Pamela Desmond Wright grew up in a small, dusty Texas town. A veteran of the e-book revolution of the late ’90s, Pamela moved into traditional print publishing, writing in the paranormal and adult romance genres for Kensington and NAL/Penguin. Pamela was also a founder of the scam publishers and agents website, The Write Connection.
After signing with Tamela H. Murray of The Steve Laube Agency, Pamela sold her first Amish romance to Harlequin for the Love Inspired imprint. The Cowboy’s Amish Haven will debut in September 2021.
Visit Pamela Desmond Wright online
After signing with Tamela H. Murray of The Steve Laube Agency, Pamela sold her first Amish romance to Harlequin for the Love Inspired imprint. The Cowboy’s Amish Haven will debut in September 2021.
The Cowboy’s Amish Haven
Her home and her heart are on the line…
On the same day Gail Schroder’s faced with losing her Amish family ranch, her old crush Levi Wyse shows up on her doorstep. He doesn’t know that when he left ten years ago, he'd taken Gail’s heart with him. Now Levi’s her only hope of keeping a roof over her head. But can this cowboy teach Gail the ropes in time to save her home?
- ISBN: 1335409440
- Publisher: Love Inspired/Harlequin
Interview with Pamela Desmond Wright
Although Pamela Desmond Wright is new to writing Amish romance, she is a veteran author. Through the early '90s she was a writer of gothic and paranormal romance. In the early 2000s, she signed with an agent who encouraged her to submit material for a new adult imprint launched by Kensington, which was taking advantage of the 50 Shades craze in fiction.
After seven years of writing adult material, she realized she wasn’t happy with the genre and left publishing in 2012. Seven years later, Pam discovered Amish romance.
“I felt the need to try my hand at writing one," she says. "I don’t know why. I just had to.”
Her first attempt received a rewrite and resubmit (R&R) from a Harlequin editor, but unfortunately she experienced accident that put her in the hospital in the middle of the pandemic. A month later, her oldest brother passed suddenly, throwing her into a deep depression.
“I wanted to quit writing, but something told me to keep going,” Pam says, “I put the R&R aside and started a new book and sent it to Harlequin. Much to my surprise, that book sold! Once that title was through the editing process, I went back to the R&R and redid it. A few months later, that title sold, too! After nine years of being out of the publishing business, I am back to being a writer under contract.”
Some writers plot out every moment of their stories, while others write by the seat of their pants. According to Pam, she is both. “I pants-out an idea. Once I have the characters and the setting, I go back and try to get a rough idea of where I will go from beginning to end, what the character’s story is and how to get it onto paper.”
Her writing routine is five to six days a week with a minimum word count of 500 words a day. It usually takes her about three months to flesh out a manuscript.
“I spend a lot of time staring into space, mashing together scenarios I hope haven’t already been done and redone by other authors," Pam says. "Some details I pull from people I know, or even myself. A lot of it comes from the characters themselves. As they flesh out in my mind, they tell their stories.”
A voracious reader as a youngster, Pam’s favorites were the Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene. Those were the books that made her want to be a writer at the “ripe old age of 8 or 9.” The writing bug has been with her most of her life. If she had the chance to have coffee with any author, she would want to chat with Frank McCourt, who wrote Angela’s Ashes. However, she says she would be too tongue tied to ask him anything!
When she is not writing, Pam loves to ride motorcycles. “When something about a book is bothering me, I go for a ride down the farm roads of Texas and try to figure out what the problem is and how to fix it.”
Pam offers the following advice to fledgling writers: “The only way to learn to write is to read. A lot."
"Writing takes time, blood, sweat, tears, and a tough hide to get past all the rejection a manuscript will meet when it’s sent out to into the world," she adds. "Sometimes you will write two, three, or ten books before you’ll make the sale."
Pam offers a last piece of wisdom. "A real writer never quits. They just learn that the art of writing is rewriting. And rewriting. And rewriting.”
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Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is also active in her community. She is a native of Baltimore and has lived in historic places all her life. Located in central New Hampshire, her favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.
After seven years of writing adult material, she realized she wasn’t happy with the genre and left publishing in 2012. Seven years later, Pam discovered Amish romance.
“I felt the need to try my hand at writing one," she says. "I don’t know why. I just had to.”
Her first attempt received a rewrite and resubmit (R&R) from a Harlequin editor, but unfortunately she experienced accident that put her in the hospital in the middle of the pandemic. A month later, her oldest brother passed suddenly, throwing her into a deep depression.
“I wanted to quit writing, but something told me to keep going,” Pam says, “I put the R&R aside and started a new book and sent it to Harlequin. Much to my surprise, that book sold! Once that title was through the editing process, I went back to the R&R and redid it. A few months later, that title sold, too! After nine years of being out of the publishing business, I am back to being a writer under contract.”
Some writers plot out every moment of their stories, while others write by the seat of their pants. According to Pam, she is both. “I pants-out an idea. Once I have the characters and the setting, I go back and try to get a rough idea of where I will go from beginning to end, what the character’s story is and how to get it onto paper.”
Her writing routine is five to six days a week with a minimum word count of 500 words a day. It usually takes her about three months to flesh out a manuscript.
“I spend a lot of time staring into space, mashing together scenarios I hope haven’t already been done and redone by other authors," Pam says. "Some details I pull from people I know, or even myself. A lot of it comes from the characters themselves. As they flesh out in my mind, they tell their stories.”
A voracious reader as a youngster, Pam’s favorites were the Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene. Those were the books that made her want to be a writer at the “ripe old age of 8 or 9.” The writing bug has been with her most of her life. If she had the chance to have coffee with any author, she would want to chat with Frank McCourt, who wrote Angela’s Ashes. However, she says she would be too tongue tied to ask him anything!
When she is not writing, Pam loves to ride motorcycles. “When something about a book is bothering me, I go for a ride down the farm roads of Texas and try to figure out what the problem is and how to fix it.”
Pam offers the following advice to fledgling writers: “The only way to learn to write is to read. A lot."
"Writing takes time, blood, sweat, tears, and a tough hide to get past all the rejection a manuscript will meet when it’s sent out to into the world," she adds. "Sometimes you will write two, three, or ten books before you’ll make the sale."
Pam offers a last piece of wisdom. "A real writer never quits. They just learn that the art of writing is rewriting. And rewriting. And rewriting.”
__________________________________
Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is also active in her community. She is a native of Baltimore and has lived in historic places all her life. Located in central New Hampshire, her favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.
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