Chapter 26 AAR interviewed Xueli.Thomas

Regular visitors to AAR know that I love Shirley's books so much that I think it's because of her, Elizabeth.Holt, and Joanna.Byrne's appearance made me hopeful for the future of historical romance.And, you know what?But a year and a half ago, my opinion was completely opposite.In May 2009, Shirley's third book, Life and Death in India, came out, and it's exactly what we'd expect from an author: intricate, multi-layered, and never going to give you goosebumps The childish words of the earth.Glad we got to chat with her about her new book and the future of weighing Q: Hi Shirley, our first question is always the same, tell me about the book, please?

A: The original inspiration for "India" comes from the 2007 Naomi.Wise and Edward.Norton's a film Love in the Far Near (The Painted Veil, or translation of the mysterious veil. Known as Maugham's classic epic love story).It's the story of a difficult marriage, a tangled man and woman who travel through a dangerous and cholera-ridden interior of China.I think it's the best drama I've ever seen, and I think of it as Laura.Kinsale-style movies also have complex characters, deep emotional conflicts, strong sexual tension, and magnificent backgrounds.I loved it, loved it, loved it until the super big mine went off.The hero is actually dead!I don't know how I got out of the cinema, I was so shocked, I decided right away that my book project was to write about it, and in my version, I'm going to give them a happy ending.

First, I reversed the gender of the characters. After all, if the story is more or less the same, then there is no need to rewrite it.In the story of Love in the Far Nearby, the male protagonist is a bacteriologist who cannot adapt to society, but marries a beautiful wife whom everyone loves.In Love in India, I had the hero be the coveted social darling and the heroine the social misfit doctor whom I married somewhat condescendingly. The marriage could not go on, and the two annulled their marriage.When the story begins, he finds her in the Hindu Kush, on the remotest frontier of British colonial India, and what follows is a journey home, physically, and in all its emotional and metaphorical ways.

Q: We discussed this book briefly a few weeks ago, and you told me that writing this book was a great challenge for you.Based on the principle of not revealing the plot, what kind of monsters (special difficulties) do you think you face? A: Did I ever say that? (Laughs) To be honest, I challenge myself every minute of my writing career, and I wish I could write simple stories that I would bleed, however.I've been dealing with stories of kicking myself into the Strait of Magellan and back again lately. The biggest problem with writing "Indian Life and Death" was that I couldn't adjust the interaction between the hero and heroine so accurately that their relationship was just right for several months.If I just write what I like, I can put it aside until I find a better way and way.But I'm under deadline pressure, which means whether I'm 100% sure or not, I have to move on.

I rewrote the first half five times, then my editor gave me her judgment and opinion, and most of the passages in the first half and the second half were finally settled.For three weeks in December, I spent eighteen hours a day in front of the computer, waiting for the final revision to come out, and my face was covered with acne from too much stress. I never want to revise those manuscripts again, but I think the effort was really worth it.And, luckily, the only ones I had to deal with were pimples, not the devil. Q: A common theme of your three published books is that you interweave perspectives from the past while telling the story of your hero and heroine in the present moment.Why is this special intertwining of ancient and modern so attractive to you?And will this become your regular way of writing?

Answer: (Laughs) When I first wrote "Private Arrangement", the background was more than a hundred years ago, and I wrote it down in the order and time of events.After reading it, my agent at the time gave me an invaluable suggestion. She said: Start writing from the time of their reunion, because this is where the story really begins.I thought about it, and thought she was just talking casually, and I couldn't possibly write like that. Words can never be said.Five years later, when I took that manuscript out and rewrote it, I knew she had a lot of truth to it.There are so many layers to my story and characters that the present and the past should be revealed at the same time.That's the right technique to use for that particular story.

I actually don't like repeating myself, and I'm pretty sure my second story won't be about reunited love.It's done, it's done, it's done.As long as there is no intersection between the hero and heroine in the past, there is no need to pull the time line over, over, now, and over.After writing nearly 40,000 words of the first draft of the second "Life Is Delicious", I couldn't handle it no matter how I thought about it. If there is no history in the past, it is difficult for a man who pursues a servant not to fall into the rut of flattery.Even after that, I still strongly resist using the old-fashioned interlacing technique.I put aside the 40,000 words I just said, and started again. I used an overture to explain the past, and other things happened in the present.The manuscript was rejected, I rewrote it twice, and the character's past gradually became more and more important, until it became all intertwined.

