Talking with Ranee Clark, author of A Contemptible Affection

What do you find most rewarding about writing? I love to go back and read something I wrote and fall in love with it again. I love it when someone finds something I've written enjoyable. It makes me flutter.

I know the feeling or its close sibling, "Wow, I wrote that?" I notice your answers are in pink so um…What’s your favorite color? Pink! I love pink!

Yeah, I have a few too many dresses, scarves and tops in pink. I prefer absolute silence when I write, but what music groups/artists blast from your CD player while you write? It depends on the writing mood I'm in. Sometimes, if I'm really into one of my YA manuscripts, I'll pick a teen station on Pandora or Spotify and just let it ride. If I just need more background noise, I turn to my soundtracks station on Pandora. I don't think I've owned a CD or a CD player for several years. ;)

What or who inspires you to write? Pretty much everyone and everything. I can be sitting somewhere and see something and I say to myself -- what would happen if ...? And it takes off from there.  Once, while sitting and watching my kids play at a kiddie pool (and also mulling over some local events) the inspiration for a short story just hit me.

Proof of an active mind on vacation! What was your favorite book growing up that inspired you to try your hand at writing? I'm not sure if they exactly inspired me, but I loved the Nancy Drew books and also the Babysitters Club Books. My first stories that I wrote in late elementary school and middle school were all little series sets, mysteries or whatnot, three to five pages long.

Have you experienced writer’s block? And if so, how did you cure it? Of course! I think that probably the best advice is to make yourself write or write through it, but I don't think that's a hard and fast rule. I think sometimes writers need to step away and do something else -- maybe that's go for a walk, listen to music, watch a movie, go shopping, eat ice cream, or maybe go to a different project. I tend to hop to different projects if I'm really blocked, but I do try to write through everything, then I'll go back and fix those scenes that I know needed help.

Good advice! I'll have to try that the next time I hit the wall. Is that when you turn to your other interests and talents? What hidden talent do you possess outside of writing... something you do for fun, but are good at? I love to scrapbook -- digitally. I've spent the last year or so learning what I can about PhotoShop and using it to create. I love the sort of mindlessness that goes into it. Whenever I need something to distract my fingers, but when my brain needs to be on something else, I scrapbook!

How did you come up with your premise for A CONTEMPTIBLE AFFECTION? I was inspired by a line in a Georgette Heyer novel. One of the heroes (the heroine didn't end up with him) said that he'd always intended to marry her. That line spun off into A CONTEMPTIBLE AFFECTION and inspired most of Lord Dersingham's character, but both he and Iris evolved over and over to create a different story than what I originally imagined.

For those who are not familiar with this story, would you please give us the blurb?
After being spurned by Lord Dersingham last season, Iris Colburne swears she'll never let him in again. But that is a lot harder than she imagined.

Are there any fun tid-bits about this story you can share with us? None of my beta readers ever liked Iris, and only through some editing could I make her likable in the end. But she's still one of my favorite characters.

How did you decide on the setting? When you're writing a regency, and you want to write a good one, London is sort of the default. 

What is the purchase link (and cost)? A CONTEMPTIBLE AFFECTION is available both at Amazon and on Smashwords for $0.99.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009UGKEQU
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/245847

It's also available in paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Contemptible-Affection-Regency-Novella/dp/148007411X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

Can you tell us what review of your story meant the most to you and why? The very first "actual" review I got has meant a lot. The reader loved it and really connected with Iris as a character and got Iris' motivations. I loved it. It made my tummy flutter and I had to read it to my husband. I think that review could sustain me through any bad reviews!