Ronda Thompson: New Texas Legend

Images of Texas loom large in American mythology — especially the “large” part. The state is big; the men are big; the hats are big. And now, thanks to romance writer Ronda Thompson, even the laughs are big.

Thompson burst on the romance scene last year with the wildly funny Isn’t It Romantic? Although released by a small publisher and often difficult to find, romance readers and critics made the book a finalist for the National Readers Choice Award presented by the Romance Writers of America’s Oklahoma Chapter. Thompson’s 1999 follow-ups Cougar’s Woman and Prickly Pear proved she could finesse historical western romance as easily as contemporary humor. In addition, Prickly Pear demonstrated that the screwy screw-ups of love aren’t just universal, they’re eternal.

Crescent Blues: Your fiction demonstrates all the “larger than life” aspects people associate with Texas. Are you a native?

Ronda Thompson: I was born in Oklahoma but raised in Amarillo. We moved to Texas when I was in the second grade, been here ever since.

How has living most of your life in Texas influenced your writing?

I tend to write rough and rowdy books. I live in a rough and rowdy state, so I suppose you could say Texas has influenced my writing, mostly because living here has shaped my personality. I like lots of action, and the history of Texas is everywhere. We don’t ride horses down the street — well, except during parades — but we still ride horses and there are several working ranches in Texas. I think I’ve been given an unfair advantage when it comes to writing about Texas. It is one state where history has been kept alive.

How has it affected your choice of heroes and heroines?

My heroes and heroines are mostly as I perceive people were in the time period. Camile Cordell in Prickly Pear is a perfect example of how I perceived women in the Texas Panhandle during the 1800s. There weren’t many, but the ones that were here were as tough as they come. My heroes are tough too, but underneath the toughness of both heroes and heroines, there is a vulnerability. It’s that vulnerability that makes them real.

Could you imagine Isn’t It Romantic or Prickly Pear set somewhere else?

No. Even though both of my heroes in these books were not originally from Texas, I needed a rough and rowdy setting to pull off the story. Texas is always the setting that comes to mind when I’m looking for rough and rowdy.

How would the stories have to change if you changed the locale?

Everything would have changed. The tone. The language. The characters. In others words, you can the writer out of Texas, but you can’t take Texas out of the writer.

Do you think there is such a thing as a “Texas novel” or “Texas style?”

Yes I do, but I also think you have to be a Texan to completely capture the essence of a Texas novel or a Texas style. We still say things our great-great-grandparents said. We like rodeos and honkey tonks, but we go to the ballet and to Broadway plays when they are brought to us. We worship Garth Brooks and George Straight, but we like the symphony, too. We’re very simple people, yet we are very complex. I guess what I’m saying is, it takes one to know one. Oh, and we love clichés. Most of our everyday language is made up of them.

Do you consider yourself a regional writer?

I don’t see how I could get away with saying I’m not. Prickly Pear is set in the Texas Panhandle, Isn’t It Romantic? is set in Dallas and the novel which will be released in May of 2000 is set in a fictitious town not far from Fort Worth. I feel most comfortable when I’m writing about my own backyard, but I don’t feel as if I’m limited to only writing about Texas. So I guess the answer is yes… and no.

Usually it takes writers, even writers from Texas, a long time to perfect their craft. How long had you been writing before you sold a book?

I’d been writing seven years before I sold my first novel.

What jobs have you held on your way to writing glory?

I’ve had lots of jobs. Lots of them. I’ve been a bank teller, a grocery store checker, a dog groomer, a mortgage loan processor, a mortgage loan closer, a furniture saleswoman, a bookkeeper, a parks and recreation maintenance crew worker, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some. I am easily bored and need constant new challenges. That sounds better than saying I’m a bad employee.

A friend told me to ask you about your “roof scooting days.” Would you mind explaining the reference?

Are you referring to dancing, or to the time I was on a roof with my fellow crew members of the Parks Department shingling? I couldn’t figure out why the guys didn’t sit down and scoot along instead of squatting. They didn’t tell me, either. After I’d scooted my butt all over the roof and stood up, I realized the seat to my jeans was missing. They all got a big laugh out of it.

