As I mentioned yesterday, today is our lucky day! My great friend and fellow romance author, Patricia Sargeant, has stopped by to chat about her latest book, On Fire. Yay!
AC: Hi, Patricia! Thanks for stopping by! I want to start by asking you about setting. You write so vividly of Charleston, West Virginia. How did you decide on using that city? Have you spent time there?
PS: Ann, thank you so very much for the great compliment on the setting description. I have relatives in Charleston, West Virginia, and wonderful memories of time spent there with them. Because the story has a political backdrop, I knew I wanted On Fire - well, the entire Fire trilogy - to take place in a state capital. But I wanted a state capital with a small town, community feeling. Charleston gives me that feeling. Coupled with the mountains, Charleston was perfect.
Google Earth and city maps also helped with the descriptions. 
AC: Hmmm… Google Earth. Making a mental note …
Sharon, the heroine, is a reporter who spends most of her time in the newsroom and, again, your descriptions of the newsroom and the problems a reporter might face, including cronyism, are very detailed and rich. How did you do this research? Were you a reporter in a past life?
PS: Yes, I was.
AC: Really? I didn’t know!
PS: I majored in news editorial journalism at The Ohio State University shortly after the discovery of electricity. I’ve worked for several newspapers. My goal was to change the world! Or at least my little part of it. But the hours and the pay, … well, I thought it would be OK to change the world on a bigger budget. 
So, I left newspapers and moved into corporate communications/marketing.
The Charleston Times is, of course, a fictitious newspaper. But the newsroom is modeled after a combination of newsrooms in which I’ve worked. And there’s a scene in the book in which I give a nod to a real nemesis from my reporting days. The character’s name is “Donovan.” Petty, perhaps. But it made me smile.
AC: Petty? You? Shocking!
Anyhoo, Matthew is a handsome fire chief who looks great in his uniform. Please tell me you got to hang out at a firehouse and be “rescued” from a burning building or two … ? Yes? No?
PS: Ann, you’re hilarious! Hold on while I wipe the tears from my eyes. Too funny!
Thank you again for another great compliment. My head is swelling so much, I’m going to have to grease the doorway before I can leave.
At one point in my newspaper career, I had the fire department beat. That experience helped me with some of my descriptions. I also interviewed a fire investigator and a firefighter for this story. I interviewed the investigator via e-mail, and the firefighter is very happily married to a friend.
AC: But did they give you a CALENDAR? Ooops! Sorry! I digress.
Tell me … What was the most difficult part of writing this book? The easiest?
PS: Oooh. Great questions.
AC: Thank you. I do try.
PS: The emotional scenes are always a bit draining for me. I find them challenging to write because I have to reach deep inside myself to channel that emotion. I have to put myself in the character’s situation to collect a believable reaction. I have to say things and connect with feelings that aren’t always comfortable in an effort to convey those thoughts and emotions with realism. In the back of my mind is the question, “Do you want to be that vulnerable?” The answer is always, “Do you want the story to not stink?”
I think you can understand what I’m trying to say, Ann, because there are strong emotions in your books, too. And if you tell me it’s not that hard for you to channel those deeper emotions, I’m going to sulk. 
AC: Don’t sulk. It’s so unbecoming. Actually, I really enjoy those big blow-up scenes. Sick, I know, but there it is. I like making the characters suffer. It’s good for them, IMHO.
PS: I don’t know if I would call this part the “easiest” but it’s the most fun for me. Giving my characters specific personality quirks. For example, Matthew is a huge University of Pittsburgh (Panthers) fan living in West Virginia University (Mountaineer) territory. Panthers/Mountaineers are huge rivals. In self-defense, I gave Matthew neckties in colors that are variations of the Panthers blue-and-gold school colors. And Sharon is a huge Patti LaBelle fan. She refers to Patti LaBelle songs throughout the story.
AC: We’ll get back to Patti in a minute. What do you think is special about the book?
PS: Oh, thank you for asking!
AC: De nada.
PS: Here’s the thing. On Fire is the first manuscript I ever completed. In its original form, it was awful. Truly. Awful. I had to pretty much rewrite it. But I didn’t want to give up on this story because I really loved Matthew and Sharon (the hero and heroine) and Allyson and Andre (Sharon’s friends who have their own love story in On Fire’s sequel.) But most importantly, I think the story’s theme is important and I really wanted to explore it.
On Fire’s theme is trust. Trust is the foundation of every relationship - lovers, family, friends, even work relationships. Think about it. Your relationship is only as strong as your trust. In On Fire, Matthew has to trust Sharon. To do that, he has to see her for who she is and not filter her through the baggage he brings with him from his past.
AC: What’s up with the Patti LaBelle soundtrack throughout the book? Is she a personal favorite?
PS: Oh, now, Ann! You know you rushed out to buy a Patti LaBelle CD after reading On Fire. Admit it. You can whisper it. I won’t tell.
AC: I do love Lady Marmalade…
PS: I love Patti LaBelle’s voice. What she does to a song is just … spectacular. She can sing the back of a Cheerios box and I’d buy the album.
But, actually, referencing her songs in the book happened by accident. In one of the earliest scenes, Sharon’s listening to the radio while she’s jogging and Patti LaBelle’s New Attitude comes on the station. And I thought, “Wow. That works really well for where Sharon is personally at this point in the story.” I pulled out the greatest hits CD and realized several of those songs work for specific points throughout the story, so I wrapped them in. I thought it would make a fun personality quirk for her.
AC: Another one of Sharon’s personal quirks is that she likes to eat pretzel rods for a snack. That isn’t one of YOUR habits, is it?
PS: Hilarious! No. My dear friend and critique partner, Marcia James, asked me that, too. I don’t like pretzel rods. Another personality quirk I wanted to give Sharon was emotional eating, which unfortunately, is one of my habits.
AC: Join the club, sister.
PS: But, unlike me, I wanted Sharon to make smart food choices. So she went for the pretzel rod while I snack on Twix bars. {{blushing}}
AC: Thanks for visiting, Patricia! I love having you here!
PS: Ann, this has been so much fun. Thanks very much for inviting me over to chat. I always enjoy spending time with you.
AC: If you have a question for Patricia, please post it. On Saturday, I’ll be giving away 4 copies of her books to lucky commenters!
Normally I’m not all that big on Westerns, but this one belongs up there with biggies like High Noon, Unforgiven and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
Today I’m blogging about lost weekends over at 