M.L. Buchman | The first romance that I wrote was a thriller.
May 9, 2016
I’m actually not kidding. I was trying to write my first romance, but I came to the genre much later than
to any other. I discovered action adventure with CALL OF THE WILD and
MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY at age eight. I first read science fiction at ten
and THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES by the time I was twelve. NARNIA
and THE HOBBIT opened up fantasy for me in my teens. I was hot on the
trail of Ludlum and Follett from their very early books. Classics consumed much
of my twenties. I didn’t read my first romance until attending RWA’s National
conference in my mid-thirties. I chewed my way through a dozen of them before I
was handed Susan Wiggs’ THE
CHARM SCHOOL and Laura Kinsale’s THE PRINCE OF MIDNIGHT.
That launched me into Nora’s Born in trilogy and I was gone. I already had written and sold a couple of science fiction and fantasy novels by
that point and wanted to try my hand at a romance. But I’d also been dying to
tackle a thriller. What I was waiting for was the right idea. I wrote a light-hearted foodie thriller entitled: Swap Out! It has a
love story in it, but it wasn’t a romance. While researching for that book, I
discovered the Army’s very secretive Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the
helicopter pilots of the 160th SOAR. I looked up their application
with the: “Could I have qualified back in the day?” kind of curiosity (the
answer to that is an emphatic “No!”). But there was also a line that said,
“Women may not apply.” (This finally changed in 2015, five years after I
launched the series.) There was my idea! Secret helicopter missions and the first woman of SOAR—the
one who was so good that they couldn’t keep her out. Emily Beale ultimately
became the motto that covers almost all of my writing: “Strong Women and the Men
They Deserve.” My passion for a good thriller overwhelmed the romance that I tried to put in
the story. But then I sold the book to a romance publisher. After some great
notes and deep revisions, I turned it into a romantic suspense and discovered a
passion for the genre. What I’ve come to love most about rom. sus. is the interweaving of all of the
tension that comes from falling in love and all of the tension of a good
thriller. It is that moment when the true crisis forces the hero and heroine
into confronting that which is weakest in themselves at the same moment they
discover what is strongest in themselves. I love contemporary romance, I read and write a fair amount of it. I just
launched a new contemporary series last month with RETURN TO EAGLE COVE: a
small-town Oregon romance. But my passion, which now covers over twenty novels and an equal number of short
stories, is romantic suspense. And I think I can trace it all the way back to
Jack London. After picking up the CALL OF THE WILD at age 8, I read
almost everything he ever wrote before moving on to Melville and Conrad. I’ve
never lost that love of adventure and tension. And to bring that to the ultimate adventure, of finding true love, well…nothing
is more fun than that! Giveaway
Win a copy of FLASH OF
FIRE by just telling me below what is YOUR true love?
L. Buchman has over 40 novels in print. His military
romantic suspense books have been named Barnes & Noble and NPR “Top 5 of the
year” and twice Booklist “Top 10 of the Year,” placing two titles on
their “Top 101 Romances of the Last 10 Years” list. He has been nominated for
the Reviewer’s Choice Award for “Top 10 Romantic Suspense of 2014” by RT
Book Reviews and is a 2016 RWA RITA finalist. In addition to
romance, he also writes thrillers, fantasy, and science fiction. He is
constantly amazed at what can be done with a degree in geophysics. You may keep
up with his writing and receive exclusive content by subscribing to his
newsletter at www.mlbuchman.com.
Fourth in M.L. Buchman’s critically acclaimed Firehawks romantic
suspense series When former Army National Guard helicopter pilot Robin Harrow joins Mount Hood
Aviation, she expects to fight fires for only one season. Instead, she finds
herself getting deeply entrenched with one of the most elite firefighting teams
in the world. And that’s before they send her on a mission that’s seriously top
secret, with a flight partner who’s seriously hot. Mickey Hamilton loves flying, firefighting, and women, in that order. But when
Robin Harrow roars across his radar, his priorities go out the window. On a
critical mission deep in enemy territory, their past burns away and they must
face each other. Their one shot at a future demands that they first survive the
present—together.
