Calder Pride [NOOK Book]

Interviews & Essays

Janet Dailey: I am doing great, thank you!

Janet Dailey: Obviously I have been asked for years to write another Calder, but I never felt there was another story until now. It first began with my publisher asking me if I would consider doing another Calder book, and I said I would think about it. Within a week I got a letter from a reader, and she asked the same question but added, "You know you have never told Pat's story." And it was literally like a lightbulb went on in my head. CALDER PRIDE is the result.

Janet Dailey: I am the exception that proves the rule. My first book was accepted by the first publisher I submitted it to, but I was just like the hundred million people out there who wanted to write. I used to talk about it endlessly. My dear husband must have heard me say 800 times that I could write a book. But on the 801st time, he turned to me and said, "Shut up and write the book!" This made me absolutely furious, and I sat down and wrote the first book.

Janet Dailey: The Calder series itself. I had already introduced Cat Calder in the previous book, CALDER BORN, CALDER BRED, and when that reader mentioned that I hadn't written Cat's story I started wondering what it would be like to be a female growing up on the Calder ranch. What life would you have as a woman in such a male-dominated society? So to a great extent, knowing the personality of Cat and that streak of independence that would have to come out, the story practically wrote itself.

Janet Dailey: The pride of Cat Calder. She had an enormous amount of pride. Pride can be a good thing and it can be a bad thing, too.

Janet Dailey: A big Happy Birthday to her!

Janet Dailey: I was born and raised in a little town called Early, Iowa, and it was a town of 500 people. I was related to half of them. I have three older sisters. My father passed away when I was 5 years old, and my mother remarried when I was 13 and I acquired four brothers, so I do have a big immediate family and a huge extended family.

Janet Dailey: No, I really had no intentions of writing any sequels to the Calder books when I finished CALDER BORN, CALDER BRED.

Janet Dailey: I think I would have to say that Chase Calder is my favorite male character, because he was the first of the Calders whom I met. Curious that I said I "met" him. It shows you how real the characters become for me.

Janet Dailey: It would have to be a story about Seth Calder. I hadn't considered that, no.

Janet Dailey: I think that romances serve the important function of entertainment, positive upbeat entertainment, but I also believe that life is nothing but a series of happy endings.

Janet Dailey: My favorite authors of all time are easy. I have always been a huge admirer of Edna Ferber. She wrote GIANT and SO BIG (she won the Pulitzer for it), and I like James Michener and Louis L'Amour as well. L'Amour is the reason I love western books.

Janet Dailey: Actually, I do write modern-city romances. ILLUSIONS, available in paperback, is set between L.A., New York, and Aspen, Colorado, but my favorite is western backgrounds.

Janet Dailey: Let me answer that by giving you my husband's standard answer -- he does all the research for my books, and he has asked me to slow down!

Janet Dailey: I think it is 98 published novels. But first I have to say, if you had asked me if I thought I would write that many books I would have said you are crazy, but God blessed me with multitudes of story ideas. I never wonder about what my next story will be. I wonder about which one of the ideas I have will be the new book. I always have three or four or more story ideas buzzing in my mind.

Janet Dailey: I have two stepchildren -- that I don't like to use the word "step" about -- and we have five grandchildren.

Janet Dailey: It was an extremely difficult time, which is why I am so doubly blessed to say today that my husband is cancer-free; I have a new book out, CALDER PRIDE, which debuts next week on the New York Times list, and it along with the other four Calder books are in preproduction for either a miniseries or TV movie. As Chase Calder would say, "Maybe it is not as important that you get bucked off the horse but that you get back on!"

Janet Dailey: Asking me which is my favorite book is like asking a mother which is her favorite child. The minute I try to say it is the first book, because it started it all, then all the other books rear their heads and say, "What about me?" I just can't pick a favorite.

Janet Dailey: I never know where I may travel. Who knows, one day I may end up in Brazil and if you log onto my web page -- www.janetdailey.com -- I am sure there is an email address there. Generally I do answer fan mail if there are specific questions. I really don't have any plans to write a biography.

Janet Dailey: I think the state of romance publishing is very healthy. Lets never forget that it is the good books that sell, the well-crafted, well-written ones, and romance novels will be around forever. Every time someone asks me about romances, I am always reminded of the song from Casablanca, "The world will always welcome lovers, as time goes by."

Janet Dailey: I get up at 4 in the morning. My husband says it is called the crack of dawn because you have to be cracked to get up at that hour. But I am a writer, so it is a bit redundant. I write every day, six days a week, and do a set number of pages each day.

Janet Dailey: In high school I worked in a laundry without air-conditioning, so between the heat of the dryers and the steam of the presses, I thought I would melt.

Janet Dailey: Yes. Again, if you would care to log onto my web site, you will get constant updates. The Calder series is in preproduction. They are announcing soon who has been cast.

Janet Dailey: The toughest advice there is -- write! If that is what you want to do, go for it. My husband once told me, it is the things you don't do that you regret the most. I knew when I got to be 80, I didn't want to be saying I wish I had written a book. If someone wants to write, just go for it. There isn't any other advice other than that.

Janet Dailey: Obviously I would have to say "Giant," the Edna Ferber novel made into a motion picture. There are so many others. I loved "Roman Holiday," with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, and "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Gone with the Wind." And more recently "As Good as It Gets" and of course, "Sleepless in Seattle."

Janet Dailey: I read COLD MOUNTAIN and enjoyed that. That is the only fiction I have read lately and would recommend. I have been reading so much for research lately. That is the problem with being a writer, because pleasure reading goes to the wayside.

Janet Dailey: [laughs] Actually I did meet a man with gray eyes, which was one of the reasons I chose that physical description, because the eyes are so distinctive and so uncommon. You just don't see it everyday.

Janet Dailey: Actually, I do have an idea for another generational series such as the Calders, but set in Texas. I haven't started it yet. It is one of those ideas floating around in my mind.

Janet Dailey: I am afraid I don't know what you are talking about. My husband hasn't been shot.

Janet Dailey: Each novel varies, sometimes because of the research involved, but the average time it takes to write most books is between three and six months, and that is the actual writing.

Janet Dailey: I suppose there are several other things that intrigue me, and they are my hobbies. I love watercolors and photography, but the thing I like best about writing is the constant learning, because you always have to learn something new about a place or profession or occupation. You are always learning when you write.

Janet Dailey: Actually, I have slowed down. Partly because the books have gotten longer and the research for them has become more in-depth, so to avoid overkill I do virtually one a year. I read everything; I will read anything I get my hands on, from westerns to nonfiction to romances to mysteries to "general fiction." I like a good story, period. Actually I don't read Nora books anymore out of respect for her.

Janet Dailey: I always question the use of the word "rape" when applied to romance fiction. Rape is an extremely violent and abusive act and should always be illustrated as such in fiction. There is a huge difference, night and day, between being raped and being ravished.

Janet Dailey: The one thing I would love to say to all my fans is, happy reading and thank you for your support and encouragement.