Interview with Elizabeth Camden, author of The Rose of Winslow Street
Our guest this month is Elizabeth Camden and she has given me a copy of her novel, The Rose of Winslow Street, which one of the subscribers to this newsletter will win in a drawing on February 25.
A research librarian and associate professor, Elizabeth Camden has a master's in history from the University of Virginia and a master's in library science from Indiana University. She lives with her husband in central Florida.
JO: Please tell us a little about yourself.
 ELIZABETH: Hi Jo, thanks for asking me on board! I just published my second novel, The Rose of Winslow Street, but for most of my life I have been a college librarian. Still am! Being a librarian is a great career because not only can I buy books with other people's money, every day is a new adventure in research. Working in a college library means that some days I help students decipher the symbolism in a Michelangelo painting, break down the nutritional components in a tomato, or help the MBA students write a business plan. I love research, and there's no better place to do it than a college library.
JO: Do you always know the title of your books before you write them?
ELIZABETH: Almost never! The title of my first book was The Robber Baron. I loved that title because it sounded dashing, a little bit dangerous, and was very descriptive of the book, which deals with the transformation of a hard-bitten corporate titan into a man of God. My publisher vetoed it (over and over again!) Their view was that since it was my first book, I needed to be "branded" in the eye of the public as someone writing romance fiction for women. So the title was changed to The Lady of Bolton Hill, and instead of an image of a hot, smoldering guy on the cover, we got a very feminine cover. It is a gorgeous cover and title, but not what I originally envisioned. Still, I think my publisher gave me really good advice. They are the professionals, and I'm still very new at all this.
JO: Please tell us about your novel, The Rose of Winslow Street.
 ELIZABETH: The Rose of Winslow Street is set in 1879. Libby Sawyer's quiet, respectable life in Colden, Massachusetts is shattered when a bold stranger from Romania invades her world. In short order, Michael Dobrescu seizes her house and declares ownership in an attempt to unravel a century-old mystery that is hidden deeply within the house. Fascinated by this enigmatic man, Libby uncovers layers of mystery surrounding Mr. Dobrescu's amazing past....and his plans for the future in which she plays a startling role.
The Rose of Winslow Street is a celebration of manhood. I think all women secretly long for a man who adores children, sets his woman on a pedestal, and will lay his life on the line for a cause he believes in. These qualities can oftentimes come bundled with a heavy dose of things that drive women nuts. I wanted to write a book that is open-minded about this sort of raw, brawny man. Michael Dobrescu is a brash hero who alternately makes Libby weak at the knees or want to throw him out of the house for his sometimes thoughtless, blunt masculine demeanor. He was hugely fun to write!
JO: What takeaway value do you hope your readers receive after reading this book?
ELIZABETH: I want them to have a wonderful, exhilarating time as they watch Michael uncover layers of mystery, long-buried secrets, and fall hopelessly in love. My favorite novels make the reader feel like they have just made friends with a bunch of captivating people, and are sorry to close the last page. I hope this is the kind of experience The Rose of Winslow Street will deliver.
JO: What advice would you give to writers just starting out?
ELIZABETH: As for the practical aspects of how to write a book that has the potential to sell, you can't do better than The Breakout Novelist: Craft and Strategies for Career Fiction Writers, by Donald Maas.
Okay...that is the technical aspect of what you need to do. Now on to the much more difficult angle of weathering the emotional trauma that comes along with trying to get a novel published. Writing a novel is a huge emotional investment that requires years of dedicated work, and the odds of payoff are really low. You have got to ask yourself how much of your time and psychological energy you are willing to risk in the process.
It took me six years of writing before I had a manuscript that was worthy of publication, and those years came along with plenty of self-doubt, heartache, and rejection. But the bottom line was that I loved what I was doing. I came to the conclusion that I might never get published, but I still loved the craft enough to keep plugging away. One of my favorite quotes is from A League of their Own when Gena Davis has reached her breaking point and is getting ready to throw in the towel because she didn't expect everything to be so hard. Tom Hanks scolds her, "Of course this is hard. If it was easy anyone could do it. It is the hard that makes it great."
I think this line is true in almost any endeavor that is really worthwhile... starting a business, raising kids, training for a sport, writing a book. It is the hard that makes it great.
JO: Please tell our readers where they can get your book.
I'm in most of the major book stores and all the usual online places.
ELIZABETH: Where can our readers find you?
I love blogging about the romance genre and trends within the publishing industry at www.elizabethcamden.com/blog. Since I am a librarian, I also publish pictures of mouth-watering libraries. I hope you can swing by sometime!
JO: Elizabeth, thank you for spending time with us for this interesting interview. And thank you for a copy of The Rose of Winslow, which one of subscribers will win in a drawing.
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