Comments
21 comments posted.
Re: M.L. Buchman | The first romance that I wrote was a thriller.
My passion is also romantic suspense. I love it and I love your books! Thanks for the chance to win this one!!! (Bonnie Capuano 9:34am May 9, 2016)
And this is exactly why I read your books! I've already bought Flash of Fire and now must check out your new series. (Kathleen Bylsma 2:02pm May 9, 2016)
I love to create! My medium of choice is fabric and textiles. I can't limit it to any one medium as I move from one to the next. I've sewed, crocheted and knitted, painted on canvas and fabrics, counted cross stitch, my scrapbooking is a work of art, done jewelry and taught all of the above. It's a joy to gift someone with either one of my creations or teach them that YES YOU CAN (Lenna Hendershott 4:22pm May 9, 2016)
I just love to read. I grew up in a small town in the Colorado and was raised on a ranch. About the only thing to entertain myself as a young girl was to read. We went to town every 2 weeks and could check out 10 books for 2 weeks. I think my sister and I read about every book in that little library. As I grew up, I never lost my love of the printed word. (well,with the exception of a couple of college texts). So my passion is reading. I promised myself I would read the list of 100 best books. Just have about 10 left and then I will be considered "well read" (Joy Isley 5:32pm May 9, 2016)
My true love began at age seven when I received my birthday book "Cinderella". This edition was illustrated by Kate Smith. I started in 1st grade in the bottom reading group; but phonics gave me a lasting love of reading especially romantic suspense /thrillers. (Joanne Hicks 6:52pm May 9, 2016)
My true love is my creativeness in all I do. I was fortunate to be born with artistic abilities. (Jackie Wisherd 11:38pm May 9, 2016)
Really want to read your book. (Cathy Garner 12:39pm May 10, 2016)
Sampling sounds good. Will look forward to reading the whole story. (Charline Bonham 9:27am May 10, 2016)
Your books sound interesting...I will be looking for them now that I know . (Karen Dieffenbaugher 9:34am May 10, 2016)
My true love is gardening - watching plants sprout and grow and flourish (hopefully) (Krypton I 11:17am May 10, 2016)
I love to read.I would read all the time if i could get away with it. (Marsha Baurns 12:03pm May 10, 2016)
My True Love is books. I've always loved books. (Kimberly Miller 12:50pm May 10, 2016)
My true love is reading along with poetry. I belong to 2 poetry workshops and we make poems more readable along with losing a few words and creating titles. (Alyson Widen 2:45pm May 10, 2016)
I love to read and especially romantic suspense. This books sounds like one I'd love to read. (Bonnie Capuano 10:24am May 11, 2016)
"Flash of Fire" is exactly what I need to read....now. (Laila Baloch 2:48am May 12, 2016)
My true love are books with men dedicated badassed to protection of innocents and sassy badass women who do the same. (Mariah Oyondi 10:20pm May 12, 2016)
My true love is to read both romance and suspence novels (Shirley Younger 2:42pm May 13, 2016)
love the cover (Angela Parrish 3:44pm May 13, 2016)
Well , I have several ' True Loves ' I guess . I love to dance . I'm 70 years young and dance at least three times a week with a group of ladies around my age that go to Nursing Homes and all different kinds of events in our area and entertain for them . We are real cheap ( free ) so we get calls for lots of events . We line dance and all seem to enjoy and some will join in with us . We have lots of fun wherever we are . I love to read and enjoy life . I wound love to read this book and thanks for this chance to win . (Joan Thrasher 9:42am May 14, 2016)
I love to read! Mostly romances - the best have adventure and some humor (even under tense circumstances). (Diane Sallans 4:11pm May 15, 2016)
Fabric collecting, I mean quilting. (Laura Gullickson 11:58pm May 15, 2016)
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