Friday Friends with Pamela Britton

Welcome to Friday Friends with multi-published author PAMELA BRITTON.

HWH: Thanks so much for being with us, Pam. Can you tell us about THE WRANGLER and how you came up with the idea?

PB: I grew up reading horse stories and so I’ve always wanted to write a romance novel centered on my favorite animals. I show and own American Quarter Horses and so it was fun to use that knowledge in a book. I ride English, as does my heroine, and I live on a ranch and so I shamelessly stole on the funny lines I’ve heard over the years.

HWH: Are you a plotter or a panster?

PB: Much to my chagrin, I’m a panster. I really try to stick to my synopsis, but it never works out that way. Usually my editors don’t mind, but I recently got into trouble for deviating from my original outline. Oops!

HWH: LOL! Your stories range from sexy to sweet. What are your favorite books to write? Why?

PB: Sexy!! I’m a bad girl at heart because “sweet” books are so hard to write. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had an editor tell me to “tone it down!” I’m really looking forward to my upcoming EXTREME RACING SERIES (being published by Samhain) because those will be hot, hot, hot and I. Can’t. Wait!

HWH: Your hot scenes are smoking. After you read a sexy book from Pam, you look forward to the next one, trust me! So I too will be looking forward to the new series. Here is a question for our viewer writers, Pam. As a writer, I struggled with the meaning of deep POV. While reading DANGEROUS CURVES, I totally “got it.” I always suggest this book to new writers struggling with the same thing. Understanding it and writing are two different things, of course. You do it SO well. Before you were published, what did you struggle with and how did you over come it?

PB: Aww, thank you SOOooo much. What a nice thing to say. And you’re going to laugh, but the thing I struggled with the most before I was published was, um, grammar! Yup. I sucked at the mechanics of writing. Obviously, I’ve learned a lot. In fact, I got a fan letter a few months back from a reader who said she enjoyed reading my books more than any other author because there were so few typos and grammatical errors in them. I tittered when I read that…if this reader had read my first manuscript she’d have fallen over dead.

HWH: I totally get that. I hear that many writers struggle with grammar (myself included). Maybe it has something to do with that old saying "If you don't use it, you lose it." So tell us, what have you learned being published that you wish you knew before you were published?

PB: Honestly, I wouldn’t have gotten so wrapped up on the whole Romance Writers of America thing. I sincerely respect RWA, and will be forever grateful to them for launching my career, but some of the stuff that goes on…ei yi yi! I swear there are people out there whose mission in life is to make their fellow authors feel bad about themselves. Or who only want to use you. Or secretly want to sabotage your career. Looking back at some of the stuff that went on, it’s kind of scary. Smartest thing I ever did was unplug from it all. Once I got to where I was going I took a look around and saw who my true friends were and disconnected from the rest.

I once asked a bestselling author who shall remain nameless (think household name) how she’d managed to hold onto her friendships over the years. She told me she lived on a very small island (figuratively) and that the island had gotten smaller over the years, but that a true friend will always, always have your back. That’s good advice no matter what you do in life.

HWH: Hmmm... something to think about. It's kind of sad if you think about it. It makes you lose faith/trust in people. Okay, let's get back to writing. What do you look for when revising your MS? Are there tips/secrets you can pass along to other writers?

PB: Revisions are actually easy for me. I think that’s because I’m not married to my work. By that I mean I don’t mind cutting out a chapter…or even ten chapters. If snipping pages will make my book tighter, I’ll do it. I’m also subscribe to the theory that an editor is always right. If they say the pacing is off, or that my conflict is weak, they’re probably right. And so I actually enjoy the process of diving in and fixing those problems.

HWH: Well, editors must love you - "A cooperative author is a working author." LOL.. hey, maybe editors could use that as their slogan!

Thanks for being with us today, Pam. We'd love to have you come back when your new series is released.

For our viewers, thanks so much for joining us. Pam will be here all day to answer questions or comments you may have. Be sure to check out her website at http://www.pamelabritton.com/ for her latest and past books. And don't forget to become a FOLLOWER of Heroines with Hearts!

Be sure to join us next week when our special guest will be author Margaret Blake.