WU: Can you give us an example of a typical day in the life of Bronwyn Jameson?
BJ: Short answer: No. There is absolutely no typical day in my life, so how about I give you my idea of how I WISH each weekday panned out? Day starts seven-ish with getting my one at-home son ready for school. He is special needs and a taxi picks him up at eight and takes him to his school. I then take my second cup of coffee to the office and read my email, dealing with whatever needs dealing with. I wish I didn't have to do this in the morning but if I don't, it preys on my mind. What if my editor mailed with something urgent, for example? I write on another computer in another room away from the distraction of email and spider solitaire (my writing laptop is wired purely for word processing) and I aim to spend school hours writing. It doesn't always work out that way. Right now it's harvest, so I need to be by our UHF and am often called on to shift machinery, take grain samples for testing, go fetch machinery parts. That kind of thing. I usually finish writing around three-thirty when our son gets home and we play with the dogs, water the garden. I like the idea of doing some more work at night, but usually it's editing or pre-planning for the next day. My brain does not work well at night!

WU: Readers today demand accuracy in the books they read. How much research about life styles, setting, dialect, etc. goes into one of your stories?
BJ: Too much! Seriously, I agree about readers demanding accuracy and I feel I have to know A LOT about the setting, the character's profession and lifestyle, before I can even think about starting to write. Also, I love the research and planning stage and I spend way too long on this instead of sitting down and actually starting. For setting: I love if I have visited the place—or a similar place—so I can absorb the sensory details. I find that really enhances the details I've learned from book or internet research.

WU: Tell us about any upcoming releases and works in progress.
BJ: My next release is in January 2003. Quade: The Irresistible One is the second in a proposed four-book set which I've tagged my One Slow Dance series. The first was Zane: The Wild One and I'm currently working on the last two, Kree's story and Mitch's story which you may not see until 2004.

WU: How do you come up with the ideas for your books? Do you have a brainstorming session with someone or do they just kind of "pop" into your head?
BJ: The characters "pop" into my head and then I work up their story. I do have a few people I brainstorm ideas with, not so much for the whole story but for elements thereof. For example, Mitch's story is a marriage of convenience so I brainstormed with some writing friends why modern-day characters would want/need to marry in this way. I wanted a new twist on this old hook, but I wanted it to be very character-motivated.

WU: A lot of aspiring writers suffer the agony of rejection after rejection. How hard or easy was it for you to "break in" to the published ranks?
BJ: I suffered through several rejections, although not as many as some other authors. I didn't keep submitting and submitting and trying a whole host of stories and publishers. I knew what kind of story I wanted to write and honed and polished the several I had, entering them in contests, submitting, revising based on the helpful critiques and rejection letters. In the end, my sale to Desire was very fortuitous. I hadn't submitted to any American-based lines, concentrating on the UK Harlequin office (Presents) as so many Australians had succeeded there. I entered a contest with a completed manuscript and the final judge, Leslie Wainger, bought it. Most unexpected and unplanned but very, very fortuitous.

WU: Since most of the publishing houses are in the United States, Is living in Australia, the "land down under," an asset or a hardship to your career?
BJ: Hmm...interesting question. I guess it can be a bit of both. On the asset side: I am told we Aussies have a strong and unique voice and are perhaps less influenced by the critique process and by what we are told are "the rules" of romance writing. That is a definite asset in getting noticed. On the hardship side: there are some lines and special projects that our "different" voice would not suit and that could place limitations on a career in category. Also, there are the physical limitations of distance/location which are more a pain than a hardship. The cost of travelling to conferences—I'd love to be able to do that annually but it is just too expensive. The cost of postage, not just with sending materials to the publisher but with promotions and such. The distance from the largest readership which means I can't participate in the booksignings I would love to do. BUT there is another big asset: because our dollar is worth substantially less than the greenback, we don't need to sell as many books to make a reasonable living.

WU: Any words of wisdom for those that would like to follow in your footsteps?
BJ: Read, read, read the books from the category line(s) or the genre you wish to write for. Read and discern what the readership demands from those books—what is the common thread, what is the promise to the reader, what emotions are evoked? Then write the story from your heart, from your emotions, and let your own voice shine.

WU: Where can readers contact you?
BJ: Visit my website at www.bronwynjameson.com and sign my guestbook or hit the contact button. I love to hear from readers—that brings me as much joy as writing the stories.

Visit http://www.BronwynJameson.com for information on Bronwyn's upcoming releases, contests, and more.