Meet Maya Rodale

Meet Maya

How I became A Romance Novelist

I started reading romance novels because my mom made me. During my junior year in college, I was working on a degree in women and fiction and she insisted that I could not legitimately accept that degree without reading the most popular books ever written by women, for women. In the name of research I read my first romance novel. And then another…and another…

I did not drop out of school to do nothing but read romance novels, as I had feared. Instead, I graduated and co-wrote a book with my mom about romance novels (among other things). The book, a self-help guide for women is entitled It's My Pleasure: A Revolutionary Plan to Free Yourself from Guilt and Create the Life You Want. If you find a longer subtitle, let me know.

My agent for It’s My Pleasure told me I needed to be writing romances right now (I figured I’d do it eventually). So I said “Great! I’ll have a manuscript for you in three months.”

And I did! That book was The Heir And The Spare and as my guide I included all the things I loved in Regency romances: duels, disguises, dukes, mistaken identities, gossiping and scheming, house parties, fortune hunters, a hero who isn’t quite perfect at first and a heroine whose relentless optimism is severely tested and ultimately rewarded.

It was another two years before it would be published. And by then I was hard at work at the sequel, The Rogue And The Rival, which makes a hero out of the evil, rakish twin from the first novel.

I’m now working on a new series: The Writing Girl Romances are about girls that write for a newspaper in Regency London—and the dukes and earls and rakes that love them.

I live in New York City with my darling dog Penelope and a rogue of my own.

Ten Things About Me

1. I love making lists.

2. I sold my first book and got into grad school the same week. One of these days, I’ll finish my master’s degree!

3. My dog Penelope can do the following tricks: spin, crawl, high five, and become deaf to my voice when we’re outside.

4. When I was little, I lived in Washington DC for a year but I mostly grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. I’ve spent summers in Paris and London as part of school programs and I’ve lived in New York City for the past eight years.

5. I really love to cook and I'm pretty good at it, but I am terrible at baking.

6. Some of my overused phrases are: "studies have shown," "suck it up buttercup", "my momma says…", and "Penelope leave it! I mean it Penelope, get OFF the table!"

7. I love country music.

8. Every week, I read People magazine and Us Weekly.

9. My favorite non-romance books are: Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell.

10. I’m a morning person. I go to bed early so I can get up at 5. My favorite part of the day is drinking coffee and writing on the couch first thing. Breakfast is my favorite meal. My brain gets slower as the day progresses (with a brief rebound at afternoon coffee time. I love coffee.).

Question:: What is your next book, and when is it coming out?
Maya's Answer:: Right now I’m working on a new set of books! A Groom Of One’s Own is the first title in my new Writing Girl Romance Series. You can read all about the writing girl world, and get behind the scenes details on my blog.

Question:: Where do your story ideas come from?
Maya's Answer:: I get a little idea, and then I take it and run with it (figuratively speaking, of course).

The Heir And The Spare grew out of an idea for one scene: the heroine is getting ready for bed one evening when a very handsome man bursts into her bedchamber. She mistakes him for his identical twin, to whom she is betrothed and then…I never quite figured out what came next. So I didn't start the novel with this scene, but included it in the middle, and then it never ended up in the published version. But the idea of identical twins and a very confused heroine remained.

For my latest project, a line just popped into my head one day: “Time had been good to Phillip Kensington, even though he certainly did not deserve it.” And then I was off to my desk with a cup of coffee to make up a story to follow that first sentence.

Question:: Do you use your own personal experiences in your novels?
Maya's Answer:: Sure! One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was to put a little bit of myself in each character. For more insight on which of my traits have been bestowed on my characters click here.

Question:: What kind of research do you do?
Maya's Answer:: All kinds! I count traveling as research, along with visiting museums, and reading books about a time period or set in a particular era. I’ve also spent hours going through online databases tracking down old newspaper and periodical articles. I have also spent my fair share of hours in the British Library.
For a list of my favorite research books and sources, click here.

Question:: Do you have a critique partner? Do you recommend having one?
Maya's Answer:: I have two wonderful critique partners. Jennifer writes kick-ass paranormals. Ann writes historical romances set in America—like the American Girl series for grown-ups. Many of my family members and friends read early drafts of my work and give great feedback, too. I find everyone’s thoughts and comments invaluable, because after spending months (if not years) working on a manuscript, it’s easy to lose perspective.

Question:: You wrote a book with your mom. How did that come about, and what was the experience like?
Maya's Answer:: My mom and I wrote a self-help guide for women called It’s My Pleasure: A Revolutionary Plan to Free Yourself from Guilt and Create the Life You Want. (Longest subtitle ever, right?). The premise of the book—exploring pleasure and women, combining research on history, religion, science and more—was my mom’s brilliant idea.

Writing with my mom was awesome, actually. We were in total alignment regarding the premise, the format, and content of the book. We did not actually sit down and type sentences together, but sent drafts back and forth, revising each other’s writing…which may be why we are still friends.

Question:: Did you always want to be a writer?
Maya's Answer:: No, I wanted to be a rock star, actually. But I wasn’t very good at it, and I found being in a band very frustrating—lugging heavy equipment around at odd hours? Not so fun. At the same time I was losing interest in that, I was also getting great feedback on my writing from teachers and peers—I took a lot of creative writing classes because I thought the homework was easy and fun. When working on my first book, It’s My Pleasure, with my mom, I discovered just how much I loved the entire process of putting a book together, and so I was determined to continue being a writer.

Question:: Did you have a negligent chaperone when you were growing up?
Maya's Answer:: I had quite a few chaperones (or babysitters, rather) when I was growing up. There was my mum, of course, and my aunts and grandmother. I also had a regular babysitter, Gigi, who now takes care of my sisters. While I may have been operating under the illusion that they weren’t paying attention at times, I know now that they never missed a thing.

Question:: You grew up in a family that owns a publishing business. How has that affected your career?
Maya's Answer:: My family are the proud owners of Rodale Inc., the biggest private publisher of health and wellness books and magazines. Some of our magazine titles are Men’s Health, Women’s Health, and Prevention. We also published The South Beach Diet and Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. Our mission is to inspire and enable people to improve themselves and the world around them. For more information, please go to www.rodale.com.

If there is one thing I learned growing up in this environment, it is that writing is just as much a business as a creative endeavor. And I often joke that it was inevitable that I become a writer, since there are so many in my family (great-grandfather, grandfather, grandmother, and my dear mum).

Question:: Your dog looks just like a fox! What kind of breed is she?
Maya's Answer:: As we go for our daily walks many people do ask if Penelope is actually a fox. After all, the likeness is stunning. But no, I am not keeping a wild animal in my apartment. She’s a Shiba Inu, which is a Japanese breed historically used for hunting, and now mainly for companionship. They are great dogs—incredibly intelligent (too smart, sometimes!), very loyal (once you earn it), and completely adorable (even after eating my new cell phone).