annetteblairinterview

Your background is in Journalism. What made you venture into Fiction?

Though I've written some freelance stories under my own byline for local newspapers, my background is actually in business. My husband and I have owned many over the years, but when we put our son into prep school, they offered me a job. That was 21 years ago and I'm still there. Ten years ago, I added Journalism Advisor to my titles. I like having an office full of students. I hate summers when it's too quiet in my office.

You seem to love writing about witches, the Regency era, babies and the Amish. How do you focus on so many different subjects? Is there one you just can’t write enough about?

There's no short answer here; you know this, right?

Like any self-respecting romance lover, I cut my teeth on Jane Austen and the Brontes, so the Regency area was a natural place to start, and I adore Regency Historicals. Mary Balogh is my idol.

As for the Amish, they're fascinating. In 1956, when Pat Boone sang "Friendly Persuasion," the idea for my first Amish story was born, though it was years before I would put pen to paper.

Babies, well, I love them, in and out of stories, so I sprinkle them into my stories whenever they fit. I mean they're part and parcel of love and family, and happily ever afters, aren't they?

As for the Witches, heck, I'm thinking of calling myself The Accidental Witch Scribbler. I went to Salem for the weekend with out-of-town friends--I live about an hour awy. I wasn't looking for a plot. I didn't think I could write a contemporary. But The Kitchen Witch came to me and I couldn't let it go. I wrote several chapters, read the first to a writer friend and she said, 'finish the puppy.' The Kitchen Witch got the attention of Nancy Yost, Legendary New York Agent, and Cindy Hwang, Legendary New York Editor, and the rest, as they say, is history. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Is there any one I just can't write enough about? All of them. The fact is that I have to fall in love with my characters before I can write their story, whenever and wherever it's set.

Let’s talk about your latest novel, My Favorite Witch. Your bewitching romance comedy introduces us to Kira Fitzgerald, a coordinator of special events who caught her fiancé in the act of making love to her sister. Talk about a bad boy with no heart. What makes Kira different then most jilted brides-to-be? And what does she have planned for her dirt-bag ex?

Well, most brides-to-be are probably not witches who will 'harm none,' because if they do, whatever they send into the universe will return to them times three. So Kira doesn't do anything, though she does hate jocks. Her spell is for the dirt bag to grow up and reap what he sows. But his true nature does come back to bite him in the butt. What a sentence. Can you picture that?

Who enters her life without an invitation?

Well, Jason Goddard, NHL Hockey Star, Best Kisser in America, a playboy jock who collects startlets like loose change. He's the director of special events and she's the coordinator. They're like fire and ice. Lots of sparks. Unfortunately, they've both given up on the opposite sex.

Oh, and an adorable little boy comes early into Kira and Jason's life. The boy, an orphan, throws himself into people's arms and asks to be adopted. When I was a teen, a nun took a group of us to visit an orphanage, and a little girl named Cecile threw herself into this nun's arms and begged her to adopt her. Many years later, the memory still brings tears into my eyes. I thought that might melt an ice jockey's heart. I knew it would melt Kira's.

Tell us about The Kitchen Witch, a Berkley Sensation Contemporary Romantic Comedy. Roundtable Reviews said this about your novel: "Steamy, sexy, magical. I laughed out loud at Melody's kitchen disasters--not since Stephanie Plum have I read about exploding poultry--Logan's attraction, which he spends plenty of time trying to fight; and Logan's precocious son. This book is delightful. I can only hope that Annette Blair will consider coming back to Salem, Massachusetts and bringing more romance to its residents." Tell us a little about the plot without giving anything away.

