(posted August 9, 2007)

Many years ago, frustrated by the rejections from romances houses, I wrote an erotic short story and sent it to a women's erotica publisher. There was no expectation or career plan. I wrote it to see if I could, and to see what would happen. I was unprepared when an editor immediately accepted the short story for an upcoming anthology.

The first thing she needed to know before she could send a contract was my pseudonym, which is a very common practice in the erotica genre. So I grabbed the baby name book (every romance author has one in reaching distance), flipped it open, and it landed in the J section. From previous discussions I had with romance editors, they had always told me that once I published, I would need a name that was "American" and "contemporary" to match what I write. That advice is probably not applicable today, but the reason I picked the name Jenesi is because the baby book said it has a contemporary American origin.

And why did I pick Ash as a surname? Well… while I was making the decision on the pen name, a Pokemon commercial was blaring on the TV in the background. The main character's name in that animated series is Ash.

Choosing a pen name based on a cartoon is probably not recommended, and I haven't decided if I've done better or worse than the one writer I know who is currently writing under her cats' names. The one point in her favor is that she knows how those names are pronounced.

I know, I know. How is it possible that I don't know how to pronounce my first name? After all, I chose it! Unfortunately, there was no pronunciation key in that baby book. Since it's my pen name, I've decided that Jenesi rhymes with Tennessee.

And that, my friends, is how not to pick a pen name. My only excuse is that naming yourself is no easy task!

~Susanna Carr

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(posted June 5, 2006)

When I first started reading romances, I loved the stories about the cosmopolitan places in the Harlequins. The Caribbean islands were always a favorite of mine, especially if they came with titled gentlemen. Even the jungles of Africa fascinated me, which is saying something since I hate anything that has to do with insects.

But this was heady stuff for me since I was born and raised in a small Midwestern town. How small was it? I remember one visitor was in awe that multi-generational families lived within walking distance of each other.

At the time, I didn't see why that was noteworthy. If anything, the small, cozy world was something of an annoyance. Expectations were based on what your ancestors did, and gossip really did travel faster than the car getting you home.

Knee-deep in my teen years, I was beginning to worry that I would never leave my small town. I wanted to go to the places that I read about. I needed to meet people who didn't know my family tree. I needed to forge my own path. It was time to spread my wings—

And I wound up in another Midwestern town. Only smaller than the one I left. I'm still not quite sure how I managed that.

During this time, I decided if I couldn't travel to the exotic, foreign locales, I would put them in the stories I write. I loved researching the cities and learning about the culture, but whenever I tried to put it into a story, my characters always seemed to gravitate to small towns. Sometimes small Midwestern towns. Hmm…

So I decided to try something different. I purposely wrote stories set in small Midwestern towns. It turns out that I had a lot to say about a place where I used to think nothing happened. Go figure.

The library in my novella "Wicked Ways" is based on the one in my birthplace. I knew every inch of that building. It really did have dusty German documents in the archives room and a marble staircase next to the check-out desk.

Confessions of a "Wicked" Woman is also set in a small town. In this story, the townspeople are dealing with a impending flood, which is same thing my neighbors and I went through one year. Nothing like going over the Mississippi River twice a day to work, watching the water s-l-o-w-l-y rise, and wondering which side of the bridge you're going to get stuck on when it washes out.

When I wrote EX, Why, and Me, I based Carbon Hill on the town I grew up in, right down to the brick streets and the renovated Turner Hall that I used to work at after school. There were plenty of festivals celebrating every fruit, vegetable and alcoholic beverage my town produced, but I never competed to be a Miss Fill-in-the-Blank. While my hometown was conservative enough to forego the swimsuit competition, they really did make the contestants do things like ride a pig in a race. That's what you get for having a lot of pig farms in the area.

I find it all very ironic. As a teenager, I was often curled up in my favorite spot at the public library, reading a paperback and daydreaming about becoming an author. I always knew I would write romance. I just never would have believed that I would be writing about the exotic locales of the Midwest, and having way too much fun doing it.

~Susanna Carr

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Read more notes! Susanna's Archives....

Is there a best reading order for your "Wicked" Women series?

The "Wicked" Women series is not connected by characters or plot. Instead, they are connected by the type of heroine. My stories are part of the series because the main characters are women who want to be "wicked". All of my novellas and single-titles can be read in any order.

What makes a "wicked" woman?

Every author who has contributed to a "Wicked" Woman anthology has a different approach, and I think that is why the series has been so popular. For me, a "wicked" woman heroine enjoys an ultra-sensual relationship with the hero but lacks confidence about her sexual allure or desirability. Throughout the story, the heroine undergoes a reaffirming journey, and creates a personal definition of what is sexy and "wicked".

Are you really a twin?

Yes, I am a twin, and that is one of the reasons I wrote The Wrong Bride. My sister and I would often shake our heads at some of the misconceptions seen in fiction about twins. When I decided to write a romance using twins, I played with a few of the assumptions. For more proof that I am a twin, here is a picture of my sister and me. I'm the cute one. My twin and I are not identical, although many people believe we are. She is the oldest, but I have always been more mature. To get her monthly romantic recommendations, subscribe to my newsletter. To contact her, click here.

Why do you read romance?

I was in middle school when I read my first romance, Anne Mather’s The Arrogant Duke. While the May/December romance doesn’t appeal to me these days, I still find the heroine’s journey fascinating. Even in my adolescence, I wanted to read about these women who pursued and achieved their dreams. My interest in romance novels hasn’t wavered. Category romances are my first choice of reading material and contemporary single-titles are a close second. I judge a bookstore by the size and variety of their romance section. I read other genres, but I’m frequently dissatisfied if there isn’t a romantic element.

What prompted you to start writing?

Writing is my only creative outlet and one of the few skills I did well at in school. I dreamed of becoming a romance writer for what seems like forever, but I never thought I was good enough to make it as a career and I often talked myself out of trying. When I decided I had to try or regret it for the rest of my life, my first few attempts at writing a manuscript left me very discouraged. Then I made one of the best decisions and joined the Romance Writers of America. By the time I studied the market, wrote more manuscripts, survived rejection letters and met supportive authors through my local RWA chapter, my confidence increased. Once I achieved small successes, I started to believe my dream could come true.

Do you have a

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