ROOM SERVICE
St. Martin's Press
May 2003
Buy Now
RECORD TIME
St. Martin's Press
October 2002
Buy Now
True North
St. Martin's Press
January 2002
Buy Now
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INTERVIEW WITH BEVERLY BRANDT
by Leena Hyat
Writerspace: Please tell us about your latest release, ROOM SERVICE.
Beverly Brandt: ROOM SERVICE is a contemporary romantic comedy starring jet-setter Katya Morgan. When Katya is disinherited, all she wants is to get her money--and her cushy life--back. She certainly doesn't want a job as a maid . . . or to own a bucktoothed Boxer . . . or to fall in love with Alex Sheridan, the general manager of the swank Royal Palmetto hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona. Katya soon learns that sometimes getting what you don't want can be the best thing of all.
Writerspace: I really enjoyed this novel and am very curious to know how you came up with the idea for this premise? Was it inspired by real life events that happened to someone you know?
Beverly Brandt: Since I've never been one to run with the jet-setting crowd, this story was entirely a figment of my imagination! I wanted to explore what it would be like for a character who always had things handed to her to have to get out in the "real" world and see what it was like. I think it takes a lot of strength to make something out of yourself when you have to rely solely on your own abilities, and I think Katya passed the test.
Writerspace: Katya Morgan is an extremely memorable heroine. I was intrigued by the different facets of her personality as she transformed from a spoilt rich girl to a woman who appreciates the truly valuable things in life. Is Katya's character a total figment of your imagination or is there a story behind her creation?
Beverly Brandt: I'm glad you found Katya memorable! I really love putting my characters through their worst nightmares to see how they'll come out as better people. For Katya, I knew that I had to take everything away from her in order for her to grow from a spoiled, emotionally distant woman to someone deserving of love. She was a total figment of my imagination, but like most writers I know, she seemed very real to me. I think most authors will agree that they have these people running around in their heads all the time, trying to get us to tell their stories. If we weren't writers, I suppose this would be considered a sign of insanity!
Writerspace: I loved your secondary characters! What a colorful and unforgettable bunch! Do you indulge in people watching and then file away characteristics and other quirks you later assign to your secondary characters or do they just walk onto the page as you write your story and surprise you? What's your formula for crafting such an outstanding cast?
Beverly Brandt: Good question! No, I don't write down character quirks from real people, although that's a really good idea. My secondary characters have definitely surprised me with how they act. I typically start out needing an extra character in the story for plot purposes and they just grow from there. In ROOM SERVICE, it was initially going to be Alex's sister, Maria, who helped Katya learn the ropes, but when I got Maria on stage, she just wasn't right for the part. She was too strong and wouldn't have been nice to Katya like Alex's other sister Inez was. I kept trying to force Maria to be nice, and she wouldn't. That's when I invented Inez. In so doing, I also realized that Alex had two other sisters. When I started out writing this story, I didn't know that about him. Oftentimes, I'm surprised by how much I get to know about my main characters because of the addition of secondary characters.
As for how I craft my cast, I start out needing some character as a sort of bit-part actor to do something in the story, but then I have to find out why that character is there--what is it about his or her history that put them in this place at this time. I think that's what makes them seem real. They're not just cardboard cutouts that exist to move the plot along anymore. They're actually there for a more personal reason--one I didn't always anticipate when I first stuck them on the page.
Writerspace: How did you come to begin your journey as a romance author? Did you always know you wanted to write romance or did this career catch you by surprise?
Beverly Brandt: I actually came back to romance writing after about a decade away. I used to write all the time when I was a teenager, but I never seriously considered writing as a career. I worked full-time and put myself through college during my twenties and, at the end of six long years of that, I went through a period of burnout. I read voraciously and rediscovered romance novels during that time. Then I decided that I wanted to write again. I guess I didn't need that degree in Finance after all...
Writerspace: What satisfies you the most about your writing?
Beverly Brandt: The writing itself. When I am writing a scene and the characters come to life in my head and start acting and talking . . . well, that's just a really cool feeling! I also love it when someone writes to tell me that they've enjoyed a book I wrote. I had one letter from a teenaged girl who said that she had been failing English in high school but that reading one of my books inspired her to want to learn more about writing, and that she now had renewed hopes of passing English. That was definitely a satisfying moment!
Writerspace: How important is research in your writing and what kind of research did you have to do for ROOM SERVICE?
