunk before and really enjoyed it. The closest I can come to explaining the series to people is to tell them it’s like a mash up of Wild Wild West with the television show Supernatural with a twist of Indiana Jones thrown in. These three brothers (all named after their father’s favorite guns – Remington, Winchester and Colt) are supernatural hunters in the wild weird west out to pull together something called the Book of Legend, which is a compendium of all Hunter knowledge. Remington, the middle brother, is far more educated than either of his brothers and when he’s dragged along in their scheme to reunite the Book of Legend he has to go and get a Darkin shape-shifting thief out of jail. The problem is she’s his little brother’s ex-lover, and he can’t trust her, especially since she’s the estranged daughter of his mortal enemy. Together Remington and China have to brave all sorts of challenges, desert banditos, snake-men demons, Aztec bone warriors, giant black jaguars and more as they trek south from Tombstone through Mexico to the jungles to uncover the last missing piece of the Book that could help them save the world.
What have you learned about writing and publishing since you first started?
Writing is a much longer, more involved process than anyone tells you. It can be YEARS before you get paid for something. As for the writing, you always have to strive to improve yourself. The ideas are the part that comes naturally, writing is the craft you can learn to perfect. The other aspect I’ve learned is that writing really isn’t about you at all—it’s always about the reader. So when I write, I keep that in mind.
I think I would have tried writing paranormal and contemporary romances sooner. At first I wrote strictly historical and I got caught in the market downturn for nearly eight years unable to make a sale because no one was buying historical romances at the time. Had I stretched myself sooner I think I would have hit the shelves sooner.
Who, or what, if anything has influenced your writing?
I’d give some of the credit for my growth as a writer to my critique partner. She’s taught me so much about myself as a writer. The other person I’d give credit to would be my mother. When she was alive she was an amazing storyteller and she infused us early on with a sense of wonder about the world around us as children. She’d do things like leave a tape recording of her falsetto voice outside my bedroom window and then read the story of the Shoemaker and the Elves to me. Then I’d hear these little voices and she’d whisper that we should be quite and listen to them. I truly believed we had elves living in the stump in our backyard for years. She even encouraged me to make them cookies and clothes!
Anything you would say to those just starting out in the craft?
If this is truly what you want to do, need to do, then stick with it. Every no is closer to a yes. It’s simply a numbers game. Keep working at it. And when I say working, I don’t mean just scribble now and then, honestly sit your behind in the chair, put your fingers on the keyboard and work at it consistently. If you want to be a professional, act like one. That means coming to work (your writing) every day, even if it’s only a paragraph or a page or two.
What are three words that describe you?
Optimistic Over Achiever
What's your favourite book or who is your favourite writer?
I actually have two favorite authors: James Rollins and J.K. Rowling (and yes, I realize they have very similar initials!) I love Rollins’ work because he does such a superb job of blending science, kick-ass action, adventure and a real meaningful relationship between people (family, friends, lovers) into every story. He’s just brilliant. I adore J.K. Rowling, not only because I had so much fun reading all her Harry Potter books out loud to my own children (using different voices for each character is my specialty), but I also admire that she didn’t just write fiction, she wrote something that changed culture and I’d love someday for my writing to have that kind of impact.
Blurb of your latest release or coming soon book
The books I have coming out this summer include several contemporary romances for Entangled Publishing such as The Geek Billionaire Makeover. I’m also working on the first full-sized novel for the Shadow Sisters series titled Shadow Hunter. In all I should have four more books out this year.
List of previous books if any
The Inventor, novella prequel of the Legend Chronicles
Holiday with a Vampire 4, Harlequin Nocturne
The Slayer, book 2 of the Legend Chronicles
The Hunter, book 1 of the Legend Chronicles
Shadowlander, novella introducing the dark fae Shadow Sister series from Entangled Publishing
The Half-Breed Vampire, Sons of Midnight mini-series, Harlequin Nocturne
The Vampire Who Loved Me, Sons of Midnight mini-series, Harlequin Nocturne
The Truth About Vampires, Sons of Midnight mini-series, Harlequin Nocturne
A Vampire’s Mistress, Harlequin Nocturne Bites novella
Salvation of the Damned, Harlequin Nocturne Bites novella
The Spellbound Bride, Scottish historical, Diversion books
Any websites/places readers can find you on the web.
My website is www.theresameyers.com
Readers can also find me dabbling on Twitter in the mornings @Theresa_Meyers or on Facebook at TheresaMeyersAuthor
Book #3 in The Legend Chronicle Series
by Theresa Meyers
Paranormal Romance/Steampunk
Publisher: Kensington/Zebra
Available from amazon paperback | b&n | amazon kindle | books-a-million
Blurb:
The Chosen: a prophecy older than dirt and more dangerous than death. Even as they perfected steam-powered gadgetry and rounded up varmints from Hell, the Jackson brothers didn't believe in it. But when the chips are down, three brothers named for weapons aren't going out without a fight...
A Walk On The Wild Side
Attorney by day, demon-hunter by night, Remington Jackson is used to being on the sunny side of the law, even in the Wild West. But it's showdown time, and Remy and his brothers are getting desperate. They don't have the relic they need to slam the door shut on evil—so Remy is going to have to find and steal part of it.
Enter China McGee, shapeshifter, thief, beauty, and current prisoner. When Remy offers her freedom in exchange for a little light-fingered help, she's pretty sure she's going to end the association with a good old-fashioned seductive double cross. But there's something about fighting through a jungle full of Mayan ruins that makes you want to settle down together. China could change. Remy might be special. But none of that matters if the devil takes them all...
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