We recently interviewed Susan Mallery about the latest installment in her Lone Star Sisters series, Straight From the Hip, and learned how the New York Times bestselling author crafts her appealingly complex characters…
Before her accident, Izzy was the adventurer of her family – swimming with sharks for example – yet, she’s terrified of the dark. What inspired you to add this element to her character?
have a plot group I meet with a couple of times a year and we work on each other’s books. When we were working on Izzy’s books, I already had Lexi and Skye’s books done and I knew a lot about Dana, who’s the heroine of book 4. One of my goals was to make all four heroines completely different. I get frustrated when I read a connected series and feel like I’m reading the same book over and over, so I never want to do that.
Izzy was so wild and adventurous from the start. I already knew that, but I didn’t know what was going to happen to her in her story. When we came up with the idea for the explosions that blinds her, I realized being blind had to have deep consequences beyond the obvious. Izzy being frightened of the dark grew from that. Her adventurous nature suddenly had more depth. She’s constantly trying to prove to everyone, including herself, that she’s not afraid. After the accident, she has to face her worst fears and learn to be her own best self.
One of the realizations Izzy comes to when recovering from the explosion is that she may have lived her life selfishly in the past. How did you strike a balance between creating likeable characters and giving them realistic shortcomings?
I think character flaws are the most interesting part of fictional characters. I believe we read romance to watch the characters grow and change. The characters have to “earn” their happy ending or they don’t deserve it. The changes are what make the books work.
The balance of flaws versus likeability is delicate. I spend a lot of time developing my characters, making sure they’re as real as I can make them. Sometimes I hit the mark and sometimes I have revisions!
Izzy and Nick both thought themselves immune to falling in love. How do they become the perfect couple in spite of this attitude?
I think the attitude actually helps them fall in love. Because they assume it will never happen to them, they aren’t bothering to protect their hearts. It was very fun to watch! � When they realized what was happening, it was too late.
Although his body is scarred on the outside, it’s the wounds in his heart that keep Nick isolated on the ranch. How does his tortured past affect his approach to life?
Nick feels tremendous guilt about something in his past and that guilt makes him believe he’s not “allowed” to be happy or have a good life. So he spends all his time trying to make up for the past. Izzy is just one more project. He never expects her to matter and when he finds himself falling for her, it’s a tremendous moral dilemma.
Izzy used to be able to look at a man and know he was interested in her, but with Nick, she’s unable to read him visually. How does this affect their developing relationship?
That was really fun. Izzy is very free and wild when it comes to men. She knows she’s appealing and uses that appeal to get whoever she wants. But she can’t tell what Nick is thinking because she can’t see him. She’s left feeling exposed and confused, which eats at her confidence. Her power is still there—the only thing that has changed is her ability to believe in herself. Once that comes back, she’s able to be who she really is.
The transformation—Izzy’s ability to face her fears and conquer them—is one of the things that makes Nick fall in love with her.
Garth Duncan is Nick’s closest friend, yet he is trying to ruin the Titan family. What’s your approach to creating complex secondary characters?
Garth was very challenging for me. He’s the villain in books 1-3 and the hero in book 4, which is a really big transformation. I had to start planting seeds of his redemption in Izzy’s book, while still having him do horrible things. It helped that I’d known from the beginning that his was the last story. So there are some subtle clues that he’s not all bad.
Humorously, I kept thinking about Darth Vadar in the original Star Wars movies. How Luke keep feeling there was good inside his father. I know, I know—writers are weird!
Without giving too much away, will Jed Titan get what’s coming to him soon?
Oh, yeah. He will and it’s pretty cool. And there are some interesting twists at the end of the story, including us finding out why Jed did what he did to Garth, all those years ago.
Each of the Titan sisters has such a unique personality; did you have more fun with one of their stories than another?
I loved elements of all the books. Each of the main characters is very different, which helped a lot. Putting them all together made a fascinating mix for me. I loved Cruz’s sexiness and Lexi’s combination of bravado and terror. Skye and Mitch have the most emotional journey, probably because they have a strong past together. The research I did for Mitch’s injury was compelling and heart wrenching, while the information I learned about chickens eating coconut feed was hysterical and is in the book.
Izzy and Nick were fun because I could totally relate to Izzy’s breakdown. I’m not sure why, but she was the easiest character for me to write. While Nick’s guilt made for a challenging journey. Last but not least, I just loved Garth and Dana together. They are smart, highly verbal and each determined to win. Watching them ultimately surrender was very satisfying.
What’s the best part about writing an interconnected family series?
I really enjoyed how the stories linked together. I had fun dropping in a hint in book one and paying it off in book three or four. I like the journey we take with a connected series, watching the characters live out their lives. In this one, I really loved the bond the four women had with each other. There is real love there, and I think it’s something we can all relate to with our close friends and family.
With over 100 books under your belt, how do keep your stories fresh?
I think there are two reasons I can continue to write new and (I hope) exciting stories. First, I totally and completely love what I do. Writing is my passion and I’ve been reading and loving romances since I was thirteen. Every morning I’m so excited to figure out what’s going to happen next. I always have a huge idea file and my biggest challenge is figuring out which of my books I’m going to write next.
The second thing that helps is that I am totally committed to making each book better than the last one. I continue to work on and study the craft of writing. I listen to my readers and try to figure out which elements they love and which didn’t work so much. I am very aware that my readers are spending their hard-earned money on my books and then giving me their most precious resource—their time—when they read. So I am determined to give 100% ever single day in my writing.
What are you working on next?
I’m starting a new series set in the fictitious town of Fool’s Gold. The plan is for this to be an on-going series based on a location rather than a family. That way there can be a whole lot more books with recurring characters. I’m having a great time coming up with my town and all the various elements in it. Oh, and the big secret in the town? A desperate lack of men!