I’ve done a lot of the other kind of scooting, too. Boot scooting in worn-out jeans. Honkey tonks and Texans just go together. I didn’t get married until I turned 28, and I did my share of dancing in honkey tonks up until then. I still like it once in a while, although the kids have mostly taken over everywhere. I’m the only person I know who likes the smell of stale cigarettes and even staler beer.

In Isn’t It Romantic?your hero endangers life and limb on a mechanical bull. Did you ever ride a mechanical bull?

Yes, I rode a mechanical bull. Not once, but two or three times. The first one I rode was at a rodeo in Clarendon, Texas, in 1974. I hadn’t seen one before, and having consumed several bottles of “courage,” I climbed on the thing on a dare. I rode it eight seconds on full throttle. The clubs in Texas took to having mechanical bulls at most of the hot night spots, and yes, I rode a couple of times just for the fun of it.

While we’re on the subject of Isn’t It Romantic? how about a washing machine? Did you personally research that scene also?

No, I have never ridden a washing machine. I leave those stunts up to my characters.

There’s talk that Isn’t It Romantic? will soon be made into a movie. When can we expect to see it in the theaters?

I’m not sure when or if a movie of Isn’t It Romantic? will be released. I know the book has been adapted to screenplay, and it is currently being shopped around. All I can do is hope.

How have your works changed over time?

I hope they have become stronger. The writing more polished and the plotting tighter. Writing is a process, one that any writer worth his or her salt will continue to try to improve upon. Very few writers produce a bestselling novel the first time out. It usually takes years to achieve that goal. And it should be a goal of every writer. It is one of mine.

Do you feel your development as a writer is progressing as it should?

Yes, I do believe I am developing and progressing as I should. You know you are progressing when you sell one book, then continue to sell more. You know you are developing when someone says I liked the newest one the best.

Are there things that still scare you as a writer?

I used to be terrified that my first sale was somehow a big fluke. I was afraid I would never sell anything else. Now, I’ve become more realistic about my writing career. I pat myself on the back for setting a goal and achieving it. I realize there are more important things in my life than writing — my family. If I never sell another book, I can honestly say I gave it my best shot, and I’ll find another challenge to undertake. End of one chapter and the beginning of another. That’s what life is.

After waiting seven years to get your first book accepted, what was your first reaction to “getting the call?”

I couldn’t believe it. I probably asked my agent to repeat herself about four times. Then I think I screamed in her ear. After we got off of the phone, I ran outside screaming my husband’s name. I screamed for about ten minutes before I realized he wasn’t even home from work yet. My father-in-law was in the backyard doing some gardening and looking at me like I must have lost my mind. I ran up to him and gushed out the news. He was very happy, but not happy enough. I needed to tell more people. I went back into the house and proceeded to call everyone I knew, or could get a hold of anyway. I was late picking my kids up from school because I completely forgot about them. It was great. All that I ever imagined it would be, and

it was a high that lasted for a good two weeks straight. The only experience that tops selling your first novel is looking down into the sweet faces of your children after they are first born. That one can’t be beat. Not ever.

What was different about your reactions when you received word that your second book had sold?

Nothing was different. I still couldn’t believe it. I think I still asked my agent to repeat herself at least four times. I think I still screamed in her ear. I still called everyone I knew, but I called my husband first, and I remembered he was at work.

We know what has given you your greatest joy. What is your greatest fear?

My greatest fear of all time? I think it’s the same one almost everyone has. Fear of death. I don’t fear death for myself really. I fear more what will become of my loved ones after I am gone. Which when you think about it, is pretty selfish. People go on to live their lives. Grief is a horrible emotion. I don’t like the thought of those I love suffering for my sake. I suppose that is where faith comes in, and it is sad to say, but most of us just don’t have enough. I’m going to work on that one.

OK, let’s turn that question back on its head: what makes you happy?

Simple things make me happy. The smell of rain in the air after a long dry spell. The turning of the leaves in fall. Watching my children getting along. A snowy day when none of us have to get outside, and the pantry is full. Good surprises. Good friends.

What kind of surprises? Is there something your readers would be surprised to learn about you?

I think what most people would find surprising about me, is that I was a very introverted child and didn’t do well in school. I believe I had dyslexia, although back then, no one recognized learning disabilities. My son is dyslexic and we spotted it in the second grade. He’s now in fourth and getting help from the school. It’s strange that someone who had as much trouble with words as I did a child would grow up to be a writer.

