Carole Bellacera's work has appeared in magazines such as Woman's World, The Star, Endless Vacation and The Washington Post. Her new romantic suspense novel, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, was released in hardcover by Forge Books in August 2000.

Her first novel, "Border Crossings", a hardcover published by Forge Books in May of 1999, was a 2000 RITA Award nominee for Best Romantic Suspense and Best First Book, a nominee for the 2000 Virginia Literary Award in Fiction. It was also a 2000 finalist in the Golden Quill award and in the Aspen Gold Award and won 1st Place in the Volusia County 2000 Laurel Wreath Award**. Her work has appeared in various anthologies such as Kay Allenbaugh's Chocolate for a Woman's Heart, Chocolate for a Couples' Heart and Chicken Soup for Couples. Carole (nee Foley) grew up in Pittsboro, Indiana, and graduated from high school in 1971 at Pittsboro High.

Although she had dreams of becoming a novelist, she joined the United States Air Force to see the world and became a medical technician, serving assignments at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois and in Crete, Greece. It was in Crete that she met her Italian- American husband, Frank Bellacera. In 1985, after a chance meeting with Princess Di and Prince Charles at Andrews Air Force Base, Carole rediscovered her love affair with the written word. Her first published story, "The Day Princess Di Spoke to Me," appeared in the military magazine, Family. From that time on, she never looked back. It took eleven years, but finally, with Border Crossings, her dream of becoming a published novelist was realized.

Now a resident of Northern Virginia, Carole has been married to Frank, a retired Air Force man, for twenty-six years, and is the proud mother of two grown children. As a military wife, she has had the privilege of living in some wonderful places, including Hawaii, Greece, Colorado and North Carolina. In addition to her writing career, she has worked as a medical technician, a librarian, an executive secretary and a receptionist for a member of Congress on Capitol Hill. When she's not writing, her most favorite thing to do in the world is downhill skiing.

She considers Picabo Street her personal heroine, and if she wasn't a writer, she'd love to be a ski racer.

Leena Hyat caught up with Carole Bellacera in June for this interview.

EAST OF THE SUN, WEST OF THE MOON
Tor Books
July 2002
Buy Now

INTERVIEW WITH CAROLE BELLACERA
by Leena Hyat

Writerspace: Please tell us about your latest release, UNDERSTUDY.

Carole Bellacera: It's a psychological suspense novel about a young woman who takes over her best friend's identity after a horrendous car accident. My heroine, Amy, is the daughter of two losers, brought up on the wrong side of the tracks. All her life, she's wanted a real family--a normal family--and she finds it finally when she meets Robin, her college roommate at William & Mary. Robin's family "adopts" Amy, and for the first time in her life, she feels cherished and loved. She also finds herself in love with Robin's older brother, Paul. But after a brief romance with him, in which she loses her virginity, he goes back to his old girlfriend at the University of Colorado, leaving Amy devastated. She and Robin go out drinking on the night she was dumped, and driving home, their car is hit by a tractor-trailer. When Amy comes to in the hospital, Robin's parents are hovering over her, and they are calling her "Robin." And she realizes her best friend is dead. She also knows that as soon as Robin's parents realize that, she will lose them, too. All of them--Robin, Paul and her beloved surrogate parents. And that's when she makes a decision that changes her life. She decides to "become" Robin.

Writerspace: Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

Carole Bellacera: Yeah, I guess I've been telling stories all my life. I actually started writing them down when I was about ten.

Writerspace: All your stories have been so insightful and emotionally gripping. I really enjoyed UNDERSTUDY. Is there any real life inspiration behind your latest novel or did the idea stem purely from your imagination?

Carole Bellacera: The idea for the story is based on an actual event that happened here in Virginia about thirty years ago. Two teenage boys were brought into an ER, one of them DOA, the other critically injured. The parents sitting with the injured boy realized just before the other boy was buried that he was not their son. Can you imagine??? As soon as I heard that story, I knew I had to base a book on the situation.

Writerspace: Do you plot extensively prior to actually settling down to write the story or do you mostly let the characters and situation lead you?

Carole Bellacera: It depends on the book. UNDERSTUDY was written pretty much by rote, and so was EAST OF THE SUN, WEST OF THE MOON. BORDER CROSSINGS and SPOTLIGHT were outlined first, and so is my next book, TANGO'S EDGE. The book I'm working on now, HAWK MOON RUN, will also probably be written with the help of an outline. However, I often veer from the outline, and when the book is finished, it's usually vastly different.

