My name is Cara Summers and I’m a Blaze-aholic. I’m addicted to writing Blaze novels–and I don’t think I can stop.

Another confession–this is my first blog, and I wouldn’t have attempted it without Tawny Weber’s patience, enthusiastic encouragement and help! Thanks, Tawny!

Yet another confession–I don’t do Facebook, and I don’t twitter or tweet. I don’t even do my own web site. My excuse for not doing all these things is that I teach writing at Syracuse University, and what time I have left over I have to devote to writing Blazes because—I’m a Blaze-aholic.

Lucky for me, I found enough free time to write my first Blaze. And that took a while. I was writing Temptations when Blaze made its debut in that line. I can still remember the buzz. The first ones I read are still on my “keeper’s shelf.” The books were so popular and selling so well that I remember my editor mentioning to me that the only new authors Temptation was acquiring were writing Blazes. Still, it never occurred to me that Cara Summers could write one. (Sometimes, Cara is a little slow on the up-take!)

Then Harlequin announced the launch of the Blaze line. The loops were full of the news. Lots of Temptation authors were being invited to write for Blaze. I even heard rumors about authors who had refused the invitations because the advances didn’t suit them. My editor mentioned to me in passing that they were looking for authors because they needed more for the line.

So I started thinking about that. Obviously Cara Summers was not a name that shot to the top of the list when one started to think about potential Blaze authors. Perhaps if I’d just been more of a “bad girl” or if I’d only misspent more of my youth? Maybe they didn’t think I could write one? What did I think?

What I thought was that I wanted to write for the Blaze line bcause it offered so many challenges. At that time editors were looking for a “mainstream” feel in the books, and I saw it as an opportunity to grow as a writer. I had always included some kind of intrigue subplot in my Temptations and writing for Blaze would allow me to expand those.

Still, it took me a couple of weeks to build up my courage, but I kept remembering something my mother always advised me to do when I was growing up. “Ask,” she would say. “The worst they can do is say ‘no.’ And they might say, ‘yes.’”

So the next time I talked with my editor, I asked the crucial question:
“Do you think I could write a Blaze?”
Dead silence on the other end of the line.
My stomach went into freefall on my end of the line.
And still the beats of silence continued.
Finally, she said, “You know, I think you could. We don’t have anyone with your voice writing for the line right now. I think you should write a Blaze.”

I wish I could tell you that everything went very smoothly after that. (But Cara’s life never seems to work that way). When I submitted my first completed manuscript, “Intent to Seduce,” my editor called to tell me that I’d written a longer Temptation.
Big stomach sinking sensation again!

But she’s the world’s best editor and she had suggestions, lots of them, and I ended up turning the first kiss scene into a a really hot love scene. That surprised me. And it totally shocked the hero and the heroine. (I just love when that happens to my characters!)

That’s how Cara Summers became a Blaze writer. Writing for the line has met all my expections and then some. And I can’t seem to stop. I don’t want to stop.

So I blame the fact that I’m a Blaze-aholic on my editor and my mom.

Are you lucky enough to have someone in your life who pushes you into asking questions and taking risks?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under Cara Summers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.