Cara Summers Bio

How did I become a romance writer?

Oddly enough, I wasn’t born with the dream of becoming a writer.  I did win first place for a short, short story in a contest run by The Detroit Free Press when I was in tenth grade.  And come to think of it, the story was a romance about two teenagers who were brought together by a St. Bernard while they were riding on a merry-go-round.  But my dream in tenth grade was to become a missionary or an actress.  My major in college was drama, and I did act for a while before I fell in love, got married and became an English teacher. 

My goal of writing and publishing a romance didn’t fully take shape until much later. Growing up, I read a lot of genre fiction. My Aunt Kathleen gave me my first Nancy Drew mystery when I was seven, and after that I was hooked.  (At that time in my life, my dream was to become Nancy Drew.  She was bright and independent and she drove a convertible—a coupe.  I had no idea what a coupe was, but I knew I wanted one!  And I presently own two convertibles—a 1990 Mazda Miata and a new Volkswagen Beetle.

My mother subscribed to several magazines.  Redbook and Good Housekeeping were her favorites.  Mine too—because in addition to short fiction, they also printed a condensed novel each month.  I even had a favorite place to read—a window seat with a curtain I could draw shut.  I could hide away there for hours lost in the adventures that books always offer.

My father was an avid reader of mysteries and westerns and he was always willing to share his paper backs.  Rex Stout and Earl Stanley Gardner were my favorite authors after Carolyn Keene and Louisa May Alcott.  Later, my summer reading consisted of gothic and romantic suspense novels.  Books by the Brontes, Georgette Heyer, Mary Stewart, Phyllis Whitney, and Victoria Holt still have places on my keeper shelf.

When I try to recall how the dream of actually writing a romance novel was born, I think it must have all started when my mother handed me my first Silhouette Romance to read, First Impressions by Nora Roberts.  I was married with three children and had a full time job teaching high school.  My mother thought reading romances might provide just the escape I needed from my rather over crowded life—and they would cost less than therapy.  She was right on all counts, and it wasn’t long before I decided that I wanted to write a romance novel.

I wrote my first romance on yellow legal pads over the course of one summer.  By the time I was finished I knew two things: I could complete a book, and the one on the legal pads wasn’t good enough to type up.  Besides, I had a much better idea for a story… 

Five years and three books later, I made my first sale to Harlequin Temptation, C.J.’s Defense.   It made the Waldenbooks Bestseller List and was nominated for the Virginia Romance Writers’ Holt Medallion Award.

Since then I have written over thirty books for Harlequin Temptation, Duets, and Blaze.  I have three more scheduled for release in 2011.  Those are about three friends who met during the years they spent together at the Franciscan Boys Center in Denver, and they will be released in February, July, and December.

Over the years my books have been nominated for several awards and they have been honored with two Golden Leafs, Four Golden Quills, an Award of Excellence, and a Holt Medallion.  Romantic Times Magazine has chosen Short, Sweet, and Sexy as the best Temptation of the year and in 2007 they awarded me a Career Achievement Award for Series Storyteller of the Year.  In 2009, A Sexy Time of It was nominated for the Romance Writers of America RITA Award.

More about Cara...

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is “Where do you get your story ideas?”

I get my ideas everywhere—news stories, magazine articles, incidents I witness.  I got the idea for the subplot of my very first book while I was serving on a jury.  The case involved teens assaulting other teens and the tragedy that ensued.  I just had to write about it.  The romance involved a defense attorney and a district attorney who worked on opposite sides of the case—and still managed to fall in love.

One book I wrote and never sold was inspired by a host on a TV Shopping Network.  Go figure!

My 2005 Risking It All miniseries about triplet sisters was partly inspired by the Clint Eastwood movie Absolute Power in which Clint plays a master jewel thief and his daughter is a prosecutor.

Last summer, my Twin Series, Twin Temptation and Twin Seduction were inspired by the Disney movie, Parent Trap.  I just got to thinking what if twins separated at birth didn’t find out about each other until they were adults?  And who might be threatened by them getting back together?  (I always like to throw a little murder and mayhem into my books!)

Other frequently asked questions are:
“Where do you do your writing?”
“Do you write every day?”
“How long does it take you to finish a book?”

I do most of my actual writing on a lap top while I’m sitting on a very comfy leather couch.  I learned long ago that sitting in a chair at a desk and typing for long periods of time gives me a backache.  If they hadn’t invented the lap top, I might never have been able to write the number of books that I have.