Logan, a TV producer, has just gotten custody of his son and returned to Salem, despite the bad-boy rep he left behind, because his mother's there and he wants stability for his son. The judge who took him under her wing when he was a teen, recommends Melody Seabright as a babysitter. One look and Logan knows Melody can knock him back on his bad boy ass, but she's come highly recommended, so he asks her to babysit. Ultimately, she trades babysitting for an interview for the cooking show job. She's had lots of jobs but none suit her like this one. She's got sex appeal, showmanship, a body that won't quit, and an idea that the station manager knows will mean syndication--a cooking show called The Kitchen Witch of Salem Mass. Of course she gets the job. One little problem. She can't cook. Oh, and it's sexy. All my books are, but especially the witches, well, you know, it's this modern generation with all their sex toys and such. <<g>>

I now have in my personal collection, "The Butterfly Garden," which is an Amish Historical published April 2005 by Five Star. What inspired you to write a novel focusing on members of an Amish community?

I'm honored that you have it in your collection. Thank you. I find the simplicity of the Amish lifestyle and faith beautiful. I find purity in a simple romance between them. They fascinate me. I've seen Witness a trillion times. <<g>> The first time I heard Pat Boone sing, 'Put on your bonnet, your cape and your gloves, and come with me, for Thee, I Love," the idea for my first Amish Historical, Thee, I love, came to me--don't judge that book by its cover, btw. That was set in Lancaster, PA. The Butterfly Garden takes place in a larger Amish Community in the Winesburg area of Ohio.

How much research went into the novel? Did you visit an Amish community to learn more about the lifestyle and language of its residents?

My husband and I have been to both places many times, but I've sepnt more time talking to the Amish in Ohio, because they're friendlier--no tourists taking pictures of them in their own yards. During my research in Ohio, I learned to drive an Amish buggy. The driver was so taken with my questions, he said, "Well here. You drive, then," and he handed me the reigns.

What were you trying to get across to your readers?

A reader asked me, once, if I realized that all my books were about family, no matter the time period. I hadn't, but she was right. What I set out to do is entertain, take my reader away from the difficult realities of the real world for awhile, make them remember that there's good in the world, a special someone out there only for them, that happily ever afters are possible for everyone. Recently I realized that tolerance and acceptance were themes in my novels. Is she a witch? Does it matter? Is he Amish or English? Does it matter? A Regency Aristocrat or an abandoned commoner? Does it matter?

In The Butterfly Garden in particular, I know that, besides family, the theme was healing. Beauty amid pain--the butterflies. Sometimes we have to let go of our past to accept our future.

Right now, I'm working on The Scot, the Witch & the Wardrobe. This witch has power she doesn't want, and she has to learn to accept herself for who she is. She inherited something the hero's family has been searching for, for a century. It was said to have been bewitched away from his ancestor. The Scot hero sees it on the antiques roadshow and comes to Salem looking for it. You think he wants to find a witch at the end of his journey?

Do you promote all your novels or just the newest release?

Just recently I began to promote my newest novels--I couldn't afford to before--and I'm happy to promote any that are still in print. Fortunately for me, Berkley has gone back to print several times on The Kitchen Witch, so I guess I'll be promoting my witches for awhile.

And, by the way, I've been to Scotland and England and Salem Massachusetts, and Newport, Rhode Island, of course. I've been to all the places I write about.

What can we expect on the bookstore shelves in 2006?

My Favorite Witch, Berkley Sensation, is now available.
The Kitchen Witch, Berkley Sensation, An award-winning "Smash Hit"--still available.
You Can't Steal First -- my novella for the Hot Ticket Anthology, trade paperback, with Deirdre Martin, Julia London & Geri Buckley, May 2006.
Scoundrel in Disguise, An English Victorian, Five Star Hardbound, May 2006.
The Butterfly Garden, An Amish Historical, trade paperback version, June 2006.
The Scot, the Witch & the Wardrobe, Berkley Sensation, January 2007.

It was great talking to you, Annette. Everyone, check out her website at www.annetteblair.com and her webpage here on Gotta Write http://www.gottawritenetwork.com/annetteblair.html

This interview may only be reprinted by Annette, her publishers and PR reps. Copyright Denise Fleischer & Gotta Write Network.