Beverly Brandt: I've had to do quite a bit of research on all the books I've written so far, but I actually find it to be pretty fun. I get a lot of ideas from the research I do. It seems that when I'm looking up one thing, I find something interesting that I can use later in the book. For ROOM SERVICE, I had to research illnesses in dogs, the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team, and the Scottsdale police department. That last was the most interesting because a friend and I actually went down to the police department and walked through the process of getting arrested. The officer who showed us around was very proud of their equipment and locked my friend Libby up in "The Chair," which is like a bolted-down straight-jacket they use to restrain detainees who get out of line.
I didn't have to do as much research on the hotel business itself because I used to work for the insurance broker for the Westin Hotel Company and, later, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. As such, I'd had a few "back of the house" tours to see what it was like on the "Employees Only" side of the business. In a way, I suppose I was doing research long before I ever started writing!
Writerspace: Of all the books you've written to date, which is your favorite? Why?
Beverly Brandt: I know I'm probably supposed to say that my books are like children and that I don't have a favorite, but that's not exactly true. RECORD TIME is probably my favorite because it was the easiest to write and had the fewest revisions when it was done! Having said that, I have enjoyed writing all the books I've written so far. Each time I start a new book, I get to explore some mystery of the human personality, which I think is really fascinating. Although my books are on the lighter side, I always have a character who overcomes a personal obstacle during the story and emerges from it a better person. In ROOM SERVICE, it was Katya's tendency to shield herself from intimacy by using her money to escape. When I took her money away, she had no choice but to stay where she was and face the fact that loving someone (or something--like a dog!) is worth the risk.
Writerspace: What was the most fun scene to write in ROOM SERVICE? The most difficult?
Beverly Brandt: My favorite scene to write was the one at the auction at The Phoenician. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read the book, but I thought it was a great way to really drive home what all was being taken away from my heroine. The most difficult scene? Hmm. To be honest, I have a hard time writing sex scenes--not because I am uncomfortable writing about sex but because I'm always having to think about what term to use for certain body parts while I'm writing the scene. I don't want the love scenes to come off sounding like a seventh-grade health textbook, but don't want to start dropping in "purple-helmeted swords of love" either!
Writerspace: What advice would you give aspiring writers today?
Beverly Brandt: Don't let yourself get blindsided by fear--whether it be fear of rejection, fear of what will happen when you succeed, fear that you're not doing it "right", etc. This is a business that takes a lot of courage to survive. There's no such thing as a perfect book, one the will please all of the people, all of the time. Write the characters and the stories that appeal to you and don't let the critics get in the way of your success. This is the same advice I give myself, by the way. The fear can really get you if you let it. So, don't let it!
Writerspace: What can fans expect from you in the next twenty-four months?
Beverly Brandt: Well, I actually have a lot of great things coming up in the next twenty-four months! I am under contract for my next two romantic comedies, which will be released from St. Martin's Press. The first, titled DREAM ON, will be out around this time in 2004. The next (working title is FAST FOOD, but my editor just told me that she didn't like that, so I'm sure it will change!) will hopefully be released at the end of 2004. DREAM ON stars Bradley Nelson, the wannabe country music star from RECORD TIME. I am having a ball writing this book as Bradley and a wedding chapel employee dressed in a gorilla suit race from Reno to Nashville being pursued by a gang of casino owners who want to kill them. I just finished a scene in Vegas where Bradley and his heroine end up acting in a Wild West show and . . . oh, wait, I guess you'll have to buy the book to find out what happens next!
In other exciting news, I just sold a 3-book romantic suspense series to Berkley and the first of these books should hit the shelves in the summer of 2004! I will be writing these books under a pseudonym (I'll announce my alter ego's name on my website at www.beverlybrandt.com as soon as I decide what it's going to be!) because they'll be straight romantic suspense and will not be in the same vein as my 'Beverly Brandt' books. I am very excited about this sale because now I get to write for two great houses!
Writerspace: Do you have any book signings coming up?
Beverly Brandt: Yes, I have a signing on Saturday, June 7th at the Barnes & Noble in Carrollwood, FL. Other authors attending the signing include Virginia Henley, Kathy Carmichael, Jasmine Cresswell, Katherine Garbera, Karen Hawkins, Ann Jacobs, Susan Kearney, Leslie Kelly, Julie Elizabeth Leto, Jeanie London, K.T. Morgan, Tara Randel, Roxanne St. Claire, and Vicki Hinze.
I'm also attending the RWA Readers for Life Literacy Booksigning on Wednesday, July 16th from 5:30-8:30 at the Hilton NY in Manhattan.
Writerspace: Thank you so much for your time! I've really enjoyed chatting with you and learning more about ROOM SERVICE!
Beverly Brandt: And thank you for such great questions!
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