Yet somewhere along the line you fell in love with reading and writing. How did it happen? Was there a particular writer who inspired you?

I began reading Barbara Cartland novels when I was about fourteen or fifteen. I loved them! Couldn’t get enough of them! Read two or three a week! I have to say she influenced me the most, because I before I found her, I didn’t care much for reading.

Are you still addicted to Barbara Cartland?

No, but I still respect her immensely. She is responsible for making me love to read, and I suppose, responsible for making me want to write.

Which writers inspire you today?

Any one who makes me laugh or cry or want to be a better writer.

Has your dyslexia had any positive or negative impact on your writing?

I don’t know if anyone else would call it positive, other than it has made me appreciate the written word more than perhaps the normal person. It has made my style somewhat different. I often put my sentences together wrong. I put the back part of the sentence on the front and the front part on the back. I catch it most of the time, but the times I don’t, well, I guess my editors all just believe it is part of my style. And I suppose it is.

You mentioned your children earlier. Did having a family put your writing ambitions on hold for a while?

Oddly enough, I didn’t start writing until after my children were born. My daughter was six and my son was a year old when I started to write. I got a late start at motherhood, and figured if I did intend to write, I’d just better get on with it. It is difficult to write when your children are small, but not impossible.

As I said, there wasn’t a delay. I learned to write while my children were fighting, crying or asking me to come wipe them. Particularly difficult to write a sexy scene when your small child is yelling at you from the toilet, but I didn’t know the difference. I still don’t.

Do you think having kids makes it easier for you to write about them?

Yes, I do. Before I had children of my own, I didn’t know beans about them. To me, they were small and sticky. They were still small and sticky after I became a mother, but they were so much more. It’s the little things they do, the things you can put in a novel, that make them real characters. And motherhood is the best research.

Do your kids read your books?

No. My children do not read my books. I may let them when they are both over thirty.

Your first published work, Isn’t It Romantic?,is a contemporary romance, and now you are writing historicals. Do you find it difficult to switch from contemporary to historical?

I don’t find it difficult to switch from contemporary to historical. I love both, but historical has always been my first love. Ironically, contemporary was I what first published in.

Many writers swear by their critique groups, while others see them as a waste of time and possibly even a detriment to career advancement. How do you feel about them?

I don’t currently have a critique group so to speak. Jennifer Archer, a very talented new author, and I exchange manuscripts from time to time. We brainstorm over the phone a lot, but I don’t have a group or a regular meeting time. I used to, but I’m a binge writer and sometimes I’m really moving and don’t want to slow down. Then again, sometimes I’m not producing and don’t want to show up empty-handed.

Another plague that seems to strike writers at one time or another is writer’s block. Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? Do you have a cure?

I have and do often suffer from writer’s block. I don’t know the cure or I wouldn’t still be suffering right now. A friend of mine suggested I move the furniture in my office around. Face my desk in a different direction. I’m going to try it. Another fix seems to be reading someone I really love. That inspires me to get moving again.

Speaking of getting moving again, you seem to be doing all right in that area. You have a three-book contract with Leisure Books, Prickly Pear being the first one of the three. Will the other two be historicals also?

Prickly Pear was the first of the three, and I have already turned in the second, entitled, In Trouble’s Arms, another historical which should be out around May of 2000.

What are you working on now?

My current work in progress is also a historical, but a different avenue for me. This one is a long historical set in the Regency era. The working title is The Marquis’ Wife, but of course that is subject to change. I plan to do some contemporaries for Leisure in the future, as they have new lines opening in that area, and my editor is not opposed to me writing both.

Can readers expect to see more books set in England and elsewhere?

I certainly hope so. I’ve never been the kind who likes to be fenced in. I hope my career can be one of my own choosing.

Many writers end up being locked into a certain type of book, or a certain setting. To me personally, this would greatly stifle my creativity. A writer would get a great idea, then have to sit around figuring out how it will “fit” into what their publishing house expects from him or her. I suppose that in itself may be enough of a challenge for some, but for me, I need wide open spaces with plenty of room to roam around freely.

I have written one novel set in New Mexico, three set in Texas, one set in both America and England. One set on a remote island paradise, one set in Virginia, one set in the future, one set way way in the past… so you see, I’m a hard person to pin down.