Yes, I write every day including weekends.  And I write in the morning—as soon as I get up.  Someone once recommended morning writing because your mind is more creative since it’s closer to the dream state.  But I do it because morning is my best time and I teach classes at a nearby university in the afternoons and evenings. 
I try to stick to my schedule.  If I skip a day, it’s harder to get back into the book.  I take my lap top with me even on vacation.  Even a page or two a day will keep me in the flow of the story.  If I take a break, I used to take it between books.  But lately, because of deadlines, I usually shovel out my office and get right to work on the next book.  I suspect that for me, writing has become an addiction, something I can’t really do without for too long.  Also writing every day eventually becomes a habit—like exercise or brushing your teeth.  (I wish I was as good at the exercise as I am at the writing!)

My first book took about nine months to write—from outline to final draft.  The fourth one, the one that I sold, took over a year.  Now, since I write three books a year, I assume that each takes about four months.  But the truth is that each book is different.  And it takes as long as it takes.  I have learned over the years that writing faster is often linked to writing better for me.  I get the story down on paper faster and the pressure to do that often increases my creative flow.  But I have to spend a lot of time on revision.  Since it’s not entirely a linear process, it’s hard to say how long a book takes.  The story is done when it’s done.

Fun Facts about Cara

Born: Detroit, Michigan

Birthday: July 28th (me and Jacquelyn Kennedy Onassis!)

Sign: Leo

Real Hair Color:It’s been so long that I only have dream-like memories of once being a brunette.  Perhaps that was in a previous incarnation.

Siblings: a sister and a brother – Janet and Andrew – and a sister-in-law, Julie.

Kids: Three wonderful sons – Kevin, Brian, and Brendan. And I have two wonderful daughters-in-law, Mary and Nicole, and a great daughter-in-law-to-be, Gert.

Grandkids: Marian (8) and Andrew (5). Both are absolutely amazing!

Colleges: Catholic University in Washington, DC and Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY.

Favorite Books: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice (and everything else Jane Austen wrote), Nine Coaches Waiting, Rebecca, Gone With the Wind, The Godfather, theNancy Drew Mysteries, the Nero Wolfe Mysteries, Little Women, Rose in Bloom (to this day, I can turn to the page where Charlie dies and cry!), Silence of the Lambs (I missed the whole first day of a vacation in Hawaii because I couldn’t put that book down!), Salem’s Lot, The Haunting of Hill House, To Kill a Mockingbird, and pretty much anything written by Robert B. Parker, Jayne Ann Krentz, Linda Howard, and Nora Roberts.

Favorite TV Shows: I’m pretty much addicted to the new shows being produced on the USA Network and TNT.  I’m a long term fan of The Closer.  I love, love, love White Collar, Burn Notice, and Royal Pains.  I’m becoming fascinated by a new one on TNT—Memphis Beat.  I’ve been a long time fan of NCIS because Mark Harmon is just super eye-candy, and I’ve become hooked on NCIS Los Angeles because of the same reason.  Chris O’Donnell and L.L Cool Jay are just great to watch.  And I like Linda Hunt too.  I also enjoy Masterpiece Mystery.  I’m just a cops and robbers, murder and mayhem kind of girl, I guess.  Perhaps it’s because I’m half Irish and half Italian.

Favorite Movies:I’ll start with the ones that I always stop at if I’m channel surfing and they’re on: North by Northwest, The Sting, Psycho, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, Victor/Victoria, Tootsie, Working Girl, Pretty Woman, The American President, Billy Elliot, Absolute Power.  I don’t have a lot of new movies on the list.  They have to be very well written to make me spend time in a chair watching them.

Favorite Color:(At one time I had a red convertible and red carpeting in my kitchen.  I’m addicted to red shoes.  I even have a vague memory of once having red hair.)

Pets: None.  I’m not a plant person either.  (In fact, I have nightmares of standing there on judgment day and seeing all the plants I’ve killed line up to point their leaves and branches at me.)  My oldest son has a dog though.  She’s  Havanese and her name is Abby.  I absolutely love her, and when she walks by my house she tried to run up the driveway to visit.  There’s almost always something on my floors that she can scarf.

Favorite Food:I love a good steak and homemade pasta of almost any variety.  And really good ice cream comes in a close third.  Do I eat them all everyday?  No.  In fact my daily diet contains a lot of salads with dark greens.  So I must like them also.

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