Writerspace: Why did you choose to write contemporary romance? Have you ever considered writing a different genre? What do you enjoy most about writing?

Carole Bellacera: I write contemporary fiction because I just can't imagine doing all the research that would have to be done to write historical. I've never really considered writing in a different genre because I don't really feel like my work is easily defined. I like the broad perspective of "women's fiction" or "commercial fiction." As you know, all four of my books have been quite different from each other. What do I enjoy most about writing? Having a good day when the writing flows as if from a hidden spring. There's nothing on earth that can describe how good that feels.

Writerspace: What sort of research did you have to do for UNDERSTUDY? Is there anything you found particularly interesting in your research that stands out in your mind even today?

Carole Bellacera: Well, I had to do a little research on the medical aspect of the plot, although I have to say I really didn't want to go too much into that. The book was a psychological study, not a technical one. I just loved the way the two characters of Amy and Robin evolved. Robin, especially, just came alive and took over every scene she was in. Did you notice? **G**

Writerspace: You have created an outstanding cast of secondary characters in UNDERSTUDY. Did each of these people come to you from the mists of your imagination or are any of them grounded in reality/based on someone you know?

Carole Bellacera: No, I can't think of even one character in UNDERSTUDY that was based upon someone I know. Some of Robin's mannerisms (her Robin-isms), were inspired by my good friend, Gloria. (She's listed on the acknowledgement page.) But Robin became her own unique personality very quickly.

Writerspace: What was the best piece of advice you received prior to becoming a published author and who gave it to you?

Carole Bellacera: The best piece of advice I ever received was to believe in yourself, and write from your heart. In other words, don't let trends or "what's hot" or taboo subjects stop you from telling the story that needs to be told. Unfortunately, I can't tell you who gave me that advice. I've heard it from various sources, and I really believe it's the best advice I ever received.

Writerspace: What advice would you give to aspiring writers today?

Carole Bellacera: Pretty much what I just said. Believe in yourself and your work, and, to coin a song lyric from U2, "Don't let the bastards get you down."

Writerspace: When creating characters, what is it that attracted you most about Paul and Amy? What qualities do you value most in people?

Carole Bellacera: Paul and Amy are both every down-to-earth, good, generous people. I was attracted to Amy's vulnerability, her need for love and acceptance. I value honesty, (which Amy did, too, and that made her situation even more horrendous), generosity, supportiveness, and humor.

Writerspace: To you, what qualities would be essential in an ideal hero? When it comes to your personal reading tastes, which heroes from other authors' novels have you found memorable?

Carole Bellacera: An ideal hero has to be sensitive, caring, intelligent, sexy, and has to genuinely like women. Okay, let me think about heroes from other books. Have you ever read Paullina Simons? She wrote a book titled THE BRONZE HORSEMAN, and I loved her hero, Alexander, a Russian soldier. In fact, I just bought the sequel to it when I was in Ireland last week. (It hasn't been published in America.)

Writerspace: How do you handle life's interruptions?

Carole Bellacera: I'm still trying to figure out how to do it. My husband & I went to Ireland and Greece last week, and now, I'm digging myself out from everything that has piled up while I was gone. It's hard! Who knows when I'll actually get around to writing again? But I can't write when my office is a mess. The good news, though, is I managed to write a chapter in my new book on the beach in Crete.

Writerspace: Is there anything you've always wanted to do but never had the courage to try?

Carole Bellacera: A few years ago, I would've said yes, I've always wanted to learn to downhill ski. Well, I finally went skiing for the first time about six years ago, and now, I ski every winter and I love it. Right now, I can't think of anything else I'd like to do, but don't have the courage for. Maybe climbing Mount Everest? **G**

Writerspace: What are you working on at present?

Carole Bellacera: My WIP is titled HAWK MOON RUN, and it's about four women who live in a subdivision in Hunt Country, Virginia. They each have their own personal tragedies that intertwine with each other, and just to make things a little more complicated, I've thrown a serial killer into the mix. One that is someone they know. It's going well!

Writerspace: What can fans look forward to from you in the next two years?

Carole Bellacera: My Russian ice dancer story, TANGO'S EDGE, will hopefully be out next summer, and then HAWK MOON RUN. I've got plenty of other ideas, but they haven't jelled enough to talk about them yet.

Writerspace: Thank you so much, Carole, for sparing time for this interview. I loved UNDERSTUDY and look forward to your next release eagerly.

Carole Bellacera: I'm so glad you enjoyed UNDERSTUDY, Leena. Thanks!