You’ve said it wasn’t difficult to switch from one romance genre to another, but did you face any challenges in making the switch?

It was a challenge to make a leap from westerns and contemporaries to a Regency. For one thing, the research has been more difficult. The language is different. I did have one advantage, and that is my love for romances set in England and the Regency period. I’ve read a ton of them, and I hope I’ve absorbed the knowledge and understand fully the tone of these particular types of books. I guess I’ll see when I turn the novel into my editor.

The greatest challenge was making a decision to try something different, and the best part about making the switch was the challenge of trying something different. I think it is important for writers to constantly challenge themselves. It’s what makes the business interesting. And hopefully, it’s what makes the reading interesting, too.

All authors seem to have their own special way of approaching their writing. How do you write? From an outline? From inspiration?

I write from inspiration. I hardly ever have an outline, except in my mind. I get an idea, think about what would be a strong conflict for the characters and just start writing.

What kind of writing rituals (if any) do you practice?

I don’t know that I have “rituals,” but I am a binge writer. I go for days without writing a word then sit down and kick out fifty pages in two days. I’ve always written this way, so I think its’ safe to assume my bad habits are not going to change.

How do your writing habits change when you’re working under a deadline versus when you’re writing at your own pace?

When I’m working a deadline, I have to be more disciplined. I seem to enjoy the writing more when I am not on deadline. Deadlines force the author to produce, and force produces forced writing. I don’t feel the pressure when I am not on deadline, and it helps the writing flow more naturally. Of course, we have to have deadlines or everyone would just goof around I guess. The ideal situation would be to learn to enjoy deadlines. I haven’t learned to do that yet.

Readers and reviewers agree that Isn’t it Romantic? is hilarious. Does the comedy just flows naturally or do you have to work harder at it than you do in a more emotional work like Cougar’s Woman?

I can’t say that comedy writing is easier or that writing a very emotional book is harder. I just happen to have two very different facets to my own personality. One side is very funny, the other, sort of dark and disturbed. I call on whichever side I need for the kind of book I have chosen. But, I can’t seem to keep one side from intruding upon the other. Most of the comedies I have written have a deeper, darker thread running through them, and most darker, emotionally charged romances I have written have moments of comedy interwoven throughout the book. I guess that is my own perspective of life at work. You may laugh one day and cry the next, but it’s the balance of the two that keeps a person sane.

What do you do to get yourself into a “funny” mood?

I watch funny movies. I think of funny things that have happened to me or to people I know. I watch my kids and the puppies.

While we’ve been talking, I’ve been hearing a lot of barking in the background. How many dogs do you have?

I have two French Brittanies and, at the moment, two French Brittany puppies. One of them is sold and will be delivered shortly, the other one, well, I think he’s going to stay. In July our mother dog blessed us with eight puppies, and it really was a blessing, I guess. We made quite a bit of money off the sales. Makes me think I should go into dog breeding rather than writing.

Do you have any other hobbies besides the Brittanies?

I used to have hobbies, but now I don’t. Between raising my children, taking care of the house and writing full-time, I don’t have time for hobbies. If I did have one, it would probably be horseback riding. I used to love to ride, and my father still has horses. He also lives five minutes away from me, so I should take it up again.

Do you have anything more you’d like to add?

Only that if anyone out there, the general romance reading population in particular, is reading any of my novels, drop me an email and let me know what you think. I’m at RThom89365@aol.com. I have long since gotten past the pleasure of writing for myself. I want to write for you, so let me know if I’m getting the job done. If I am not, I want to know why, or what you believe would strengthen my writing. I would love to know if you prefer my contemporaries over my historicals, comedy to the darker novels. Did you like Prickly Pear better than Cougar’s Woman? Why? I want to hear from you. Writing is a very lonely profession. Only the hope that I have given someone pleasure with my novels, the way I have received pleasure from other authors, makes the effort worthwhile.

Patricia Lucas White

Patricia Lucas White’s latest historical novel, To Last a Lifetime, was an Eppie finalist for 2003. To Last a Lifetime and two of her fantasy romances, the Sapphire Award-winning A Wizard Scorned and The Godmother Sanction, can be ordered through Hard Shell Word Factory. Her recent contemporary, PS, I’ve Taken a Lover, is available from Lionhearted Books.