The hero and heroine of "Life is Delicious" can't always be together, causing me to solve their difficulties while getting acne (yes, my skin is ruined by my work), so I chose to use alienation On the theme of relationship, the hero and heroine of "India" have been together all day, but I don't know that more serious skin problems are still waiting for me. I'm currently writing my fourth book. At the beginning, the hero and heroine meet for the first time, so there should be fewer scenes of recalling the past.In addition, I also have several semi-finished manuscripts that will not be interlaced with ancient and modern.So, the conclusion is that I don't naturally like the intertwining of ancient and modern storytelling methods, I just fell into it. (Like a drunk fell into a bar?)

Q: Let's talk about the cover.I personally think that "Private Arrangement" is the most beautiful cover I think recently, and "Life is Delicious" takes over the trademark of the previous one (there is lace on the right, and the theme is a beautiful woman in ancient costume), but the publishing house has recently reissued the two books, changing The traditional cover of men and women clutching each other proves that the cover never seems to die.What does the marketing department say?The historical romance in which men and women are caught together is the best seller? Answer: It is already a conclusion that historical romances in which men and women are caught together are the best-selling.

Publishers don't like that their books all have the same cover, but sometimes, artistic beauty must yield to the reality of the market.I'm actually grateful for the double cover because I want my book to sell. (I'm also thankful that I'm getting a full-on double cover, rather than just a guy with two dots showing.) Q: I don't usually push people hard, but when I heard you were going to write a modern romance, I really wanted to protest.Why?Will you continue to write historical romances?Please do continue. A: Historical romance will continue to be my way of making a living, this is first-hand information.

And I'm not into modern romance yet.I have a scribbled manuscript, about two-thirds written, but not yet signed to anyone.It was May 2007, shortly after I submitted my first draft of "Life Is Delicious," I entered a blog's 200-word first-date writing contest, and I didn't win, not even make it to the finals.But the potential development of this story fascinates me. I had only written a few pages when I received a sixteen-page suggestion from the editor for "Life Is Delicious," and I immediately dropped this modern story until September 2007 when I handed The second draft of "Life is Delicious" was picked up again.I only take it out and think about it when I wait for the editor to give me some answers. I kind of thought it might turn into a short story in the end, and then I thought it should be a 250-page flame series in the Helin series, and I even came up with a very Helin title: Her Billion Boys Toy.It was only in February of this year, while I was waiting for the proposal for the fourth book, that I thought about how the story of the second half of the book would proceed. The Helin style title makes me think of a real title that could be used.one night stand.The story is about a woman who just wants to have one night of sex with her billionaire boy toy.She is a social worker, he is a capitalist.Not only that, he came from a wealthy family, he is the descendant of the couples in "Private Arrangement" and "Delicious Life", and she can't stand the wealthy family (she has her own reasons).However, he wants much more than a one-night stand. I think it's Shirley.Thomas' version of Pride and Prejudice.The plot follows Jane.Austen's book is different, of course, but the characters' personalities are similar, for example, her biggest flaw is her prejudice, while he is too proud. Q: I know you are Judy.Alfred (editor's note: also the author of RA005 "My Fair Man"), Susan.Johnson and Laura.Fans of Kinsell and others, these are well-known authors, who do you like now? A: Meredith Duran, Bettie Sharpe, Laurie R. King, Sarah Addison Allen, Eva Ibbotson, I just recently watched Eva Ibbotson's Madensky Square and I really liked it. Q: This is our typical closing question.Shirley.What is Tompson's next book. Answer: It is a historical romance set in the UK. It is too difficult to study the subcontinent location of "Life and Death in India", so I fled back to the familiar UK for the time being.The book I'm currently using is "The Perfect Deception". I usually think of my books as Judy.Alfred or Laura.Kinsale's early books.It's not that I dare to compare with their qualities, but the similarity between the characters and the story.For example, the charm and boldness of "Private Arrangement", its rambunctiousness, is more like Judy.Alfred Duan, while the anxiety and emotional tension of "Indian Life and Death" is more like Laura.Kinsale (Editor's Note: Author of Romance Classic 329 "Sir the Devil"). But "Perfect Deception" is different. I tried to write more like Lolita.Chase.More precisely, I wish I could write my Mr. Strange, but not set in Egypt. Now everyone is praying so hard for me to make it through. Q: Is anyone shivering? "Mr. Qi"?This is great Lolita.Chase created my favorite character.Let's wait and see.Thank you Shirley! Thanks to Sandy Coleman and www.likesbooks.com for agreeing to translate and reprint