Frequently Asked Questions
Dear Readers:
I am so grateful for all the letters you send me every month be it via e-mail, or the good old post office. There are a few questions that you frequently ask. In order to provide you with an instant answer to some of those queries, I have created this new section on my website. I hope you will find the answers you've been looking for here. The page will be updated as it becomes necessary. God bless, and good reading from your most faithful author,
Q. Is Bertrice your real name?
A. Yes, it is. And my name is spelled BERTRICE not Beatrice. My mother's stepfather who raised her died suddenly just a few days before I was born. His first name was Albert, and and his nickname was Bert. My parents had previously decided if they had a boy he would be named Albert, but if they had a girl she would be named Diana Leslie (a family name, and yes, the name of one of my heroines). But when grandfather died unexpectedly my mother decided she would name her newly born daughter after him. So they feminized his nickname "Bert" into Bertrice, and I was given his last name as my middle name when I was christened. Small is my married name of course.
Q. How did you get started writing?
A. I was a great reader from childhood on, loved to write poetry, and tell stories to my cousins. If you have a knack for writing, reading other authors is your best teacher. One day - no joke - I decided to write a book. I sat down with a clipboard, a legal sized yellow pad, and a Bic Clic ballpoint pen. And I wrote, and wrote and wrote. It took me 2 years to research and write THE KADIN which was my first novel. It sold quickly, and I haven't stopped since which everyone tells me is a good thing. LOL!
Q. How do you research?
A. I begin with simple sources like the dictionary, and the encyclopedias. I get books from the library, and I have collected a large library of my own over the years. Childrens history books are excellent because they give you the plain facts which are often enough, or a very good place to start for dates, places, names. I don't use the internet because the information is not always correct or fact-checked. Books are your most reliable sources.
Q. Why do you publish your books in those big expensive editions?
A. I don't. How I am published isn't my call. It's the publishers. My first three books were mass market paperbacks, those small ones with which we are all familiar. But in 1980 my publisher decided to put my books into what is known as the Trade size. That 4th title was SKYE O'MALLEY. Of course in 1980 the price for a trade edition was only $5.95. The book was so successful that I've been published in Trade ever since. Usually after a year, however, my titles are re-published in a mass market edition which today is more expensive than that first trade! The last 3 books of the "Skye's Legacy" series, however, are not published in mass market. Check the Bookshelf page for those titles.
Q. Is it really you answering your fan mail, or does someone do it for you?
A. It's really me. The only difference being that because I don't have
help the fan letters that
come via the U.S. Mail are usually held for several months, and then I
send out what I call the
Bertrice Small Newsletter. I try to pen any answers to specific
questions on the bottom of
the letter. The envelopes for the newsletter are addressed by whoever
can help out. My
housekeeper, Aneta; son, Tom; or daughter-in-law, Megan. I personally
answer each and
every e-mail that I receive within a few days of its receipt. I put an
hour late in the day aside for
answering this mail. And I don't use a form letter. Provided you
don't write me a long list
of questions, I will answer each of your questions as best I can.
If you e-mail, and don't get an answer it means I didn't get it. Or
sometimes I answer and it gets bounced back to me. I do try 3 times.
E-mail isn't 100% reliable.
Q. How many books have you written and where can I get a list of them?
A. As of 2006 I have 45 full length novels in print. #45 is being published in October. You can find a list of my titles here on the site by clicking on "bookshelf". You can also purchase them via our link to Barnes and Noble. ADORA can be purchased by going to the ADORA page on this site. The series are listed in their to-be-read order. I also have authored 4 erotic novellas which can be found in the anthologies titled CAPTIVATED, FASCINATED, DELIGHTED and I LOVE ROGUES.
Q. What are the names of your 4 series, and how many books are in each?
The O'Malley Saga - 6 books
Skye's Legacy - 6 books
The Friarsgate Inheritance - 4 books
The World of Hetar - Is a work in
Progress. 3 Books in print so far
Q. Do you have any other books, not series, that are connected, and what are their titles?
A. Yes. My first 2 titles, THE KADIN and LOVE WILD AND FAIR are the tales of Janet Leslie, and then her great granddaughter, Cat Leslie. BLAZE WYNDHAM , and LOVE, REMEMBER ME, are the stories of BLAZE and her daughter, Nyssa.
Q. Are your books in audio?
A. The right to sell my titles into this format belongs to my publishers. For whatever reason they have not done so with one exception. There was a 12 tape library edition done of ROSAMUND several years ago.
Q. Do you have a favorite book?
A. Not really. That's like asking a mother if she has a favorite kid, but I will admit I do have a particular fondness for LOVE WILD AND FAIR.
Q. Who is your favorite hero?
A. I have several. My very best favorite is probably Francis-Stewart Hepburn, the last Hepburn earl of Bothwell. I am so fond of him that I bought 2 links in the Museum of Scotland for him. You will find his name somewhere along the stone floor there. It was my way of bringing him home to Scotland since he died in exile. My other favorites are Adam de Marisco - He 's just so nice! - and Geoffery Southwood, the earl of Lynmouth. He was just so wickedly delicious a man. And of course I do think Madoc of Powys deserves a mention. He was probably the most noble of all my gentlemen, giving his life for his wife and child.
Q. How do I become a writer?
A. This is a difficult question to answer. It's like that old saying: Many are called, but few are chosen. A lot of people have story ideas, and some of those ideas are very good. They just don't know how to put them on paper. There isn't too much hope if you can't transcribe your ideas onto paper, but before you give up entirely, try taking a creative writing course, learn to punctuate and spell. When you have mastered those skills join Romance Writers Of America and then join your local R.W.A. chapter. Go to the monthly meetings to share your work in critique sessions, listen to published authors, editors and agents speak. Without fail subscribe to ROMANTIC TIMES or RT as we call it. This is the original fanzine of the genre, is published monthly, and is full of industry news, reviews, interviews etc. And READ! Particularly what you want to write. The best teachers are the writers who have become before.
**On advice of council, the author regrets she cannot read any unsolicited/unpublished material. This pertains to manuscripts, story and character ideas, as well as any other intellectual concepts which could be used in the creation of written work.**
